Dawn Woolley Thesis Final
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Copyright Statement This text represents the submission for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal College of Art. This copy has been supplied for the purpose of research for private study, on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgment. 1 Abstract The aim of the research is to identify pathological relations between consumer culture and consumers. I explore the relation between people and objects, and the impact that images have as producers and disseminators of sign-value. Taking the term ‘advertisement’ loosely I refer to Dutch still-life paintings as advertisements for the craft-objects they depict and the lifestyles they suggest. The body is also considered to be an advertisement because of the commodities with which it is adorned and the socially prescribed ideals that it reinforces. I consider social networking sites as commercial spaces where body ideals are disseminated. Different forms of self-presentation, including selfies, thinspiration, and fat fetishism are examined as indications of the recuperation of aberrant signs in the system of sign-value exchange. The analytical methodology for this enquiry is framed by theories of commodity fetishism and sexual fetishism through which I consider both the socio-economic and the psychosexual dimensions of the relation between consumer society and individual consumers. I examine sexual fetishism and kleptomania by reference to psychoanalytic case studies in order to chart how objects are inscribed with value. Fetishists and kleptomaniacs endow seemingly trivial objects with a value that is incomprehensible to other people. These unusual relations to objects offer an alternative model for evaluating the value of commodities in a manner that might liberate the body of the consumer. The practical aspect of the research centres on the still-life. Taking my cue from Dutch still-life paintings from the seventeenth century that reflected a conflicting relation with material wealth, I produce still-life objects that reflect a contradictory relationship to consumerism. I produce still-life photographs in order to develop an alternative visual language for the commodified and objectified contemporary consumer body. 2 Consumed: Stilled Lives and the Pathologies of Capitalism Contents List of Illustrations p. 6 Acknowledgements p. 10 Author’s Declaration p. 11 Introduction p. 12 Works – Vanitas Still Life p. 22 PART 1: PRODUCTION Works – Lure p. 23 Chapter 1: Proto-Capitalist Still Life Painting Commodity Fetish Paintings. p. 40 The Art Market Sign-Value Exchange System. p. 44 Artistic Production Lines and ‘Too-Early’ Advertisements. p. 49 Ironic Allegories and Congealed Wish Images. p. 55 Works – Celebrate (Night feeder) p. 64 Transition 1: Incarnate commodities Flirtatious Commodities. p. 67 Advertising Edible Body-parts. p. 69 PART2: CONSUMPTION Works – Pacifier p. 74 Chapter 2: Perverse Consumption Perverse Shopping and Substitute Objects. p. 84 Fashion and Death. p. 90 Profane Glimmer and Fetishistic Looking p. 94 Erotic Sign-Value Exchange and Fetishistic Compromise. p. 97 Works – Celebrate (Blancmange Dentata) p. 101 Chapter 3: Hysterical Consumers, Performing Symptoms Alienating Images and Fragmented Bodies p. 103 Performing Symptoms. p. 106 Hysterical Rivalry and Advertisements. p. 111 The Hysterical Sign-Value of the Young Girl. p. 114 Presentification and Pretence p. 121 Works – Hunger of the Ox p. 127 PART 3: EXCHANGE Works – Wishbooks, Hysterical Selfies, and Sirens p. 132 Chapter 4: Hysterical Selfie Exchange Prototype for Passion: Hysteria in the Nineteenth Century. p. 145 Attention Economy Workers and the Social Media Marketplace. p. 150 Hysterical Advertising and the Integrated Spectacle. p. 153 The Pseudo-Hysterical Discourse of Capitalism p. 156 Works – Consumer Posters p. 163 Chapter 5: Stilled Lives Still Lives and the Paradox of Progress. p. 168 Deathly Suspension of the Fashionable Face. p. 171 Group Psychology and the image of a Sadistic Leader. p. 177 Works – Celebrate (Tea Party) p. 187 Chapter 6: Commodifying Anti-Consumers The Universe of the Capitalist. p. 189 Commodified Starvation. p. 194 Negative Signs and Sign-Value Exchange. p. 197 Hyperfocalisation and the Surgical Gaze. p. 200 Recuperated Signs. p. 204 Works – Estranged Meals p. 209 Transition 2: Makeover shows & Intextuated Consumers The Feeding Clinic. p. 216 Hysterical Identification as Anti-Pleasure. p. 220 PART4: DESTRUCTION Works – Memorials p. 223 Chapter 7: Self-indulging Consumers Future Conditional Consumers. p. 229 Fat Admiration and Unproductive Signs. p. 232 The Fantasy of Pleasure. p. 238 Abject Fascination. p. 243 Works – Celebrate (Weight) p. 250 Conclusion: The Discourses of Social Networking Sites Sign-Value and Ideology. p. 257 The Discourse of the Capitalist. p. 262 The Discourse of Bio-Power. p. 270 The Discourse of Immaterial Production. p. 274 The Discourse of Critical Theory. p. 278 Beyond the Young-Girl. p. 280 Works – Vanitas Nature Morte p. 286 Bibliography p. 287 List of Illustrations Figure [1] Willem Kalf, Still Life with Drinking-Horn (of Saint Sebastian Archers’ Guild, Lobster and Glasses) [painting] London: National Gallery, Approx. 1653 p. 41 Figure [2] Abraham van Beyeren, Still Life With A Silver Wine-Jar and a Reflected Portrait of the Artist [painting] Oxford: The Ashmolean Museum, 1650s p. 47 Figure [3] Pieter Claesz, Still Life with Jug, Herring and Smoking Requisites [painting] London: The Guildhall Art Gallery, 1644 p. 56 Figure [4] William Claesz Heda, Still Life: Pewter and Silver Vessels and a Crab [painting] London: National Gallery, Approx. 1633–7 p. 59 Figure [5] Unknown Photographer, It’ll Blow Your Mind Away (Burger King) [Advertising Photograph] Singapore, 2009 (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529576,00.html) [accessed 27 March 2012] p. 69 Figure [6] Unknown Photographer, Magnum Ice cream, [advertising photograph] Spain, 2006, (http://www.advertolog.com/magnum/print- outdoor/cracking-8197655/) [accessed 10 March 2012] p. 72 Figure [7] Unknown Photographer, Revlon PhotoReady Insta-Fix Makeup [advertising photograph] USA, 2015 (http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity- endorsements/celebrities/emma-stone/) [accessed 12 August 2016] p. 113 6 Figure [8] Gym selfies, www.google.com, [accessed 13 August 2016] p. 119 Figure [9] Selfies, www.tumblr.com/search/selfie, [accessed 16 July 2014] p. 122 Figure [10] Kim Kardashian selfie, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2720320/Undisputed-Queen- Selfie-Kim-Kardashian-release-352-page-hardcover-photo-book-aptly-titled- Selfish.html accessed on 16.07.2015 p. 149 Figure [11] Domenico Dolce [photographer], Dolce and Gabbana, Spring/Summer Collection (2016) p. 154 Figure [12] Domenico Dolce [photographer], Dolce and Gabbana, Autumn/Winter Collection (2015) p. 155 Figure [13] L’Oréal Infallible Sculpt Make-up [advertisement] director unknown, 2016 p. 182 Figure [14] Thinspiration Photographs https://www.pinterest.com [accessed 24. March 2015] p. 197 Figure [15] Two Photographs of a Woman Suffering from Anorexia, from the article 'Deux Cas D'Anorexie Hystérique' by Dr Wallet, Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière. volume 5, Plates XXXIV and XXXV, publiée sous la direction du professeur Charcot, Masson et Cie. Paris, 1892 [Journal] Wellcome Library: London p. 200 Figure [16] Four Photographs of a Woman showing anorexia nervosa, from 7 the article 'Deux Cas D'Anorexie Hystérique ' by Dr Wallet, Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière. volume 5, Plates XXXVI and XXXVII, publiée sous la direction du professeur Charcot, Masson et Cie. Paris, 1892 [Journal] Wellcome Library: London p. 203 Figure [17] Selfies www.tumblr.com/search/selfie [accessed 16 July 2014] p. 204 Figure [18] http://extreme-thinspo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/real-girls- thinspiration.html [accessed 25 July 2015] p. 205 Figure [19] ‘Lucy and Leighton’, in Supersize vs Superskinny, Season 3, Episode 2, 30 March 2010, Channel 4 Production: London, 2010 [television broadcast] p. 216 Figure [20] ‘Jenette and Rosemarie’, in Supersize vs Superskinny, Season 1, Episode 1, 26 February 2008, Channel 4 Production: London, 2008 [television broadcast] p. 218 Figure [21] Fat Fetish Photographs http://fantasyfeeder.com/pics [accessed 7 August 2015] p. 239 Figure [22] Selfie by ‘Princess Piggy’ www.fantasyfeeder.com [accessed 7 August 2015] p. 240 Figure [23] Photograph of ‘GainingLear’ www.fantasyfeeder.com [accessed 24 August 2016] p. 244 Figure [24] Photograph of ‘ilovemyhugebelly’ www.fantasyfeeder.com [accessed 7 August 2015] p. 247 8 Figure [25] Seungyeon Gabrielle Jung, ‘Liquify, Blur, and Merge: Photographic and Surgical Adventures of 21st-century Korean Women’, [conference paper] Twenty-first Century Photography Conference, University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins, 5–6 June 2015. p. 267 Figure [26] Sung-Gwae Photograph http://www.allkpop.com/forums/discussion/214268/%EC%84%B1%EA%B4% B4-ps-can-someone-explain-me-why-they-think-this-is-beautiful [accessed 7 July 2015] p. 268 Figure [27] Sailor Moon [Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation, adapted from a manga series by Naoko Takeuchi (1991–7 in Nakayoshi) <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?ann- edition=uk&id=363> [accessed 7 July 2015] p. 269 9 Acknowledgements I am very grateful to my supervisors Dr Francette Pacteau and Dr Sharon Kivland, for their insight, encouragement and guidance. Thank you to Dr Caitlin O’Hara and Dr Savani Bartholdy