In the sense that
Andrea Zittel's work has its constraints, yet frees itself in the very same
gesture, "A-Z Six Month Personal Uniform," Focault had mentioned in,
"Docile Bodies," that to form a productive society, one has to
conform to the society's constraints. This allows for the creation of masses.
In such concoction, there is always one that breaks free of society's
constraints and becomes the "outsider." In Zittel's creations, she
distinctly clashes against the everyday norms of what the general society would
expect. This is shown through"A-Z Six Month Personal Uniform," as
well as her other works. There is a recurring theme in that each work takes the
"what it seems" and turns it into something different, yet somewhat
from the same origins. Another example of such work would be in, "A-Z
Carpet Furniture: Cabin." In this "Cabin," Zittel uses the forms
of furniture prints and places it on top of carpets. The different colors would
represent a different object. Just as a normal house would have different
objects like a couch, a bed, the dresser, a rug, etc. Zittel invents this
method to represent objects even though they do not exist in that space. The
creation of this piece further supports the
idea that of the individual created from the masses. Although objects in
rooms are using dictated by the actual volume of space that they take up,
ZIttel does not conform to this idea. Her process in this piece reminds one that
not all that exist has to exist within the boundary of another. By creating
forms that hint at the existence instead of actually depicting the existence,
she shows us the potential space the objects would have taken up versus how
free a space is with constraints, but without.
Things like this
draw the question in whether constraints are actually created from the mind.
That society may not be the culprit to the actual creation of the masses, but
the mind. We each follow the discourse of society because we are born into it.
As we grow up, our actions are set "autonomous" and we automatically
follow these rules. One space is navigated by the actual program because what
is there is there. These rules are set and because space itself is not
interchangeable, we do not have the ability to do otherwise. In Zittel's work
we learn about this otherwise. That although space is set, one does not need to
follow these constraints. We have the ability to navigate however we want. Drawing
back to "A-Z Six Month Personal Uniform," Zittel uses this same
concept to create a non conforming uniform. Creating her own set of rules, she
became an individual. Although, we all follow certain constraints in society,
we all have an ability to change certain things. I find Zittel interesting in
that there is ironic humor in her work. Although each piece abides by societal
rules, it also has its own rebellious nature. They conform in a non conforming
way. Individuals are created from the mass and this is exemplified by Zittel as
a person and through her work.
Train Dreams
Train Dreams
Dennis Johnson's train dream has a relationship to space in
that the character Robert has different experiences with each place he visits
in the course of his journey. In which, some, have a dream like quality to it.
The difference between spatial dreams and spatial reality. Overall the story
deals with a lot of the reality living in the early 20th century. Even in the
beginning of the novella where Granier is seen dangling a Chinese man off of a
bridge, after his guilty conscience sets in, he begins to imagine this man
everywhere. It sets the "feel" of the novella throughout the rest of
the story. As we follow Granier's journey, we sit in his mind and see all that he
sees. Even the dreams that he has of his wife and child. In these surreal
dreams, there's an interesting dynamic in how space is explored. An example
would be the dream in which his wife is padding into the depths of the water
with a box of chocolate, a bible, and their child. She runs into the river as
the fire devours their home. As she runs away from the fire, she ties the child
to her hip and throws away the bible. Seemingly so, throwing away the bible
resulted in her death as she fell into rocks, resulting in a broken back. This surreal scene draws a distinction in
between reality and dream in that it could have very well happened. As she
died, Johnson describes how the house slowly burned starting from the magazine.
As the fire became overwhelming the glass shattered. The consequences of the
fire seem very real. The effect of this experience is overwhelming because it
takes on such realistic characteristics, even though he was not there to see
it. Yet compared to the China man that he swore, had put a curse on him, the reality
of the situation borderlines fantastical when he swore he saw him in the
distance when he was walking home.
Note:
Interesting
relationship between Train Dreams the title and literal train dreams. Dream
dictionary says that dreams associated with trains usually relate to the
feeling that someone else is controlling your life. This can be related to
Robert's life in that he lives a full life, with each even taking him to
another event.
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