One of the pieces I will be presenting which has left me with a really deep impression is Suzy Gonzalez' 36-24-36. I particularly praise this art piece because Gonzalez has successfully subverted many expectations of what art is, as well as critiquing society's expectations of what a woman is supposed to look like. The title refers to the measurements of a woman's chest, stomach, and waist that is supposed to be the standard of beauty that women should aim to adhere to, as those are the measurements which are supposedly the most attractive towards men. This notion is harmful towards women's psychological sense of self esteem as they internalize they have to be these measurements in order to be attractive, as well as internalizing the notion that in order to be worth something they must appease to men's expectations of them. Gonzalez is successfully critiquing these beauty standards by introducing dadaist inspiration into her piece, further highlighting the ridiculous nature of these beauty standards. She also chooses the illustrate this dadaist feminine figure with food, which is a statement towards the view that women are sometimes seen in the eyes of a patriarchal society not as independent humans with their own thoughts and feelings but rather as objects to be consumed or "conquered" by men. Gonzalez is critiquing the notion of a patriarchal society by pushing back against this idea and asserting that women are not just objects to have sex with but rather full humans in their own right that deserve respect and to be treated with decency. The reason that 36-24-36 is deserving of praise is because Gonzalez is able to make various statements that critique what are typically understood to be cultural norms while also making a piece that attempts to decolonize dadaism and is appealing to the eye.
No comments:
Post a Comment