Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
1982
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Martha Rosler did this live performance for Paper Tiger Television, a public-access cable channel created in 1981 in New York as an open and experimental media collective. For this programme, Rosler deconstructed the messages of the famous fashion magazine Vogue and its advertising.

Sitting in front of a small dressing table, the artist turns the pages of the magazine while commenting on them. With a critical view of this type of publication that reduces women to a simple object of desire, Rosler also denounces the working conditions that sustain the fashion industry. These images alternate with others that show an unregulated garment workshop of Chinese workers in New York City. Blondie's music contrasts with the atmosphere of the sweatshop, while a message appears comparing what textile workers and fashion models are paid. Faced with the magazine's images, Rosler asks:

'What is Vogue?

It is photography, it is voyeurism, it is mystification, it is fascination, desire, and identification.

It’s the look, the pose, the skin of luxury.

It is money, it is luxury. It’s having it all, all, all!

It’s clothes, furs, perfume, men, expensive men! It is fashion.

It is art. It is architecture. It’s having it all.

It’s about being rich, about identifying with one’s class betters.

What is Vogue? It’s threat and the whiff of decadence.'

The work ends with an image of the artist taking her make-up off in front of the mirror to a piece by Schubert.

The texts of the MACBA web draw on previous documentation. Please let us know if you find any errors.
original title
Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
registration number
R.3235
date
1982
fonds
MACBA Collection. Long-term loan of the Barcelona City Council
media
Single-channel video, color, sound, 25 min 45 s
Copyright
© Martha Rosler
translated title
Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
year of acquisition
2008
type of object
Audiovisual recording
credits
MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term loan
original title
Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
translated title
Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
registration number
R.3235
date
1982
year of acquisition
2008
fonds
MACBA Collection. Long-term loan of the Barcelona City Council
type of object
Audiovisual recording
media
Single-channel video, color, sound, 25 min 45 s
credits
MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term loan
Copyright
© Martha Rosler
Sex role
Precarious employment
Feminism
Mass media
Fashion
Blondie
Performance art

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Veure el fitxer digital:[3235_001_pub / Imatge] Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
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Veure el fitxer digital:[3235_002_pub / Imatge] Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
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Veure el fitxer digital:[3235_003_pub / Imatge] Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
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Veure el fitxer digital:[3235_004_pub / Imatge] Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
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Veure el fitxer digital:[3235_005_pub / Imatge] Martha Rosler Reads 'Vogue'
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