Reparative aesthetics: witnessing in contemporary art photography

233 Pages·2.421 MB·English

by  Best, Susan(Contributor)

Reparative
Aesthetics
i
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ii
Reparative
Aesthetics
Witnessing in Contemporary Art
Photography
SUSAN BEST
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
iii
Bloomsbury Academic
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First published 2016
© Susan Best, 2016
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e PDF : 9781472534583
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iv
C ontents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Guilt and Shame: Current Debates in Aff ect Studies 17
2 Witnessing Fever 35
3 Shame and the Convict Stain: Anne Ferran’s Lost to Worlds 53
4 Fiona Pardington: Colonialism and Repair in the Southern
Seas
75
5 Rosângela Rennó: ‘Little Stories of the Downtrodden and the
Vanquished’
101
6 Our Dark Side: Milagros de la Torre’s The Lost Steps 131
Conclusion 159
Notes 167
Bibliography 195
Index 209
v
Illustrations
I.1 Marcelo Brodsky, T he Class Photo , 1996 12
I.2 Oscar Muñoz, Aliento [ Breath ], 1995 13
3.1 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Female House of Correction
after John Watt Beattie, 2000 55
3.2 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 61
3.3 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 62
3.4 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 62
3.5 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 63
3.6 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 64
3.7 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from Lost to Worlds , 2008 64
3.8 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from L ost to Worlds , 2008 68
3.9 Anne Ferran, U ntitled , from L ost to Worlds , 2008 69
4.1 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Matua Tawai, Aotearoa/
New Zealand , from T he Pressure of Sunlight Falling , 2010 79
4.2 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Piuraki/John Love Tikao
(painted), Aotearoa/New Zealand , from T he Pressure of Sunlight
Falling , 2010 80
4.3 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Jules Sébastien
César Dumont d’Urville, from T he Pressure of Sunlight
Falling , 2010 86
4.4 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Ma Pou Ma Houmi,
Gambier Islands (painted) , from The Pressure of Sunlight
Falling , 2010 87
4.5 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Ma Pou Ma Houmi,
Gambier Islands (left profi le, painted) , from T he Pressure of
Sunlight Falling , 2010 88
4.6 Fiona Pardington, T he Pressure of Sunlight Falling
(installation view), 2011 89
4.7 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Adèle d’Urville , from
The Pressure of Sunlight Falling , 2010 90
4.8 Fiona Pardington, P ortrait of a life cast of Koe (painted), Timor ,
from The Pressure of Sunlight Falling , 2010 91
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS vii
4.9 Fiona Pardington, T he Pressure of Sunlight Falling (installation
view) 2011 92
4.10 Carrie Mae Weems, A Scientifi c Profi le , from From Here I
Saw What Happened and I Cried , 1995–96 98
4.11 Brook Andrew, Sexy & Dangerous, 1996 99
5.1 Rosângela Rennó, U ntitled (chest with nipple/woman) , from
Cicatriz [ Scar ], 1996 102
5.2 Rosângela Rennó, W hip , 2001, from Vulgo [Alias] , 1999–2003 103
5.3 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , 1994 106
5.4 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 107
5.5 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 108
5.6 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 109
5.7 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 110
5.8 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 111
5.9 Rosângela Rennó, I memorial , detail, 1994 112
5.10 Zoe Leonard, My Kindergarten Class Photo , 2013 113
5.11 Bruno Giorgi, O s Guerreiros [ The Warriors ]/ Os Candangos , 1957 115
5.12 Rosângela Rennó, Imemorial , detail, 1994 116
5.13 Installation shot Corpo da Alma [ Body of the Soul ], 2003–2009 121
5.14 Rosângela Rennó, N ápoles , from C orpo da Alma , 2003 123
5.15 Rosângela Rennó, M oscou , from C orpo da Alma , 2003 124
5.16 Rosângela Rennó, C airo , from C orpo da Alma , 2003 125
5.17 Rosângela Rennó, Rio de Janeiro , from C orpo da Alma, 2003 126
5.18 Rosângela Rennó, R io de Janeiro , from C orpo da Alma, 2003 128
6.1 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Guayabera’, from Antibalas [ Bulletproof ],
2008 134
6.2 Milagros de la Torre, U ntitled , from B lindados [ Armored ], 2000 135
6.3 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Handgun, incriminating evidence of murder’,
from L os pasos perdidos [ The Lost Steps ], 1996 136
6.4 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Crowbar, tool used to force entry’, from Los
pasos perdidos , 1996 137
6.5 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Rudimentary weapon from broken bottle and
paper’, from Los pasos perdidos , 1996 138
6.6 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Skirt worn by Marita Alpaca when she was
thrown by her lover from the 8th fl oor of the Sheraton Hotel in Lima.
She was found to be pregnant at the autopsy’, from L os pasos
perdidos , 1996 139
6.7 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Belts used by psychologist Mario Poggi
to strangle a rapist during police interrogation’, from
Los pasos perdidos , 1996 140
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
6.8 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Police identifi cation mask of criminal
known as “Loco Perochena”, ’ from Los pasos perdidos , 1996 141
6.9 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Shirt of journalist murdered in the
Uchuraccay Massacre, Ayacucho’, from L os pasos perdidos ,
1996 142
6.10 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Fake police I D used by terrorist’, from
Los pasos perdidos , 1996 143
6.11 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Flag confi scated from Shining Path
terrorist’, from L os pasos perdidos , 1996 144
6.12 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Improvised knife made from prison
bed frame’, from L os pasos perdidos , 1996 150
6.13 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Chemical test to identify cocaine
chlorohydrate produced in a clandestine laboratory’, from
Los pasos perdidos , 1996 151
6.14 Milagros de la Torre, ‘Incriminating love letter written by
a prostitute to her lover’, from L os pasos perdidos , 1996 152
Acknowledgements
I t’s funny how intellectual debts mount up rather than being defrayed over
the years. Hence I’m thanking again many of the same people and reading
groups I thanked for my previous book. In the fi rst instance, I owe much to a
master class on feminism and psychoanalysis run by the late Margaret
Whitford at Macquarie University in 1997. She opened my eyes to the breadth
and variety of psychoanalytic approaches. Her interest in art’s connection to
philosophical issues also helped me to begin the task of analysing art through
that prism. I treasure the memories of visiting galleries with her during her
brief stay in Sydney.
Three reading groups have been crucial for the further development of my
understanding of psychology and psychoanalysis – the Silvan Tomkins Reading
Group (Elizabeth Wilson, Gill Straker, Anna Gibbs, Melissa Hardie, Maria Angel
and the late Doris McIlwain); the ‘Mrs Klein group’ (Elizabeth Wilson, Gill
Straker, Kylie Valentine, Robert Reynolds) and the ‘Controversial Discussions
group’ (Kylie, Eliz and Gill). Another ongoing debt is to Liz Grosz, who is a
fabulous friend and mentor whose advice and great kindness I have relied
upon over the years.
This project required research trips to see in the fl esh the art that I discuss,
and this was made possible by generous funding from the Australian Council
for the Arts. Without those trips, this book simply wouldn’t have been possible.
On those trips, I have managed to catch up with friends, colleagues and ex-
students scattered around the world who have told me what art I have to see
in their cities: Alex Alberro, Nick Croggan, Fer Do Campo, Lisa Blas, Thierry de
Duve, Alicia Haber, Alicia Ritson, Charlotte North, Dom and Dan Angeloro. In
particular, seeing T he War series by Otto Dix at M OMA in New York with
Jean Franco and Nicole Fermon in 2011 helped to crystallize some of my early
ideas.
Friends and colleagues have very generously read sections along the
way and given me fantastic feedback: Gill Straker, Ann Stephen, Andrew
McNamara, Eliz Wilson and Linda Daley. I want to especially thank Gill
Straker, whose close reading of the whole manuscript has been invaluable.
I am very grateful for the way she so generously shares her breathtakingly
brilliant readings of psychoanalysis, grounded in its practice. I would never
ix