Parliamo di donne: Il dialogo transmediale della condizione femminile in Italia tra il 1968 ed il 1978
(Let’s talk about women: The transmedia dialogue of the female condition in Italy between 1968 and 1978)
Final essay written for ITAL30003 - Italian 5A.
Essay
Final essay written for ITAL30003 - Italian 5A.
Essay
In his 1964 text Understanding Media: The Extensions of
Man, Marshall McLuhan proclaimed that “The medium is the message”. In doing
so, he purported that the mode of delivery of an idea or message should be the
emphasis of the study rather than the ideas being presented. This essay aims to
examine how the modes of delivery of works made in Italy between 1968-1978 evidenced
and facilitated an interrogation of borders and boundaries - specifically those
imposed upon women by politics, industry and the
media.
Through observing the works and artistic visions of Marisa Merz, Mirella Bentivoglio, Marina Abramovic, Dario Fo and Franca Rame, discussions and concerns around the representation and agency of women at the time are made manifest. In the works considered: Marisa Merz’s knitting and sculpture functions to question craft and the role of the female artist; Mirella Bentivoglio’s use of screenprinting and media-based motifs echoes the media’s objectification of women; Marina Abramovic uses her body and the relationship between artist and audience to question the human condition, humanity, the role of female agency, and the power dynamics within society; Dario Fo and Franca Rame use the spoken word and comedy to explore the increasingly multifaceted role of women in the home and in the workplace.
In spite of the employment of varying styles, media, and techniques in the process of artmaking during this period, the artists each generate discourse around agency and the societal representation of women. The varying modes of representation and the nuances that differentiate them allow for an addressing of different aspects of female representation in Italian society.
Through observing the works and artistic visions of Marisa Merz, Mirella Bentivoglio, Marina Abramovic, Dario Fo and Franca Rame, discussions and concerns around the representation and agency of women at the time are made manifest. In the works considered: Marisa Merz’s knitting and sculpture functions to question craft and the role of the female artist; Mirella Bentivoglio’s use of screenprinting and media-based motifs echoes the media’s objectification of women; Marina Abramovic uses her body and the relationship between artist and audience to question the human condition, humanity, the role of female agency, and the power dynamics within society; Dario Fo and Franca Rame use the spoken word and comedy to explore the increasingly multifaceted role of women in the home and in the workplace.
In spite of the employment of varying styles, media, and techniques in the process of artmaking during this period, the artists each generate discourse around agency and the societal representation of women. The varying modes of representation and the nuances that differentiate them allow for an addressing of different aspects of female representation in Italian society.
