objective stance

Question

The following paragraph is from a book about relationships between artists and viewers, art and science, and also subjectivity and objectivity.

1. What does "objective stance" here mean? Does it mean "maintaining neutrality" or does it have anything to do with "objectivity" in contrast with subjectivity?

2. Does"and that boundary is blurred too" refer to the boundary between the bodies and brains of the viewers and those of the artist?

Mona Hatoum views herself literally from the outside in and inside out,
through the videoed coloscopies and endoscopies which penetrate her insides in her 1994 work Corps étranger. The viewer enters a cylindrical viewingchamber to gaze down at the floor and follows a dizzying succulent-seeming journey through her interior channels, accompanied by the sound of her heartbeat and breathing, so close that it merges with one’s own. In exposing to her own objective stance and to the viewer the substance of which she is a part, both intimate body and foreign object, she invites an identification between artist and viewer – we all possess bodies and brains about which we feel a squeamish mixture of intellectual curiosity and felt possessiveness
– and that boundary is blurred too.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

red apple1. What does "objective stance" here mean?

It means a point of view that is purely logical, with no involvement of the emotions.

red apple2. Does"and that boundary is blurred too" refer to the boundary between the bodies and brains of the viewers and those of the artist?

It seems that is the intended meaning. The viewer loses a sense of self or individuality, "merging" with the artist.

CalifJim · Answer

red apple"objective stance"

"stance" is "viewpoint", "way of looking at things".

"subjective" relates to descriptions of the world from a personal point of view, seeing the world from one's own viewpoint as a single unique conscious being. The emotions play a role in this way of looking at the world.
"objective" relates to descriptions of the world from a universal point of view, as if looking down upon the world from space. The rational part of the mind plays the most important role in this way of looking at the world.

If you've ever been "self-conscious" about something, you can see both viewpoints in one experience. For example, one part of you might be angry about failing an exam (subjective) while another part of you recognizes that you are very upset (objective) and you need to distract yourself (objective) with your favorite snack (subjective).

In the text you quoted, the artist exposes her insides (literally) as if they are not even part of her. To do this requires an objective stance. She looks at her insides the way that a stranger looks at them. She looks at her own insides the way that she might look at the insides of an animal, as if they have nothing to do with her.

red applethat boundary is blurred too

The boundary is the boundary between the objective and the subjective — the boundary between "intellectual curiosity" (objective) and "felt possessiveness" (subjective). At the same time the boundary is also the boundary between "artist and viewer" because, as human beings, the viewers have the same kinds of insides as the artist. The viewer could just as easily be looking at his or her own insides.

CJ

objective stance

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions