The appearance of psychoanalysis, linked to bourgeois thought, clearly paved the way for the modern concept of the individual and the complexity of the identity construction process, moving from the unchanging character, as proposed by classical thinking, to something that is undergoing constant reshaping, as a result of the interaction between the individual and their social setting.
How does this process unfold in modern-day society? The idea of the subject is a product of bourgeois society, in direct contrast to Marxist thought, which conceives of the individual as determined by a specific socio-historical context and the interaction between the two concepts is, if anything, more vivid in the present day. Our society grants total freedom to the individual, but at the same time the pressure of the media makes us easily fall prey to trends, movements, vogues; elements that provide us with an “identity” in the basic sense of the word: they make us identical to others, they make us into members of groups, tribes or social collectives. Sometimes without us even realising.
Digital media have caused a social burgeoning of the portrait in the same way that the subject which is at their core has also blossomed. Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other instruments of the so-called web 2.0 are truly technologies of the self, to use the term coined by Michel Foucault. Any individual can turn him or herself into a writer, a journalist, can exhibit his or her life, putting it within everyone’s reach. The new digital society enables person-to-person communication, it turns us into active and not merely passive subjects; but at the same time it submerges us into the anonymity of the millions of subjects like us who people this network.
Ramón Esparza
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Coordination: José Ramón Esparza
Guests: Hellen Van Meene, Javier Echevarría
Inscription: Until september 30th. Send your personal data and your CV to arteleku@gipuzkoa.net
Objectives of the seminar
The first mission of the seminar is to analyse the different concepts of the individual and their reflection in the genre of the portrait. The history of the portrait can be seen as the history of the social concepts of the individual, from the bourgeois portraits of the 19th century, still shaped by the social dimension of the individual, to the division arising in the 20th century, where Marxist and bourgeois concepts coincided and often clashed, to the present situation with the end of the concept of identity and the resultant crisis of the genre.
The second objective is to provide the participants with the skills needed to enable them to go into the area of the portrait in greater detail. This is the goal of the workshop which will be offered by the Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene who, over the course of her career, has specialised in the world of the teenager, developing her series in countries such as Holland, Japan or Russia.
Finally, Javier Echevarría –philosopher currently associated with the CSIC–, will analyse the new narcissism of the web 2.0 media in a talk which will reflect upon the construction of the subject in digital culture.
Structure of the seminar
19 October, at 19:00. PRESENTATION OF THE SEMINAR/TALK BY RAMÓN ESPARZA: STRATEGIES OF THE PORTRAIT AND VISIONS OF THE SUBJECT
20-22 October. PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP. HELLEN VAN MEENE. Timetable: 10:00-14.00 / 16:00-20:00
22 October, at 19.00. TALK BY JAVIER ECHEVARRÍA. FINAL GROUP DISCUSSION AND CLOSING SESSION
