Ways Of Seeing...

The first thing that I learnt in contextual studies was the importance of actually looking at a piece of work and exploring the possibilities of its meaning. Mann, S (2011; p154) explained that to gain a greater understanding of your area of practice you need to delve into the critical, cultural and contextual aspects of a piece of work in order to apply these concepts to your own work. 

Definitions - Mann, S (2011;154)

Critical- to explore a subject area, its practitioners and practices and to question the ideas, methods and approaches.

Cultural- ideas and thinking commonly held about the subject area nd its medium, its conventions and purpose.

Contextual- consider time, context and setting in which work is made.

Las Meninas, Diego Velazquez 1656-1657

"We are looking at a picture in which the painter is in turn looking out at us. A mere confrontation, eyes catching one another's glance, direct looks superimposing themselves upon one another as they cross...The painter is turning his eyes toward us only in so far as we happen to occupy the same position as his subject."

Michel Foucault, the order of things.

 In our first lecture we looked at the painting by Diego Velazquez, which is shown above. An interpretation of this painting was that Velazquez painted this piece as proof that he was present. You can you in the background of the piece the reflection who are presumed to be the Spanish king and queen in a mirror, which suggests that Velazquez was painting them. This is another form of a self portrait as Velazquez has flipped the perspective of the image and included what is behind the canvas and made that the image. This being himself and the other members of the Spanish court.

Other Interpretations of Las Meninas

I decided to further my research into the painting of Las Meninas and found a lot of interpretations of it. The piece to the left, which incorporates the television show Family Guy. This interested me as I am a fan of the show and I like how a painting that is nearly 400 years old is still influencing pieces and reflects life in the 21st century.

BufoBufo21. (2012-13).

This piece is called "Exit Through The Las Meninas Gift Shop" by Uriginal. It is another modern interpretation of Las Meninas and like the Family Guy piece above, it consists of a lot of modern influences. The title is influenced by "Exit Through The Gift Shop" by Banksy, who is a well known modern street artist. The characters and scenery included in this piece are also heavily influenced by Banksy. A lot of the images are very similar to the controversial work carried out by Banksy, including the kissing policeman and the little girl with balloons shown on one of the pictures in the background. I particularly like the person coming out of the mirror with a camera with a huge lens on it, possibly representing the paparazzi. This is another way of showing life behind the lens- or in the original painting, life behind the canvas. There are also Disney characters included, which could possibly suggest that the artist was looking at controversy as Disney has been linked with this for years.

Uriginal. (unknown). 

Picasso's Interpretations of Las Meninas

Picasso. (1957). 

Picasso famously painted 58 different versions of Las Meninas whereby he slightly altered the positions of the characters and the lighting. The Tate explain that his in-depth work on these paintings and their meanings are fueled by Picasso's anger towards Spain and its imprisonment of Spanish republicans 18 years after the Spanish Civil War ended. The painting above right shows a lot of anger through the heavy use of the colour red and the sharp geometric lines.

This website also offers a number of different interpretations of Las Meninas: http://pinterest.com/mwymanwarr/las-meninas/

Further Study into Self Portraits

Buzz Aldrin's moon landing... 

But look closer...

Neil Armstrong is present too!

This is another example of how images can become self portraits in the form of a reflection or another view point. As the photographer, Neil Armstrong could have angled this photograph so that he could be seen in the reflection of Buzz Aldrin's helmet thus showing proof that he was also present on the moon.

Photograph to the left: New Scientist. (2009).

Photograph to the right: Ibn Battuta. (2009).

"The Arnolfini Portrait" Jan van Eyck

Again, like Las Meninas and the self portrait of Neil Armstrong, "The Arnolfini Portrait" has a mirror present in the centre of the image. As shown in the close up below, there is clearly a person present in the room that is shown to be the artist. Although this has not been proven as the image is not clear enough to make out a face, the position of this individual is stood where the artist would be. This is a very clever and discreet way of artists making themselves present in their own work.

Above images: Jan van Eyck. (1434). 

A modern adaptation of "The Arnolfini Portrait" shown here was created by Archercaptain. It shows two young adults holding a similar pose to the original image. The reflection of the two individuals in the mirror seem to represent parents. The difference here in comparison with the other images is that the potential parents shown in the reflection do not appear to be the creators of the piece as they do not have any equipment on their person that would suggest that, i.e, they are not holding a camera or painting on a canvas. I do however like how this image depicts modern life and how times have changed. The presence of the Britney Spears poster, the laptop and the pregnancy test on the table all emphasise the 21st century. 

Even though the female present in the original piece, "The Arnolfini Portrait" is clearly young and seems to be pregnant, there does not seem to be any tension in the piece indicating that the male and female are in trouble. However in this modern interpretation, the male looks as though he is holding his hand up defending himself and the people in the reflection are holding stances that look angry and annoyed. This suggests a change in the attitudes to people reproducing at such a young age and even though this has become a common event in present times it is still looked upon as a negative, whereas in the 1400s this would have been the norm.

Archercaptain. (2011).