OUAN501 - Identity (5)

In the lecture today we looked at the topic of 'identity'. During the lecture we were shown how popular historical conceptions of identity have changed with time and through different circumstances. Also, stereotypes and to how we as a modern generation in a modern era perceive the state of 'identity'. Finally, how brands and advertising specifically try to challenge it through their use of fashion, design and other forms of visual communication. We also looked briefly into 'physiognomy', which is the assessment of someone's personality or character based on their appearance, this was really quite interesting to me because it's something we all do subconsciously and is almost built into us as a way of evaluating people and what we think of them without ever having spoken to them. This practice was accepted by ancient Greek philosophers but was revived and popularised by a man called Johann Kaspar Lavater from 1775 who was responsible for introducing the idea that this related to specific character traits rather than general types. Furthermore, Cesare Lombroso introduced the theory of anthropological criminology which states that criminal tenancies can be inherited and because of this people who are born criminals can be identified by looking at the physical traits they possess. A person who was born a criminal would have a certain physique, certain facial features, and a lot of tattoos were another feature that he saw as prominent to being a criminal, obviously you aren't born with these however. Though at the time they were conducted these were serious studies, if these were conducted today these would be classed as stereotyping and would hold no academic or scientific merit.

There is a big difference between the historical use of identity and how identity is viewed today, especially in the digital world we live in. We looked at the different phases of identity, these being Pre-modern, Modern and Post-modern. The pre-modern position on identity is one which suggest that personal identity is stable and heavily defined by long standing roles including things like marriage, the church and work whereas modern and post-modern views suggest that you are able to choose your identity and that it is constructed out of the discourses that are available to you. Identity was born when when ancient Greek philosophers introduced the idea of physiognomy. This was an idea that you could study the appearance of a person's face, and judge their personal characteristics or personality traits off these aspects. So, one example was that if your forehead was exactly parallel to your chin, you were a highly intellectual being or very intelligent. The way these traits were looked into however meant that if you held certain genetic traits in terms of your physical appearance it would mean that certain negative or positive attributes could be given to you based on the way you looked. This type of study continued to reappear throughout history but by today's standards it is unheard of, and we would class this type of labelling and allocating characteristics based on physical appearance stereotyping.

In a variety of different industries and practices today, the idea of a stereotype is challenged and we were given some examples of these in the lecture. For example, in fashion. Vivienne Westwood's 'Anglomania' collection used a range of opposing ideas in both the visual sense, using the collection and the ideas used through naming things. So, Tartan is mostly associated with Scotland, however her collection was called 'Anglomania' and using the word 'Anglo' suggests you're from England. This creates a separation in the stereotype of Tartan being used in Scotland and naming the collection after a place that isn't Scotland. In terms of the design industry, Jonathon Barnbrook created the 'Bastard' typeface in 1990. The way that the lettering is composed and the characteristics is possesses with a type of thick boldness resembles that of the Nazi propaganda typefaces that were used in the 1930's. There are also no curves in the typeface, and is quite simple in this sense - and due to the fact it is an exploration of 'blackletter', there is an association/stereotype of Nazi Germany and fascism. Another good example of this that we were shown during the lecture is Tracey Emin's "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1963-1995)". For this piece she created a tent that was lined with names of people she had slept with, and it is often misinterpreted as being the names of all of the sexual partners she has had. Without looking further into it the piece can easily be taken at face value, and because of the nature of who she is and what she does you would assume it's a piece to provoke people and allow them to think it has this meaning. Only a few of the names mentioned in the tent she are her past or current sexual partners and the rest are a collection of family and friends and people she had shared a bed with, or fallen asleep beside, leading to an interesting revelation to the audience.