Performing for the Camera – Bukubuku (Bubbling)
Performing for the Camera encapsulates the creative minds that began building the relationship between photography and performance while highlighting the eras of performance and photography that were most affected by technological advances and global movements. This exhibit encompasses far more than the growth of photography as it relates to performance, it spans decades, cultures, planned performances, improvisation, politics, and identity.
The piece that I have chosen to focus on from this exhibit is Masahisa Fukase’s Bukubuku (Bubbling). This piece was on display in the Self-portrait room and was created in 1991 as a self-portrait of the artist blowing bubbles underwater. The full piece is seventy-nine photographs. It exists as a part of the Masahisa Fukase Archives, courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery but the photos are on short-term loan to the Tate Modern. Performing for the Camera …show more content…
As stated in my introduction the purpose of this exhibition is to explore how and why humans identify and the separate rooms evaluate certain elements of identification, such as the physical body. Fukase’s head and shoulders included in these stills are the main focus of the set. Although the work is entitled Bukubuku (Bubbling) his facial features control the focus of the eye through expressions and movement. It often seems like Fukase wanted the audience’s eyes to move in a certain pattern over his features as the unique expressions he makes often draw focus from the top to the bottom of the frame in that order. They add a certain element into how viewers will perceive (and thus identify) Fukase. This work always makes me question myself, what am I in relation to an adult blowing bubbles, it forces nostalgia that create uncomfortable questions about my own place in this world and that is what I want from viewers that will visit this
Performing for the Camera encapsulates the creative minds that began building the relationship between photography and performance while highlighting the eras of performance and photography that were most affected by technological advances and global movements. This exhibit encompasses far more than the growth of photography as it relates to performance, it spans decades, cultures, planned performances, improvisation, politics, and identity.
The piece that I have chosen to focus on from this exhibit is Masahisa Fukase’s Bukubuku (Bubbling). This piece was on display in the Self-portrait room and was created in 1991 as a self-portrait of the artist blowing bubbles underwater. The full piece is seventy-nine photographs. It exists as a part of the Masahisa Fukase Archives, courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery but the photos are on short-term loan to the Tate Modern. Performing for the Camera …show more content…
As stated in my introduction the purpose of this exhibition is to explore how and why humans identify and the separate rooms evaluate certain elements of identification, such as the physical body. Fukase’s head and shoulders included in these stills are the main focus of the set. Although the work is entitled Bukubuku (Bubbling) his facial features control the focus of the eye through expressions and movement. It often seems like Fukase wanted the audience’s eyes to move in a certain pattern over his features as the unique expressions he makes often draw focus from the top to the bottom of the frame in that order. They add a certain element into how viewers will perceive (and thus identify) Fukase. This work always makes me question myself, what am I in relation to an adult blowing bubbles, it forces nostalgia that create uncomfortable questions about my own place in this world and that is what I want from viewers that will visit this