De-Colonising the Western Gaze: the Portrait As a Multi-Sensory Cultural Practice
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Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Doctoral Applied Arts 2019-3 De-Colonising the Western Gaze: The Portrait as a Multi-Sensory Cultural Practice Angelika Boeck Technological University Dublin Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/appadoc Part of the Other Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Boeck, Angelika, (2019) De-Colonising the Western Gaze: The Portrait as a Multi-Sensory Cultural Practice, Doctoral Thesis, Technological University Dublin. DOI: 10.21427/9qhc-d277 This Theses, Ph.D is brought to you for free and open access by the Applied Arts at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License De-Colonising the Western Gaze: The Portrait as a Multi-Sensory Cultural Practice Angelika Boeck (MA Interior Design, MA Fine Art) A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the award of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) School of Media Centre for Socially Engaged Practice-Based Research College of Arts and Tourism Technological University Dublin Supervisors: Dr Alan Grossman, Dr Anthony Haughey March 2019 Abstract This art practice-based thesis addresses the ocularcentric approach inherent in Western representations of ‘otherness’ with a view to expanding notions of the ‘portrait’ as a culturally specific practice. Drawing on a selection of projects conducted over two decades across diverse cultural contexts, together with written publications, the thesis explores possible ways to identify and theorise alternative methodological and analytical frameworks through which the Other can be represented. Turning the gaze upon the artist/researcher in performative acts of mutual representation as a dialogical method, cross-cultural projects addressed in the thesis include the indigenous Sámi’s yoik, the Aboriginal Australian’s track reading and female veiling in Yemen. The thesis comprises Parts I and II, together with an introduction and conclusion, in addition to four appendices. Adopting a feminist research approach and attention to indigenous methodologies as points of departure, Part I provides a critical overview of relevant and intersecting literature on theories of othering and the Western notion of the portrait; it outlines the foundation on which the studied cultural practices were interpreted as practices of relating and attributing. While acknowledging the central role of the photograph as a critical tool of Western visual representation, focus is directed to multi- sensory cultural practices prevalent in non-Western and indigenous cultures. The primary concern of Part II is the role of the mediation of the artworks in postproduction, which draws on material collated during intersubjective field encounters, exhibited across contested sites of representation. Referencing both historically situated and contemporary art and anthropological research practices, alongside their modes of dissemination, Part II critically reflects on contested questions surrounding exhibition and curation, allied to the decolonisation of the anthropological museum. 1 Declaration I certify that this thesis, which I now submit for examination for the award of PhD (doctor of philosophy) is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. This thesis was prepared according to the regulations for PhD of the Technological University Dublin and has not been submitted in whole or in part for an award in any other institute or university. The work reported on in this thesis conforms to the principles and requirements of the Institute’s guidelines for ethics in research. The Institute has permission to keep, to lend or to copy this thesis in whole or in part, on condition that any such use of the material be duly acknowledged. Signature ___________________________ Date __________________________ 2 Acknowledgments My thanks go first and foremost to my PhD supervisors, Dr Alan Grossman and Dr Anthony Haughey, whose understanding, encouragement, guidance and patience have been invaluable. Their faith in me was decisive in my commitment and perseverance on this remarkable journey for which Professor Helga Peskoller and Tanya Eccleston gave me the confidence and Professor Wolfgang Weileder the encouragement. Sadly, there is insufficient space to thank everyone who has inspired me over the long course of this thesis. But I would especially like to mention Professor Randi Gunzenhäuser, who, as so often, helped me to understand my own work better, as well as Professor Kristin Marek who pointed me in the direction of looking at the portrait as a cultural practice and Professor Martin Zillinger, who encouraged me to foreground my vulnerable research position. I am grateful that Guido Zebisch and Philip Oswalt recalled their encounters with my work for the purpose of my thesis and thank all those, especially Pamela Baldacchino, Dr Anita Edenhofer and Sergio Muscat, who have critically read my work and by doing so helped me improve it, as did Dr Roxanne Powell, Dr Frieda Pattenden and Janet Davies, who assisted me with editing and linguistic aspects. I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to all the participants who knowingly or unknowingly engaged with me in this practice-based research. I am further indebted to quite a number of old, new and lost friends who shared their insights with me. I cannot possibly name everyone here, but would like to mention Robert Lawlor, Kim Akerman, Korinna Thielen, Dr Garry Doherty, Iria Kuen, Ruth Balala, Karl Heyny and Dr Britta Schwartz. I also cannot thank enough all the friends who have cheered me on over the past two and a half years. Last but not least, I owe to my former partner, Wilson Bala, a deeper understanding that indigenous ways of relating to the world do not depend solely on what the human eye can see. I am grateful to Tracey Moffatt (and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney), Karen Knorr (and Filles du Calvaire Gallery, Paris), Gregor Schneider and Katharina Pirak Sikku for their permission to use images of their artworks in my thesis. Most importantly, I thank my mother, Marianne Boeck, and my twin sister, Bettina Boeck, for their more than fifty years of unshakeable confidence in me. To the latter I dedicate this work, which she, a literary scholar, certainly would have written much better than I. 3 Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 10 Part I ................................................................................................................................ 16 I.1 Making Use of Othering ................................................................................................................... 19 I.2 Revisiting the Portrait: Turning to Aesthetic Representation ........................................................... 22 I.3 Aesthetic Forms of Representation: Between Individuality and Relationality ................................. 24 I.4 Researcher and Researched as Subject and Object ........................................................................... 27 I.5 From Objectification to Sensory Relation ........................................................................................ 28 I.6 From Vision to Making Sense .......................................................................................................... 33 I.7 Reversing the Gaze ........................................................................................................................... 36 I.8 Adopting a Vulnerable Research Position ........................................................................................ 41 I.9 Portrait as a Cultural Practice ........................................................................................................... 44 I.10 A Three-Pronged Artistic Practice: Interpersonal Encounters ........................................................ 48 I.10.1 Seek Me: The Sámi’s Yoik ...................................................................................................... 51 I.10.2 Track Me: Aboriginal Australian Track Reading .................................................................... 57 I.10.3 Imagine Me: Veiling in Yemen ............................................................................................... 64 Part II ............................................................................................................................... 74 II.1 Revisiting the Western Gaze ........................................................................................................... 75 II.2 Perspectives of a Dialogical Art Practice ........................................................................................ 77 II.3 Creating Art in Dialogue with the Cultural Other ........................................................................... 78 II.4 Mediating Sites of Interpretation ..................................................................................................... 79 II.5 Sensory Dialogue with the Western Gaze ......................................................................................