Content:
Medium and/or Narrative
Is it possible for a realism of low resolution to exist in a context of confrontational narrative content? In our discussions, realism of low resolution generally has been applied to objects with relatively benign, interchangeable, or at least non-narrative content; for example, Chuck CloseÕs portraits, CezanneÕs bathers, or Jasper JohnsÕ flag. How they are constructed is more the subject than what image they construct. In his article on realism of low resolution, Richard Shiff defines the term with a few nuances. An image of low resolution is one in which the technique makes itself unavoidably apparent, Òa pattern that interferes with the image even as it creates it.Ó[1] He specifies that ÒThis art shifts imagery from one medium to another. PaintingÕs low-resolution translation of graphic design or photography foregrounds the physicality of each medium...The meanings of the mediums evolve as a result of their interaction.Ó[2]
I interpret these thoughts to mean that images of low resolution can be applied to any medium that calls attention to itself by disrupting a transparent view of the image depicted. Realism of low resolution is the antithesis of illusionistic art that attempts to imitate a window on reality. In this paper I will attempt to find narrative objects whose use of medium is integral to the understanding of the object as a whole. I will locate objects whose mediums are unavoidably, even stubbornly, relevant due to their uncommon appearance as artistic mediums. At the same time, I will look for objects whose content is a jarring view of personal reality. Will the shocking narrative content prevent the viewer from attending to issues raised by the use of medium?
It is difficult to find pieces that equally emphasize medium and narrative. The Impressionists, for example, who were among the first to employ medium of low resolution, concertedly de-emphasized narrative content in their paintings. They depicted recognizable everyday scenes of leisure or landscapeÑit is the use of color and brushstroke and the vision of light that define these paintings. Those that stand out because of their notable narrative representations, such as ManetÕs Dejeuner sur lÕherbe, are really not part of the Impressionist tradition, despite their occasional inclusion, as they are painted more naturalistically than the Impressionist palette. (Although, depending on how closely this painting is examined, it could arguably qualify as realism of low resolution. Its surface is not smooth and seamless. But at a normal viewing distance, this painting meets the standards for painted realism.) With a medium of low resolution, the method of painting both builds and interferes with the completed image. This interference of medium stands at odds with a clear presentation of a scene. To depict a scene whose elements are accepted as realistic, an artist must apply a transparent medium, one that falls comfortably within the accepted parameters of visual communication, thereby negating its inherent elements that constructed it.
What if objects incorporate unusual materials that inherently flag themselves as inconsistent with the acceptable practices of image making? Would these materials necessarily form images of low resolution, as their very materiality would unavoidably become the subject of the formed object? (Such as film/photography was marveled at when it was first introduced. At that point, the subject of representation was not nearly as interesting as the ability of the medium to render it with every accurate identificatory detail. Once photographyÕs initial novelty wore off, and what was represented became accepted as reality itself, little attention was paid to the process of representation. But if there is ÒnoÓ contentÑif it is very simple or very boring, Andy WarholÕs Empire, for exampleÑthen the represented narrative content may be discounted, and the material itself regains its apparency.)
Materials that have not become internalized as acceptable mediums of representation will necessarily take precedence as subject. Consider the lipstick in Rachel LachowiczÕs Homage to Carl Andre, or the chocolate and lard in Janine AntoniÕs Gnaw. In these, mediums take on shapes and roles at odds with their standard purposes. Jarring juxtapositions of material and presentation force the viewer to consider the connotations of each and why the artist combined them to construct the object. This presents a significant shift from the medium of low resolutionÑrather than investigating how they are constructed, the viewer must question why they were constructed. But these objects cannot be considered independently from the history of art. As each LachowiczÕs and AntoniÕs pieces refer to minimalist sculpture, they also question why the earlier sculptures were constructed. The translation into new, unusual mediums enables a deconstruction of earlier forms and strategies. The strange new mediums resonate with new connotations in pre-digested old forms. As Shiff argued, ÒThe meanings of the mediums evolve as a result of their interaction.Ó
Does this mean that unusual substances can only be mediums of low resolution in the context of referencing something else whose medium was not originally questioned? Piero ManzoniÕs Achromes do not immediately refer to any specific work of art or precise subject. Yet, it is the medium, the furriness, set within a frame and considered parallel to painting, that brings to the fore standards and expectations of artmaking. Whereas this piece does not address any specific earlier work of art, it does lie in the tradition of rethinking art practice and its appropriate mediums.
Still, these reference abstract, non-narrative subjects. The mediums are the first and primary anchors of these works of art. That is not to say that the imagery is unimportant or disposable, but perhaps that their messages are more subtle, and affect the viewer insidiously; in the same way that a more evidently narrative painting usually hides its paint strokes, although they too affect the message of the entire work. Both narrative and physical presences construct the painting, but most of the time, one is more readily apparent than the other. Can an unusual medium share the position of subject with a narrative, or will one take precedence over the other, or will they cancel each other out?
My original intention was to use the work of the little-known artist Jerome Caja as a tool to discern the efficacy of applying realism of low resolution to narrative imagery. What brought him to mind was his use of atypical artistic mediumsÑnail polish, make up, toenail clippings, and human ashes. It wasnÕt until I looked at his work again that I recalled how shockingly confrontational his content was. Jerome, as he preferred to be called, produced small paintings that consistently depicted images or metaphors of living in an AIDS-ridden gay community or surviving a dysfunctional upbringing. The tragicomic kitsch aesthetic of a sickly drag queen infuse his paintings with snappy one-liners, but little more.
One of JeromeÕs most renowned and shocking paintings, Bozo Fucks Death, is a twisted, lurid vision of an obese clown spending his seminal seed on a smiling skeleton. Jerome and his drag queen friends were dropping like flies from AIDS when this painting was conceived (Jerome himself died about two years ago), so surely they felt stupid and silly as clowns behind their thick makeup to continue having unprotected sex with potentially fatal partners. While no one would mistake this for a realistic painting, it does partake of familiar expressive visual devices. I am not attempting to find a use of medium that will disrupt the realism of the image, but rather that will interfere with the realism of an acceptable practice of artmaking.
The problem in the context of this paper is that the unavoidable visual narrative distracts from the materiality of the nail polish and plastic tray that physically comprise this tactile object. The manner of painting is perfectly consistent with the depicted imageryÑrudely expressive, garish, deliberately unsophisticated. Likewise, the medium of nail polish does not call so much attention to itself in the context of an abject homosexual nightmare as it does in the muted background of the same painting. The woodgrain floor, the broom, the small still-life, and the brightly colored lamp behind the main action of this scene better emphasize the glossy, imprecise qualities of nail polish that distinguish it from ordinary paint. These relatively familiar interior still-life elements take on new, charged meaning when depicted in a transvestiteÕs tools of the trade.
Abject materials in art have become so commonplace over the last decade, that their status is no longer an element of shock in art, but rather a signifier of art that is meant to be shocking. It is the artistÕs intention to shock that the savvy and jaded viewer understands from the incorporation of abject elements. Aware of the preconception that abject materials now carry, sophisticated artists employ them no longer to shock, but to problematize and reconsider accepted traditions, such as the previous examples of Lachowicz, Antoni, and Manzoni demonstrate. A new medium in the rubric of an old tradition is limited once its novelty dissipates, unless it can transcend and expand the perimeters of its native tradition.
Jerome does not distinguish his use of unusual materials from his most dramatically confrontational to his more relatively traditional compositions. The Visitation is a standard image throughout western art history. Therefore, it is an obvious focus for attack to challenge traditional values aligned with art practice. Jerome melds his devout Catholic upbringing, formal artistic training, and spectacular adult lifestyle to revisit the Visitation. Here, the figures of Mary and Elizabeth are shaped by the condoms that form their physical support. Again, Jerome paints with nail polish, but here he adds lace, gold leaf, and glitter to ensure a sacrilegious reading of this image. Undoubtedly, this particular pregnant event stars two men in drag, who evidently have remembered to practice safe sex. The Immaculate conception becomes all the more miraculous under these circumstances.
Although JeromeÕs choice and manipulation of medium remains consistent throughout his oeuvre, his variation in depicted subject from the intentionally confrontational on every level to the undermining of an accepted tradition offer different readings of his work. While Bozo Fucks Death is an overt and effective political gesture within and for the gay community, it is less nuanced as a work of art than The Visitation. Bozo Fucks Death employs consistent elementsÑmedium, narrative, and style all work similarly toward an immediate singular understanding, whereas The Visitation incorporates discordant facets from a fuller spectrum of artistic narrative.
To a certain extent, Jerome succeeds at employing a medium of low resolution in a narrative context. The unusual materials do indeed interfere with a smooth reading of the image, but thereby the image changes in meaning. The image, in turn, affects the connotations of mediums used. Finally, the medium is so tightly interwoven with the narrative content, that it is impossible to discern separately as a pure medium of low resolution. The entire painting is so laden with iconographic clichŽs that it leaves no room for any anchor, or Lacanian stain of personal identification. The constant high charge of both medium and narrative allow no variation, no aspects to recognize as a stasis to be interferedÑthe entire painting is a jumble of interference.
JeromeÕs choice of mediums resonate the most clearly in his simplest images. In The Foot of Christ, toenail clippings provide truly digitizing elements, in each sense of the term, underlying the entire image, which is in this case a singular objectÑa foot with stigmata on a decorative background. The toenails here read more clearly as self-contained objects than incorporated materials in JeromeÕs more overtly narrative work. For example, the condoms in The Visitation initially hide within the forms they represent; they do not break up the entire image, but instead redefine it upon their discovery. The toenail clippings used in The Foot of Christ, on the other hand, are not concealed or camouflaged; they are readily apparent upon close inspection of the painting. This painting, like the bulk of JeromeÕs work, requires minute inspection. They are usually very small objects, only a few inches across. The intimate interaction necessitated by the dimensions of JeromeÕs paintings magnifies the power of such personalized incorporation.
It is troublesome to the question posed by my inquiry that JeromeÕs materials most effectively express themselves when they are used in a basically non-narrative context such as The Foot of Christ. This small painting delivers essentially the same messages as JeromeÕs more elaborate narrative ones. The iconography/medium combination communicates a disrupted, abjected, homosexualized, humanized Christianity, without the distraction of overt shock value. But, as Marcel Duchamp reportedly said, Òa painting that doesnÕt shock isnÕt worth painting.Ó[3] Apparently this philosophy holds weight in the catalog of JeromeÕs work, as this painting does not warrant a color plate.
The question is, is any of JeromeÕs work really all that shocking? Indeed, it is certainly irreverent, and aims at shocking. It partakes of the drag queen aesthetic, where how dÕya like it is more, more, more. But, as cross-dressing is often presented in popular culture, from La Cage aux Folles and RuPaul to ShakespeareÕs comic transvestites, the result is more amusing (or annoying, depending on your temperament) than astonishing. Not that there is anything wrong with amusement, but it distracts from the serious attempts to convey new ways of thinking and seeing. Distraction, of course, in the Benjaminian sense, can be a fruitful and insidious means to relate innovative notions. But is this particular fruit successful in his attempt?
I believe that Jerome enjoys limited success in his work, but that the subjects he addresses and stylistic expressions are rooted and fixed to late 80sÐearly 90s concerns. His innovations shine in his witty exploitation of the overlooked mediums that construct his lifestyle, but they are too often buried underneath simplistic and needlessly garish narrative images. JeromeÕs work is strongest at its most subtleÑsubtle in this case being a relative term; even JeromeÕs least confrontational work is still very direct and demands a base reaction from its viewer. Still, his work is never abstract. He always employs abject materials to depict recognizable imagery. But there is an undeniable direct inverse correlation between the confrontational narrative quality of JeromeÕs paintings and their effectiveness in employing abject mediums to connote messages unhindered and unobscured. Does this prove that a realism of low resolution cannot exist in a confrontational narrative context? Quite the contraryÑJerome accomplishes this feat, but his results are only marginally interesting.