Scene Four
Seeing (display, queer and instruments)
In the spring of 2006 I visited an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum about the Italian fashion icon and designer muse Anna Piaggi. The first thing I encountered in the exhibition was a picture of Piaggi sitting at a light table studying a slide through a magnifying glass. 123 The title of the exhibition was Fashion-ology and showed Piaggi’s private archives and collection, at the same time as it underlined Piaggi’s importance as a fashion critic – for example, in her former role as the editor and one of the founders of the avant-garde magazine Vanity in the 1980s. And in 1988 she created her famous “Doppie Pagine” (double-page spread) for Italian Vogue, which were collages of visual and cultural references sweeping around a current trend. 124
In the picture, Anna Piaggi holds the slide in her gloved left hand while lifting the magnifying glass to her left eye – her right eye is covered by a ringlet of hair. The whole scene is lit up from beneath by the light box which is covered in slides. She wears a remarkable hat on her head, which is actually made up of five hats stacked on top of each other and forming an arch, and her seeing eye is exaggeratedly painted, even further emphasizing her act of seeing.
In the museum guide for the exhibition, 125 Patrizia Calefato describes Piaggi as a “female dandy” and depicts her special way of dressing as the display of a “grotesque body”. Calefato thinks that Piaggi presents herself as if she is standing on a stage playing the part of the semiotic nature of fashion. “Fashion always implies a spectator. This is what turns it into a semiotic system, a system of signs. In this sense what Anna draws our attention to is fashion’s practise of dressing up and of disguise, in which the ‘dress’ itself has no function, is not useful other than showing itself to be a creator of new and unexpected information which both for its spectators, and often itself, remains incomprehensible. It is carnivalesque, for the spirit of the masked event and of carnival consists in destabilising certainty and institutional systems, using risky combinations brought into being by rhetorical strategies and the poetics of emphasis, exaggeration, quotation and parody.” 126 This is a description that is also relevant to the way that drag exaggerates femininity, but the great difference is that Piaggi does not emphasize sexuality; she does not refer to her body, other than the fact that she conceals it. Calafato writes that Piaggi is transformed by her extreme styling and make-up into a “… transgendered icon, while not questioning her biological sex or sexual preference.” 127 In this picture another aspect of concealment is intriguing: the fact that she wears a white coat that hides her usual extraordinary dress. Together with her white gloves, this reinforces an image of Piaggi as the director of her own museum, someone who has chosen to present herself as a viewer of her own archive (the slides). Shown in this context, they will undoubtedly include pictures of garments or displays that she will write about, as well as possibly pictures of herself. I fantasise that in looking at pictures of herself, the picture changes into a mirror, where she sees herself in the position of someone closely scrutinizing her own memory. It constitutes multiple layers about the conditions for viewing, where the presentation of the self becomes a form of aesthetics and exhibition: “… her appearance is the scene of ritual in which she is the ‘officiate’ and all others tacit spectators.” 128
;)
123 The photograph is taken by Bardo Fabiani, 2005, and in the exhibition guide it is called Fashion-ology. On the home page it is stated that the picture was shot by the same photographer in 2004 and shows Anna Piaggi selecting pictures for Italian Vogue.
124 See exhibition catalogue, Anna Piaggi Fashion-ology, V&A, London, 2006
125 Ibid.
126 Patrizia Calefato, “Anna Piaggi: Signs of Fashion”, Anna Piaggi Fashion-ology, V&A, London, 2006, p. 6.
127 Ibid.
128 Ibid.
Åsberg, Stig
Page: 20(a.)
after-image
Page: 5, 5(a.), 26, 32, 34, 40, 48, 49, 55, 56
Akerman, Chantal
Page: 3, 3(a.), 57(a.)
Alberti, Leon Battista
Page: 27
Angelo Giorgio, Cardinal
Page: 19, 19(a.)
Armitage, John
Page: 51(a.)
Art Institute of Chicago
Page: 32
Arvidsson, Kristoffer
Page: 35(a.)
Ashburton, Lord
Page: 19(a.)
Bätschmann, Oskar
Page: 33(a.)
Bal, Mieke
Page: 8(a.)
Barton, Judy (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
Baudelaire, Charles
Page: 44
beat, the
Page: 44
Beckett, Samuel
Page: 39
Bellini, workshop of Giovanni
Page: 28
Bierstadt, Albert
Page: 17
Bjurström, Per
Page: 19, 19(a.), 33, 57, 57(a.)
Blaugrund, Annette
Page: 17(a.)
Bonaparte, Lucien
Page: 19(a.), 41(a.)
Bosch, Hieronymous
Page: 40
Brealey, John
Page: 19, 19(a.)
British Museum, London
Page: 22, 22(a.)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Page: 45
Bryson, Norman
Page: 2, 2(a.), 8, 8(a.), 27(a.), 44(a.)
Butler, Judith
Page: 48, 48(a.), 49
Calaresu, Melissa
Page: 9(a.)
Calefato, Patrizia
Page: 43, 43(a.)
Cavalli-Björkman, Görel
Page: 19(a.)
Cederström, Gustaf
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Certeau, Michel de
Page: 53
Cézanne, Paul
Page: 39
Church, Fredric Edwin
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Claude Glasses
Page: 5, 12, 18, 51, 54
Claude Lorrain Mirror
Page: 10
Claude Mirror
Page: 5, 10, 11, 18
Claudian
Page: 11, 14, 14(a.), 15, 17, 41, 41(a.), 53, 56
Claudian gaze
Page: 17
Claudian light
Page: 14
Claudian model
Page: 14, 14(a.), 15, 41(a.)
Cohen, Ernst
Page: 8(a.)
Constable, John
Page: 25(a.), 41(a.)
copy
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 20, 22, 25, 26, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 34, 38, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.), 44, 48, 51, 55, 57
copying, act of -
Page: 31, 51
copyist
Page: 26, 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 44
Courbet, Gustave
Page: 34(a.)
Crary, Jonathan
Page: 13, 13(a.)
cruising
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 44(a.), 49
Dahlbäck, Bengt
Page: 20(a.)
Degas, Edgar
Page: 44
Dercon, Chris
Page: 51(a.)
Düsseldorf School
Page: 15
Dughet, Gaspard
Page: 27
Dunwell, Frances F.
Page: 16(a.), 17(a.)
El Greco
Page: 2
Elster, Madeleine (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31, 34, 38, 44
Fabiani, Bardo
Page: 43(a.)
Fahlcrantz, Carl Johan
Page: 14, 15
Ferguson, John "Scottie" (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31
Ferrier, Maïten de
Page: 32
Field, Cyrus
Page: 17(a.)
framing
Page: 7, 33, 35, 51, 54
Fraser, Andrea
Page: 40(a.)
Fredlund, Björn
Page: 8(a.), 19(a.)
Fried, Michael
Page: 28(a.)
Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 46, 46(a.)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Page: 24
Gallerie Brunner, Paris
Page: 19(a.)
Gardner, Jack
Page: 29(a.)
gay
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 48(a.)
gaze
Page: 4, 5(a.), 8, 9, 13, 17, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27(a.), 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 42, 44, 44(a.), 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54
gender
Page: 30, 43, 48(a.), 49
Georgel, Chantal
Page: 24(a.)
Gilpin, William
Page: 9, 9(a.), 12, 12(a.), 16, 16(a.)
Giori, Cardinale
Page: 22
Goldfarb, Hilliard T.
Page: 28(a.), 29(a.)
Gombrich, Ernst Hans
Page: 25(a.), 48(a.)
Gordon, Douglas
Page: 30(a.)
Grünewald, Matthias
Page: 2
Grammel, Sören
Page: 30(a.)
Granath, Olle
Page: 4(a.)
Grand Tour
Page: 9, 14, 32, 35(a.)
Grate, Pontus
Page: 37(a.), 41(a.)
Gray Mirror
Page: 10
Great Chain Overlook, The
Page: 5
grid
Page: 24, 25, 25(a.), 26, 37, 38, 44, 46, 47, 49
Guerrilla Girls
Page: 40(a.)
Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden, King
Page: 18
Hansen, Constantin
Page: 8(a.)
Harriss, Joseph A.
Page: 32(a.), 40(a.)
Hedén, Karl-Gustaf
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.)
Herrmann, Bernard
Page: 30(a.)
Hidaka, Ritsuko
Page: 24, 24(a.)
history
Page: 1, 7, 15, 18, 19, 20(a.), 21, 24, 26,32(a.), 35, 41(a.), 44, 46, 47, 48, 55, 56
Hitchcock, Alfred
Page: 30
Hockney, David
Page: 11(a.)
Holger, Lena
Page: 46(a.)
horizon
Page: 25, 27, 35, 38(a.), 41, 52, 53, 54, 56
Hudson River Highlands
Page: 16, 16(a.), 17(a.)
Hudson River School
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Page: 28, 29(a.)
Isakson, Karl
Page: 39
Kennedy, Randy
Page: 45(a.)
Kitson, Michael
Page: 22(a.)
Købke, Christian
Page: 8(a.)
Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Kopp, Céline
Page: 42(a.)
Krauss, Rosalind
Page: 25, 25(a.)
Kulick, Don
Page: 44, 44(a.), 49
Kunstverein München, Munich
Page: 30(a.)
landscape, Arcadian -
Page: 9, 35
landscape, cultivated -
Page: 16
landscape, designed -
Page: 10
landscape, Dutch -
Page: 10
landscape, lost -
Page: 16
landscape, national -
Page: 9, 14, 15
landscape, Nordic -
Page: 15
landscape, pastoral -
Page: 21, 34, 35
landscape,pictorial
Page: 14
landscape, Roman -
Page: 11
landscape, Romantic -
Page: 52
landscape, Swedish -
Page: 14, 15
landscape painter
Page: 5, 14, 17, 19(a.)
landscape painting
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
Landscapes, Ideal -
Page: 9, 9(a.), 22(a.), 33(a.), 35, 40, 41(a.)
Landscapes, Imperial -
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Langdon, Helen
Page: 11(a.), 33, 33(a.), 57(a.)
Lawler, Louise
Page: 40(a.)
Lefebvre, Henri
Page: 27
Lenbach, Franz von
Page: 30(a.)
Liber Veritatis
Page: 21, 22, 22(a.)
linguistic matrix
Page: 25
Lorrain, Claude
Page: 2, 4, 4(a.), 5, 8, 8(a.), 9, 10, 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18(a.), 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 21(a.), 22, 22(a.), 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 27, 28, 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 35, 36, 36(a.), 38, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42(a.), 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57(a.)
Louvre, Paris
Page: 24, 32, 32(a.), 40, 44, 44(a.)
Lyberg, Louise
Page: 32(a.)
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm
Page: 35(a.)
Maillet, Arnaud
Page: 12(a.)
Malsch, Friedemann
Page: 28(a.)
Manson & Woods, London
Page: 8(a.)
Martin, Elias
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Matisse, Henri
Page: 39
memory
Page: 7, 11, 17(a.), 20, 30(a.), 31, 35(a.), 41, 41(a.), 43, 51
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
Page: 24, 24(a.), 27, 27(a.), 39, 39(a.), 55, 55(a.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Page: 17(a.), 24
Metz, Philip
Page: 30(a.)
mimicry
Page: 5, 6, 34, 40, 47, 49, 51
Mitchell, W.J.T.
Page: 11(a.), 14, 14(a.), 28(a.), 38(a.), 48(a.)
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Page: 20, 40(a.)
Molvidson, Martin
Page: 46(a.)
Mulvey, Laura
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica
Page: 41, 41(a.)
museum
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8,18, 19, 20, 20(a.), 23, 24, 24(a.), 25,26, 27, 28,29, 29(a.), 30, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 33, 34, 36,38, 40, 40(a.),42, 42(a.), 43, 44, 44(a.), 45, 46, 46(a.), 47,49, 50, 51
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Page: 45, 45(a.)
National Gallery, London
Page: 24, 41(a.)
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8(a.), 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 20(a.), 24, 27, 32, 32(a.), 37, 38, 41(a.), 46, 47, 48(a.), 55, 57(a.)
nature
Page: 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 33, 34, 39, 43, 47, 48, 51, 57
Newman, Michael
Page: 51, 51(a.), 52, 52(a.)
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Page: 8
Nilsson, Håkan
Page: 48, 48(a.)
Nordic Light
Page: 15
Nordqvist, Per
Page: 14
Novak, Kim (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
original
Page: 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 8, 14, 18(a.), 19(a.), 20, 22, 25, 25(a.), 26, 29(a.), 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 46, 46(a.), 47, 48, 48(a.), 49
painting, historical -
Page: 6, 24, 30, 35, 41(a.)
painting, landscape
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
painting, lost -
Page: 26
painting, process of -
Page: 39, 57
Palazzo Riccardi, Florence
Page: 19(a.)
Pehrson, Mathias
Page: 18(a.)
perspective
Page: 11, 18, 27, 27(a.), 33, 44
Persson, Helena
Page: 8(a.)
Petterson, Åke
Page: 18(a.)
Phelan, Peggy
Page: 5, 39, 39(a.)
Phillips, Tony
Page: 27(a.)
pictures journey
Page: 8
Picturesque
Page: 5, 9, 9(a.), 10, 10(a.), 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 14, 16, 17, 18
Pollock, Jackson
Page: 48(a.)
Pordenone, Bernardino Licinio da
Page: 28(a.)
Poussin, Nicolas
Page: 9, 27, 33, 33(a.), 40(a.), 41(a.)
Prado Museum, Madrid
Page: 41(a.), 53
Röthlisberger, Marcel
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 21, 21(a.), 22(a.), 34(a.), 35, 35(a.), 36, 36(a.), 37, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.)
Rørbye, Martinus
Page: 8(a.)
Raphael
Page: 36
Rebekah
Page: 4(a.), 5, 15, 16, 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 37(a.), 38, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55, 57
recognition
Page: 2, 8, 28, 38, 39, 40
Rembrandt van Rijn
Page: 19(a.)
restorer
Page: 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21
Rossholm Lagerlöf, Margaretha
Page: 9(a.), 22(a.), 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 41(a.)
Rubens, Peter Paul
Page: 41(a.)
Sandberg, Ragnar
Page: 39, 39(a.)
Sandrart, Joachim von
Page: 36, 57
Sarto, Andrea del
Page: 30(a.)
See and Seen
Page: 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 29(a.), 44, 47, 49, 50, 54
seeing, act of -
Page: 27, 43, 49, 54
seeing, moment of
Page: 21, 48, 54
seeing, process of -
Page: 5, 26
seeing, way of -
Page: 7, 9, 14, 18, 39, 51
shepherd
Page: 4(a.), 19(a.), 22, 33, 35, 42
Shiner, Larry
Page: 40(a.)
spectator
Page: 11, 11(a.), 13, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 38(a.), 41, 43, 44, 50, 53
Stewart, James (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock))
Page: 30
Stewart Gardner, Isabella
Page: 28, 29, 29(a.), 49
Storrie, Calum
Page: 44, 44(a.)
tourist
Page: 5, 7, 9, 9(a.), 10, 13, 18, 54
translate
Page: 2(a.), 11, 19(a.), 26, 39, 46
translation
Page: 1, 18(a.), 19(a.), 27(a.), 39(a.), 55(a.), 57(a.)
Turner, J.M.W.
Page: 11
US Military Academy at West Point, New York State
Page: 5, 16, 17, 18, 54
vanishing point
Page: 11, 27, 51, 52
Vertigo
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31, 38, 44
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Page: 43
viewer
Page: 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 24(a.), 26, 27, 28, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41(a.), 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54
viewing, act of -
Page: 13
viewing, conditions of -
Page: 44
viewing, modes of -
Page: 13
viewing aids / instruments
Page: 10, 13, 48
Warner, Deborah Jean
Page: 10, 10(a.), 12, 12(a.)
Williams, Raymond
Page: 7, 7(a.), 10, 10(a.)
Wittgenstein
Page: 48(a.)
Wood, Marjorie 'Midge' (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 31