My research paper is an investigation of the discourse of gender in relation to the work of Michel Foucault, Susan Bordo, Judith Butler and the artists Louise Bourgeois, Fiona Hall, Jo Spence and Neil Emmerson. I have applied Foucault's notion of the formation, necessity and operations of discourses as the basis from which ideas can be articulated, and the context within which notions of gender are formulated and challenged. I examine the processes in discourses, such as the imposition of disciplines to control the subject, which in turn are inscribed in the body of the subject by the subject, as they begin to perceive and define themselves in terms of the disciplines. I use this theory on the relationship between discourse-power-knowledge to analyse my work and that of the artists mentioned. The work of each artist is discussed in terms of the discourse of gender and the basis from which they critique its power, its effects on bodies and forms of representation through a marginal discourse. For the purposes of my work, the conclusion reached is that to disrupt the discourse of gender entails a continual questioning and awareness of its 'truths,' processes and effects. Description of Studio Work: The three major works examine the power and operations of the discourse of gender on bodies and how marginal discourses subvert these constructions. My works in paper, printmedia and metal, in two dimensions and three, reflect the effects through forms that seek to question limitations and extend our conception of male and female bodies. The wall piece, Out of Order, re-configures symbols and signs from the discourse of gender as a means of disrupting notions that gender is immutable. A swirling red line is woven through a densely layered mass of horizontal broken lines. The addition of symbols, X and Y chromosomes, numbers and other tokens of gender, appear at various points in this marginal discourse on conception of 'bodies.' Mammaphone, which accompanies Out of Order and Bullrushes, consists of an enlarged breast LP playing on a turntable. The 'tracks' are a litany of terms for the breast from slang and maternal discourses. The turntable that 'hosts' the LP sits on top of a stylised 'flight recorder's black box,' which suggests the hidden discourse on gender. Bullrushes, is an arrangement of 20 phallic-like forms each on a flexible metal rod that sways with the passage of air around the work. The work presents male bodies as durable, delicate and vulnerable despite the norms of the masculine discourse. The intention is to put into process an interrogation of the effects of gender on bodies and the possibilities for re-thinking the discourse of gender.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/220764 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Larsen, Pia |
| Publisher | University of Sydney. Sydney College of the Arts Library |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English, en_AU |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Larsen, Pia;http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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