Rene Magritte.docx

7/26/2019 Rene Magritte.docx

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1.1 Images of Resemblance:

Magritte's semiotic explorations

What one must paint is the image of resemblanceif thought is to become visible inthe world.

Rene Magritte

he re!introduction of words into paintings and collages was a widel" practiced

transgression throughout the twentieth centur" avant!garde# as for example in$onceptualism# %ada# $ubism# or &uturism. In the case of Rene Magritte#

wordsimages was the sub(ect of numerous )experiments) in the later 1*+,s# some

of which are among his best -nown wor-s. In the earl" 1*+,s# Magritte had been

tr"ing out dierent st"les when he discovered /iorgio %e $hirico's wor-. hese

canvases# painted during World War I# excited a number of "oung painters who

came to call themselves surrealists. $learl" Magritte was ta-en with %e $hirico's

incongruous (uxtapositioning of )signi0cant ob(ects) with portentous titles )he

2hilosopher's $on3uest#) )he %is3uieting Muse#) )he %ouble %ream of 4pring#)

etc.5 but saw them calling forth a basicall" literar" process of meaning!ma-ing. 6

his on the one hand led to a shoc-ed sense that poetr" was ascendant overpainting7 on the other# it stimulated a feverishl" productive period of including

words in pictures in various wa"s and comparing words and images as means of

representation.

8is was a clear# narrow and 3uite abstract focus: he was not interested in

t"pograph" or visual design# for example# nor in the visual and material 3ualities of

writing or calligrams# for that matter5. 9 8is interest was in probing how words and

images dier in their modes of signif"ing. %uring the most intense part of thispursuit# from 1*+!1*+*# he painted do;ens of canvases# sometimes several with

the same name# var"ing one signif"ing parameter or another# and he continued to

visit the theme in later "ears. wo of these paintings provide the boo-endsthe 0rst

and last imagesfor


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nothing at all about the last7 it will become apparent# however# wh" the" 3uite

properl" preside over an introduction to how paintings mean. he" could preside

e3uall" well over an introduction to semiotics.

It should be borne in mind throughout the discussion# however# that Magritte wasnot ma-ing a primer in semiotics: he was ma-ing art of the special# modern# )meta)

-ind which deautomati;es the conventionali;ed and ma-es us aware of the

processes b" which we see and read the world. 8is probing of seeing and grasping#

to be sure# is general and philosophical# almost @antian# in its insistence and rigor#

and it is eas" to see wh" Michel &oucault was intrigued enough to write a short boo-

in 1*6 on the multiple readings and cancellations of )his is not a 2ipe#) A and wh"

Magritte would see in &oucault's Mots et $hoses both a familiar title and a sweeping

scope of in3uir" similar in spirit to his own )research.)

Magritte has become much more readablehis mode of thin-ing and wor-ing more

mainstreamas $onceptualism and 2oststructuralism have moved visual art so

much closer to language and philosoph" than it was under 8igh Modernism. hus

2eter 4terc-x articulates Magritte's experiments in representing representation

along lines similar to those developed here b" describing them as wor-ing out the

rhetorical scheme of s"llepsis one construction changing into another5. B 4uch a

move would seem to a Modernist extravagantl" metaphorical and muddled# though

it does not seem so toda". Interest in representation is now much more widespread

than it was in Magritte's time# but we will ta-e him as a pioneer and begin b"

tracing his experiments with words inside the frame of the picture and then with

words placed outside above or below5 the frame as titles.

4igni0cationrepresentationresemblance:

We spea- of a sign as iconic when it resembles i.e.# loo-s li-e5 what it refers to.

8ierogl"phic writing does this# at least at times. o represent or signif"5 a house#

inscribe a perhaps simpli0ed and st"li;ed5 house 8. It is generall" said that such

writing is limited to the things that can be depicted and hence cannot readil"express abstract things or processes# logical condition# negation# or even novel

things that do not "et exist. 4imilarl"# gestures can be used to conve" certain

meanings b" virtue of resemblance# as for example when we extend an arm#

holding the hand and 0ngers upright# meaning to signif" )stop# hold o) as if we

were preparing to sti!arm the person. In the case of gesture as with the house

image# one can argue that such pantomimic gesturing lac-s the full signif"ing power


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of natural language# that it fails to support abstract thought. &or words and gestures

to function as units of a human language# the" must brea- the lin- of iconicit" and

Coat free to signif" )arbitraril") as 4aussure has it. here remains in natural

language onl" a small residue of iconicit"# and that is based in soundthe

bowwow's and -i-eri-i's of various tongues and nations.

Disual representation depends on resemblance# using the latter in the narrow sense

of li-eness of form or appearance e.g. )he roofs resembled a row of tents)5. It is a

good idea not to use resemblance when describing similitude of function e.g

)=actine is similar to iodine in function) but not )=actine resembles iodine in

function)5. Resemblance is one -ind of similitude# namel"# similitude of appearance.

E he resembling sign ma" be st"li;ed and abstracted awa" from visual surfaces

and detail in various wa"s# but it has to )loo- li-e) the ob(ect it represents. Fachvisual culture has various wa"s of indicating that an image is a generic and

represents the class of ob(ects rather than a particular one outlining# canonical

presentation form# wa"s of Cattening and desaturating color and texture5. Indeed#

the more it is visuall" reduced# the more strongl" the image represents an abstract

concept.

here are two exceptions to the principle that images represent b" resemblance:

visual metaphor and iconograph". 2erhaps the most common and widespread

theor" of metaphor is that of rendering abstract concepts and relations in terms

familiar from common material experience. >ver the last twent" "ears we have

seen the creation and adoption into common sense of the des-top image for the

computing possibilities presented b" a personal computer. he use of a little house

icon to mar- a lin- to the )home) or) top)5 page of a site represents that page not

b" resemblance but b" virtue of a set of metaphors perhaps mixed: what is a house

doing on a des-topG5. 4uch a page could be called a )hub) page and represented

with a wagon wheel# if such a metaphor had ever caught on.

In the iconographic tradition# an image can represent not b" resemblance but b" a

chain of texts and verball" mediated associations. 4o when in a scene depicting an

event from the /ospel narratives there appears a lamb holding a cross with its right

foreleg# it is not b" b" resemblance that $hrist is represented# and similarl" with the

0sh icon that signi0es $hrist via the /ree- word ichthus. ?est an"one thin- this

tradition is (ust one of religions# consider the 0gure that the (ac-et designer put on

one of m" boo-s:


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$over of $ontending Rhetorics

&igure 1.+

Hn Image of an Hpple

he subtitle wor-s as a straightforward case of resemblance# in this case to writing

on a classroom blac-board. he shape in the red box is instantl" recogni;able as an

apple albeit ver" schemati;ed5# but what does an apple represent i.e.# signif"5

hereG Hpple !school calls up )apple for the teacher)the largel" proverbial5

practice of presenting one's teacher with an apple as a to-en of appreciation and

hence apple polisher# for one who ma-e extra eorts to suc- up to the teacher5. =ut

what is the apple in the case at handG 2erhaps# one supposes# reCexivel"# the boo-

itselfG his is a little sha-" on the face of it# but the (ac-et designer must have readthe dedication of the boo-# which is )&or M" eachers Who Initiated Me into

Hcademic %iscourse.) ormall"# an apple does not represent a boo-7 though it does

so in this instance# it does not do it b" resemblance.

=ut this 0rst example is complicated b" iconographic displacement of

representation and we should reall" begin with a simpler case. Magritte oers one

such in his )Words and Images) article * and in the earl" group of words!in!frames:

&igure 1.6

he 2alace of $urtains 1*+*5

8ere a frame containing the word ciel )s-")5is placed next to a frame 0lled with a

blue s-" texturean image of )s-"). =oth are representations# one wor-ing b"

resemblance and the other b" arbitrar" association.

&igure 1.9

Fmpt" Mas-


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?arger# multiframe compositions are possible suggesting parts of a world or items in

a list. Magritte gives us two pieces entitled )Fmpt" Mas-#) one with words:

&igure 1.A

Fmpt" Mas-

and one with images:

here is some uncertaint" about Magritte's titles# but it is worth comment that both

assemblies are called )empt"#) perhaps for dierent reasons. hat is# it is eas" to

see the absence of images in the the 0rst version as the emptiness of the frames#

but in the second# the mas- is still empt" because all mas-s are empt"# at leastthose that do not represent an"thing# that are merel" a decorated screen. 8ere

Magritte ma" be pla"ing o of the )frame) convention: these segments can't

represent because the" are not presented in proper rectangular frames. %idier

>ttinger 3uotes =art Dershael: )he dividedness# the fragmented 3ualit" and the

separateness of their components deprive them of an"thing that resembles realit"#

destro"s all narrative content) >ttinger# ,5. >ttinger spea-s of these elements as

)phonemes) of Magritte's new 0gurative language: the windows in a bric- facade#

harness bells# nude torso# forest# and clouds reappear in man" dierent

combinations in the paintings of this period and occasionall" over the next decade

or so# as if oering examples of what can appear with what +95.

&igure 1.B

&ixed Idea 1*+5

here is a similar# more rectilinear one that does have a human 0gure in it in place

of the patterned cutout:

he 0gure of a hunter does alter the mix# but the representation of him is as st"li;ed

as it would be for a pla"ing card and# li-e all the assemblies# the 0gure is placed a

foot or so in front of a blan- wall illuminated from over the viewer's left shoulder

and with low hori;on line. hese bits of surfaces# even the hunter# begin to loo- li-e

to-ens in some game we don't -now the rules for# or samples of )bac-ground)


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images for Web pages. he" could all be made to tile ver" nicel". Magritte was

ma-ing his living designing wallpaper at the time.5 hese images are all ver" Cat

even though framed# and framing suggests a window being loo-ed into. his is one

of the wa"s Magritte )paints representation.) he purpose of the arra" is not to

present alternatives for us to choose our favorite from li-e a boo- of wallpaper

samples5 but to ma-e them e3uivalent7 so the" are pages from the sample boo- ofrepresentation through resemblance. o be sure# not all the wallpapers resemble

some general and familiar thing: the harness bells on corrugated galvani;ed sheet

metal are hardl" a common 0gure of dail" life. It is one more instance of Margritte's

as"mmetr": so often his sets include one member that loo-s li-e the other members

of the set but is not.

&igure 1.he hreshold of &reedom 1*+*5

here are a few others in this series# including the 0nal image of =erger's boo-# )he

hreshold of ?ibert" 1*+*5#) which does brea- the single plane with a -ind of

tript"ch eect and includes the image of a 1Acm howit;er aimed vaguel" at the

upper left panel# the na-ed female torso femme nue5.

I don't see this# pace H. M. 8ammacher B5# as aimed at the woman's torso so

much as at the panel assembl" as such)?ibert") in other words# would be to blast

signs to oblivion and encounter unmediated things in themselves. Recall the title to

&igure 1.6: )he 2alace of $urtains.)5 hat would be at least approximatel" right to

serve as the end of =erger's boo-# where the picture follows several paragraphs on

the appropriation and debasement of art b" advertising )publicit")5. Hnd it does get

us a bit farther in the right direction than 4"lvester's conclusion that )the cannon is

there to impress) +6+5# or for that matter 8ammacher's remar-s on the )eroticism)

of the torso# forest# and wood grain. Indeed# the whole tendenc" of this set of

experiments is to brac-et or suspend representation for these )textures)the"

represent nothing# the" have become opa3ue# and hence do not bring in suchassociations as we ma" have with wood plan-s# 0re# forests# etc. his painting# and

the others# maintain the e3uivalence and interchangeabilit" of the textures as

textures# not their sensual dierences and particularities as things.


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his is an important principle for artists who paint representation in this )meta)

fashion: we do not thin- of being outside on a fair da"# or feel that we are# when we

see a framed piece of blue with pu" white shapes on it propped up against a wall.

he beginning of associations and feeling tones associated with things is that we

imagine ourselves to be in the presence of the thing# but with these paintings# we

are alwa"s reminded that we are in the presence of . . . a painting. he e"e is notfooled7 Magritte's wa" was not that of %ali.

&igure 1.E

Diolation Httendat51*65

In 1*6# after having moved be"ond the Cat space into perspectival representation#

Magritte revisited these textures one last time:

his is a textboo- perspective example with converging parallels and shadows from

a light source high over viewer's left shoulder. he three swatches of wallpaper now

occup" dierent planes# two located within a )room) and the third visible through an

arched passage through an exterior wall. Hs the title sa"s# however# there is a

violation in the composition ta-en together: the s-" cannot appear as a surface of a

bloc- inside the rooma reCection of the s-" in a mirror!surfaced bloc-# "es# or a

pro(ection onto the bloc-# but not simpl" the s-" appearing through an opening

which is the value it has throughout this series5. H swatch of blue and pu" whitecan onl" represent )s-") in certain contexts7 there is# then# a s"ntax of graphic

signs# and this picture is a violation on the intended reading. &urther# there is no

da"light illuminating the scene from the )s-") nor from the arched portal to the

)outside.) Magritte became 3uite fascinated with this grammar of s-" and did a

whole series of s-" swatches pro(ected onto displaced and discontinuous planes#

anticipating the powers of modern image processing programs. 4ee# e.g. )he

Jniverse Jnmas-ed) 1*6+# )he Marches of 4ummer) 1*6# ) )he 2oetic World II

1*6*# )Wasted Fort) 1*B+7 onl" in the latter of these does light come from the s-".5

8ere# since resemblance fails at the level of the composition# i.e.# the picture is

ungrammatical5# we ma" become aware of the rule that is being thwarted# and so

the picture paints representation once again.

&igure 1.*


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?iving Mirror 1*+5

$oncept blobs

Returning now to the main theme of images and words# we note that Magritte did

not alwa"s -eep them in separate frames but tried various wa"s of combining them

in one. Words in a text frame are merel" text# but in a visual frame sa" one#minimall"# with a hori;on or directional lighting5 the" become elements in a visual

arra". 8e tried putting them in connected chambers of some biomorphic s"stem of

burrows &igure 1.*5. 4ee )ree of @nowledge) 1*+*5 for another connected blob

set. 5

his canvas with labelled areas begins to loo- li-e a s-etch for a composition# and

he even drew a visuall" punning picture of a person brea-ing out in laughter a

shattered image of a laughing face5 but painting in the bird calls might be a real

challenge and would explain wh" this )plan) was never executed.

&igure 1.1,

he Jses of 4peech 151*+5

&igure 1.11

Fco! concept map

Hlternativel"# words might be enclosed in more substantial blobs with edges and

shadows:

>f course# all words receive this treatment# even nuage which certainl" should be

left cloud"# and hori;on# which isn't even an ob(ect at all. Hs a variation# in )he Jse

of 4peech) of 1*+E# the concept!blobs have soft edges but do cast shadows and

bear word!labels connected to them with lines. =lobs with shadows or connections5

do not loo- so much li-e place holders# indicating where the image will go# as the"

do concepts# the ver" sense of the words themselves 8e uses blobs to represent

word senses in )Words and Images.)5 =ecause word senses are abstract# the"


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appear formless in a visual frameformless# but substantial. his is indeed one

attempt to ma-e thought visible as thought5. he connected# labelled blobs of the

period are the precursors of semantic and conceptual networ- diagrams and of

)concept maps)5 where the concepts are often drawn in as labelled ellipses or

circles. $oncept maps articulate the relations among the blobs as networ-s

directed graphs5 rather than as con0gurations in space. $onceptual space is ofcourse a common metaphor# but the concepts in conceptual space don't rest on the

ground and cast shadows.

hought blobs have been revived in art b" the $onceptual artist


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piano la violette. %avid 4"lvester suggests this depicts Magritte and =reton pla"ing

a surrealistic word association game# which is one )use of speech) but again entirel"

nonrepresentational.

Hlternativel" we might begin to place images in place of the blobs:

&igure 1.16

he Hpparition 1*+E5

)Hpparition) has the obli3ue force Magritte sought in his titles: which is theapparitionthe landscape 0lled with blobs to the man5 or the man himself in a

countr" of word!blobsG his painting is also reproduced in the Fnglish translation of

&oucault's 2ipe as )&igure 1E: 2ersonage marchant vers l'hori;on).

Magritte varied the mix in several canvases of the period# including )?iving races)

1*+5# where the blobs are unlabelled but there is the image of a tree on the right

side with the words )femme nue) on its trun-# )4wift 8ope) 1*+5 with labelled

blobs# hori;on# and no shadows.

Rene Magritte: ?ost World 1*+E5

&igure 1.19

?ost World I 1*+E5

%avid 4"lvester 1*+5 lines up two versions of )?ost World#) another in the series of

labelled concept blobs. he 0rst version has a hori;on and a bit of landscape in the

bac-ground# which is replaced in the other with the word pa"sage )landscape)5.

Rene Magritte: ?ost World II 1*+E5

&igure 1.1A

?ost World II 1*+E5

8ere the image of the landscape gives wa" to the word# spread out as a landscape

should be# and we pic- up the ubi3uitous cheval. his is li-e watching the process of


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abstraction# or a translation from depiction to description. $learl"# for the picture#

something is lost. hese lost worlds# however# also remind us of the advantage of

words# namel"# it is a little hard to imagine what picture we could insert to represent

personnage perdant la mKmoire )person who is losing hisher memor".)5 Magritte

both suggests the intersubstitutabilit" of words and images as alternative signi0ers

and destabili;es the e3uivalence. his is perhaps most overt with the tree image of)?iving races) with the label )femme nue) on the trun-# but it is at wor- in the bird

calls of )?iving Mirror#) in )?ost Worlds) and again in the @e" to %reams series.

Rene Magritte: @e" to %reams 1*+5

&igure 1.1B

@e" to %reams 1*+5

itlescaptionslabels

In the @e" to %reams series# Magritte returns to one traditional and stable wa" that

words and images can share a frame# namel" with the word as name or legend of

what is also depicted in the fashion of vocabular" Cash cards or earl" reading

wor-boo- sheets.2ierre 4terc-x sa"s the" are images from the 2etit ?arousse# A+5.

ot (ust an e3uivalence of word and thing# but an exact match is implied.

It is# as 4"lvester sa"s# a school reading primer gone wrong1BE5but# as so often#

not completel" wrong# the lower right!hand cell is correct.

Rene Magritte: @e" to %reams 1*6,5

&igure 1.1

@e" to %reams 1*6,5

H six!cell version of 1*6, is even less helpful for &rench I:

one of these nouns the acacia# moon# snow# ceiling# storm# desert5 match up. he

problem infects Fnglish vocabular" sheets as well:

Rene Magritte: @e" to %reams 1*6A5


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&igure 1.1E

@e" to %reams 1*6A5

his version# li-e the 0rst of its &rench counterparts# has a correct lower right!hand

corner cell# and includes the hard!to!depict )wind.) his adorns the cover of the

2enguin edition of


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of it title: )he wo M"steries) 1*BB55. 4o wh" do we assume that there is more

truth in the words than in the imageG hat the words can comment on the image#

but not vice!versaG >r# &oucault suggests# the sentence's this could refer to the

sentence itself: )this sentence5 is not a pipe7 loo-# here's a pipe.) his would be

images ta-ing primac" over words. >ne semiotic rule exposed here is that legends

or captions refer to the visual contents to which the" are attached# not tothemselves. H second point is that legends and captions stand outside the

interpretive area of the wor-7 the" are authoritative and exempt from the full pla" of

interpretation.

4o would it help to nail or screw5 the sentence down as a legend or captionG In

subse3uent rewor-ings# Magritte painted it as on a brass pla3ue screwed onto a

wood mounting board for the pipe# and also s-etched it as a screw!down pla3uewith the slightl" updated message )his is still not a pipe) in 1*A6. hat would seem

to mute the self!referential reading )this brass pla3ue is not a pipe) or )this whole

assembl")5# but it proliferates a new one )this is the famous pipe of which it was

said 'this is not a pipe.') $learl" this setup is rife with post structuralist

indeterminaciestreacheriesG

Rene Magritte: his is a 2iece of $heese 1*65

&igure 1.+1

his is a 2iece of $heese 1*65

Magritte branched out to other ob(ects# painting not long before his death a 3uite

photo!realistic greenish apple with the caption )his is not an apple) 1*B95. =ut

cheese# now there is a dierent matter:

his counterpart to the pipe dates from 1*6. >ne might sa" the lesson is that

context rules# but the title's aNrmation is paradoxical# in that nothing loo-s less li-e

a piece of cheese than this little framed miniature substituting for something "ou

could eat. his aNrmation# b" the wa"# is not part of the picture i.e.# within the

frame5 as it is in the pipe series and apple7 rather# it seems more securel" rooted in

the titling conventions which rule out its being ta-en as a part of what is

represented. 4o its privilege is manifested b" its being obviousl" false.


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poses problems# he ma-es no attempt to solve them. 8is pursuit of topics li-e the

dependence of representation on framing and the e3uivalencenone3uivalence of

words and images has an almost empirical feel to it# as again and again we are

presented with paintings that cause our expectations of correlation and consistenc"

to tremble# almost as if the eect on us is to be measured# each one var"ing (ust

one parameter. he paintings we have loo-ed at have no sub(ect other than theseprobings# this sl" tric-er"# that produced the images of representation upon which

his enduring popularit" rests. 8e is the 0rst visual semiologist.

titlesOcaptions

placardsOlegends

labels

he reacher" of Images 1*A+5

&igure 1.++

RenK Magritte: he reacher" of Images 1*A+5

1.+ 4table Relations of Words and Images


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We expect exhibited and reproduced wor-s of art to be accompanied b" a word or

words that are to be ta-en as the name of the )wor-). hese titles generall" occur

immediatel" above the wor-# below it# or to side. $aptions generall" are found

beneath 0gures and photographs and ma" be longer and of a more descriptive

nature. &urther# as Magritte reminds us# the title is sometimes set apart on a little

brass plate. In the wor- to the left# however# the text on the plate is not the title ofthe wor-7 it therefore is something more li-e a legend beneath a troph"# or# rather#

it imitates a legend. Rosler ver" precisel" refers to it with the linguistic term#

metadiscourse.

4ince the title is essentiall" the proper name of the wor-# it should be uni3ue within

the artist's oeuvre# an"wa"5 and it should be stable. 2resumabl" the artist chose it

to locate the wor- in some wa"# though artists marching under Modernist bannerspreferred titles describing the wor- rather than what it represented5 or the ;ero

grade of titles )Jntitled) as with $ind" 4herman's wor-s# although she does

number them se3uentiall"5. 4hane $ooper's variable captioner creates incongruit"

and humor5 b" pairing images and captions from rather heterogeneous lists# which

pairings change as one continues to clic- on the image. random captioner5

itles and captions can change over time even if provided b" the author. 4cott

traces ver" substantial changes in his captioning of photos b" the famous

photo(ournalist %on Mc$ullin from their earl" appearance in the late 1*,s to their

collection in 1*E. M$$ullin's earlier titles are ver" long and suppl" bac-ground and

a narrative of the moment of ta-ing# while the later titles draw bac-# are less

interpretive# and leave more scope to the viewer for )personal discover"# the

engagement of the imagination# the challenge to unravel what we do not

understand) EE5. 4o

=radford bo" whose leg has been mutilated in a scrap!"ard accident and whose onl"

mode of transportation is a bab"'s pram# 1*E

becomes

&ather and sons# housing estate# =radford# 1*E

and similarl"

%own!and!out shouting confused political obscenities# 4pital0eld mar-et# ?ondon#

1*6

becomes


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%estitute men# ?ondon.

here are other changes as well that refocus from one 0gure to another in a photo

and categori;e in wa"s that alter our evaluation of what is depicted.

4cott shows us that there are costs involved in the 0xing or anchoring of images#

even (ournalistic ones# with titles# starting with narrowing and channeling our

response. o be sure# he argues# the loosening of anchorage in the historical

moment of ta-ing the picture arises from the passage of time and a -ind of

3uintessentiali;ation of the moment as an image of recurrent human experience

that can spea- for itself as the" move# 4cott sa"s# from (ournalism to

documentar"5. he refocusing and reevaluating changes# however# are not

accounted for in this explanation. 4cott 0nds these changes in the artist's own titles

troubling# and he concludes that at times Mc$ullin seems to -now what his message

is# and sometimes not.

2lacardsOlegends

Informative and appreciative placards with text specif"ing or )anchoring)5 the

image are still on the image!primar" end of things. hese provide verball"5 context

for the wor-# including information about the sub(ect represented# the date andcircumstances of creation# and noteworth" features of the wor-. hese are usuall"

displa"ed next to the wor- the" explicate and are a ma(or part of what we expect to

0nd in a curated exhibit. We ma" 0nd them as well in a catalog of the exhibit or

boo- devoted to the wor-s of the artist and the" are a -e" part of framing the wor-

of art as art.

>ne of the things we generall" are not told and presumabl" is not relevant to our

appreciation of art as art is who has owned it and what the" paid for it!!its histor" asa commodit". 8ans 8aac-e has created much discomfort and some uproar b"

exhibiting placards with that information next to various paintings along with other

information about the owner's business holdings or those of the museum's

directors. his information is a part of the stor" of how a particular wor- came to be

exhibited before the public in that place and time# but it a part that our institutional

conventions of 8igh Hrt render invisible and unspea-able. 8aac-e's eorts have


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20/50

term points b" means of a pointer or the part where the label is located. Ht the left

is a simple line drawing of a )saggital section) view of the mouth and throat

directing attention to the parts that are centrall" involved with speech. ?ine

drawings appropriatel" scant realistic surface detail in favor of structural

delineation. Recent advances in anatomical imaging have provided a number of

photographicall"!based alternatives to the hand!drawn )sagittal section) of themouth. 8ere is one using a digiti;ed sliced cadaver from the Disible 8uman 2ro(ect.5

?arr" Rivers: 2arts of the =od": &rench Docabular" ?esson III 1*B95

&igure 1.+A

?arr" Rivers: 2arts of the =od": &rench Docabular" ?esson III 1*B95

Hnother vocabular" lesson# this one ver" incongruent. he incongruit" is not

between label and image Magritte had alread" done that past repeating5# butbetween the standard format of a vocabular" diagram and its execution in this one

of a series of &rench Docabular" ?essons b" ?arr" Rivers. In the standard format# the

ob(ect or ob(ects shown are all 0rml" outlined ob(ects drawn in canonical recognition

view. 8ere the 0gure is s-etched on canvas and partiall" painted in# though some of

the good!form s"mmetrical features are missing# the posture is not that of the

standing nude female to be found in an" number of anatomical drawings. 4he is not

neutered# to sa" the least# and sits legs agape about full!si;ed or a little larger

loo-ing directl" at us with her one e"e5. Hnd the labels: wh" blac- spra"ed or

painted stencilG >ne is reminded of &oucault's remar- about the )convent hand)

script in Magritte's vocabular" travesties.5 >ne simple and inade3uate answer is

that


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H 0nal example of a labelled image gone astra": this ma" have started out loo-ing

li-e )&igure +.) with points 1!A to be noted but it drifted into a more abstract space

of words and concepts where voices# sounds# experiences# languages are all

streaming into or out of a vortex along with some thoughts about space and some

hard to ma-e out pieces of things. 2assing bac- through left to right again# the

twisted con0guration can be seen as a diagram of how barbs are twisted intobarbed wire# which is one wa" to mar- o a social 0eld. his is in fact an unstable

image# since what is label# what image begins to blur when the space ceases to be

Cat and the words appear angled toward the vanishing point vortex. his is one of

@im =ec-mann's pri;e winning digital images at Hrt and 4cience $ollaborations

%igital*E# where we 0nd attached an evocative few lines of poetr" and text that

emplo"s most of the words in this image.

1.6 Hppropriations

Hppropriation has developed a somewhat speciali;ed meaning in discussions of

modern art: it means to place an ob(ect or image in a context with which it is not

conventionall" associated intending thereb" to unsettle our normal expectations

and lines of interpretation. >ne source of such practices was Marcel %uchamp's

parade of )read" mades) urinals# metal bottle rac-s# bic"cle wheels mounted on

stools5 exhibited as art so as to place 8igh Hrt in 3uestion. o text is involved in

these cases# (ust the common ob(ects and the galler" context# and the practice was

oppositional in the sense that 8igh Hrt could not see such ob(ects as signi0cant or

beautiful shapes. H second source is political cartooning# in which the texts ofpoliticians are parodicall" illustrated with the sense of )what this reall" means is ...)

or )what will happen is this...)

he =utter is /one

&igure 1.+


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theoretical# dogmatic and self!righteous# namel" the languages of ?eft sociolog"#

feminism# fetishism commodit" and otherwise5# and ps"choanal"sis. hese he also

puts to the test. Hnd too# some of the texts are snatches of narrative# even

dialogue# but what all of these texts have in common is that the photographs that

accompan" them do not illustrate the texts in an" conventionall" direct wa". Hnd

the texts are chun-s of discourses Coating out there in the heteroglossic soup. he(uxtapositions are rarel" so directl" oppositional as the upending of glamorous

consumerism b" the ine3uit" of propert" ownership in =ritain.

&igure 1.6,

Dictor =urgin: $ordoba

In one wa"# the image to the left comes close both to t"pif"ing visuall" andillustrating the text enlarge the image to read the text5# namel"# in the line of six

business men that are wal-ing diagonall" across the picture par-ing lotG cross

wal-G5. he" are# after# )in transit#) 3uite plausibl" from wor- to home. he

dominant foreground image# however# is of predator" phallic assertiveness# of an

existence de0ned neither b" (ob nor b" home but b" a big shin" car# cigarette# and

casual dress. If $hr"sler didn't use the picture# the" missed a good bet. =ut for

greatest eect# the picture needs the text# which# with its unrelentingl" grim

portra"al of modern paternal role!modeling# ma-es the dude in the $ordoba

extremel" attractive. 2erhaps =urgin expects us to see through this appeal# but all

the visual values in the picture sa" )the dude is he Man.) he text bears a title

)>MI2>F$F) and reads:

Fconomicall" spea-ing# the father's authorit" in the home is an anachronism which

recalls preindustrial times when he directed famil"!based production. In most cases

toda" the father is himself merel" a commodit" in the labor mar-et. 8is 'authorit"'

now serves to reproduce in his children his own subservience to corporate and state

power# providing them with the image of an ultimatel" benevolent controlling

wisdom though which the" will later tend to view all others who wield power over

them. he ob(ective authorit" of the father has collapsed into that gap which the

factor" opened between wor- and famil"!life. 4imultaneousl" master!of!the!house

and a servant in his place of emplo"ment# the identit" of the patriarch as wage!

slave is in perpetual transit between wor- and home.


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his image pushes toward the unstable group# since it would be fairl" eas" to turn

on the text and reinterpret it in the light of the picture)>h "eahG Well at least I

don't have to listen to "ou# 2rofessor)

Dictor =urgin: c. 1*B

&igure 1.61

Dictor =urgin: Marlboro

>n the facing page in =etween is another image of a man with a cigarettethe

Marlboro Manbut in surroundings that are dar- and shabb"# perhaps a subwa"#

the ver" opposite of the da"light and shin" metal of the previous image. he text is

a little narrative# a mini!stor"

H dar-!haired woman in her late!forties hands over a photograph showing the

haircut she wants duplicating 'exactl"'. he picture shows a ver" "oung woman with

blond hair cut extremel" short. he hairdresser props it b" the mirror in which he

can see the face of his client watching her own reCections. When he has 0nished he

removes the cotton cape from the woman's shoulders. 'hat's it'# he sa"s. =ut the

woman continues sitting# continues staring at her reCection in the mirror.

he actual image on the subwa" wall is also ideali;ed image one the the great

commercial icons of all timebut there is no viewer to loo- at it other than us5. It is

economical to see a parallelism between text and image# provided we step into the

position parallel to the woman customer. We are not told what the woman was

thin-ing or feeling# and we too are left to our own thoughts# which ma" turn more in

the direction of self!examination than socio!political criti3ue.

here are 3uite a number of other pairings in these series from 1*B!E that set o

text against image in wa"s that are comic or obli3ue in the sense that there must

be some third term or context not accessible to the viewer that lin-s image and

text. When the relation becomes undecidable# we have left appropriation and

entered the region of the unstable# which is dealt with in the next section.


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%avid 2lowden: 4tatue of ?ibert" from $aven 2oint Road# n the facing page

appears Fmma ?a;arus' famous )/ive me "our tired# "our poor) sonnet.


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empleton's agent b" reducing the grand phrases to their practical conse3uences in

dail" life: )capitalist mar-eting of moralit" would oer us immoral commodit"

choices pac-aged with positive words)how bac-ward can people be to withhold

assent In this displa" from Wired# the image# though a studio (ob and no

documentar"# shows the concrete material result of the victor" of the mar-etplace

and is even more deCating than 8eart0eld's dinner of iron# since it shows thepresent realit"# not a possible future.

&igure 1.6A

/eo =roadwa": Mirage 1**5

Hll of these appropriating wor-s pla" o words against images in some sort of

opposition or dialectic# the words being printed on or near the image. here areobvious limits to how far this can be carried# but appropriation is possible in more

complex con0gurations such as the six images created b" /eo =roadwa" for his

M2hil degree at the Jniversit" of %erb" 1**5. hese are exhibited on the Web as

)he /lass)7 one of them# )Mirage#) appears reduced at the left. Hfter a bit of stud"#

we can see four relativel" distinct images in the photomontage# three of them

overla"ing the bac-ground image a 1Bth centur" Hrabic compass5 in the semi!

transparent fashion of photomontage. =roadwa" identi0es these images: one is an

Ftienne


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he more privileged women manne3uins5 on the inside advertise cruise wear in the

dead of winter# and are portra"ed half na-ed# bald and e3uall" alienated. he"

bestow a blessing on their sister a world apart# "et onl" inches awa" on the other

side of the glass. =oth are in full view on public displa" and are at the same time# to

the larger world# invisible.

his is so dierent from the treatment in =uc-!Morss' boo- that it almost seems

written to recapture the image from her# as if to sa"# )"ou focussed on onl" a part of

the image#) and to aNrm and reconcile the alienated# rather than to rouse

indignation at the oppression creating the homeless in our cities. =uc-!Morss also

reproduces a similar photo b" =rassai in the 1*6,s which shows )the contradiction)

more directl" and in the fashion of the times +15# where a tramp is sleeping on the

street under a large poster of a dinner salad being made.5 H cultural critic might

dismiss Rousseau's account as a triviali;ing or exploitation of oppressiona

prettif"ing )let's imagine)but Rousseau refers on this and other pages to her

decade of wor- in the shelters for homeless women# and it is li-el" she is well past

the ironies of super0cial contrasts. It is as if her image was hi(ac-ed# not b" =uc-!Morss# but b" the tradition of ?ange!Fvans!=our-e!White st"le photographs of the

homeless huddled in the doorwa"s of ban-s and so onthe same tradition Martha

Rosler was resisting in )he =ower" in wo Inade3uate Representational 4"stems)!!

to which we turn next.

1.9 Jnstable relations

he relation of text and image become unstable or )open)5 when neither text nor

image is primar" in the piece# nor is one more grounded in the world than the other.Hs we view them# we shuttle between one signi0cation s"stem and the other# which

is to sa" between the two visual modes of reading and viewing. 8ere we will begin

with some of Martha Rosler's wor-# where the words mostl" sta" outside the frame

of the image# and loo- then at what we will call textmontage# where words and

phrases bleed into each other and into images. We will then loo- at some variations

and developments of words in imagetexts from another Wired# and an online edition

of a =orges stor" b" Fduardo avas to the long and continuing anatom" of urban

street life#


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Rosler

H "ear or two before Dictor =urgin began exhibiting the series (ust discussed#Martha Rosler 0rst showed he =ower" in wo Inade3uate Representational

4"stems. his wor- has had an extraordinar" histor" of exhibition# publication#

inclusion in collections and citations on the Web usuall" onl" a sample of the

exhibit in the last two cases.5 It consists of +9 rectangles of masonite# each with one

photograph of a street site in ew Lor-'s =ower" and one list of terms meaning

)inebriated.) 4o for the image at the left there are twelve terms )soa-ed# sodden#

steeped# soused# etc.)5# man" of them terms the alcoholics sitting or l"ing in the

streets would use to describe their condition. he sites themselves are mainl" the

fronts of stores where the alcoholics would sit and the" all have empt" bottles l"ing

about# but of the alcoholics themselves there is no trace. he terms b" their ver"abundance show that there is no single# most accurate term to represent the state

these people see-7 the" conve" rather a sense of the lifeworld of their users with

elements#Rosler notes# )of pla"fulness and humor# of poetr" and stand!up comed".)

19

he photographs har- bac- to Wal-er Fvans' wor- in street documentar"# but

Rosler's streets are empt"# earl" morning scenes with onl" traces of the inhabitants.

4pea-ing of Fugene Htget# also a great depicter of empt" morning streets# Walter=en(amin sa"s#

ot for nothing were pictures of Htget compared with those of the scene of a crime.

=ut is not ever" spot of our cities the scene of a crimeG ever" passerb" a

perpetratorG %oes not the photographer!!descendant of augurers and haruspices!!

uncover guilt in his picturesG 1A

8arlan Wallach's )$hicago Murder 4ites)see $hapter A.65 is a 0ne example of what

=en(amin is tal-ing about# but Rosler's is not# mainl" because the viewer constructs

an inhabited scene b" means of the words that is not one of repulsion#

condemnation# pit"# guilt# or victimage. he inade3uac" of the photographic

medium# we might sa"# is that in depicting necessaril"5 the shabb" clothing#

splotch" Cesh# toothless mouths# matted hair# and supine postures# the camera

would capture onl" the roughest outlines of individual experience.


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I call this exhibit unstable or )open)5 because neither text nor image is primar"#

and because the viewer struggles to compose an interpretation that brings the

pieces together without -nowing what that exactl" would be# onl" that it is not an"of the conventional stances the viewer of documentar" might ta-e. o put it another

wa"# Rosler spea-s of pointing the camera bac- toward the world# so that the self!

referentialit" of much contemporar" conceptual art gives wa" to actuall" loo-ing at

the world!!while at the same time thin-ing about the two representational s"stems

and their relative ade3uacies to represent the experience of the =ower" alcoholic.

Martha Rosler: In the 2lace of the 2ublic: Hirport 4eries

&igure 1.6*

Martha Rosler: In the 2lace of the 2ublic: Hirport 4eries

=eginning in the earl" 1**,s# Rosler began to exhibit a new series which has gone

through some changes it has traveled and as she continues to add new pictures

and remove others5. his series# )In the 2lace of the 2ublic: Hirport 4eries#) uses

color and is photographed with a little poc-et camera she carries with her as she

travels. hese she displa"s in various arra"s with words# phrases# sometimes a

paragraph placed near or around them. Lou can get a sense of this from the slightl"ampli0ed online version of a recent exhibit. Lou can also clic- here for a picture of

an installation.

he galler" displa" frees the words and phrases from an" pairings to images# which

are presented in standard galler" fashion. he" mean to invo-e the ambiance of the

airport# of course# and so the words become an ambiance of commentar". In this

the" are distinct from the baseline simple singular inde0nite noun phrases in small#

gra" letters# most of which signif"# rather nostalgicall"# places which were

destinations and locales where speci0c human interactions too-ta-e place. hese

also function as a baseline to the pairs of images in the online exhibit and the" are

plentiful. he words above in the galler" above and on top of the online images5

are name bits and pieces of 2ostmodern information age culture that appl" in

various wa"s# some 3uite tangential# to the images# or# one might sa"# vice!versa.


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>ne theme of the wor- is thus obviousl" the experience of airport space as not a

place in the old sense5 but a passage to a place and 0lled with images of other

rather generic spaces as possible ob(ects of desire /erman"# Fngland5. H second

theme is Cow of data and information# which in our time is far more important than

where it starts or ends up# or what it is. his notion is touched in the numerous

images of television displa"s# newspapers# placards# in the Coating phrases# andeven in the base line series# which includes or concludes )Cow# transition# data# bit#

b"te#) which terms contrast to older units of information in the base line )H tablet#

a paper# a parchment# H palimpsest# a pamphlet# a boo-)5. 1B

here are three strings of words that rise to the level of sentences and might

thereb" be 3uali0ed to give de0nitive commentar"# but one is 0gurative and

descriptive )Fach module repents of meaning)5 and the other two are self!canceling. he singsong )I don't sa" map# I don't sa" territor") could be applied a

number of wa"s as a reference to the whole exhibit. a-ing the )I) in a simple# naive

wa" as the voice of the ma-er# it refuses to sa" that the displa" is in an" sense a

map of postmodernit"! !the la"out of the world of virtual space! !nor will it sa" that

airport space is a particular territor"# since it is alwa"s onl" a passage to )elsewhere

and otherwise.) F3uall" so# these words or spaces cannot be said to be fragments#

since )here are onl" no fragments where there is no whole) and it would seem the

entire notion of wholefragment is nostalgic.

&igure 1.9,

4tef Sel"ns-"(

extmontage

extmontage refers to the superimposing of text onto image la"ers with the soft

blending edges we ta-e as characteristic of photomontage.4ee $hapter +5 he text

can be read in bits and snatches# but it fades into the bac-ground# so that there are

no well!de0ned boundaries to mar- o the )readable) from the )seeable.)extmontage is more than simpl" using text# especiall" hand!written text# as a

visual texture usuall" har-ing bac- to a predigital world ver" often also with

postmar-s and stamps5. 4uch bits of text can be deciphered onl" with eort and

their contents are not thematic to the wor-. With textmontage# "ou can and are

meant to grope for the words and decipher them as part of a message# but the

artists often also provide a simple version to assist "our grasping of the text. In the


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example at the left b" the digital artist 4tef Sel"ns-"(# the text is a poem )4ong

hat Women Hre =ut Mens 4haddowes5) b" =en llow a shaddow# it still Cies "ou7

4eeme to C"e it# it will pursue:

4o court a mistris# shee den"es "ou7

?et her alone# shee will court "ou.

4a"# are not women truel"# then#

4til'd but the shaddowes of us menG

Ht morne# and even# shades are longest7

Ht noone# the" are or short# or none:

4o men at wea-est# the" are strongest#

=ut grant us perfect# the"'re not -nowne.

4a"# are not women truel"# then

4til'd but the shaddowes of us menG

8ere the disruption of reading seems to arise from ph"sical damage to a printed

page scrutini;ed through a magni0er at 0ve dierent degrees of magni0cation. hedamage allows the s-" to appear through the page in places# but not alwa"s exactl"

the same places. his piece taps in to a certain fascination we have with reading

erased or canceled words# or restoring a page that has been ripped to pieces.

4and" Loung: Which Wa"

&igure 1.91

4and" Loung: Which Wa"

he digital artist and designer 4and" Loung exhibits this along with six other

)t"pographic pieces that express ideas in the form of 'visual poetr"'.) he piece as

an IRI4 print is large enough that text in the bac-ground ma" be legible with

concentrated eort5# but as exhibited on line# she gives the text to its left:


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%iane &enster is another digital artist discussed elsewhere in 2hotomontage5 whose

montage extends to la"ering text. In her )8ide and 4ee-)# which is a h"pertext

consisting of 1+ images# each of which includes translated5 snips of a poem b" the

$hilean surrealist poet Dincente 8uidobro. >ne might suppose from this description

that the images were essentiall" illustrations to the lines from the poem# the latter

being the primar" focus. 8owever# the twelve snips in order do not correspond toan" single text that 8uidobro wrote# and there is a third# de0nitel" surrealist

element involved# which is a number of h"pertext lin-s from words on most of the

pages to sites that are not obviousl" related to an" theme of the page the" ma" be

related# (ust not obviousl" related5.

Ian $ampbell: Jsenet series: Male $liche

&igure 1.9A

Ian $ampbell: Jsenet series: Male $lichK

Ian $ampbell is perhaps more interested in (un-# debris# garbage for him# being

$anadian5 than in words and texts# but he is also attracted to words when the" are

thrown awa". 4o old Jsenet postings get laid over rusting steel plate or old# torn

underwear and bu;; words and words of art are sprin-led about. $ampbell actuall"

began with pairs of words li-e male cliche# ran them b" a Jsenet search engine# and

harvested the posts the engine turned up. 8e then presumabl" gave them their

material form on various -inds of discarded paper and with various fonts#

emphasi;ing their alread" used up 3ualit". In more recent wor-s# he has been using

the 8M? browser apparatus of )alt tag) tool!tip windows and messages in the

status bar that cause words to appear as "ou mouse over his images# so that the

words are not ph"sicall" next to the things that trigger them in the image# but are

)released) b" touching the things. In his recent )%ross) these devices produce two

short strings of words when either of two trigger panels is touched7 the words

include a goodl" number of nonsense words and strings and cannot be semanticall"

connected to the images# for the images are not readil" recogni;able as familiar

ob(ects. he" exude a strong ph"sical presence because the" are brightl" lighted

and photographed ver" close up in hard focus7 we (ust don't -now what the" are

fragments of# and so cannot summon up much of the cultural code about them. We

will discuss his more interactive wor- in the $ollage chapter 6.95.

%ata 1

&igure 1.9B

%ata 1


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Wired he )%ata) set of pages from Wired is built on lines from an article about a

4eattle compan" that recovers old email# even deleted email. he lines seem

rewritten over themselves# and the graphic represents old data that has been

rewritten over man" bac-ups. his pair of graphics give strong support to the claim

that images excel at representing chaos. he line in )%ata 1#) )=ac-ups containing

millions of email messages are the digital e3uivalent of formaldeh"de#) oers asimile which is the basis of the green li3uid loo- with its bit of magni0ed mos3uito

or crane C" in it.

%ata +

&igure 1.9

%ata +

urning the page# the color changes to 0er" red and hotter "ellow# to a la-e of 0re orfurnace with old dis-s# a -e"# some more crane C" wing# numbers and labels. he

text sa"s explicates the simile: )a medium where nothing deca"s.) he 0re could be

ta-en as what puts companies in the hot seat# but it can also attract traditional

connotations of 8ell# the place where the 0re of torment burns unconsuming and

nothing is forgotten or forgiven. &or me# seeing a sort of doll's face or mas- in the

0re invites this human association with the digital eternall" unforgotten and is much

more powerful than fragments of email memos would be. his I should add carries

the signi0cance of the graphic far into a spiritual dimension that has little to do with

the content of the article# which mostl" turns on $LH for corporations. If the reader

turns to the indicated page and begins to read the article# she li-el" will be

disappointed b" the absence of metaph"sical grandeur. Which is to sa" that the

artist ta-es the lines out of their verbal context and indeed out of the context of the

article and recontextuali;es them# composing a visual meditation upon them. he

new# ver" strong contexts do not upend or puncture or invert the words7 the" simpl"

ta-e them as a point of departure into a parallel realm which corresponds to the

date in a digital bac-up in a perhaps indeterminable number of wa"s.

he top screen from Fduardo avas: Ustor"

&igure 1.9E

home.earthlin-.netVnavasse Ustor"once.html

Fduardo avas# the author of )he Uuixote) In all of these instances of text!in!

image# the relation is unstable insofar as one alternates between reading text and


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viewing image# with neither illustrating nor explaining the other. he" do not

necessaril" compete with each other for interpretive master"# except insofar as the"

compete for )real estate) on the screen or page. Most of the instances of text in

these examples are relativel" brieffragments# in some casesand it would seem

that the" compete with themselves as visual 0gure and as connected text. Hn

interesting wa" to resolve this competition can be seen at the web site lin-ed fromthe screen capture at the left. he site is Fduardo avas' )edition) of =orges' short

tale )2ierre Menard: he Huthor of he Uuixote.) It is made up of nine screens plus a

tenth Coating window. &or each screen# the window displa"s part of the text of the

stor" in both 4panish and Fnglish# sentence b" sentence. Fach screen contains two

sentences from the section of the stor" in the window# in both 4panish and Fnglish#

montaged over the bac-ground in large# colored fonts. he bac-ground contains an

image of an illustrated 4panish edition of %on Uuixote dierent for each page5 and

a smallish graphic that lin-s o site to targets whose connection to the theme of the

page is extremel" obscure. 8ere the image is a little movie of surf and the lin- is to

a 4ur0ng $am site which itself lin-s to various sur0ng cameras around the world.5 In

this wa"# various sentences are both made part of the visual design of a page a

sort of poster# as it were5 and "et can still be read as part of the connected text# so

a part of their own illustration. Fven in their large# poster!panel form# the sentences

also insist on their being text b" reminding us the" are words of one language along

with their e3uivalent words in another. his is (ust the sort of tension between word

as visual 0gure and word as meaning that


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incomplete ta-es of things and texts which are interrupted before we can full"

recognise and integrate them into a world. 8er st"le for conve"ing this

fragmentariness is not the classic one of collage with its torn and cut images and

texts interrupting each other# once 3uite popular as a wa" of representing the rush

and (umble and distraction of urban life# but rather that of a grid made up of

1,,x1,, pixel sections of larger images. hese sections are often rotated ordistorted and some are animated gifs that Cip through a series of image pieces at

1,, msec a piece5 or that change on mouse over. In the grid at the left# the bottom

image is a Cipping animation and the four upper images replace on mouse over. 4o

even this ver" standard# stable design with centered complete!sentence text is less

0xed than it appears.


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writing and earl" print# but the mixture of pure space and material hands displa"ed

on illuminated glass surfaces two!sided boxes5 seems to carr" the loo- of

textmontage on the screen to a 0nal abstractionthe homage of contemporar"

infoart to its forebears in monasteries and print

1.A Word!Image $hains

hus far this chapter has dealt with relations of text and image on a single screen or

page7 with on!line Web displa"# a third dimension of se3uence comes into pla" and

allows words and images to be anchors of lin-s to other words and images#

sometimes in chains of word!image!image!word! etc. When such chains are the

structural bac-bone of a site# an eas" e3uivalence as anchor and target arises.

8"pertext lin-ing becomes an image of signi0cation i.e. clic-ing on this givesta-es

"ou to that5 in a wa" that levels the dierence in mode of signi0cation which we andMagritte have attempted to -eep distinct. >ne has the feeling of manipulating a

language that does deserve the term )imagetext.)


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the fragments )control# faith# desire# and obsession)5 and the navigational tip that

the pictures and images# as well as the circled items on one page of numbers# are

lin- anchors. he )technical note) spells out for us man" things that now would be

ta-en for granted# suggesting a date of ma-ing of ver" earl" graphic Web 1**A5.

he words# snapshots# lists# calendar pages# (ottings!!all are signi0ers# but their

meanings are -nown onl" to the absent consciousness that collected them. >neshould not ta-e this displa" of Modernist impersonalit" as 43uier's distinctive

approach: his most famous Web wor- is ?ife With &ather# a ver" personal#

expressionist settling of accounts.5

lin- map of Jrban %iar"

&igure 1.A6

?in- Map of Jrban %iar"

Jrban %iar" has alwa"s seemed ver" rich and complex to me# going alwa"s in

multiple directions# but in anal";ing its lin- structure# I see that it has the structure

of a wagon wheel with a central entr" point with paths spo-es5 to the individual

pages and lin-s around the rim from one page to the next. his is a basic h"pertext

structure# ver" eas" to navigate. he richness and complexit" come from the

invitation to interpret all these )clues.)

$arol &lax: 8ome is ot What Lou Imagine It to =e

&igure 1.A9

$arol &lax: 8ome is ot What Lou Imagine It to =e

he thumbnail to the left is the )home page) image for another classic piece of net

art b" $arol &lax dealing with adoption. he image is itself an unstable mixture of

text fragments which appear in fuller form later5 and an image of a "oung girl#

presumabl" adopted. It is also the anchor lin-ing to another image perhaps of the

girl5 overwritten b" text and surrounded with fragments of the word nurture. his in

turn lin-s to a page (ust of the words )I am illegitimate) repeated four times. >ne of

the illegitimates lin-s to an animation of the words )out of wedloc-) which collapse

inwardl" and fall into a heap# but also lin- to a page of words etc.5. &lax li-es to

ma-e animations of words fading# collapsing# or disintegrating. 4he also does this

with images# but dissolving is particularl" stri-ing with text# which is presumed

permanent and unchanging. he site is made up of such chains and there are

cross!lin-s and returns5. he initial )8ome) image is also the center of another page

with the caption )what ma-es "ou thin- "ou've come homeG) his recapitulates the


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last images tend to revert fairl" 3uic-l" to the preceding# usuall" commercial

images of )house beautiful.) >ne can force changes b" clic-ing in the %ream

window# even in the lower window )M" ?ife)5 which is largel" 0lled with snapshots.

Man" of the images in these windows have text in them as well# so that the

distinction of text v. image is neutrali;ed. he main focus of attention is what the

lin-s do# not whether the" are text# or image# or image!with!text.

&ormall"# it is a scripted world7 in content# it is a world polari;ed b" race and

secondaril"# gender5. 4o we have another site committed to )showing the

contradictions) which it does b" (uxtaposition# sometimes side!b"!side and

sometimes b" se3uence as in the slipping bac- of the %ream images from violence

to dream house decor5. he double to" Cags# the one switching white to blac- and

inverting the blue 0eld to its complementar" green# re3uire little interpretation asemblems of the two Hmericas of race especiall" in the light of the words of her

mother which begin the piece5# and the" appear when the text spea-s of sa"ing the

pledge of allegiance in school and in fact displa"s the text of the pledge. 8ere

image opposes text# but image can also oppose image# as when the word disobe"

loads new images into %ream and also M" ?ife: %ream shows a scene from the

4elma acts of civil disobedience while M" ?ife shows her father's receiving a militar"

decoration# the fruit of the most literal and explicit obedience. hus both words and

images are capable of expressing ideological illusions but also of criti3uing these

illusions: neither one is reliabl" or consistentl" the truth!teller.

Hlthough there are contradictions aplent" to be found in With ?ibert" and


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?i; Miller: Moles: a Web arrative

&igure 1.A

moles.node.net 1***5

o browse the next site# the viewer has to be even more inventive in 0nding and

s"nthesi;ing cues. Moles is multi!media self!examination#) ?i; Miller sa"s# calling it

an autobiographical narrative# which is promising a lot for a site that opens with a

blac- screen and seven thumbnail images which align themselves on the left to

ma-e up a table of contents. Fach of these if touched 0lls the main window with a

large version of itself partitioned into three sections. he central# slender section of

each is the clic-able part and activates reloading with a bit of narrative text

appearing# usuall" over image and sometimes as a mouse!over with one of the

moles. >ne of the seven strands has some )refresh) auto!loading# but the general

mode rewards engagements with the mouse in various wa"s: the eect issometimes of sliding panels that the viewer must pull bac- to read the text behind

them# sometimes of painting the screen with the mouse to trigger mouse!overs# and

often of touching the moles with the cursor to trigger text or (ump to the next

screen. he bits of stor" are there# lin-ed to the moles# waiting to be released.

In case one wonders what an artist does after completing such an intensel" self!

focused wor-# Miller's most recent pro(ect wor-ed with residents in the 2ar-ville

4enior $enter in 8artford# $onn. to construct a site showing how their communit"

had changed over the last centur". 1E

?i; Miller: Moles: the letter

&igure 1.AE

Moles: the letter

he seven narrative segments are not in simple chronological order# but do advance

a theme of growing up# leaving home# discovering attraction to women# wanting to

and 0nall" telling her parents in a letter of her lesbian identi0cation. his screencapture illustrates how this all wor-s as techni3ue and content:

he gra" text!over in monospace t"pe can be readil" made out as the text of the

letter she has been struggling to write. he cursor is touching a mole on her thigh

and triggering the appearance of the text on the calf of the leg. his is imagetext


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and even pushes the notions of text and image be"ond the static page or screen

into a stream of interchange.

4hell" ne point she is underlining is that moles such as she has bear watching for signs of

dangerous changes# a theme of the piece that even provides its concluding

segment# built around a scar on her -nee that is the lingering eect of a medical

excision of one such mole. =ut a second sense of self!examination is apposite as

well: the piece is housed at two dierent servers# one of which is contrition.net.

contrition.net oers other pieces b" Miller as well as a substantial discussion of

$atholic doctrine concerning contrition. What uni0es Moles is not an image but thenarrative of attempting to prevent her sexualit" from separating her from her

parents. he attempt fails# as her mother cannot respond to her letter disclosing the

facts.

Hndi &reeman and %oll Lo-o: %eath of the Sombie 2rincess


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&igure 1.B,

%oll Lo-o and Hndi &reeman# 2rincess Sombie

he 0nal piece is a fairl" small web of about +, pages# B of which are text7 several

of the remaining images include words and phrases. he images are all imagemaps

with one to three hot areas# man" of which are e"es# faces# and lips of 0gures inone case an ear5. here is a sense of ph"sical transgression and violence in the

piece# as there is in most of %oll Lo-o's pieces# here focused on activating or

releasing what the e"e sees or lips sa" or do# in one case spew or drool5 b"

touching it with "our )0nger tip.) >nce "ou get past po-ing someone's e"e to get

another screenful of text or image# "ou (oin the game and begin to si;e up the next

screen to guess which spots she has made hot. Hnd# it turns out# a number of the

words included in the images are hot though of course the" are not underlined as

the lin- anchors are in the pure text pages5. his is discussed further in A.+.

In his little boo- on Magritte 1*65# Michel &oucault la"s it down as axiomatic that

images and text# as rival semiotic s"stems# cannot coexist in a single wor-7 one will

tr" to subdue the other. In this chapter we have certainl" seen cases where their

dierence has been mobili;ed to ma-e a point# or the tension between them seems

to provide a good bit of the pleasure and interest# but this section ma-es it clear

that this dierence can also be neutrali;ed or ignored. When word and image

become digital and can be mar-ed up as anchors or targets of lin-s# the" become

functionall" 3uite ali-e: the" become the hot spots or connecting points that

connect pages into a networ-. In turning that wa"# the" turn awa" from ma-ing

representations of the world# and hence the dierent wa"s the" do that is of little

concern. %igital words and images have after all a common mode of material

existence# and that mode is not one of paint or in- or emulsion# canvas or paper or

plastic7 it is one on the spinning platters of hard drives and the memor" registers of

ram7 it is those alternations in magnetic polarit" and in electrical charge that we

represent as strings of , and 1.

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