| I am immediately attracted to Matthias Hermann's series 8x10" because of one of the first images, a torso up shot of Matthias staring at me. This invasive image makes me uncomfortable mostly because of the images surrounding it, Matthias' erect penis. These simple photos are sometimes light and funny and other times not so light and still funny, but with a kind of black humor. By using the artist body and a selection of props, this piece examines identity. Matthias is not only the photographer, but also the subject. This puts him at an advantage as well as a disadvantage. The subject of an image is at the scrutiny of the camera, an obvious disadvantage to the subject who is thus vulnerable. However, as the photographer, Matthias is in control of the camera used to scrutinize himself. The images that are created from this process hold the following true: The subject knows the viewer sees him and acknowledges that fact with eye contact and a sort of performance in front of the camera. The viewer in turn knows that the subject knows he is looking. While inside the frame of the photo, Matthias, as an aware subject, is able to be in some control of his own identity much like the character of Corinna in Fassbinder's, Mother Kuesters Goes to Heaven. In her essay, Fassbinder and Lacan: A Reconsideration of Gaze, Look, and Image, Kaja Silverman suggests that Corinna has "some limited power" because she "is able to meet the gaze (of the viewer) halfway by offering herself as a spectacle to it," and thus "recognizes her necessary subornation to the gaze but finds potential transgressive ways of 'performing' before it." Matthias offers himself to the camera or a sufficient substitute, his penis. Yet, even the penis seems to return our gaze, offering ejaculation rather than eye contact. Matthias uses this opportunity of creating his own identity to play with the idea of gender. Because he controls the gaze, we do not really get to know him. Even the phrases that he includes are not his own and they do not supply enough reliable information. He is male. We can see from his body shape, his facial hair, and bare genitals that this much is true. From his bursting erection, one would immediately think of the ultimate phallic power of man. However, as a subject, Matthias is rarely, if ever, depicted in a powerful position. In many images he is bound, gagged, or masked with tape, pill boxes, a jockstrap (similar to the cliché of women imprisoned in their bras), a plastic bag, or a Mardi Gra mask. He is stuffed into uncomfortable looking spandex dresses that should be sexy, but are not. In one image he is dumping water over his mostly naked body like a female swimsuit model. In most of the images, it is only the penis that we are permitted to see. The penis, once castrated from the body by the camera, becomes something altogether different. It is no longer the tool of a man, it is a character without a clear gender. What about this erect penis, the genital representation of a phallus that appears over and over? The constantly erect penis is an indication of arousal and potential orgasm or, as in most of Matthias' images, evidence post-ejaculation. Metaphorically, the semen could be likened to the very important role of ammunition in a gun, neither gun or a penis is as powerful with out ammunition. From this fluid, life can be created and the ability of reproduction assures dominance. What if the weapon belongs to a homosexual man? How does his semen assure dominance? The photo of Matthias' erect penis ejaculating next to the yellow flower demonstrates the futility of such an idea. His penis is no more going to pollinate that flower then it is likely to father a child. Moreover, what does it mean that this fluid is HIV positive? Now, instead of being life giving, instead of being ineffectual, this fluid is life taking. Not only will the flower not be pollinated, it will also be poisoned. The 8x10" series leaves me feeling uncomfortable. As a viewer, I am unsure of what I am seeing, or who I am seeing. This phenomenon allows me to explore my own identity as well as the way I look at others. Sarah Laurentius |