Presentation

First page

Martha Rosler: Semiotics of the Kitchen

 The work is around 6 and half minutes and through the work Rosler alphabetically
names the kitchen tools.
 She portrays herself in an atmosphere, where modern women were presented.
 The video starts with Rosler holding up a chalk board saying semiotics of the kitchen
which resembles menu of the day; and I think this goes back to a cooking program like
Julia Child.
 After that she puts on her apron, as if she gains a new character. You can see that she
doesn’t take her hair off from the apron which means that she wants to keep her real
identity to herself. Creating a vigilante.

 Then Rosler starts to name the tools that men have created. But while naming these
tools she acts them out in a violent way like the knife or the roller thing
 So in a way, she decodes them. She not only decodes the alphabet like apple with apron
or kite with knife but also the usage as well. So this is an attack not in body but in
language.
 Rosler says “When woman speaks, she names her own oppression”
 so by naming these tools that man have created for woman to sit behind and clean and
cook she names what is caging her.
 Further a feminist author simone de Beauvoir states that it was women’s motherhood
that made them stay at home. And while they were forced to stay at home because of
their creation men were creating tools.
 In her work rosler sees motherhood as a caging part of a women’s life. Similar to Julia
child’s videos the video is made to educate the spectator. We see a book on a bookshelf
with capital letters MOTHER, which reminds a cookbook. How to be a good mom how
to be a good housewife
 And finally rosler concludes her video with imitating letters X Y, Z with her body using a
fork and a knife. When she comes to letter Z she drops the fork and continues with
knife. And I think it represents an attack to the phallic order. Also going back to the
beginning of the video, when she puts on her apron, it’s like an affirmation of the
vigilante.
Laurie Anderson: O superman

 It is actually a song made after iraninan revolution in 1979 and America sends planes
and before even reaching there they crash. So, it is actually about how technology fails
us.
 We see that, except the end, the song consists of language, Anderson merges multiple
“HA”’s through the song to create a beat.
 in her song, we hear that her voice is much mechanical than her normal voice. To
achieve this, she used two different types of machines harmonizer and vocoder.
 Looking into the video the cast shadow is Laurie Anderson’s body double. Yet we see
that at some points the arm doesn’t exactly do what Anderson is doing.
 It is as if her body is resisting to the oppression portrayed by men.
 Looking at the lyrics;

Im not home right now But if you want to leave a message, just start talking at the sound of the
tone.
Hello? This is your Mother. Are you there? Are you coming home?
From this lyric we understand that mother is again portrayed at home waiting for her creation/
child. Again like de Beauvoir said women’s weakness becomes the children.