In research for another project, I am finding similarities in my line of thinking for the mirror stage. The ideas I would like to focus on for this project are false reality and the way we see ourselves versus how others see us. In interviews about freedom for another class I have found myself looking at my life from afar, from an outside perspective, thinking both about how I see myself in this life I have begun to make for myself, and how others may see me, whether I care or not. While it has been causing me to question where I am going, I think this is an experience that everyone has sooner or later in terms of where they see themselves in life. It’s a judgement, I think, and it has been making me ask so many more questions.
Upon visiting one of the Chelsea galleries I found myself questioning the way we see paintings as well. This one not being simply paint on a canvas, but multiple paintings constructed into one. Are our personalities genuine at all? Or are we constantly too influenced by each other that society itself builds our personalities?
Graham Wilson
Anna Zorina Gallery
Patti Smith’s Just Kids inspires me in many ways. But early on in reading about Robert Mapplethorpe’s upbringing, I found an extreme similarity to the way I was brought up as well. The suppression of feelings, the pressure to mimic one’s parents can greatly affect how we see ourselves as it creates a false persona, a forced version of ourselves that may or may not be true. It lacks authenticity and, in my opinion, doesn’t allow for true happiness. The best way to see ourselves is in our most truest form, uninfluenced by anyone, which, sadly, is very hard to do.
Jesse Rutherford’s new album, &, has a song called Pretty Illusion. In my opinion I think he speaks of a camera being put on someone can give way to a “pretty illusion,” or a fake version of someone in a way we would like to see them. He says “don’t take advantage of him or he might run away,” I think this is the pressure one can feel from other’s perceptions and expectations of them. Who are we behind the camera? Who are we in front of the mirror?
https://genius.com/Jesse-rutherford-pretty-illusion-lyrics
