Joe Rule

The concept of the gaze is examined for the psychological effects it has on individuals and likewise the cultures and societies they create. The gaze transcends a mere “look”. It is an examination and a judgment of another person, thing or idea. Whether we like it or not these gazes affect us and how we think and act. For example: think of all the judgments, expectations, thoughts, reactions and emotions that a man gazing upon a woman carries. As stated above, gazes can be upon objects as well. Think about the effects that gazing upon an artwork has on the artist and how these gazes change the interpretation of the artwork across a culture.

I’ve found that the gaze is rooted in an awareness of self. Whether you are the gazer or the gazed, it requires an awareness of self to be affected by it. Some claim that the gaze of a one person objectifies others and exercises power over them. This cannot occur until the gazed becomes aware of him or herself. The actual intentions of the gazer have little to no influence on what the gazed feels. The ultimate tragedy of all this is that the gaze is carried to the depths of every person’s heart and mind. We are poignantly aware of ourselves as objects that other people can gaze upon and judge. Perhaps the most damaging, yet unseen and unexamined gaze is the gaze turned inward. We all live with ourselves, critique ourselves and act and relate to other people according to these inward gazes. They affect everything we do. I’ve found that the harshest judgment is often found in them and not in the gazes of others. So, I pose the question: what if we were able to step away from the gazes of others and ourselves and away from self-awareness? How would this affect our lives? How would we relate to other people and ourselves? How would the arts and our perception of the arts change?

This piece has two strong influences. The first is Laurie Anderson. I pay tribute to her through the soundtrack and the visual style and movement of the piece. Her “music videos” are often compilations of strange images and visual tricks that show the essence of the music and not the literal interpretation. The result is a very surreal and dreamlike piece, which brings me to my second influence for this piece. I had a nightmare a few months ago where I was looking out a window at night and suddenly my reflection in the glass broke free from my steady movement and started out on its own. It darted away from the window and out of sight. I had the strong sense that it was going to sneak into the house and attack me. I needed to be ready to fight for my life.

I wanted this piece to have a very ethereal and dreamlike quality to it. This was partly because of the inspiration for it but also because the concepts and ideas I examine are sometimes difficult to grasp. The reflection in the window plays on the fact that gazing upon ourselves is obvious, yet invisible. It’s not obvious we do it until we stop. The poor video quality, monochromatic tone and strongly contrasting figure/ground relationships were all chosen to enhance the dream-like quality of the piece and to provoke interest from viewers. However, my intention is not to present a point or find some end or great truth. Although the piece has served as a place for me to examine the self-gaze, I wanted it to be completely open to different interpretations. This, frankly, was quite risky. I have absolutely no idea if this piece will have any impact on viewers, but if they stop and think for a minute then I’ve succeeded in jarring them from their subconscious, everyday existence and perhaps pushed them toward something better.

Soundtrack by Laurie Anderson. "Walking and Falling" from the album "Big Science" 1982