Barbara Kruger : Old Is Original

The concept of postmodernism is typified as a return to traditional materials and forms. Consequently, much of the art of this genre is filled with imagery and objects that pertain to previous original concepts. These modern artistic endeavors also include the creativity involved in postmodernism which comes from the new arrangement of said past concepts. The primary notion of postmodernism rejects the modernists preoccupation with aestheticism as well as the formal qualities tied to the movement. In effect, something new is created from something old. As postmodernism progressed, many artists and critics alike began to question the fundamental and intrinsic values and motivations behind the modernist movement.
While postmodernists were beginning to explore their newly created movement, French philosophers Jean Baudrillard and Roland Barthes introduced new theories regarding the flourishing artistic practices of simulation and appropriation. In 1967 Roland Barthes wrote in his essay "The Death of the Author," stripped both dominion and creation from artists and writers, declaring, “A text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God), but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.” According to Barthes, no new creations were unique in any way. They were all merely reinterpretations of those ideas which came first. Consequently, many different artists began to openly acknowledge the embracement of appropriation in their work. An artist who has proven to be a perfect example of Barthes theory of appropriation is the American born artist Barbara Kruger.
Barbara Kruger was born on January 26, 1945, in Newark, New Jersey. She spent a year at Syracuse University in 1964 and a semester at Parsons School of Design in New York in 1965, where she studied with Diane Arbus and graphic designer Marvin Israel. In 1966, she took a job with Condé Nast, working in the design department of Mademoiselle. She was named that magazine’s head designer a year later. Her experience and expertise in advertising led to the creations she is now most famous for. Her appropriation of old style imagery and statements concerning consumerism, stereotypes and gender equality, in a collage like fashion, garnered the attention of the art world back in the early 80's.
In many of Kruger's works one can see the juxtaposition of common phrases and undisputed words of wisdom with humoristic images that resemble advertisements from the overly stringent past. In her collage image Untitled (Why Are You Here?) (Figure 1), 1989, she asks an age old philosophical question, which would garner even the most philosophical minded persons attention. Yet the phrase is pasted over an image of a man holding both sides of his head as if the question is giving him a migraine. As a result, the combination of the image and the profound question seem to cancel each other out as if to say why bother worrying about such things or perhaps to indicate that the answer will never be truly known. A profound combination of words and images indeed. As a result, Barthes theory of appropriation applies to this piece in that it combines two seemingly different examples of modern iconic imagery and modern thinking into one cohesive newly created piece that changes the meaning of each into something new and original.
Oftentimes her work borders on the absurd and silly with a hint of profound observation that is so prevalent in most of her style. In another of her works, Untitled (Memory Is Your Image of Perfection)(Figure 4), 1988, she appropriates an x-ray image of a body with words pasted over the image pertaining to the concepts of memory and perfection. Again, a Madison avenue style approach that embodies appropriation of a familiar image combined with a statement that concerns vanity and the perception of one's image. In effect Kruger's use of appropriation proves to be a combination of ambiguity and common imagery with the intent to allow the viewer to make their own assumptions about the hidden meaning within these slick magazine like recreations of catchy slogans and everyday representations and symbolism of society. Her phrases prove to be vague and ambiguous on the surface but upon further examination they provide insight into many of the ideas and concepts we all share as humans and consumers.
In her collage, Untitled ( Your Comfort is My Silence), 1981, Kruger employs an image of a man whose identity has been concealed and his eyes have been covered by the first two words of the statement. He is in dimly lit surroundings and he has his finger up to his lips as if to imply that what he is saying is a secret between the viewer and himself. As a result, the overall concept of the piece proves to be very cryptic and mysterious. Also, the generic feel of this piece evokes a nostalgic feeling due to her choice of imagery and yet the message proves to be uncannily perplexing. The synthesis of these elements presented in such an aloof manner are exactly what Kruger has become best known for. Her work seems to question authority and conformity through her appropriation of old stock imagery and pasted words in that the viewer experiences something vaguely familiar with something quite unexpected. The combination of the two become the foundation for a new creation.
Oftentimes it appears that theory and practice experience a somewhat recurrent relationship together. Critics oftentimes notice existing artistic trends and then conceive theories and develop vernacular to describe such conventions. As much as Kruger and other artists are aware of Barthes' theory of appropriation it is hard to prove that all of their efforts fall under this category. Again and again, theory seems somewhat instinctive to many contemporary practices whereas in other instances some artists will wholeheartedly create strictly upon theory with no basis for individual creativity. Consequently, one may contend that artistic practice influences theory just as much as theory influences the practice that follows. Perhaps this means that even if art is created with unoriginal items it may be original in that something new has been created with something old.

Bibliography

1. Barthes, Roland. Image Music Text. New York: Hill and Wang, 2000.
2. Fineberg, Jonathan. Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being. (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall), 2000.
3. Kruger, Barbara. Remote Control: Power, Cultures, and the World of Appearances. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
4. McFarlen, Zach. The Online Acreage of Zach McFarlen. "Appropriating Originality: Roland Barthes and Barbara Kruger" 2009. http://zachmcfarlen.com/blog/?p=14

Images Cited

Fig. 1. Kruger, Barbara. Memory Is Your Image of Perfection. Dave's Dungeon, Just Another Wordpress.com weblog. davidmcclure.wordpress.com/.../barbara-kruger/. 4 May 2010.
Fig. 2. Kruger, Barbara. Why are we here? 1989. Skarstedt Gallery, New York, United States. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patricia-zohn/culture-zohn-barbara-krug_b_188205.html. 5 May 2010.
Fig. 3. Kruger, Barbara. Your comfort is my silence. 1981. Daros Exhibition, Zurich, Switzerland. http://www.studio-international.co.uk/studioimages/face to face/kruger_b.asp. 7 May 2010.