Icons of Transgression
All
iconic representations of actual persons (living
or dead) are caught in a dichotomy between elements of
normality/familiarity
and elements of transgression. Manipulation of representations of
celebrities
or famous persons into hero- or other-images can either constitute
adversarial
or collaborative icon work. In adherence with the conference theme of
“E
Pluribus Unum or E Pluribus Plura” it would be interesting to examine
iconic
images that are meant to be particularly transgressive of normality and
challenge stereotypical images of American wholesomeness. I propose to
look at
specific collaborative, yet provocative representations of two 1960s
icons of
transgression: Charles Manson and Patty Hearst, and to analyze how
these
particular images simultaneously stylize and sacralize these
counterculture
(anti)heroes, turning the viewer of the icons from passive consumers
into
ardent worshippers, consumers or cultural agnostics, all according to
our ideas
regarding the subjects and symbols in question.
The
images analyzed are
reproduced
below:
