HERMAPHRODITISM 雌雄同体 http://www.wretch.cc/blog/kuramaamrauk&article_id=11456616 INTRODUCTION At the beginning, I would like to analyze both pictures individually. After that, I will discuss the differences and similarities between them. Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940) “Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair’” is a painting which is very different from Frida’s other portraits. First, we hardly ever see Frida so tired and fatigued that we can even observe the dark circles. And she is not staring at us, but looks down weakly. We all know that her exhausted appearance is because of the divorce from her husband, Diego Rivera. Therefore, we can see how Frida expresses her sadness in this piece of work. First, she has cut off her long hair. It seems that she’s trying to get rid of the things that Diego liked: the long hair, the Tehuana costume, and the femininity. Furthermore, she wears a dark suit that seems too big for her and appears to be his ex-husband’s. On one hand, we may interpret this action as abandoning the femininity, because the baggy men's suit is like wearing a hair shirt or a nun's habit. Besides, Frida looks like one of those mutilated Saints dear to the Mexican Catholicism in this picture. The only hint of her femaleness is the pendent earrings. On the other hand, could it be possible that Frida simply cannot completely forget about her husband? Therefore, she wears his clothes to express her condolence to their relationship. In my opinion, the clothes show how important Diego means to Frida as clothes are very intimate with the person who wears it. Through wearing somebody’s clothes, indirect body contact is being made. That is why lovers like to smell the scent of their partner from their clothes. Surrounded by the evidence of her violence, she sits alone in a vast expanse of the uninhabited earth that suggests the reach of her despair. Strands of hair that look frighteningly alive are spread all over the ground. Isn't it like a scene in a horror movie? The way the hair crawls and occupies the ground looks just like wriggling reptiles. In Frida's left hand is a lock of her shorn hair that symbolizes her sacrifice. In her right hand, she holds a pair of scissors with which she martyred her sorrow. However, her sorrow doesn't disappear after the cutting. Frida is surrounded by it and cannot escape from the tangle. It is typical of Frida's sardonic humor to add a line that turns her self-portrait into a song which says "Look if I love you, it was for your hair. Now that you're bald, I don't like you anymore." She shows the same attitude by writing "Unos cuantos piquetitos!" in the picture which means "A few little slashes with a dagger." Man Ray Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Selavy (1920-21) A good piece of art work is often achieved through a lot of experimentations. I found several different versions of this photo. I think we can understand the photo more through the process of creating this work. The first photo is probably Duchamp and Man Ray's first attempt in making a photographic portrait of "Rrose Selavy". In (a), we can see that Duchamp puts on a hat which I think represents the femininity for the detailed pattern. And the fur coat also displays the traditional female character of sensitivity, sentiment and passiveness. Meanwhile, the fingers also show a beautiful pose to emphasize that, general speaking, women have a better sense of beauty than men. In fact, the beautiful hands which even women may admire are not Duchamp's, but belonged to Germaine Everling, the second wife of Francis Picabia. How sophisticated is this design! In (b), here the hair added over the left ear, a refinement of the left hand with ring, and perhaps a lighting of the left cheekbone are visible on the print. In (c), we can see that Duchamp experiments with a slightly different view of Rrose Selavy; the retouching of the left ear to extend the hairline and the shadow of a ring on the left hand also appears, and he also added sleeves at the wrists. I think this urges the viewer to focus on her eyes. There are two other different prints also made in 1921, Paris. Besides, I like Duchamp's eyesight very much. It's very ambiguous, passive and plaintive. You cannot be sure of what "she" is thinking about for all the emotions were mixed together. I think the reason is that it's a "man" who created this piece of work. METAPHOR From the former analysis, we can easily realize how important the object is when you want to disguise one’s real identity. It is the man's suit, short hair and the shoes that make Frida look like a man. Meanwhile, Duchamp tried to use the hat, true woman's hands and the ring, etc. to cover the male image. Maybe we can say that Duchamp is more successful than Frida. However, due to the artists original motivation, I think it's not fair to make this judgment. Frida drew this painting just to release her emotions. She wanted to cure herself by painting out her sorrow. Therefore, I think it's just a way to express her feelings; she never meant to confuse the audience. However, Rrose Selavy was the role in the movie "Anemic Cinema" directed by Duchamp. Without saying, to make people feel indistinct was Duchamp's original intention. He wanted to express his alter ego through Rrose Selavy. In fact, a lot of my classmates easily saw through Duchamp's trick! What I think more important for us is to understand that it is actually very easy to hide your gender and fool other people, so one should never believe what you see too easily, because the implication is always behind the appearance. Metaphor is always the artist's favorite. HERMAPHRODITISM Both of the pictures represent the image of hermaphroditism. I believe that a lot of people may have discussed this issue in the past. I didn't read their work at all, so I can only express my immature opinion. Duchamp named his alter ego "Rrose Selavy" which means the sexual desire in life. Is this just his joke? Or, he believed that everybody has an alter ego and one could get the most enjoyment from sexual desire only when one accepts their bisexual self. In other words, only after one can get rid of the traditional definition of gender, can he follow his desire and enjoy it. I think narcissism is probably related to the bisexual ego in a certain way. For example, a man's feminine ego thinks his masculine body is very sexy. That's why hermaphroditism has such peculiar attraction for its divergence. I remember that Madonna once said that she envies Leslie Cheung in the movie <Farewell My Concubine>. Maybe because of hermaphroditism, we can reach the perfect model closer. POSTSCRIPT I think Frida’s works should not be classified as surrealism art. What surrealists paint is the world they imagine and dream, however Frida paints what she feels. The tears, happiness, sorrow and sacrifice in her works are all completely real to her. -- 吃了"五彩泻药"的Blog 泄粪中 请勿打扰~~ Facebook: YT CHO http://www.wretch.cc/blog/kuramaamrauk 个 carapace @ ptt2 --

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