How does Barbara

Kruger creatively
explore issues of
identity and culture
in the six pieces
you have analyzed?
A constant battle
To fully understand the image at hand one must
understand that women for most of their lives
follow and suffer a constant battle. This battle
encompasses a greater portion of women's lives.
It’s the constant threat between what a woman
feels like is her appearance to others and what it
may feel like to her self. Thus, a woman's body
is that of a battle ground that’s is under attack
constantly by identity and other outside
influences. A woman may feel as if she is one
thing but is seen by others as totally different
and contrasting.
This is
America.
In this piece Barbara tries to encapsulate the
many facets of what she deems to be the
state of America and its culture. In it she
takes the American flag and dismembers it to
form what she believes encapsulates the
culture of American living. The use of
words in the image help push her point that
says American culture is one of oppression
and money. Looking at the specific questions
that imply such terms; would be ’Who is free
to choose?’. This implies certain people
within the country who have money and
power to move politics can choose to be free.
Another statement that may imply
oppression, is that of ‘Who is silenced?’. It
can be interrupted that those with certain
opinions about the state of culture and
country are indeed silenced and crushed by
oppressive forces with in the system.
A Nasty letter to
René
‘I shop therefore I am’, When reading this at
first one is liable to feel as if they are under
attack, simply by looking at the bold text and
bold words an aggression is occurring that
forces the reader to think about their actions
before the occurrence. The attack on capitalism
and the many millions of people involved with
in the system are questioned as to their actions
within the system. It states that you are really
only a shopper and not thinker. It asks to
question the consequences of simple living in an
endless stream of hedonism. Originally the ’I
think therefore I am’ statement originates from
René Descartes which implies that those who
think (which is indeed everyone) are. This
means that to think is to be human, and to think
is to live and comprehend the world around
themselves. Subsequently Barbara takes these
terms and flips them over to represent
capitalism and how people are only what they
are just by what materials they buy, thus linking
back into the identity and culture system of
capitalism.
A reimagination
of former
influences from
men.
In this image we can clearly see a sort impactful
and aggressive attack on former 50s culture in
which mass sexism occurred on much greater
scale. This image attacks the culture by taking it
and again flipping its former meaning and
transforming it into a shell of what they used to
be. By taking this old commercial and replacing
its connotation. The previous connotation was
one of need, a need that the girl experiences
through the use of a strong boy. Now the
meaning has changed because the wording
implies that women do not indeed really need a
hero and that thus they are free and independent
from male masculinity.
 To fully understand the reasoning
behind the photo it must be seen as
to the way we comment on ourselves
A in the modern world. Many of us,
especially today, look at current
conceptualisms and try to mimic
perception them beyond our abilities to do so.
For example, one might decide to
purchase an expensive pair of shoes
of that either a celebrity has created or
has worn on one occasion or another,
ourselves and then the same person would
come to realize that they do not have
the necessary funds to achieve such
in the high purchases, yet they are still
wanting and are in a need to buy
those shoes, for they do not want to
modern be themselves they instead want to
understand and be like the celebrity
they wish to mimic. Thus, in our
world modern society (not in all cases) we
can see that we are indeed not
ourselves but instead mimickers of
current popular forms and norms.
 The use Michelangelo’s ‘Creation of
Adam’ implies a greater religious
context, this coupled with the bold
Barbara’s Attack and brash lettering of the image show
a certain perspective of the power
much of the church used to hold and
on Patriarchal still does to some extent to this day.
Thus, her criticism extends to the
Religion culture society in which capitalism
and the church are dominate powers
in which you invest in one and
control with the other.
Conclusion
Barbara Kruger's impact
and discussion on culture
and identity show a great
deal of in-depth thought that
will require more than one
siting of a painting in order
to process the meaning of
her work. Her ideals on
society and attack against
the norm show certain
ideals that are not often
seen.