Page 59 - Critical and Cultural Theory

LANGUAGE AND INTERPRETATION
for representation has been intertwined with ideology throughout
human history. In the domain of artistic representation, a good
example is supplied by the law of perspective. From a technical
point of view, perspective refers to the devices used to create the
illusion of three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface.
However, it is not merely a technical phenomenon, for it actually
carries momentous ideological connotations. Perspectivalism aims
at codifying representation and vision according to strict mathe-
matical rules by establishing the notion of one correct way of
seeing and concurrently promoting the myth of the spectator as
the master of vision. The beholder is defined as a privileged
geometrical point in space upon which, as long as s/he occupies an
ideal viewing position, all of an image's lines converge. Thus,
perspective centres representation on the eye of the viewer, meta-
phorically enbaling him or her to play God.
There are two main problems with this project. Firstly, perspec-
tive does not endow the spectator with an authentic sense of
control but only with an illusion of control, for while God is held
to be omnipresent and all-seeing, the human spectator can only be
in one place at any one time. Secondly, the human eye is incapable
of dominating the world because vision is always partial: the eye
represents things to the mind from a particular and hence limited
angle. The very notion of 'the eye' (often equated to 'the I') is
dubious, for sight is normally shared by two eyes which, regardless
of impairments, see differently. The idea of the single eye (mono-
cularism) has served to divorce vision and representation from the
reality of the body and from the plurality of its systems of percep-
tion. Yet, even as we acknowledge the illusory character of
perspectivalism, we should not underestimate its profound ideolo-
gical significance. This is testified by the fact that its laws were
first established in scientific terms in the Renaissance, a time of
possibly unprecedented intellectual and economic growth, marked
by the emergence of capitalism and of modern notions of indivi-
dual enterprise. The emplacement of the viewer as something of a
God epitomizes the spirit of the age. 4 This example suggests that
certain representational techniques evolve in response to a
culture's ideological demands. Ways of representing space, in

4 1*" The relationship between vision and ideology is further examined in Part II,
Chapter 6, The Gaze'.

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