Barbara Kruger was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1945. She layers found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, classicism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire. She took up photography in 1977, producing a series of black-and-white details of architectural exteriors paired with her own textual ruminations on the lives of those living inside.
Barbara Kruger created this piece of work in 1989. This is an example of one of Kruger's famous pieces of work. The fact that the image is in black and white makes the red dash with white writing stand out more. The term 'your body is a battleground' may mean that you are constantly fighting and doubting yourself. The fact that half of the image is in black and white and the other half is negative may link to that idea that we are constantly fighting the other 'negative' side of us which causes us to doubt ourselves. I like this image because she has presented the self consciousness a woman may feel but she has used this message to mask the real meaning. This means that we have to think deeper into what the message may mean and think about the conflicting thoughts and feelings a woman may have of herself. It also makes us wonder why a women may feel this way in society. Is it because of the image society has of a 'perfect' woman? Furthermore, I like her style of work because her smart one liners cause us to think about the problems within society that effect people.
I picked this image as one which I wanted to explore because it looks at how boys/men may feel about the roles which they are expected to fulfil. Here a girl appears to be poking his arms, while he is tensing.The caption 'we don't need another hero' says a lot about how boys may feel they have to grow up to be strong and protect others. The photographer may be trying to convey that the idea of fitting into the two different moulds society holds for men and women is outdated. Furthermore, she may be trying to suggest that there are no more 'heros' needed in society and we no longer should be obliged to fit within these moulds society holds for us. Young boys may look at super heroes in the magazines, books, tv programmes etc and aspire to be like them because they are 'strong' and 'save people'. In my opinion, this image is promoting individuality because it is suggesting that we do not need to try to grow up and be like everyone else, especially sticking to our gender roles. This again causes us to look at the reasons why boys may feel obliged to fulfil the role of being emotionless and 'big and strong'. We may think about how the media may enforce these roles. I can use a similar idea when I develop my own work in this particular style.
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