Discourse and Power in Relation to the Visual - Essay Example

Foucault: Dis and Power in Relation to the Visual If there is one ment which really defines Foucault it his own words describing him when he openly states 'Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the same' (Foucault)(Smart). Foucault was one of the most controversial and influential European intellectuals in the second half of the 20th century. Foucault's wide range of influence ranging from history, to psychology, philosophy to politics and freedom is synthesis of his upbringing, education and very intense thinking. His analysis of the mind in relation to power has been a subject of immense appeal to modern thinkers. This evolution of his theory can be traced from 1960's to 1980's and reveal a pattern of study of how power influences decision-making. In 1960's he uses terms like 'contestation' and 'transgression' and uses them interchangeably. In 1970's Foucault moved to 'struggle' and 'resistance' which are again synonymous. And finally in 1980's he used the term 'agonism'. All these terms used through a period of time defining his core focus on the play of resistance, and Foucault's conceptualization of power rather than strict references made to limits. (AMOUDI) Foucault's power-resistance relation is a dynamic analysis of the modern day world. The groundwork of the role of power being laid in the previous theories which evolved between 1960's and 1970's, the economics of power has been more rigorously presented in these theories. Michel Foucault goes further to give a definition of power relations in an essay published in 1982: 'The exercise of power is not simply a relationship between partners, individual or collective; it is a way in which certain actions modify others' Although the exercise of power may need violence or consent, these are not inherent to a power relation. Moreover, one of the consequences of this limit to power is that resistance is the sine qua non condition for power. Indeed, a power relation, is not an action which determines another action, but an action which influences an other action by determining a field of possibility for it. In this field of possibility, ways of resisting are by definition present. The second limit set to power relations, therefore, is fight. According to Foucault, the goal of a fight is either to force the opponent to abandon the game (hence a victory which dissolves the power relation) or to set up a new relation of power. In other words, there is circularity between power relations open to fight and a fight aiming at power relations. Therefore there is a constant instability in a power relationship which excludes by definition any form of determinism. By stressing the ontological link between power and resistance, Foucault invites us to understand his reading of the mechanisms of power he highlights. Power is to be understood then as a form of power, which is perpetually confronted with potential (and some time actual) resistance. (AMOUDI) In his book Order of Things and Foucault Reader, he addresses the power of observation and the impact of it on the observed. He emphasizes that observing people and judging them requires a degree of conformity, which is less obvious and subsequently, according to Foucault more powerful because of its restrained state. This same impact is seen in Panopticism where Foucault shows a transition in prison systems from physical manipulation to implicit manipulation. This new form of control is implemented through a physical construction that creates the illusion of continual surveillance. This surveillance creates the impetus for self-control. It is the power of being observed which places the role of control on the subjects. People control themselves out of a desire not to be looked down upon - to control their own public reputations. Panopticism works in a similar way - by continual observation or the illusion of continual observation, people are expected to continually discipline themselves so as to avoid being disciplined by an external source (Foucault & Rabinow) The power which is present in the social and artistic interaction of the viewer and the viewed, controlling the visual force field; has the force which is very lucidly captured in his description of the power relation between viewer and the viewed which establishes the chord of power and resistance game in the visual field. "The painter is standing a little back from his canvas. He is glancing at his model; perhaps he is considering whether to add some finishing touch, though it is also possible that the first stroke has not yet been made. The arm holding the brush is bent to the left, towards the palette; it is motionless, for an instant, between canvas and paints. The skilled hand is suspended in mid-air, arrested in rapt attention on the painter's gaze; and the gaze, in return, waits upon the arrested gesture. Between the fine point of the brush and the steely gaze, the scene is about to yield up its volume."(FOUCAULT ) His vivid description of the power of gaze is established as an arena of open exchanges of subtle force which controls and which is controlled. This is the field of ceaseless exchange. His theory of power and resistance is totally merged with the stable gaze, in the visual world. He further states that no gaze is stable, and that gaze and the intensity of the gaze is what determines the outcome of the visual art. In Las Meninas he states "No gaze is stable, or rather in the neutral furrow of the gaze piercing at a right angle through the canvas, subject and object, the spectator and the model, reverse their roles" (FOUCAULT ) Foucault puts great emphasis to the visual stimulation be it in the form of observation within the confines of the prison, or scrutiny in the political field or the gaze in the artistic visual world. The dynamics which operate are the same the power relation between the observer and the observed, viewer and the viewed. "And, indeed, representation undertakes to represent itself here in all its elements, with its images, the eyes to which it is offered, the faces it makes visible, the gestures that call it into being." (FOUCAULT ) This gaze is what provides the tool for simultaneous grouping together of the forces which unite in harmony to fill the essential void. This transference of the power from the observer to observed and viewer to viewed is presented as the foundation of the transcendence of the Faucaldian theory of power into an expression in the field of art and visual medium. This leads to search for pure form and pure representation though the scientific mechanism of viewing. This further confirms the intimate and intricate relationship between power of gaze and the representation and expression of visual art and expression. "Discourses are not once and for all subservient to power or raised up against it, any more than silences are. We must make allowance for the concept's complex and unstable process whereby discourse can be both an instrument and an effect of power, but also a hindrance, a stumbling block, a point of resistance and a starting point for an opposing strategy. Discourse transmits and produces power; it reinforces it, but also undermines and exposes it, renders it fragile and makes it possible to thwart it (Foucault 1980,)." (Foucault, 1) Work Cited 1.Foucault, Michel. "Michel Foucault." Available from http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory54.htm#05. Internet; accessed 29 November 2007. 2.AMOUDI, Ismal AL . "The Economy of power, an analytical reading of." Available from http://www.csun.edu/hfspc002/foucault1.pdf. Internet; accessed 29 November 2007. 3.Smart, Barry . Michel Foucault: Critical Assessments. Routledge, 1994. (Smart ) 4.Foucault (Author)& Rabinow (Editor) , Michel & Paul. The Foucault Reader . Pantheon , 1984. (Foucault & Rabinow) 5.FOUCAULT, MICHEL . The order of Things. New York: Vintge Books, http://www.illogicaloperation.com/textz/foucault_michel_the_order_of_things.htm (FOUCAULT ) 6.Gutting, Gary. Foucault: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA, 2005. ( Gutting ) 7.Harris, Jonathan . The New art history. Routledge, 2002. (Harris ) Read More