(extract from essay)

Using Williamson theory Woodward explains that,

‘We have to be able to imagine ourselves, to reflect on who we are and how we appear to others, we do this through symbolizing, through producing images and visualizing ourselves’ (Questioning identity: gender, class, ethnicity, 2004, p.13)

She claims that identity is a way for people to see themselves and how others see them. One can choose the image they want to present to others. Williamson (2004) claims that one has a choice of identity, and when that image is chosen other people will understand. In many cultures clothes and jewellery are interpreted in many different ways.

Jewellery is an item of personal adornment, which has always been a symbol of power, rank, or religion. From looking at who adorned themselves with what, one can get an insight into the values and the level of knowledge within a particular culture that is being represented.

Jewellery with religious meaning attached to it has been worn for many centuries by many cultures, and each culture in itself has its own sets of symbols and icons, which represent different parts of their religion and faith. The reason people adorn themselves with these religious jewellery is by a way of feeling closer to God and to reaffirm their faith. As well as wearing jewellery to symbolise their faith and religion, they express this in their wearing of religious clothing and decorations. The wearing of religious jewellery is a silent form of expressing ones faith and religion to others.

Using Williamson theory Woodward suggests that,
‘Symbols and representations are important in the production of identities. This is how we signal our identities to others and how we know which people we identify with, and those who are distinguished as being different’ (Questioning identity: gender, class, ethnicity, 2004, p12)

Representations on statues, reliefs, and pictures are important sources, which shows evidence of jewellery traditions in different cultures. One can tell who traded with whom, by simply looking at the similarities between the different styles of jewellery. This early international exchange formed new ideas, inspirations and designs. There are so many ways as to how jewellery has been used, for storage, for wealth display, and for exchange for currency. The functionality was also a purpose of the piece, worn as a symbol to express a status or to show membership. Jewellery also came in forms of amulets, which were charms that were said to provide protection from the evil and to reflect bad luck away from the wearer. Other reasons for the wearing of jewellery were for the artistic display, to create an aesthetic impression.

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth." (Oscar Wilde)

This quote is taken from Oscar Wilde's essay, 'The Truth About Masks' in which he reviews the power of disguise and its ability to not only alter a persons behaviour, but to fool their audience into believing that they are something other than their ordinary selves.

He discusses how costumes and disguises were a vital role in Shakespeare’s plays as they created a dramatic effect that stretched beyond appearance. By introducing a disguise, Shakespeare introduces a new character. To the audience it is still the same character only pretending to be someone else. However, to anyone unaware of the disguise, the character is a completely different person.

Similarly to Lacan’s ‘structure of the psyche,’ Kohut’s self-psychology focuses on the idea that we experience stages as young children that affect our personal development. These stages are mirroring, idealising and alter ego.

One particular aspect of self-psychology, which Kohut explores, is alter ego transference – when a person projects certain characteristics of their own personality onto an object or imaginary person created within a fantasy. Kohut defines alter ego transference as a response to narcissistic tendencies as the person is creating a new personality from their own characteristics.

Kohuts analysis shows that the creation of the alter ego goes deeper than visual aspects. I initially considered an alter ego to be a personality that is invented in order to allow the person to behave in a way they usually wouldn’t under their own identity. Kohut, however, describes it as an example of mirroring as the alter ego reflects aspects of the subject.

How the gaze is applied to manipulate audiences through advertising..(extract)

Within the J’adore Dior advert shown, scopophilia has been used as Charlize Theron seductively removes every piece of jewellery she is wearing, whilst walking to the bedroom, until lastly she removes her glamorous dress to show herself in the nude, and we see her walking away in full view of the camera. The way the advert has been shot, close-ups are used frequently to exaggerate the sensuousness of her physical characteristics, (Dyer, 2002.) Cropping has also been used to draw attention to certain parts of the body – isolated legs, the face and her cleavage.

“Analysis of ads suggests that gender is routinely portrayed according to traditional cultural stereotypes: Women are shown as very feminine, as ‘sex objects’ as housewives, mothers, homemakers, and men in situations of authority and dominance over women.” (Dyer, 2002, Page 97)


The viewers are told that, “Gold is cold, diamonds are dead, limousines a car, don’t pretend, feel what’s real.” This is portraying to them that it does not matter what they own, as long as they have the Dior perfume, then they can be natural but beautiful. “Feel what’s real: c’est ca que j’adore.” “It is that, that I adore,” is referring to the being natural that she loves. It is the maker of the adverts’ intention to want the audience to envy Charlize Theron, as she is so beautiful, but once they buy the Dior perfume, they can become like her.

The spectator is meant to envy herself that she will become if she buys the product. It is the idea that she is meant to imagine herself transformed by the product into an object of envy for others, an envy which will then justify her loving self. This could be put in a different way: the publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the product. (Berger, 1977)
In this case, it is the price of the Dior perfume.


Georgina Balmer, Art & Design (Interdisciplinary) Year 2

“ Virtue itself is apt to inhabit such poor human bodies, that no aspect of its invulnerable to jest; and for all fairness we have to seek to the flowers, for all sublimity, to the hills”.[1]

When Immanuel Kant argues how aesthetically pleasing an entity can be he looks to nature, a comparison is made, he argues that ‘free beauty’ is proper beauty, this applies to in particular nature i.e. birds, flowers, trees.

Kant argued that both are the equal when analysing the importance of nature and that of art. Without acquiring knowledge of what is beautiful it seems from a very young age it was instilled into us that nature is pleasing to the senses. This could possibly be where the concept of natural beauty originates, where childhood, innocence and purity coincides.

Kant stresses the importance of beauty being subjective and he states that beauty is in its nature to be admired. This admiration is applied to the object from the feeling of pleasure we would obtain.

Is the application of good taste not subjective? A judgement that treats beauty as a projection of a state of mind on to an article, if it is not of a sensory output it is of a psychological state of mind established by the manoeuvre of an individual’s cognitive faculty.

Many argue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder so how can something by definition ‘beautiful’ only gain that label through popularity.

By Ellie Welsh

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[1] (p. 39, Strangeness and Beauty, volume 1).

A judgement is personal and spontaneous or it is nothing.

Judgements themselves are informed and influenced by the individuals experiences throughout life, and are influenced by many environmental factors as well as the temprement of the individual. This argument can be seen as an exploration into why no two artists are the same; yes there styles may be similar but the elements that inform the work and the response they are intending to give within their judgement will always contrast. This an aspect most crucial in the arts where an artist is to respond to the social environment they are part of thus relying upon their ability to generate a spontaeous and personal response.

Another dimension to this notion is contained within Bourdieu's critique of Judgement of Taste:

"It requires understanding, whose judgment can err. Feeling, on the other hand, is infallible; but we do not call a man ill unless he feels ill."
(Bourdieu,P & Nice,R, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, 198, Harvard University Press

Arguing the issue of trust within the judgment. The decisions that lead the judgment may all be well and good but can the individual making the decision be trusted, but there is also an argument that if the individual feels it is, then the benefit of the doubt should be granted.

Response to: "A judgement is personal and spontaneous or it is nothing..."

Regarding judgement, every individual has their own preferences that affect their decision making, therefore a judgement could be personal, spontaneous, or even nothing due to disinterest of the subject matter. Judgements are influenced by experiences throughout life that a person is exposed to, or the upbringing they had within a family or society. Thus the judgements of taste are the results of a correlation between object and subject.

Kant stated that there are two types of judgement: subjectivity and universality (Kant, 1928). Being subjectivity relates to personal experience, what individuals see as aesthetically appealing and unappealing. On the other hand, universality is a common interest widely accepted, for example a large amount of people may have a common interest to appreciate a beautiful, green landscape. ‘Sensus Communis’ is a sense shared, according to Kant. In other it’s common sense amongst a vast group of people as they mirror on a similar thought. A common sense is usually open and easy to share when an individual is expressing their feelings. They do not consider the concept as they believe what they say is universally acceptable, and that everyone else will understand. An artist asking an individual, “This is so, isn’t it?”about their work would expect a response they would want to hear, as they believe, to an extent, that their work is universal. Then again, the individual responding to the artist with “Yes, but-“, where they then comment on amplifications and corrections, may also believe what they are stating is also universal, or that their intention was universal as they have been surrounded by people with similar ideas. The artist would take these judgements by the individual as ‘value-judgements’, where they judge on what they believe is right or wrong, beautiful or ugly. Value-judgements are usually subjective, but in this case both persons believed that they were universal. As Wittgenstein (1921) states against Kant’s idea of universal taste, that we live in different modes of time, experience different cultures, learn about different histories. There can never be a true universal taste.

(Kant, I., 1790. Critique of Judgment, trans. Meredith, 1952, Oxford: Oxford University Press)

(Wenzel, H.C., 2007. Wittgenstein and Kant on Judgements of Taste: Situations versus Faculties, vol. XV. Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, Kirchberg in Wechsel, pp. 239)

Posted by Beverly Cottrell

BA (Hons) Art and Design (Interdisciplinary) Level 2

Artists Journal MEDLEY

'A judgement is personal and spontaneous or it is nothing. But to say that it is 'spontaneous' is not to say that it may be prompted from another; and to say that it is 'personal' is not to say that it means merely that. The form of the judgement is This is so, isn't it?', the question asking for conformation that the thing is so, but prepared for an answer of the form, 'Yes, but-' the 'but' standing for corrections, refinements, precisions, amplifications. The judgements...may be 'value-judgements' but they are in intention universal.'

(Christian Wenzel, Kant finds nothing Ugly?, British Journal of Aesthetics, vol39, No.4, oct 1999;F.R. Leavis, 'Thought, Language and Objectivity', in The Living Principle)

Analyse and discuss this quote....

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LABELS: AESTHETICS