ITAP LECTURE 9

Image and text

An image, especially a photograph should have a description, title or even have text included within the image. The text should fit the Image. The image is “Nude” until you put it into context. It may need to go with other images also to give it a description of what it is.

Sophie Calle’s work is very interesting. Born in 1953, she is a French writer, installation and conceptual artist as well as a photographer. Her work is distinguished by the use of arbitrary constraints. It evokes the French literary movement of the 1960’s, which is also known as Ouilipo.  Her work frequently depicts human vulnerability, which examines identity and intimacy. She has a detective like ability to follow strangers and investigate their private lives. Her work usually includes panels of texts, which is usually her own handwriting.

Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle

In her work entitled Suite Venitienne, Sophie followed a man she had met at a party in Venice in 1979, She disguised herself to follow him around the city and photographing him. The images she captures are in Black and white and are accompanied by text. She carried out the surveillance of the man only identified as Henri B

In her project “The Hotel” she got herself hired as a chambermaid. She explored the writings and objects of the hotels guests. This project involved text and photography.

Barbra Kruger born in America in 1945 is a conceptual artist. Much of her work is black and white photographs overlaid with declarative captions.  The phrases she uses often include pronouns such as “you”, “your”, “I”, “we”, “they”.

One of her pieces includes the phrase,” I shop, therefore, I am”

She has said that, “ I work with pictures and words because they have the ability to determine who we are or who we are not”.

Barbra Kruger

Rene Magritte was born in 1898 in Belgium and was a surrealist artist. He became well known for a lot of witty and thought provoking images that fell under the umbrella of “Surrealism”. He challenges observer’s preconditioned perceptions of reality within his images.

Maigritte

Maigritte

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Magritte

http://www.musee-magritte-museum.be/Portail/Site/Typo3.asp?lang=FR&id=languagedetect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Kruger

http://www.barbarakruger.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Calle

http://www.egs.edu/faculty/sophie-calle/biography/