Reflective gestalt body

Question

The following text describes the artwork "Easy for Who to Say" by Lorna Simpson, which can be viewed below.

1. Does "a symptom in proximity to hysteria" mean "a symptom similar to hysteria"?

2. What does the yellow highlighted section mean? Could you please explain it in plain English?

Description:

In her white shift and under the glare of studio lighting, Simpson’s woman appears as if subjugated by a medical gaze, race having been considered a symptom in proximity to hysteria. While Kelly’s strategy was to refuse to image the body directly by using clothing and text to infer it, Simpson uses gridded formats that fragment the reflective gestalt body and sharply allocates the black female body in a linguistic register, which predetermines her existence, but also interestingly, provides networks of resistance in their failure to signify her inner experience.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

catttt1. Does "a symptom in proximity to hysteria" mean "a symptom similar to hysteria"?

I guess so. It is so unusual a way of putting it that one is tempted to read more into it, but what?

catttt2. What does the yellow highlighted section mean? Could you please explain it in plain English?

I can only tell you how I interperted it as I read it, but bear in mind that I'm an idiot.

Simpson uses gridded formats - She lays things out in a grid, like the boxes in this work.

that fragment the reflective gestalt body - This is jargon whose meaning I can only guess at. Each cell of the grid holds a different instance of the "reflective gestalt body", whatever that is, probably some sort of body.

and sharply allocates the black female body in a linguistic register - "Sharply" refers to the well-defined grid. Simpson defines, depicts and distributes the aforementioned body into her grid in such a way that it has some attributes of language made of words.

which predetermines her existence - The writer has not made it clear who "her" is. The antecedent of "which" is up for grabs, too. I would throw this book in the trash and try to find a writer on this topic who earns my respect for their intelligence by respecting mine. That said, I assume she means the gal in the pictures, Simpson herself, I think, and that it is the allocation in a linguistic register that predetermines her existence, meaning that she has defined herself in a rather rigid way in this work.

but also interestingly, provides networks of resistance in their failure to signify her inner experience. - As rigid as the defining may be, its very rigidity makes it superficial, leaving room for a hidden agenda or at least humanity.

Reflective gestalt body

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