The twentieth century has witnessed many transformations in the ways we produce and respond to works of art. It has seen the rise of altogether new media, approaches, and a wealth of new interpretative frameworks. The emergence of manufactured goods, modernism, and a ubiquitous mass culture contribute to the upheaval, in the 1960’s and 70’s, of established art practices and approaches. Pop Art emerges as an important response to, extension of, or parody of what Clement Greenberg called “Ersatz culture” and “kitsch”, which, to paraphrase Greenberg, represent the omnipresent abominations of commercial and replicated art (Greenberg 9). This essay will observe and discuss the interaction of Canadian pop culture, art, and identity in Joyce Wieland’s “O Canada (Animation)”, and will underline how works of Pop Art serve to elevate kitsch into “a new state of aesthetic dignity” (Eco 228).
Made in 1970, the year of Wieland’s return to Canada, “O Canada (Animation)” is a large embroidery piece on fabric depicting a series of luscious, bright red lips mouthing the words to the Canadian anthem, ultimately a visual rendition of its lip-synching. (It also exists as lithographic prints, where the mouths are similar to lipstick). The mouths are analogous to those of pin up girls and advertisements; the piece hangs loosely like a banner or flag. Wieland has just spent several years living in New York City and is now delving into works dealing with Canadian nationalism and traditionally feminine handcrafts. “O Canada” would not become the official Canadian anthem until 1980, but already in 1966, Lester B. Pearson is placing motions so that the song may become the country’s anthem. Similarly, the maple leaf flag is first flown in 1965 – nationali...
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... New York: Schocken Books, 2007. pp 217-51
-Eco, Umberto, “Lowbrow Highbrow, Highbrow Lowbrow” in Pop Art: The Critical Dialogue, ed. Carol Anne Mashun (Ann Arbor & London: UMI Research Press, 1989)
-Fleming, Marie, excerpt from “Joyce Wieland: A Perspective,” Joyce Wieland (Tornto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1987), pp. 44-70
-Greenberg, Clement, “Avant-Garde & Kitsch” (first published 1939) Art and Culture: Critical Essays (Boston: Beacon Press, 1939) pp.3-21
-Hebdige, Dick, “In Poor Taste: Notes on Pop,” chapter in Modern Dreams: The Rise and Fall of Pop (New York: ICA & London: MIT Press, 1988) pp. 77-85
-McTavish, Lianne “Body Narratives in Canada, 1968-99: Sarah Maloney, Catherine Heard, and Kathleen Sellars” in Woman’s Art Journal, Vol. 21, No. 2 Fall 2000 - Winter 2001. pp. 5-20
-Wieland, Joyce, “O Canada (Animation)” Embroidery on cloth. 1970.
Epstein, Dan. 20th Century Pop Culture: The Early Years to 1949. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.
Pop culture in the 1950s and 1960s began to spread and infest the nation from front to back through radio shows, books and magazines, television programs, and even motion pictures. Whether it is culture in terms of political affairs, clothing or the latest musical sensations, the United States has always played the dominant role when it came to who knows what is best, first. Some cases of Americanizati...
Is Canada a nation or has its control just switched empirical hands? As Professor Hutcheson asked, did Canada go from "Colony to Nation or Empire to Empire?" This question has greatly influenced Canada's changing identity since her birth as a British colony with Confederation in 1867 to the present day. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the shifting Canadian identities between the years 1890 to 1960. The objective is to illustrate Canada's transforming identity by using the novels The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan, and Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and to connect the stories of each of these works of fiction to the varying political, economic, and social issues of their times. Each book is written by a prominent author, and portrays an accurate reflection of the demanding political, economic, and social concerns throughout the late nineteen and first half of the twentieth century of Canadian history. All of the novels reflect Canada's peripheral view of the world, as opposed to a central point of view, because throughout its history Canada has always been perceived as a secondary player. As George Grant says in his literary piece Lament for a Nation, Canada is "a branch plant society" , meaning Canada is controlled by another power. The essential question is where has Canada's loyalties traditionally lay and how has this shaped the Canadian identity. The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, written in 1904 reflects a very British influenced Canada. At this time, Canada is still a British colony under British rule, and the people of Canada are very content to consider themselves British. The novel predominately ill...
Cohen, Ted. “High and Low Art, and High and Low Audiences.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 57.2 (Spring 1999): 137-143. JSTOR. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
No other artist has ever made as extended or complex career of presenting herself to the camera as has Cindy Sherman. Yet, while all of her photographs are taken of Cindy Sherman, it is impossible to class call her works self-portraits. She has transformed and staged herself into as unnamed actresses in undefined B movies, make-believe television characters, pretend porn stars, undifferentiated young women in ambivalent emotional states, fashion mannequins, monsters form fairly tales and those which she has created, bodies with deformities, and numbers of grotesqueries. Her work as been praised and embraced by both feminist political groups and apolitical mainstream art. Essentially, Sherman’s photography is part of the culture and investigation of sexual and racial identity within the visual arts since the 1970’s. It has been said that, “The bulk of her work…has been constructed as a theater of femininity as it is formed and informed by mass culture…(her) pictures insist on the aporia of feminine identity tout court, represented in her pictures as a potentially limitless range of masquerades, roles, projections” (Sobieszek 229).
Canada holds a very unique place around the world with exclusive characteristics, symbols and signs that sets Canada apart from other cultures and countries. In this Mr. Sub advertisement, Canadianness is produced in various ways throughout. Moreover, Mounties, lumberjacks, dog sleds, the color red,
Pop art is an experimental art which surfaced in Great Britain in the early 1950’s. One of the major art movements of the twentieth century, it came into its own in the United States in the late 1950’s. This art form incorporated photographs in ways that had not been utilized before. It utilized mass-culture imagery and iconography, in contrast to the traditional tendencies of fine art. Pop art is considered to be one of the last modern art movements and served as a precursor to postmodern art. The art form is characterized by themes and techniques derived from mass culture, including advertising and comic books. Perhaps one of the most famous Pop artists, is Andy Warhol.
Adorno and Horkheimer (1975) used the expression ‘culture industry’ to describe the monopolisation of culture. “The entire practice of the culture industry transfers the profit motive naked onto cultural forms” (Adorno, 2001, P.99). Adorno and Horkheimer believed that Capitalism was mass-producing popular culture which was fuelling consumerist ideologies. It was demolishing the aesthetic values of art and art was no longer ‘arts for art’s sake’ and ‘purposelessness purposes’ prevailed (Held, 1980, P.93). Adorno (2001) argued that popular culture and art in capitalist societies were used for distraction and escapist purposes. The ‘Culture Industry’ was seen to assemble masses to participate in it’s ideology, which has profound social impacts. The monopolisation of culture exploits and manipulates mass population for social control and p...
Goldwater, Robert and Marco Treves (eds.). Artists on Art: from the XIV to the XX Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
Throughout Canada in the 20th Century, numerous events and decisions have formed defining moments for the people of this country. Events like Vimy Ridge, the formation of NATO, and the development of the new flag have made a huge impact on the country. In addition, the leadership of people like Lester B. Pearson and, much earlier, Sir Wilfred Laurier, has created very significant changes in the course of Canada’s history. Of these, the new flag, sometimes referred to as the “maple leaf” is not only a true symbol of Canada but shows how Canadians have learned a new way to be loyal to our land. The flag, now flown around the world, is the result of a political process that began in 1925, when Canada was symbolized by the Canadian Red Ensign and the Union Jack. Because of citizens’ concerns, the two World Wars, and the changing relationship of Canadians to Britain, the new flag was just the right idea at the time of its introduction. Because British-Canadian relations were changing, and people wanted to show more patriotic loyalty for Canada’s success during the two World Wars, the Prime Minister, Lester B. Person, took action on changing the flag. Even though there was a six-month debate, because so many people opposed the new flag, Canadians came to realize that Canada is better off without anyone else’s symbols representing them.
Varnedoe, Kirk. A Fine Disregard: What Makes Modern Art Modern. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990. 152. Print.
These cultural strictures come in a number of forms. First, the artist attacks intellectual conformity, choosing art over all other means of self-expression even though it is not widespread in his or her society. Though it is not explicitly stated - and is perhaps even subconscious - the artist chooses art over either academe or high society. The artist questions society's customs, making this choice explicit in their daily actions. The artist rejects ostentatious displays of wealth and the cultural emphasis on money, replacing it with a frugal simplicity more conducive to authentic experience. Finally, the artist calls into question the cultural construct most important to any understanding of human interaction - the binary conception of gender.
"1920's Art." The 1920's - Roaring Twenties - The Nineteen Twenties in History. 2005. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
To conclude, the use of body for Feminist and Performance artists in the 1960s-1970s was significant in confronting the way women were viewed as artists in a male dominated art world. It was a vital element in raising consciousness and showing action towards the ideas of feminism. (Holt.J, 2009) Feminine nudity was a controversial problem, which female artists wanted to provoke in order to gain equality. The body became a form of expression to transform social stereotypes, and used as a primary medium, which reasserted aspects of a women’s figure that had been traditionally ignored or repressed by the male majority. (Holt.J, 2009) The body had just become one platform used by feminism and performance artists such as, Cindy Sherman, Carolee Schneemann and Hannah Wilke to rebel and promote their ideas, in order to gain equal rights.
In popular entertainment, if not in literature, yesterday's avant garde is often tomorrow's mainstream, so the term can function as a label simply identifying the next trend. As the American poet John Ashbery pointed out in an influential 1968 essay on the nature of the avant garde, where once an innovative artist had to wait a whole career to see their work absorbed into m...