When visiting the Apple Pie: Visions of Americana exhibit at the MMOCA, the photographs of Larry Clark caught my eye above all of the other pieces (such as the one above). This photograph in particular was taken in 1971 and shows two rebellious youths engaging in acts of drugs and sex.
The dominating theme that shows up in Clark's pictures during this time period is the use of drugs and promiscuity in order to show the social upheaval and teenage rebellion during this time of the Vietnam War.
One thing that I do not understand about this piece is how Clark cuts the woman's face off while showing her nude body and the heroine injection; this could probably be analyzed further.
This piece relates to America in a huge way in showing the motif of rebellious teens. Almost every generation throughout America has had a generation of rebellious teens and this piece shows the Baby Boomer generation at the height of their rebellion in the early 1970's during the Vietnam war.
Some things that this piece does not show are the silent majority, or the majority of both American teens and adults that were not taking part in this sort of drug/sex influenced rebellion.
A major question that I would have for Clark would be: why did you not take pictures of the silent majority? or why did you cut off the girl's face in this picture?
This piece relates in a big way to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in that both pieces of work show the rebellion of a generation. The Great Gatsby shows the rebellion of the flappers in the 1920's and their heavily-drunken influenced parties, while this piece shows the drugs/sex influenced culture of the Baby Boomers in the 1960-70's.
peterpan.
ReplyDeletei think this is a very accomplished blog post. it shows that you have a seemingly deep appreciation for art.
to me, i found this picture very wierd, but it ties in with the first quarter war stuff. we all saw how rebellious people got over the war, and i think it's completely understandable how teenagers would want to go against social norms...
however, why would you want a picture of that?
art can be very wierd -- obviously.
good post (:
I think this picture represents more than two people getting it on. It represents who you are as a person, Peter. A simple man who is trying to find a way in the world, to discover himself, and to finally get his turn on top.
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