entry nine

Firstly, I was pleased by the mention of artist Carolee Schneemann compared to Zappa on page 275 of the text. I just finished writing a short paper that focused heavily on her and the Guerilla Girls, specifically in the context of gender and sexuality in art. Schneemann was mentioned as an illustration of how Zappa might have been better suited to the performance art community and might have actually been warmly accepted--Schneemann especially was doing a lot more with Meat Joy and Fuses than firing whipped cream out of a stuffed giraffe's ass. Was this not the raw representation, the authenticity and seriousness that Zappa always tried to convey? I suppose the rift appears with his supposedly juvenile humour...and his need to be popular. Tickets for a naked cellist don't exactly sell out at the box office (though I've no idea why). Whatever reasons exist for Zappa's not joining the performance art community of the '60s and '70s, I thought the comparison between Zappa and Schneemann compelling. I could be putting more thought into this since just yesterday I made up my mind on Zappa's sexism, a topic that's also focused on around that section of the text. I was struck by how well they served as representations of the gender binary in postmodern artists and what an intriguing essay topic that would make. I love to think of the arty men I know as enlightened, sexually adventurous and fair-minded. Perhaps they will usurp the art world throne, but it's possible they will inherit stats the Guerilla Girls are all too happy to provide on the grumbling coming from men when women start to infringe on their creative territory. It's understandable, and not their fault every single time: it is difficult for men and women to grow up, especially creatively, seeing more naked women in paintings than actually painting. Were this an essay, however, I wouldn't want it to have a feminist bent. I'd rather assume the cool eye of the art critic and try to look at both genders with curiosity and a mind to be champion of both. For example I am beginning to feel that women are starting to have it easier when it comes to a discussion of sexuality in their work. Because of all these associations with the patriarchy that develop when we look at men's art from a feminist point of view, a piece like Meat Joy (which involves nudity, sausages, raw fish and rope) could come off as just another juvenile repressed fantasy if created by a man. But especially in 1964, such a performance piece done by a woman is lauded as celebratory, wild, uninhibited, curious and my favourite, sensual. Schneemann's use of flesh as material is not all that different from Zappa's reference to the Tower of Power, except in execution--and if I continue in this way, I'll just end up writing the whole imaginary paper.