Being and its semblance

We are asked to view six examples of Lacan's version of the gaze and make notes explain how they fit into Lacan's views.

This painting, The Conjurer by Hieronymus Bosch, is used by Wikipedia to demonstrate Lacan's view that the gaze is "the anxious state that comes with the awareness that one can be viewed". In this picture, nine people's gaze are internal; five look right to an object off the canvas, two look up; the child looks to its (presumed) mother. The woman in green is looking outwards, engaging the viewer, and thus enhancing the viewer's position of being looked at by, as well as looking at, the subjects in the picture. Lacan referred to Hieronymus Bosch's work in the context of the fragmented body, or the fear of losing body parts; Bosch frequently depicts damaged bodies (Hawaii University, undated)

The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein is another classic of Lacanian interpretation. It is a work of pure genius, not least because in the foreground there is an anamorphic image of a skull that appears as a proper shape only when viewed from about a metre to the right of the painting. It is a remarkable technical achievement but what does it mean? Howells and Negreiros (2012, p89) point out that the two main subjects cannot see it, so it must be there for the benefit of to remind the viewer of his or her human mortality. The skull appears in many paintings, serving as a memento mori ('remember that you have to die'). 

In Lacanian terms, the skull looks back at us (the viewer) reminding us that the symbolic order (linguistic communication, acceptance of laws and customs, human relations) and represented in the painting as the paraphernalia of symbols of power and wealth (the fine dress, the globe) is only a fragile moment away from the Real (our basic state of nature). Perhaps the broken string on the lute means something similar; at any time, the music might stop; an allegory for the uncertainty and transience of the existence portrayed. 

The next two images are considered together, as the pose is very similar. Very likely the image of Peter Capaldi as the new Dr. Who is an allegory of the famous image of Lord Kitchener used for recruiting purposes in WW1. The fundamental principle of Lacan's theory is that the viewer can see something only by imagining that it is looking back at the viewer. These images play on that principle - they demand that the viewer joins them in an enterprise and the pointed finger is an unsubtle message that this demand is aimed directly at the viewer.

This image from the first scenes of the last episode "Death in Heaven" of Dr.Who series 8 lends itself less obviously to Lacan theory. Clara Oswald is trapped by a Cyberman who knows her name. She bluffs him, culminating with the line: "I am the Doctor." This is new ground for Dr.Who, and a further step towards the equalization of the male doctor, and the female 'assistant' role (it seems almost inevitable there will be a female doctor soon, The Master having changed gender). Oswald's stare is not at the viewer, but at the Cyberman off camera. But the gaze is important to us the audience; we have to engage with Clara to consider the implications of the claim. Is she just bluffing to get out of an awkward situation, or is it a symbol of a parallel existence? Is she real in the human sense, yet virtual in another?

This last entry is of Jessica Alba carrying out a ten hour staring competition and downloaded from YouTube. It is being done for fun, but it challenges you, the viewer. Do you think Jessica is staring at you? It is almost impossible not to feel slightly uncomfortable, almost as if Jessica is trying to dominate you by her marathon. You don't have to imagine that Jessica is gazing back at you, because she is. It is therefore very 'Real' in Lacanian terms. You are drawn to the subject, and will have a very direct response, that is real rather than imagined as indicated by some of the comments below. The power of the internet is that the screen that Lacan envisaged is to some degree removed. Nusselder (2009) argues that computer screens and similar act as the fantasy screen: they mediate between the real and the virtual.

And the punchline is that the clip is a loop - the technology has succeeded in providing a virtual image that is not real, but subtly gives the sense of being so.

 

 


Reference:

Hawaii University (undated) Lacan: The Mirror Stage Available from http://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/lacan/index.html. Accessed on 12 November 2014.

Howells, Richard and Negreiros, Joaquim (2012) Visual Culture. Polity Press. Cambridge.

Nusselder, Andre (2009) Interface Fantasy: A Lacanian Cyborg Ontology MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts.