Writing Assignment: Art of Self-Invention

Kimberly Vidal
Self I As Image
Professor Doris Cacoilo

April 18, 2017

We self-invent ourselves every day of our lives. What we do and how we go about each day and dress ourselves and express ourselves and be ourselves is how we define and invent ourselves. This was how Cindy Sherman created her best work.She easily became a different person in each selfie personally taken by herself. It is through images where we get the chance to become a different person each time. Sometimes we evolve into a greater and better human being and our images become our proof of that. In our images we choose to take that selfie because we feel like it is a moment to capture and remember forever. Or sometimes we take the selfie because we just look cute or sexy. As Susan Sontag mentioned in “On Photography,” “photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood” (2). We constantly take images of our most memorable moments such as climbing Mount Everest, traveling to Europe, or graduating high school (soon to be college). Another way of representing ourselves through images can be through objects. Similarly to how songs express our feelings, objects or landscapes or paintings can represent ourselves, our moods, our feelings, everything. We can easily represent ourselves by a diary (such as I did) because in that journal, there were entries from a 10 year old Kimberly to a now 20 year old Kimberly. The human evolution is real!

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #153 1985

"The Dark Side of Fairytales": inspired by Cindy Sherman

As mentioned, art can be a self-representation. In “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, he makes it known that “if you buy a painting you buy also the look of the thing it represents” (83). If you buy a painting of a woman staring straight at viewer (who will most likely be a man) with all her clothing off, it might show how she is giving her body and self up to the person she is viewing, which was most likely a man painting her. This stare is well known as the “gaze” where a woman becomes an object to the male’s eyes. Similarly to Mickalene Thomas art piece "Una Tres Negresse." The woman let herself become the object. If you purchase a image with dark, bold colors, then it might interpret you as bold dark person. A great example would be Frida Kahlo, who was a great artist in which expressed herself in her own art work. What she expressed most was the love she had for Diego which was in most of her art work. The media also became a way of defining us by teaching us about ourselves in ways we could not believe, until we can actually relate to it or see it with our own eyes. The media is another dictionary. The media can define us without our consent by simply categorizing us in a group or label with people with similar characteristics or styles or likes. Literally “Likes” like on Facebook or Instagram. If we love being fit, we follow a fitness page on facebook or IG. This simple gesture teaches us about ourselves to what we want to be, in this case, who we want to look like.

Una Tres Negresse by Mickalene Thomas

"The Gaze"

Through images we learn about identity and culture, from years ago to the present. Our identity can be defined by the clothes we wear, the brands we show off, the attitude we have shown in our images whether is a mean serious look or a perky happy smile. A way in which our identity is easily shown through the clothing worn is by the group of people who constantly wear it, that is where branding comes into play. For example, people who wear Nike or Adidas branding are mostly athletes, if someone wears Fendi or Ralph Lauren, they most likely have money. If someone wears a expensive watch it represents wealth, and if someone wears a suit and tie, they are considered “professional” just by wearing both. Identity can be defined by what someone chooses to wear and act in front of others, especially when posting images to social media. When you post an image through social media you are giving everyone the message of the type of person you are. This is how we (and your current followers or friends in social media) learn about our identity through images.Whether it's our images or someone else’s images, culture is also present in each image.  In most of my images, you will notice a necklace I constantly wear and never take off. That is a necklace of the Virgin Mary, which expresses my religion and culture as a Mexican. Everyone else has their own representation through their image.   

If and when we create and control the images of ourselves that we share, we can communicate to those who truly know us. I can say that not everyone will be able to understand what we are trying to say through our images because as the old saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  As the Guerilla Girls try to send out a message of how there is barely any female artists in the Art Museums, people only focus on who is underneath the mask rather than the big message, As of now, we are controlled by the advertisers of consumer goods. Reason I believe this is because we grew older and older trying to make an image of ourselves using what is given to us, which is mostly brands. We identify ourselves using the brands but in reality we become advertisers ourselves. We can control what we wear and create but what we are really saying is “come and buy this sweater at H&M” or “come buy these shoes in Aldo.” As Joanne Finkelstein points out in her book “The Art of Self Invention,” “we are regularly addressed by the advertisers of consumer goods, by retailers and pollsters, and urged to think about ourselves, and use their products to reveal our habits and meet our interests” (181). Without thinking we are giving them business. This is why I believe we can only communicate to those who truly know us, because for those who do not know us, we are just a stranger with good taste in clothes.

"Read My Mother's Diary" by Sophie Calle

10 Year Old Me

Readings: “On Photography”-Susan Sontag; “Ways of Seeing”-John Berger, “The Art of Self Invention”-Joanne Finkelstein.