Discourse Analysis II

Through the reading, Discourse Analysis II, in Visual Methodologies by Gillian Rose, it conveys about how power and knowledge associated with the apparatus, technologies, and discipline that they produced from the art galleries and the museums. Discourse analysis is a set of analytical methods widely used in linguistics, sociology, cognitive psychology, etc. In this chapter, the "viewpoint" of a cultural position and its analytical vocabulary, it is surprised to find that the discipline and regime behind the original visual aesthetics, spatial aesthetics, and the knowledge that could impact on specter visually. It emphasis how and not only the way of the practice of power is superimposed. Based on the reading, I made out a conclusion: Our understanding and interpretation of the "world (space and subject)" is increasingly determined by "vision (knowledge and power).”

Dana Schutz’s Open Casket was a painting that was based historical event, and so does her other paintings that also related to contemporary life. She is a young painter who is dedicated to depicting the doomsday world. The delusions and nightmares are the themes of her bold of using color. A lot of her works include broken body and human form, which are the protagonists in her gorgeous color. Her paintings indicate the extreme morbid of modern society and express through her choice of colors and brush strokes. Open Casket was based on the event of Emmett Till, who was a fourteen-year-old that was accused by flirting with a white-married-woman and got abducted, tortured, and murder by white Mississippi racists in 1955. However, after she finished her painting and placed in Whitney Biennial in 2017, it was criticized by a Hannah Black and other few artists because its subject matter that involves with political issues that are unacceptable for a white-woman artist to portray. According to Bennett (1955), he concerned to examine the social subjectivities that apply to museum and gallery. It is clear that such an institution should prevent having the subject that is considered and related to imperialist, capitalist and white culture. According to Hannah Black’s open letter, she believes that a valuable painting that caught the attention from the public and hangs in the museum, it doesn’t solve the problem of discrimination for black people and children, they still got denied by others. She thinks that even if Schutz didn’t have any harmful or sensitive content inside the painting, but as long as someone got offended, the art should be withdrawn.

The Whitney Museum is not only the oldest art biennale in the United States, but also reflects social trends and the focus on American artists, as well as New York's leadership in the contemporary art world. The Whitney Museum of Art only exhibits the works of American artists. It has its historical origins: the American art world at the beginning of the 20th century, and its respect for Europe and its conservative atmosphere made it difficult for many new local artists to come out. The museum was founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who had provided a stage for these people, and Whitney has a spirit of pioneering and rebellion from the beginning. However, the so-called "American artist" is determined by nationality or place of residence and has always been controversial. This also makes the existence of the museum and the constant relationship between the eccentric and the nationalism. This year's Whitney Biennale had attracted particular attention from all parties. There are several main reasons: First, this is the first biennial after the museum moved to its new location in 2015. An Italian architect, Renzo Piano designed the new pavilion. It is twice as large as the old pavilion and is located in the new building on the High Line and the Hudson River. It also, get rid of the past and steady image of the old museum to integrate into the most fashionable and trendy area of ​​New York. In which, it acknowledges Whitney’s statement in the art world. The second reason is that this curatorial period almost overlaps with the US presidential election time. The list of exhibits is announced ten days after the election results are announced. The timing is very coincident. Most importantly, during this period, "black lives matters" was the movement in the United States, people are naturally curious, and the Biennale, which has always been famous for highlighting social issues.

As this result, people both expect such influential museum that had a new and modern interior design for further education that could also be coherent with the works inside the museum. They assume that it could lead the visitor to a higher level of civilization and the importance of the civic role. However, Dana Schutz’s Open Casket turns out to be a controversial topic due to relation towards politics, movement, and architecture. All the factors that added together turn out to be a discourse between the critique, artists, curator, and visitors. The way of each person perceiving and understand from this artwork also make the relation toward the new modern statement in contemporary architecture. The Open Casket brought out a contradiction discourse between “Who has the right to paint?” and lots of different attitude and concern to a topic that related to the historical event in our modern art world.