Turbulent by Shirin Neshat

When

Who

What

Where

Why

Shirin Neshat (filmmaker)

A male and female singers singing on the stage in each frame, but only the male singer's face is shown in the beginning of the video and he not only has audience but his audience is only male

Two people - One man facing front & the backview of a woman

Themes in work - Being caught between two cultures / their values

Questioning cultural and social codes in Muslim Society

Two separate screens enhances the duality inherent in the work and creates a tense dialogue of differences

Extreme contrasts in ideas

Melismatic singing

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Pre Iranian-revolution - women weren't allowed to be in entertainment / sing in public

The man sings a melodic love song in Farsi, but the woman screams and looks tired at the end

Shoja Azari (Male singer)

Iranian-born visual artist, filmmaker based in New York City

Talking about the difference in gender roles and expectations in Iran

The man's performance seems practiced and calculated, and the woman's feels more illicit and spontaneous

Perfomance hall in Iran

Left side of the screen (man) fully populated, supportive and captive male audience

Right side of the screen (woman) empty hall

Even after the Iranian revolution, women are only permitted to perform for female audiences.

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Actual installation at Venice Biennal 1999, each side is projected on opposite sides of the room so the audience has to "take a side"

Contrasting the way men and women are treated

The fight against inequality, the battle for label-free identities, and the fight against right-wing populism is the hallmark of contemporary society.


Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against "the elite."

Sussan Deyhim (Female singer)

Iranian composer, vocalist, performance artist and activist

To picture centuries of suffering and ignorance

Weaves in highly aesthetic & disturbing images and questions the relationship between man & woman

Grew up in Qasvin, Iran - Extremely Religious City. Neshat left Iran as a teenager in 1974 to attend school in Los Angeles. She did not return until 1990.

implying that only men are heard

Black & White film

Neshat's sense of herself as an artist changed after going back to Iran, 11 years after the Islamic Revolution transformed her country.

Her biggest inspiration is Middle Eastern Women

Panopticism

In relation to Turbulent

Panoptic Concepts

A Way of Seeing

The male gaze akin to the power of surveillance the guard in the centre of the Panopticon over the prisoners (social minorities)

"He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection."

Panopticon is an all encompassing "way" of seeing others (here women, she is spoken about in reference to man always)

The internalization of rules and regulations.

Women basically have to exist in a way that conforms to the ideals set for them by men

Internalised Ideals and Norms

In Focault's Panopticism - The disciplinary society is not necessarily one with a panopticon in every street: it is one where the state controls such methods of coercion and operates them throughout society.

Internalised ideas of what's 'right' and 'wrong' (societal norms for gender, religion, sexuality, etc.) used by people to police other people.

In Neshat's Turbulent - Women have a very set role in society and aren't expected to perform men's roles (here singing). Is this signified by the fact that she's singing in an empty auditorium?

Power should be visible and unverifiable

Through "constant surveillance", Bentham believed all groups of society could be altered. Morals would be reformed, health preserved, industry invigorated etc.

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In the same way, women in Iran have subjected themselves to the law (pre-revolution), naturalizing rules, knowing that they are being constantly watched. Less willing to contest unjust laws.

Michel Foucault's accounts were gender-neutral and failed to address or perhaps even to recognise the significance of gender in the play of power.

Fuck Focault

Women's / feminist perspective not really taken into consideration for concepts of distinction between power and violence. Focault's ideas minimize the actuality of violence and repression against women at the hands of men

"If they didn't say it happened, it didn't happen"

Problematic because we live in a society far from gender-neutral, especially in a place like Iran

Many feminist sees gender-naturality as androcentrism, he is not really treating the body ‘as one’ but as male