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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page paper which examines this topic and the issues it addresses within the cultural context of the works of artists Susan Hiller and Coco Fusco. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGarteth.rtf
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art and ethnography have become practically equal components in cultural research, for artistic representations of people and society are the most tangible ways of answering the ethnographers questions of "What
does it mean to be a member of this group?" and "What makes someone an insider or an outsider here?" (Deal 601) As the line between art and ethnography
has become increasingly blurred, it comes as no surprise that many artists have also become ethnographers as they utilize their art not simply as a form of creative expression but
also as a powerful type of cultural interpretation. For cultural anthropologist James Clifford, this is simply a matter of crossing from one line into another to achieve greater understanding.
In his text, Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century, Clifford writes, "Routes begins with [the] assumption of movement, arguing that travels and contacts are crucial sites
for an unfinished modernity... to make some sense, or senses, of people going places" (2). When an artist is transformed into an ethnographer, another question is added to the
cultural inquiry: "Where have we been and where are we going?" (Clifford 301) Artistic representations of primitive cultures subjectively propose answers to these questions while lending considerable insights into
how certain prejudices continue to be perpetuated in the twenty-first century. American-born artist Susan Hiller, who is now based in London, often utilizes the dream research of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud
in her artworks. According to Hiller, "By definition art is an anthropological practice and anthropology is by definition an art - the role of the artist is to unveil
codes not yet articulated within a culture... to manifest a collective belief not yet revealed... to look for new forms known but as yet not understood" (1996: 214). Hiller
...