Week 4 Discussion Topic

Insertion of Self in Images

While reading about this week’s topic of insertion – artist’s putting themselves into their own
work reminds me of creators putting Easter eggs in works of art. Disney is one great example. I
say “Disney” is the “artist” who continue to place themselves in their own work or art. The
movie, A Clockwork Orange (the movie), is another example. Easter eggs are slightly different as
they use an image, message, or some type of feature hidden in electronic mediums like films,
video games, and so on. When I discover these insertions and Easter eggs, it makes me
appreciate the work of art better and the artist. I, myself, like to do this in majority of my work
with any medium. It’s clever.

I enjoyed reading about the artists that insert themselves into their own work as well as the
meaning behind the reason to do so. In the clip about Wiley, the interviewer asked, “The
recreating of poses from the masters, is it a parody in a sense?” Wiley’s response was great:
“You end up with a parallel commentary. It’s neither completely new…or is it the original
object. It’s the third object that sits on its own plane that at once critiques and celebrates a
history.” I found this ironic as I was doing research on famous remakes of artwork and the
results would always come up “parody”. But in this sense, it is a third object. Wiley takes from
what he observed visiting galleries growing up and then places the ‘common’/’street’ people as
his subjects in those poses in his own work. I think his work relates very closely to Cindy
Sherman. Sherman uses her actual self to place in her work, but the meaning is still there. Both
artist’s use their work to put a spin on art history. “Insinuate the ugly through the beauty”
(Heffernan).

As I was reading, it reminded me about DaVinci’s Mona Lisa and the investigation as to who
Mona Lisa really is: a woman, a prostitute, DaVinci’s mother, his male apprentice (who was
allegedly his lover), or even a self-portrait of DaVinci himself. All the work mentioned invites
the onlooker to explore their world through the discovery of insertion. Many years ago, I came
across a TedTalk about discovering the face of DaVinci through his work. I show it to my
students. If interested, the link is below:

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-find-the-true-face-of-leonardo-siegfried-woldhek
(Image Source: https://historyofyesterday.com/historians-discovered-the-true-identity-of-
mona-lisa-and-she-was-not-a-woman-5207f1e94ef3)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352915/Mona-Lisa-model-man-Was-Leonardo-da-
Vincis-male-apprentice-model.html