1. Learning Portfolio Post #3 (300-400 words) – due Tuesday, February 18, before 2:10pm
Post a fashion advertisement and discuss the use of bodies in the image. What bodies do or do not appear in the image? What does this suggest about the way the image’s creators think about the body? Consider things like framing, gesture, action, social and cultural categories, objects, and symbolism. In your writing, refer explicitly to either of the Week 4 readings about bodies.
Your writing should make explicit reference to course readings – use terminology and/or direct quotations from the text to support your ideas. All outside material, quotations or otherwise, should be cited according to Chicago style and accompanied by a bibliography.
For this LP Post, I chose to focus on the recent GCDS campaign starring model and artist Jazelle (@uglyworldwide on Instagram). The campaign itself is very minimalistic, and is shot in Capri, Italy, which is also the brand’s country of origin. Jazelle is placed in the center of the frame in front of the ocean and beautiful skyline. She appears to be completely nude, covering her bottom with a heart-shaped GCDS bag. She also appears to be sporting a GCDS choker. In regards to the use of bodies in the campaign, there is definitely a certain perspective being projected. Jazelle is nude, which leads me to infer that the creative director views the female form as something to be shown and celebrated. This definitely contrasts the more commonly accepted belief that the female body is sacred and should only be viewed in private. Also, the framing of the shot tells me that the creative director sees the female body in its most vulnerable state as important and something that should be the center of attention. It’s interesting because in Sophie Woodward’s piece, “Hanging out in the Home & the Bedroom”, she talks about how the lack of fixity in fashion can cause anxiety, which can be a product of the roles women are expected to play. However, this campaign seems to be fighting against that patriarchal set of ideas, by viewing the naked female body in a fashionable and beautiful light that shouldn’t have to be kept from the public. I also view the campaign as more accessory based. It gives off the idea that the accessories are so beautiful that you don’t even need to wear clothes with them. Also, in “Spinoza in A T-Shirt”, it is stated that “For Spinoza, bodies are constituted not by predefined classifications but by encounters with material, social, and spatial forces. That means the body cannot be abstracted into neat categories of description but exists in relation to broader contexts of power and meaning. Bodies are realized both through individual actions and by being acted upon, but the conditions under which a body can (and can’t) act are nearly limitless.” This really resonates with my view on design and the body. Specifically, in relation to this GCDS Campaign, again the creative director is challenging how mainstream modern society normally showcases the body with accessories by challenging body norms.
