SKINS \ SCREENS \ CIRCUITS: HOW TECHNOLOGY REMADE THE BODY CADENCE KINSEY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON PHD HISTORY OF ART 1 I, Cadence Kinsey, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is an analysis of the social, political and historical inter-relationships between moving image technologies, constructions of gender and sexuality, and theories of science and technology. Presented as a series of case-studies on film, video, medical imaging and computer technology in the work of five women artists, this thesis looks at the way in which artistic practice overturns traditional theories of technology as purely ‘instrumental’, theories of the subject in which identity is tied to the body, and the assumption that women do not access technology in a sophisticated way. It considers the various ways in which women artists have engaged with, and subverted, the explicit body in representation through deploying new moving image technologies at the historical moment of their widespread distribution across domestic, artistic, pornographic and medical spheres. It ends by asking what is the political potential in challenging the anthropomorphic and destabilizing the figurative through abstraction? Beginning with an investigation into the way in which Carolee Schneemann uses the material properties of film to establish a haptic encounter, in which female and feline bodies are caught up in a sexual economy of touch (pet/petting), this thesis then looks at the work of Kate Craig and the mutual expansion of pornography and home- video technology, questioning the emergence of the ‘amateur’ in relation to theories of power and gender; offers a technological and philosophical modeling of medical imaging technology (taking endoscopy in the work of Mona Hatoum as a case study); and re-evaluates the use of binary in information systems beyond a limiting analogy with ‘Western binaries’ through the work of Nell Tenhaaf. Using the languages of art history together with science & technology studies, medical discourse and feminism, this research theorises gender, technology and medicine as systems of representation that are all deeply inter-connected. 3 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 5 List of Illustrations 6 Introduction: Technologies of Vision 10 Chapter One ‘Petting and Personhood: Re-Framing Contacts in Carolee 34 Schneemann’s Fuses’ Pet(ting) Tales and tails Touching others Frame breaks Unclean bodies Chapter Two ‘The Recursive Screen: Electronic Vision and the Body Image’ 80 Now? Reflection/reflexivity Feedback Video is vengeance of the vagina Chapter Three ‘Pathologising the Body: Mona Hatoum’s Corps Étranger’ 128 The part-body and body parts Penetrating gazes The endoscope Strange bodies Textual bodies Chapter Four ‘The Somatic Matrix: Embodiment Versus “The Body”’ 179 Coded bodies Scaleless scale Biotech to info-tech Inter/face States of superimposition Conclusion: Lo-fidelity Embodiment 219 Bibliography 232 Images 253 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who have contributed to this thesis. In the first instance, I am grateful to the UCL Graduate School for generously providing the funds to complete this research, and to the following archives and art institutions for making their materials available: Electronic Arts Intermix; LUX; The Western Front; The National Gallery of Canada; Anthology Film Archives, especially Robert Haller; The White Cube; and the Centre Georges Pompidou. For responding so thoughtfully to various draft chapters and articles I am deeply indebted to Carolee Schneemann; Vanalyne Green; Dr Peg Rawes at the Bartlett; Dr Richard Lyus MBBS BSc., at BPAS; Dr Lucetta Johnson at the Courtauld Institute; and Dr Thomas Morgan Evans at UCL. For all sorts of miscellaneous support along the way I must thank my PhD colleagues at UCL Art History and the staff, most especially Professor Briony Fer, Professor Fred Schwartz, Dr Rose Marie San Juan, Dr Alison Wright, and Dr Diana Dethloff. My final thanks are reserved for my supervisors, Dr Frances Stracey, Dr Maria Loh, and Professor Tamar Garb, who have so generously contributed acres of time, intellectual support and encouragement over the years. 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Carolee Schneemann, Fuses, 1964-67, 29:51 min, colour, self-shot 16mm film. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 1.2 Carolee Schneemann, Plumb Line, 1968-71, 14:58 min, color, sound, Super 8mm film. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 1.3 Carolee Schneemann, Kitch’s Last Meal, 1973-76, Super 8mm film, colour, double projection-vertical. Sound on cassette. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 1.4 Carolee Schneemann, Infinity Kisses, 1981-1987. Xerox ink on linen, 213.36 x 182.88 cm. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Accessions Committee Fund: gift of Collectors Forum, Christine and Pierre Lamond, Modern Art Council, and Norah and Norman Stone. 1.5 Carolee Schneemann, Vesper's Stampede To My Holy Mouth, 1992, video, 15 min, colour, sound. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 1.6 Carolee Schneemann, note to the Anthology Film Archives on the occasion of restoring Fuses, 2007. In the collection of the Anthology Film Archives, New York. 1.7 Carolee Schneemann, ‘Expanded cinema (free from recollections of New York)’, typed and illustrated essay, written in London, 9 September 1970. In the collection of the Anthology Film Archives, New York. 1.8 Carolee Schneemann, ‘Parts of a body house book’ flyer for reading at St Mark’s Church, New York, 19 December, 1973. In the collection of the Anthology Film Archives, New York. 1.9 Carolee Schneemann, ‘Subtle Gardening or Cooking With Apes’ flyer for performance at Fylkingen, Stockholm, 2 September 1973. In the collection of the Anthology Film Archives, New York. 1.10 Carolee Schneemann, Personae (J.T. & 3 Kitch’s), 1958, Oil on canvas, 48x31”, private collection. 1.11 Carolee Schneemann, Fur Wheel, 1962. Motorized construction: lamp shade base, fur, tins cans, mirrors, glass, oil paint, mounted on turning wheel, 35 x 35 x 65 cm. 1.12 Carolee Schneemann, Fuses, still from film. 1.13 Fuses, still from film. 1.14 Fuses, still from film. 1.15 Fuses, still from film. 2.1 Lynda Benglis, Enclosure, 1973, 7:28min, B&W video, sound. MoMA, gift of Barbara Forshay-Miller. 2.2 Lynda Benglis, Enclosure. 2.3 Diagram showing two waves (magenta and green) with points of crossover (‘beats’) generating the moiré pattern. 2.4 Example of moiré as seen on a screen. 6 2.5 Richard Serra and Nancy Holt, Boomerang, 1974, 10:24min, colour video, sound. Collection of Video Data Bank, Chicago. 2.6 Richard Serra and Nancy Holt, Boomerang. Still showing public access TV logo. 2.7 Lynda Benglis, Now, 1973, 12 min, colour video, sound. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 2.8 Vito Acconci, Centers, 1971, 22:43min, B&W video. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 2.9 Frank Gillette and Ira Schneider, Wipe Cycle, 1969-84, 12:08min, B&W video, sound. 2.10 Hans Haacke, MoMA Poll, photograph of installation- performance,1970. 2.11 Kate Craig, Delicate Issue, 1979, 12mins, betacam colour video, sound. Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. 2.12 Kate Craig, Delicate Issue, still from video. 2.13 Kate Craig, Delicate Issue, still from video. 2.14 Catherine Elwes, There is a Myth, 1984, 18mins, colour video, sound. Collection of LUX, London. 2.15 Jayne Parker, Almost Out, 1985, 90mins B&W video, sound. Collection of LUX, London. 2.16 Michelle Citron, Daughter Rite, 1978, 53 minutes, Color. Collection of Women Make Movies, New York. 2.17 Martha Rosler, Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained, 1977, 39:20 min, colour video, sound. Collection of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York. 2.18 Lisa Steele, Birthday Suit: Scars and Defects, 1974, 13:20mins, B&W video, sound. Collection of Video Data Bank, Chicago. 2.19 Marianne Heske, Phrenological Self-Portrait, 1976, 8mins, colour video, sound. Collection of LUX, London. 3.1 Webbed 1, 2002, 128.5x195.5x93.5cm, steel, rubber and wood. White Cube Gallery, London. 3.2 Daybed, 2008, 31.5x219x198cm, black finished steel. White Cube Gallery, London. 3.3 Incommunicado, 1993, 126.4x57.5x93.5cm, metal cot and wire. Courtesy of Gytha Trust, Tate Gallery, London. 3.4 Corps Étranger, 1994, 350x300x300cm, video installation with cylindrical wooden structure, video projector, video player, amplifier and four speakers. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. 3.5 Corps Étranger, detail. 3.6 Corps Étranger, detail. 3.7 Homebound, 2000, dimensions variable, kitchen utensils, furniture, electric wire, light bulbs, computerized dimmer device, amplifier, speakers. White Cube Gallery, London. 3.8 Electrified II, 2010, dimensions variable, metal, electrical wire, lightbulb, transformer. Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris. 3.9 Testimony, 1995-2002, 2:37min, colour video projection. Galerie Chantal Crousel. 7 3.10 Deep Throat, 1996, 89x85x130cm, table, chair, tablecloths, plate, fork, knife, water glass, monitor and DVD player. White Cube Gallery, London. 3.11 Don’t Smile, You’re on Camera!, 1980, 40min, live action with video monitor, two live cameras, a video mixer and various props. Photograph of performance. 3.12 Look No Body!, 1981, 40min, live action with video monitor, sound tape, water hose and a stack of plastic cups. Photograph of performance. 3.13 Don’t Smile, You’re on Camera!, detail. 3.14 Arthur Lidov, Down a Long Canal, 3 November 1962, LIFE Magazine. 3.15 Visible Human Project, 1989 to present. 3.16 Tee Corinne, Cunt Coloring Book, 1975, published by Last Gasp, San Francisco. 3.17 Our Bodies, Ourselves, 1969, published by The Boston Women’s Health Collective. Photograph showing 1971 edition. 3.18 Ida Applebroog, Monalisa, 1969, dimensions variable (approx. 30.5x22.9cm), series of ink on paper drawings. Hauser and Wirth, New York.