Spectatorship and the Gaze
For those who participated in the punk subculture or contributed to its art, spectatorship and the gaze were valuable tools used to express the anger and frustration regarding forced conformity. What makes the gaze so important to punk aesthetic is that punk art is born to take total control over the gaze rather than attract viewership.
The creation of art, whether it be high art or low art establishes dominance through its ability to attract the viewer. For example, bands required posters to advertise their shows and used certain color schemes and type to attract their audience.
Even this stock photo holds key dynamics of spectatorship. Foucault's theory that gaze is "enacted through a spatialized field is supported visually through this image. The concert goers are turned to the performer. The performer, who we assume to be hidden through the light, exhibits this need for an audience by facing and playing towards the audience. We, as the spectator, allow another level of viewing, we see the audience and supposed performer, understanding the audience's attraction to whichever band is playing. We understand their intention and happiness regarding their presence in this photo and we notice the aesthetics which qualify this event as a concert, dark lights, dark shadows, some sort of music that people are clapping to.
The creation of art, whether it be high art or low art establishes dominance through its ability to attract the viewer. For example, bands required posters to advertise their shows and used certain color schemes and type to attract their audience.
Punks recognized the relationship of spectators to their art, that color and type communicated both a the need to attract their audience, but that the audience would want to look at these posters. The deep color contrasts pull the eye and the font mixing reminds the audience of magazines and robbery notes. The audience's role of looking stressed the art's need to be seen in order to spread its message. In this case above, of the next concert.
Specifically, the relation of audience to performers or artist is a major and complex relationship. The practice of interpellation, where one utilizes a spectator's role in viewership of a phenomenon is best recognized through that relation of audience to performer. But in visual culture, punk aesthetic holds the powerful phenomenon that the viewer is on equal grounds with the artist, each person has the ability to create art, the only difference is that these punks have created their art and the other punks have art which is yet to be created.
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| People at a Concert |