Electric Dress by Atsuko Tanaka, 1956

As sickening as it may sound, depression has always fascinated me. How can a chemically induced disease cause so many people to lose sight of the beauty in life? Why does our brain develop such an emotion that robs us from the pure joy of living? Atsuko Tanaka suffered from depression as well, which lead to her infamous reputation as a genius artist. Clear example of her unstable mind would be the Electric Dress, made out of just painted fluorescent bulbs and wires.

Inspired by the neon lights at the Osaka train station, she wanted to simulate the industrial progress her city and the consequences it may have induced. By donning on this outrageous outfit, she was causing harm to her own body (the industrial bulbs available then created far more heat than bulbs do now) referencing the harm women in Japan caused on themselves as they jumped in front of moving trains. 1956 was the peak of suicide rate amongst Japanese women.

On the positive side, by donning such an outfit, we also get a sense of playfulness and hope. I giggled to myself when my professor projected this image. She looks ridiculous! Nevertheless, the Electric Dress almost signifies how there is light at the end of the tunnel, per say. It brings attention to the troubling issue. Sometimes with depression, the best medicine is positive attention. And, Tanaka definitely does this with Electric Dress.

The Dancing Class, Edgar Degas 1873

(photo credit: http://www.ibiblio.org)

Apparently, ballet dancers in the 19th century were considered the lowly women (aka sluts) of society. But, I could be wrong. Nevertheless, the reputation of these performers was much different than it is today. Edgar Degas' art suddenly became way more interesting, to me as least.

Presenting Edgar Degas, the Impressionist artist famous for his behind-the-scene depictions of ballet dancers. The intimacy he was able to convey and the unique subject he chose to paint allures us, while the warm tones and soft brush strokes creates a mellow aura. Degas backstage access gave him some notability, since his position in this risque world was both looked down upon and envied. My History of Art professor cracked a joke about how nowadays most of Degas work are on coasters or doormats. Funny how such scandalous work, back in the day, has submerged itself into so many American homes.

Oh whatever, it's a pretty picture.

Horizon by Zhang O, 2004

photo credit: http://web.mac.com/zhang_o

Here in America, we don't really think about single-child policies or how westernization is affecting our future. Heck, we are the west. We rule the world! So what happens to those people out there somewhere? Those children who aren't us?

With the raw use of photography, Zhang O is forcing us to think about these questions. Zhang draws attention to the still-looming issue of abandoned young girls in the countryside, where parents cannot afford to have a girl as their only child. Zhang took individual shots of the girls, to represent their own single-ness, and then arranged all 21 photographs into a large montage creating an entirely new art piece.

Each girl interlocks her gaze with the viewer, almost challenging him or her to continue to stare. With each row, we see the horizon has changed. The changing horizon most likely represents the changing demography of China as the metropolis areas become more westernized and the changing fates of these girls as the single-policy law becomes more lenient. But their looks of bewilderment still give us an irked feeling. Is there a place in the world for these girls?

Perhaps a new day will arise.