Kohei Yoshiyuki - 公園/ Park

This 1979 series by Kohei Yoshiyuki is brilliantly disturbing, capturing (with an infrared flashbulb) various couples making love in two Tokyo parks while surrounded by numerous, sometimes intrusive, strangers/gawkers. The original exhibit was presented in a dark gallery with patrons holding flashlights to see the photographs. I love the ghost-like quality of the men; it reminds me of Lulu's line about Dr. Goll's ghost:

• I dream that his burial was a misunderstanding. That he’s here, as if he’d never left. Only now he walks very softly, in stocking feet. The fact I married Schwarz doesn’t anger him in the least. Just a bit sad. But then he’s easily frightened, as if he were here without permission.

Anyway, I like what Wikipedia says: "the photographs raise questions about the boundaries between spectator, voyeur and participant."

Lucinda Devlin - Photos

These are photographs from Lucinda Devlin's two series "Pleasure Grounds" and "The Omega Suites". Her work deals with empty spaces that reveal the culture of it's use. "Pleasure Grounds" focuses on discos, tanning salons and fantasy hotel rooms, while "The Omega Suites" is a survey of execution chambers and other associated interiors. I am extremely interested in the voyeurism inherent in these death-rooms - especially the similarities between these observation rooms and the peep show.

Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema

Here's a link to the PDF of the original.

Laura Mulvey wrote the article in 1975 and it's where the idea of the "male gaze" comes from.

Analysis/simplification coming soon, but for now, read it and ask me questions.

More About Madame X

This further explanation of the painting and the model reveals that the model was treated pretty similarly to Lulu- she hated the painting but didn't own it herself and therefore didn't have the power to destroy it. The painter loved the image of the model but not her personality (he complained that she was "lazy"), which calls to our attention the differences between the celebrated images of women and the mostly hated group of people, women. The painting apparently ruined her reputation because being sexy, not even necessarily sexual, is a very bad thing for women to be.

The link above is basically a fansite for the painter, John Singer Sargent, so read it with a grain of salt. I just ordered the book those long quotes are from and I'll have some much better analysis pretty soon.

Hi!

Dear hos and johns,
Welcome to the Lulu dramaturgy blog! I'm Kendra, your glamorous and dedicated dramaturg. Please comment on everything, all the time! Tell me what's helpful, what you don't understand, what else you'd like to see. I'm here to help you make a smart and powerful show, so talk to me, trust me, and I promise not to lead you astray.
Love,
Kendra!