Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms immerse the viewer in a world of strange shapes and colors that stretches out in all directions. The goal of her art is to smash the individual self into fractals and leave one gazing out into a nonsensical, infinite sea of space. Now, however, her work is known as the best selfie background on Earth. It has gone from representing getting lost to the very opposite: individual attention cultivated through social media. Hyper-individualism is thriving in a culture of loneliness, anxiety, and fear, where people are desperate to feel unique and by posting the same art selfies and buying the same products. This individualism feeds the advertising industry. Every company seems to be releasing an ad about how individual and unique their consumers are, but few are more famous than the Share a Coke campaign, which encourages people to buy Coca-Cola bottles with their names on them. Even though the bottles are obviously not individualized in any meaningful way, the modern trend of fear-driven individualism makes this campaign work. This cultural moment of anxiety is feeding advertising and killing art. Capitalizing on having seen art is becoming more important than actually seeing it.
Monthly Archives: September 2019
BomBARDed with Complaints: Who Killed Elizabethan Drama?
Most Americans’ cultural idea of a Puritan is vague. Someone in a hat with a buckle on it yelling about the sin of cosmetics, probably. But who were the actual Puritans, why were they so strict, and what did they think of Shakespeare’s plays?
Puritanism is, in fact, a very vague word to describe the 1500s-1600s movement of people who believed the Anglican Church’s overhaul of tradition was incomplete. When Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth established the rule of the Protestant Anglican Church in previously Catholic England, they added even more factions to a religiously unsettled island. Now there were Catholics, miscellaneous Protestants, law-abiding Anglicans, and a new faction that believed the monarchs hadn’t gone far enough when it came to taking all the bells and whistles off of English Christianity.
The Puritans believed that the Scriptures ought to be synonymous with law, with strict legal punishments for any infringement of Scriptural orders. completely merging the already state-owned Church into the government. They believed in an Old-Testament God who saved a few hard workers and damned everyone else to Hell. They wanted to eliminate all ceremonies not rooted in the Bible, including, among other things, Christmas. They also tended to despise all the excesses of the Globe Theater, whose entertainment options included not only drama, but also bear-baiting, gambling, and excessive drinking.
Besides spiritual objections to excess and make-believe, the Puritans may have been driven by envy, as Church attendance stayed low and people flocked to entertainment, and plays were printed on finer paper than Bibles.
In Shakespeare’s time, however, the Puritans weren’t the most difficult adversary. They protested, of course, but their political power was limited. The greatest difficulties came from the Aldermen of London, as well as the Privy Council. These groups complained that the theaters were distracting workers, and suppressed all London stage plays in 1597. Shakespeare and other playwrights had to rely entirely on royal patronage after this point. This partly explains the way he obsequiously obeys the monarchs’ whims, including supporting James’ rage against witches and bringing Falstaff back from the dead because Elizabeth wanted to see him in love.
Before the Puritans’ political uprising, one popular tactic to suppress plays was to fine merchants for hosting them on their property, or even to pay the actors not to perform, as the King’s Men were reportedly payed by 1622.
In the end, Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan interregnum government squashed Elizabethan drama. From banning all public plays in 1642 to destroying the Globe Theater in 1644 to the ordering of the destruction of all playhouses and the whipping of all actors in 1947, Elizabethan plays were completely suppressed until the 1660s.
RCL 3- Civic Artifact Speech Outline
Speech Outline
- Introduction of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room art installations.
- Attention: Close your eyes and stare out into the darkness behind your eyelids. Take a journey through the infinite space of abstract colors and shapes. Dissolve into it. How would you capture this experience? How would you convey it to others? And why would you want to convey it at all?
- Topic: Kusama’s Infinity Room art installations were originally made to convey a sense of the infinite, and the meaninglessness of the self. They’re now modern art’s top selfie booth.
- HOOK: What do we all do when we see something beautiful? We take a picture of it home with us. We show it to our friends. All of us have done it.
- Establishing Credibility: I saw two of these rooms in the Mattress Factory art museum in Pittsburgh. I took pictures in both of them. So did everyone else in the rooms with me.
- Thesis: A cultural wave of individualism, driven by anxiety, loneliness, and fear, is compromising our ability to appreciate the original message of art like Kusama’s, which embraces the meaningless, monotonous, infinite nature of the universe and the insignificance of the individual.
- Preview: Today I will discuss the themes the art was originally meant to convey, the new niche it has taken up in the age of social media, and why an appreciation of the art’s original values is essential to the healing of an anxious modern world.
In order to discover the ways our individualism undermines Kusama’s work, we must first consider her artistic vision, beginning with the first Infinity Room in 1965.
The original function of the art installations.
subpoint 1 – The installations convey Kusama’s philosophy of Self-Obliteration- the individual blending in and disappearing into an abstract, meaningless, beautiful, endless universe, the individual self broken into shards thrown across every wall.
subpoint 2 – There is an essential comfort in forgetting the individual self. One cannot find empathy or appreciate beauty without leaving oneself. Most mental torments would be abandoned if the consciousness ceased to be able to consider itself as an entity, and instead looked towards the universe as a whole.
subpoint 3 – We need to realize the meaningless infinity of the universe in order to find meaning in our daily lives. The anxieties that seem so important disappear when one sees the infinite scale of things. This liberates the mind to choose what matters, and to focus with a renewed sense of calm and community.
With the advent of the personal cell phone camera and the burgeoning movement of cyber-individualism, the way the installations serve us today is drastically different from their original purpose.
The modern function of the art installations.
subpoint 1 – The art installations are now a trendy source of social currency. Posting pictures and telling stories from the rooms makes one seem cultured and educated. The physical beauty of the space decorate’s people’s virtual existence.
subpoint 2 – Hyper-individualism has created the modern space of social media, where people struggle to keep up a sparkling permanent record that boasts all the best parts of themselves. It is seen as a missed opportunity if one does not use this space to create an idealized self, displaying all of its brilliance, uniqueness, beauty, and culture. All the best must be on display for it to be worthwhile.
subpoint 3 – The art is serving the opposite of its original purpose. Instead of getting lost in infinity, viewers harness it for their desperate personal quest to share every scrap of joy and meaning. One must not only deal with a physical self, and how it is perceived, but also a second, idealized, customizable self.
The way we interact with Kusama’s art today is a sign of the unhealthy side of flourishing individualism. Our selfies hold clues as to how we might escape our modern insecurities about the design of the perfect self.
The anxiety that has changed the way we view these art installations would be assuaged by viewing them the way we once did.
subpoint 1 – Modern cyber-individualism creates the illusion of freedom surrounding one’s identity. It sends everyone into a tailspin, trying to control the narrative about themselves and make it favorable. This obviously causes stress, but it also is borne out of a cultural anxiety and loneliness. Our inability to embrace the idea of not always being an individual shows a fear of being unworthy without one’s individual achievements.
subpoint 2 – The existential fear of a generation, refined by helicopter parenting and a new age of hyper-security, sits with one question: am I good enough? The fact that everyone strives to refine a favorable individual narrative implies the collective fear that the answer is “No.” Everyone is trying to prove themselves through their identity, and is seemingly unable to accept their worth and value in the universe if that worth isn’t tied to their individualism.
subpoint 3 – People are lonely and afraid. Continuing the control-freak mission of creating a perfect self doesn’t make it any better. People resist letting go of the self and getting lost in the meaningless universe, but this is exactly what they need to learn to do. We must trust the world enough to get lost in it if we wish to see its beauty. We must accept that we have not squeezed all of the social value out of every opportunity, if we want to find value within our own existence.
We must question whether we come to art to absorb the artist’s intent or to feed our individual selves with its parts as we see fit. If we are to experience the art the way the artist meant us to, we must return to her philosophy.
- Kusama’s philosophy, and her method of physical immersion in it through art, are needed now more than ever, when collective insecurity drives the cultural narrative. A generation of anxious young people must return to the original purpose of the art that decorates their perfect, cultured social media pages.
- In summary…
- The purpose of the artwork is not getting photographic proof of having experienced it. The purpose of the artwork is to experience its message through its strong aesthetic language, and to glimpse the interconnected nature of the universe which the artist believes should be our ultimate comfort in existence.
- Kusama’s art, and the comfort of her infinity, is everything we need. The anxiety of creating an ideal self, which is one perfect person in every environment, must be cast aside and destroyed just as one’s reflection is smashed into infinite pieces in the mirrors of the rooms.
Witch, Please: Did Shakespeare Believe in the Supernatural?
The three sisters in Macbeth are some of the most timeless witches ever portrayed. Ghosts appear indirectly or indirectly in at least eight plays. Fairies abound in Midsummer, and references to them are sprinkled throughout other plays. A handful invoked ancient Roman deities, that sometimes appeared onstage directly. Prophetic visions and various other supernatural happenings frequently inform characters’ decisions.
Shakespeare obviously had a thing for the supernatural. But did he truly believe in it?
In the Elizabethan era, witch trials were still happening, and were grounded in law. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I both passed witchcraft laws, which attempted to control the narrative of the Reformation by asserting that the Anglican Church was ready to destroy the existential terror of the day. These laws, however, seem to be crafted around public opinion rather than genuine panic. The legal fight against witches really took off when James I took the throne. Years before becoming king, he wrote a book about witches called Daemonologie, which he used as evidence to support his witchcraft laws as soon as he became king in 1604. Though James I also used witchcraft to control the public through fear, his escalation of the issue suggests a genuine belief in witches. Thus, throughout Shakespeare’s lifetime, a number of witch trials happened in the country, pamphlets and books about witchcraft were common, and the belief was not limited to the uneducated lower classes.
The ghost question was debated frequently among Shakespeare’s contemporaries. In the Elizabethan view, the question was not “Do ghosts exist?” but, rather, “Are ghosts a genuine spirit of a person, or a trick of the Devil?” Hamlet asks himself similar questions about the ghost of his father, and seems to decide the spirit is genuine. Placing ghosts in dreams (Richard III), visions only visible to some (Macbeth), or other shadowy settings helped Shakespeare use ghosts while avoiding the technical questions of their authenticity.
The supernatural definitely made for convenient plot points, was emotionally powerful in the minds of audiences, and pandered to a superstitious royal family. Witch anxiety fanned by the royals flared during Shakespeare’s life. Though it is assumed he was a conforming Anglican, there is no way to discern Shakespeare’s true beliefs regarding witches. A firm divide between realistic and fantastical fiction had not yet been cultivated during his time, and to renounce the supernatural would have been an insult to the royal family. One has to accept that Shakespeare’s plays fed supernatural fanaticism at the time, whether as a choice of genuine belief or one of loyalty or writer’s block.
RCL 2- Kairos and Obama’s Iconic Hope Poster
Barack Obama’s Hope poster, designed by Shepard Fairey, first appeared as a street poster, and eventually was printed on anything a poster could be printed on as it came to represent the entire 2008 Obama campaign. The distinctive coloring and simplicity of the poster recall political propaganda of earlier years, while creating an iconic modern image for the politician.
The original poster designed by Fairey used the word “progress”, but was changed to say “hope” after Obama’s representatives pointed out the negative connotation of the original wording. Indeed, between the predominantly red-and-beige design, the bold portrait, and the idea of progress being foisted upon a country, the original poster might remind the viewer of USSR propaganda. Besides the historical connotation, promising people “progress” is saying far more than offering them “hope”. A popular poster boasting progress would have been regularly referenced by followers and critics of Obama alike to criticize what they saw as a lack of it. It also assumes that Obama knows how progress is done best and will accomplish his own vision alone, a connotation that runs contrary to the freedom so idealistically described in the governance of the United States. A message of hope, on the other hand, may be delivered without an expectation of explicit tangible results.
Obama was elected during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, when no one knew exactly how to fix the national economic meltdown that was quickly becoming global. Any promise of specific “progress” by Obama would be grounds for political debate, and would make him seem unfeeling to his constituents. A platform based around hope, however, is able to provide an ideal to every struggling American. In a time when everyone is suffering, the way to win their hearts is not by promising to make things better, but by empathizing. This is why Obama’s entire campaign based on hope (drawing from his 2006 ideas in The Audacity of Hope) appealed to the nation in a time of crisis, and softened the look of a bold poster, taking it from frighteningly radical to reassuringly different.
Will the Real Shakespeare Please Stand Up?
It seems as if one can’t have a conversation about the life of William Shakespeare without bringing up the theories that he was not one man from Stratford-upon-Avon, but someone else entirely. Somehow, it always comes around to the idea that Shakespeare is a pseudonym for a large group of people or one of his poetic contemporaries (most frequently, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, William Stanley, Edward de Vere, and, occasionally, Emilia Bassano). It’s viewed as a fringe theory by most, but the prevalence of these conspiracy theories over the years begs one question: why do we refuse to believe that one man from a non-noble background could create such brilliant work? And why, when these theories are nothing but speculation, have we been talking about it for four hundred years?
The one thing that separates Shakespeare from these contemporaries is his upbringing. He grew up in a commoner household, with possibly illiterate parents, and was probably educated in the King’s New School, a new system of free public education up to age 13. His life is well-documented for the period: the man Shakespeare seems to have existed. The only problem is a lack of surviving evidence (beyond his signature) that he wrote anything.
The reasons given for the supposed authors to invent an entire persona for their work vary from candidate to candidate. One might argue nobles could not release their work in print without political scrutiny. It seems that specific evidence for each theory is limited to a few bits of analysis or anagrams of Shakespeare’s lines. I would argue there is no outstanding candidate based on current evidence, but, because of William Shakespeare’s lack of documented writing or higher education, the question will remain open until more evidence is found. The ultimate question is this: do we believe in brilliance, and accept that some historical facts are lost to time, or do we seek a definitive explanation?
One might say our cultural inability to entirely accept Shakespeare’s identity is born not out of evidence, but out of a lack of understanding of genius itself. The noblemen poets are never questioned in their brilliance, but Shakespeare’s common upbringing continues to make people question his true abilities. The idea of a secret identity is irresistible to us in the face of how little we know about his life. However, the simple lack of evidence in either direction will likely leave the question open forever.
Unless anything else is discovered, my answer to the question of “Was Shakespeare Shakespeare” will always be “Does it matter?” Someone wrote dazzling work and chose to sign it as William Shakespeare. Isn’t that enough?
Two Blog Ideas
Here are two ideas for my passion blog in the upcoming weeks:
- I might attend a meeting for a different club on campus every week in order to try new things and expose other people to new experiences. Although I am starting to get involved in several activities of my own initiative, I’m scared to attempt many others. I’m interested in improv and comedy, for example, and I have some background in theater, but the vulnerability of these activities is frightening. Similarly, a friend invited me to attend her K-pop dance group, and I’m intimidated because I don’t know the first thing about K-pop dance. On the other hand, several clubs I’ve joined aren’t at all what they seem on the surface, and I know people would absolutely love them if more people tried them (for example, Swing Dancing Club and Student Farm Club). Perhaps I might explore a subgenre of club each week, rather than spending the spotlight entirely on one club- for example, a sampling of different dance groups, performance groups, activism-related groups, etc. I hope to expand my own horizons by trying everything once (or at least a handful of things once) and doing things that scare me, while also providing exposure for the quirkier groups on campus, interviewing students and giving an honest review of the experience so students know what to expect before they go.
2. I’m an avid reader, and I try to read as broadly as possible. I use the book tracking site Goodreads regularly to rate and review books and keep track of what I have read. So far I’ve read 154 books in 2019, and, looking back, I see a wide range of topics, genres, and time periods represented, but one thing is blatantly, entirely missing: graphic novels. An arbitrary snobbishness has kept me from reading a single graphic novel over the course of my otherwise well-read childhood. I might attempt to fix my graphic novel and general superhero illiteracy by absorbing a different superhero’s main comics each week, from the perspective of someone who has never read comics before. By the end of the semester, I hope I will learn to appreciate the art form, will increase my cultural literacy, and will have written some honest, insightful reviews of a type of writing I’ve been neglecting. Since I’ll be working with what I can find locally, in the library, or online, perhaps I’ll unearth some lesser-read gems of the genre as well.
RCL 1- ASPCA
Although there is no explicit violence in this ASPCA advertisement, the mental images are so horrible that one feels the advertisement shouldn’t be shown. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) spends little of its actual budget supporting animals, and spent $52 million on fundraising in 2012, according to Charity Navigator. Since fundraising takes up so much of the company’s budget (this year, the entire budget is $129 million), one could argue that the publicity, not the actual sheltering of animals, is the main service provided by the ASPCA. One could argue that the ASPCA’s iconic, emotionally manipulative advertisements have made the general public far more aware of animal cruelty than ever before. For this reason, one may assume that general publicity about animal cruelty, and the positioning of the ASPCA against it, is the main point of this advertisement, as opposed to a call to action about any particular service.
The empty space in this advertisement draws the eye to the few seemingly unconnected elements, encouraging the viewer to attempt to put them together. Though the household objects are not explicitly violent, the combination of them with the puppy, as well as the following sentence, suggest a violent element. The “we’ve seen worse” establishes the ASPCA as a company that deals with animal cruelty on a large scale and has seen many cases, subconsciously creating trust within the viewer. The shock of the empty space and the graphic images created by one’s own mind makes the viewer desperate for a ‘hero’, and the ASPCA positions itself as such through the visual storytelling and the sparse wording of the advertisement. The ethos of the company and its reputation as a trustworthy and charitable company establishes itself when the company repeatedly uses dramatic imagery, or imagined imagery, and positions itself after the horrific emotional appeal as a source of comfort and escape. The isolating visual elements magnify the role of the ASPCA as an expert.