Things Are Queer 1973: Duane Michals

The American photographer Duane Michals (b. 1932) is known for his innovative approach. His work includes the use of handwritten text to add a different interpretation to the image, the use of series, and multiple exposures. (Gallery, 2019). Jaskot-Gill (2012) describes Michals as a storyteller, and views his photographic sequences as part of a long tradition of storytelling through to contemporary cartoon strips.

I am drawn to Michals use of sequences to tell a story, but with an unexpected twist. There is playful element to his work, in which you can see the influence of surrealist artists such as Rene Magritte.  He identifies other influences on his work as Lewis Carroll, William Blake, Thomas Eakins, and Balthus (McKenna, 1993). Things are queer is an excellent example of a narrative series with influences from literature and art.

http://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals/series/sequences

In this series of nine images, all is not what it seems. The first image is a standard shot of a bathroom and doesn’t appear to be anything unusual. It is only when you see the second image and realise that the it is a tiny bathroom (or a giant leg) and scale is being played with, reminiscent of Alice in Alice in Wonderland, who finds herself changing sizes.  The third image confirms that things are out of proportion. It is however the next images when things get very strange, as image 3 is shown in a book, which is then being read by a man walking down a tunnel. A print of this image is shown in a frame, over a sink. The final image reveals that this is the first image with the print in the tiny bathroom.

The series is circular in nature, with the first and last images being the same. However, the viewers perception of the image changes as a result of the series. On looking more closely, the text in the book is from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was. The text shown is from the part of the story where the youth meets a giant. Other interpretations of the series suggest that the images challenge our view of reality, ‘the series subverts the viewer’s faith in photography as a faithful window on the work: seeing does not equate to knowing or understanding.’ (Jaskot-Gill, 2012). Weinberg (2019) addresses the sexual connotations of the title, and argues that the queer refers to the world itself, ‘In contradiction to its title, the series seems to say the things themselves are not queer, rather what is queer is the certainty by which we label things normal and abnormal, decent and obscene, gay and straight’.

I find this work, intriguing. In particular I like the fact that the same image (used at the start and end of the sequence), is viewed in different ways. The images reveal more through careful study and encourage the viewer to look reconsider how they initially perceive the image.

Last updated 15 December 2019

References

D C Moore Gallery. 2019. Duane Michaels [Online].  [Accessed 9 Dec 2019].

JASKOT-GILL, S. 2012. Things Are Queer. In: HACKING, J. (ed.) Photography The Whole Story. London: Thames & Hudson.

MCKENNA, K. 1993. ART : Picture Imperfect : For maverick Duane Michals, a photo is worth far less than a thousand words when the questions are about the very meaning of truth [Online]. @latimes. Available: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-14-ca-543-story.html [Accessed 9 Dec 2019].

WEINBERG, J. 2019. Things are Queer [Online].  [Accessed 10 Dec 2019].