The term "queer" is used to describe those who do not conform to traditional gender roles or heteronormative expectations for relationships. Queer art challenges established social norms and power structures by presenting alternative perspectives on human identity, desire, and expression. One way that this is achieved is through the use of double gaze. Double gaze refers to an image where there are two sets of eyes looking back at each other, usually represented by two figures in the same space. By destabilizing conventional authority, perception, and ethical evaluation, queer art helps to create new ways of seeing and experiencing the world.
Destabilizing Conventional Authority
Double gaze disrupts the dominant viewpoint by creating tension between the viewer and the subject. This allows for a reexamination of social and cultural hierarchies, as well as a questioning of what is considered normal or acceptable. In some cases, it can even challenge the very idea of hierarchy itself.
In Nan Goldin's photograph "Double Gaze" from her Ballad series, two men look directly into each other's eyes while embracing. The intimacy and vulnerability portrayed in the image subverts the notion that masculinity is associated with strength and dominance.
Disorienting Perception
The double gaze also has the effect of forcing the viewer to consider their own assumptions about gender, sexuality, and relationships. It encourages them to think beyond rigid binaries and categories.
In Barbara Kruger's "Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am)" print, two pairs of eyes stare out from opposite sides of a mirrored surface. Each set reflects the other, suggesting a circular process of self-consciousness and self-doubt.
Subverting Ethical Evaluation
Double gaze undermines traditional ethical evaluations by presenting alternative perspectives on morality. In Félix González-Torres's "Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)", a pair of eyes are depicted looking out from behind a large ring of red candles, representing the loss of his partner due to AIDS. By drawing attention to this loss and the pain it causes, González-Torres challenges the dominant narrative that sees homosexuality as immoral or sinful.
Queer art uses double gaze to disrupt conventional authority, perception, and ethical evaluation. This destabilizes established power structures and creates new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. It allows for a reexamination of social norms and offers an alternative perspective on identity, desire, and expression.
How does the double gaze in queer art destabilize conventional authority, perception, and ethical evaluation?
Queer artists often create works that challenge traditional views of gender, sexuality, and power dynamics by employing the "double gaze" technique. The double gaze is when an artist portrays two characters looking at each other with different perspectives or points of view, such as one character being transgender while another is cisgender.