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