Page 16 - Camp Project Final

Ideology Critique
Ideology critique is when a viewer or critic analyzes a work
of art for its political undertones and values. Many of these critics are leftist, or even Marxist, and use the lenses of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation to analyze work. This
is one objective of John Berger’s book Ways of Seeing. Berger argues that classical art historians deliberately focus their attention away from the political and instead emphasize the purely aesthetic. Additionally, he writes eloquently about gender relations in visual art. He writes, “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.”
Camp turns this dynamic on its head with its homosexual tendencices. Men are often the object of desire in Campish art. Sontag claims that both exaggerated gender roles and androgyny are Camp. This is precisely because the heterosexual rules of art are broken. The exhibit does an excellent job at tracing how queerness and Camp force the taboo into polite society.
“Camp is the heroism of people
not called upon to be heroes” - Philip Core
However, Sontag as well as Andrew Bolton, the curator of the exhibit, almost entirely ignores the history and relevance of Blackness and Camp. Films like Partis is Burning show how Black queer culture popularized voguing and balls, a large part of Camp culture in the late twentieth century. Additionally,
Hip hop culture is inherently Camp, and fashion designers like Dapper Dan were largely ignored in the exhibit.
Celebrities at the Camp themed Met Gala brought this up through statements as well as their outfits. This is a major oversight. Focusing so much on High Camp, and its origins left no room for exposing the massive intersection between Black and Camp culture.
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