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coladancexplorations-1 · 10 years ago

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Performance Theory - Journal #1

Question: Find a reproduction of a work of (visual) art that has been used in a different context e.g. commercials/advertising, and give your personal response to it. What do you think was the intention in using that particular work of art; in what ways was it successful or not; why?)

Photo source: Google image (lifehacker.com)

I have chosen the above painting to discuss the question given by my lecturer simply because of its public recognition. Not only everyone knows the name of this painting, but also the painter’s. In case you really haven’t seen this painting, it is Starry Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, originally painted in 1889. According to Kim, a marketing and book development coordinator, Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night is an “instantly recognisable and an iconic image of our [modern art] culture” that still attracts countless of visitors admiring or taking photos of it. Undoubtedly, it is still one of the most precious paintings in any museums’ collections (Kim, 2010).

In fact, Starry Starry Night is so iconic that it appears almost everywhere and in various kinds of media and products. Below shows some examples of reproduction of this painting.

Photo sources: Art & Architecture in Different Periods

As seen from the few photos above, Starry Starry Night has been inspired, adapted and used in music, which is also a very popular song, film (in both Western and Eastern film) as well as commercial products.

Since the phenomenal painting is notable to many - even beyond the culture of modern art - does this mean that most consumers of these Starry Starry Night reproductions understand the story behind this painting? No.

I suppose most producers of these products adapted and reproduced Starry Starry Night in a different form of media simply because it is already very much publicised, and not because of the story value of the painting, for (easier) profit purposes.

Having said that however, I do not deny that there could be some slight understanding of this painting from producers who were inspired by it and thought it could complement their films. One common thing that film producers of the above-mentioned Starry Starry Night-adapted films is to connect the painting with notions of romanticisms, dreams and fantasy, which I find well-thought out because the eleven stars in Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night is said to have biblical references of the similar theme as portrayed in these films (The Vincent Van Gogh Gallery):

Look, I have had another dream' he said, 'I thought I saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars, bowing to me. -Genesis 37:9 (Old Testament)

In Starry Night (1999), it shows the protagonist, Vincent Van Gogh by David Abbott, being brought back to life by a magic potion, discovering his popularity (Sacksteder, IMDb); Starry Starry Night (2011) tells the fading of childhood and innocence of a young couple through a fancy journey (Takeshi, 2011); and lastly Midnight in Paris (2011) about a nostalgic screenwriter played by Owen Wilson who wished to stay in Paris to finish his novel but was in conflict with his wife, Inez (Yasirfarabi, 2012).

Other than being inspired by the painting for the motif of their films, other possible intentions of producers adapting the painting into their film posters could probably due to publicity. As this painting is exceptionally well-known to almost everyone, having Starry Starry Night painting adapted into their posters could definitely attract audience immediately (even before reading the plot) as it is uniquely recognisable. As John Berger would put it, “seeing comes before words...” (Berger, 7).

Is this intention successful to achieve the producers’ aim then? Personally, I thought the idea of adaptation is pretty good as it fuses both (Western) visual art and (Western and Eastern) film without any loss of reputation of the painting. In fact, I suppose it inspires more audience to be interested in the painting and even more so, visit the actual painting itself in the museum. So I guess this is definitely a good promotion for Starry Starry Night and also allows audience who have never heard of this painting do more research on it.

However, I thought Midnight in Paris could put the adaptation of this painting in better use instead of just having it on the movie poster. The painting wasn’t featured in the movie... or was it me who don’t quite understand the movie? Or the word “Midnight” itself is the reference to Starry Starry Night?

Okay, enough about film.

Moving on to the world of commercialism - profit maximisation.

Since the nineteenth century painting is so unique and famous to everyone in today’s world, why not adapt it into commercial products and earn profits from it? One example is the iPad cover with Starry Starry Night painting on it, as shown waaaay earlier in this post.

Famous 19th century painting + iPad cover that its demand is price inelastic (sorry, Econs geek appears again) = perfect combination for attracting consumers = profit gain!

Even though reproducing this masterpiece on a commercial product is to hope for profit maximisation from consumers, it isn’t all that bad either. There are many art/painting/Van Gogh collectors and lovers all over the world who don’t mind purchasing this product because ultimately, it is adapted from one of the most famous paintings in the 19th century. Otherwise, consumers may simply be attracted by the beauty of the painting and don’t mind spending extra money purchasing this beautifully-designed iPad cover for their everyday-device.

“So many reproductions of Starry Starry Night, won’t it affect the art value of it negatively?”, you may ask.

This will always remain largely debatable, to be honest, as many consumers might not even know the story behind this painting. This could lead to the downfall of visual art appreciation - that people value art on just the commercial level of it based on individual’s perception of beauty and uniqueness and are less bothered to look up for the intentions behind any (reproduction of) visual art that they own. Nevertheless, appreciating the beauty of a painting is also a way of appreciating visual art, just less deep than the experts.

In fact, there are still many experts out there having difficulty interpreting Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night. Has its art value decreases then?

Despite all these reproductions (from film to commercialism), Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night still seem to be one of the must-watch paintings in a museum or an exhibition. It has miraculously sustained its beauty through generations regardless of age, race, gender and nationality. It gathers hundreds of spectators from all over the world to admire this painting in a museum gallery.

Hence, even with all these reproductions that either successfully or unsuccessfully transcend the actual meaning of this painting, it doesn’t really matter because the beauty of this artwork is enough to be appreciated.

Where else would you see a swirling night sky with eleven stars?

#PerformanceTheory

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