Reflection on “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”

I attempted to read the first paragraph of this essay and found it to be a word-cruncher. Each sentence described such a complex thought that I wondered if it would be possible for the author to deliver in what was to follow. I decided, before continuing to read the rest of the paper to research this “Althusserian visual ideology”, but more importantly this reference to “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”

I completely agree with Althusser notion that “we are always subjects…constantly [practicing] the ritual of ideological recognition.” I find that art history has indeed shown this notion true, especially the transition into modern art. This reminds me of the Picasso portraits, where the notion of who was being portrayed on canvas was not necessarily the perceptively equivalent individual, but the artist themselves. Going into texts such as Relation Aesthetics, there has been a continuous trend to incorporate more of this ideological recognition in art pieces and installations.

 

Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” on first glance makes mention of blackbirds in seemingly unrelated stanzas. Upon closer inspection, the poet’s intention can be seen as looking at the same blackbird from a series of perspectives. Upon further inspection of the Art & Discontent article, the author is going along this same route, arguing that aesthetics can be interpreted in a variety of different viewpoints and the role of the artist is to allow these viewpoints to become evident to the observer.

 

Examining my own artwork, I find that it leans more heavily towards Viewpoint #10: Content arising from participation in a specific iconographic tradition. Most of my artwork comes from heavily saturated warm colors – a color palette that is common in most parts of the border. In fact, as I examine the typography and visual organization of graphic design work I have done, I realize that often times that work bares similarity to the typographic norms of Mexican business advertisements.

 

This paper reminds me of a psychological condition known as grapheme synesthesia that makes individuals perceive letters as having color. The color associated with the letter can ironically be traced back to the color of the refrigerator magnets that they had from their childhood. In the same manner, when the author talks about “unacknowledged parts of the visual ideology of the cultural mode” is draws me to the same notion of the effects of grapheme synesthesia. Often times, the best way to bring into recognition this effect is by going in contradiction of it, similar to what Dadaist movements achieved in the early twentieth century.

 

There is one point made about the disparity between artists and critics and the supposed mutual exclusivity of “aesthetics, cognitive, and practical [faculties].” I honestly believe it depends on the artists to acknowledge whether a work is intended for display. Much like Louise Bourgeois explained in her interview, if the piece does not speak to you, it does not speak to you. The intrusion of the artist in the form of written or verbal supplements adds to the complexity of the ‘visual supplement’ presented. Juxtaposing these two elements divides the amount of cognitive insight that can be achieved. I believe this to be a psychological solution. Why make a person experience dual task (of incorporating a visual supplement and written supplement) as opposed to them developing their own observation and afterwards comparing and analyzing it to that of another.