carlie daggett week 6

Women’s Art: A Manifesto by VALIE EXPORT is a feminist declaration of values for women’s liberation within the world of art and the world itself. The work explains that throughout history women have never been fully realized in art and therefore women have never been fully realized by anyone but themselves. “we women must participate in the construction of reality via the building blocks of media communication”(202) The manifesto goes on to say that such a task will be met with resistance but is necessary for the equality of the sexes and that women must do so through art.“it is the right time that women use art as a means of expression so as to influence the consciousness of all of us, let our ideas flow in the social construction of reality to create a human reality.”(203) Men have been the only ones involved writing the history books, novels, paintings, sculptures; the only ones allowed to deal with the “Subjects of life” asking the great questions of life publishing them in books. Even notions that are inherently tied to the experience of women have been defined by men and because of this they must be destroyed and replaced with new ones in accordance with our sensibility, with our wishes.” (203) This also means destroying the feminine features created by men for or of us, that which women have been forced to comply with. Overall the piece explains that self definition by women for women is necessary in order to establish women as equal to their male counterparts. 

Key Points

1. Historically, men have defined women, therefore the history of women is the history of men’s opinions of women. “Men have projected their image of women onto these media, and in accordance with these medial patterns they gave shape to women.”(202) 
2. Women must be allowed to speak for themselves in order to portray a legitimate actualized understanding of womanhood. 
3. Women must express their beliefs and opinions by utilizing every form of art and media in order to counter the centuries of male depictions of the world. 
4. “to change the arts that man forced upon us means to destroy the features of women created by man” The only way to truly dismantle patriarchy and diminutive views of women is to destroy the idea’s men created about women.
5.  “the future of women will be the history of woman” women must rewrite their own history in order to move forward. 

Invisible Theatre is a description of the form and of the work of Augusto Boal. Boal depicts in detail an example of invisible theatre in which a group of actors went to a restaurant undercover as customers and started a ruckus. The actors made sure they were loud enough to be heard by the other customers, yet discreet in their delivery. The “protagonist” as he describes, began to proclaim that his mea was terrible, and asked to be served something else. After he had eaten and finished the meal he then went to pay for the meal, only he claimed he did not have the money to pay for it. The protagonist then demanded that he provided labor in exchange which sent the whole staff into pandemonium. The other actors then aided him by telling him what the wages were for every different type of person at the restaurant. Were the protagonist to have worked any of the given jobs it would have taken him days in order to work off the meal he had eaten. Finally one of the other actors stood up and said that everyone should chip in so that the protagonists meal could be paid for, which it eventually was. Although the interaction seems mundane on the page the onlookers were described to be completely transfixed. The guests all left astonished and buzzing about the absurdity they had just witnessed. 

Key points 

1. “‘Invisible theatre’ consists of the presentation of a scene in an environment other than the theatre, before people who are not spectators.” Meaning that the production should happen in a public pedestrian area with observers who do not know  a production is being put on.  
2. Based on the example depicted in which an actor ordered food at a restaurant and did not have money to pay for all of it, the play can be interpreted as reality to onlookers, which in a sense it was. 
3. The actors cannot reveal themselves as actors, because if they did not, the spectators would not act organically.
4. In traditional theatre the audience is sitting back not engaging or talking about the piece as it is happening due to convention. But when the spectator is unknowingly witnessing theatre they are less likely to remain impotent.
5. “In invisible theatre the theatrical rituals are abolished; only the theatre exists, without its old, worn-out patterns. The theatrical energy is completely liberated, and the impact produced by this free theatre is much more powerful and longer lasting.” Even though the spectator does not know they are witnessing a piece of theatre, it has a greater effect when they think that it is real. They may go home and tell their friends all about it or perhaps think about it more than they would with an actual play.