Theory.Practice.Exhibitions.
Imagine two different kinds of pictures–the first is conceived to be like a window on the perceived world. The artist positions himself on the viewer’s side of the picture surface and looks through the frame to the world, which he then reconstructs on the surface of the picture by means of the geometric convention of linear perspective…
The second mode is not a window but rather the surface onto which an image of the world casts itself, just as light focused through a lens forms a picture on the retina of the eye. In place of an artist who frames the world to picture it, the world produces its own image without a necessary frame. —Svetlana Alpers, “Interpretation without Representation, or, the Viewing of Las Meninas,” 1983
In the responses on the class blog of the exhibit, Christine quoted this essay. She perfectly captured the nature of window as a mode of access to the exterior and reflection into the interioir.
Side A - [Exterior]
This part of the tableau presents the viewer with one side of Margaret Gest's face: the one that is more public. In posing the photograph on the window, the installation gives the impression of portraying Gest's exterior. Be sure to check out Side B for the full image!
Images courtesy of Marty Garcia and John Muse