Applications Assignment #6

I am working with Jenny Gunn’s article The Outside Meets the Institution: The Carters’ Apeshit Video, a piece from a larger work called Black Camera, Volume 11 published by Indiana University Press. The main problem Gunn identifies is that the Carters’ usage of popular art pieces advances the narrative that they are wealthy and depict the ideal marriage. Gunn writes, “In addition to the marriage portrait, “Apeshit’s” opening image of this power couple also recalls the double portrait of Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors (1533) (fig. 2). a statement to the wealth, and erudition of its sitters, The Ambassadors is equally famous for its presen- tation of an anamorphic skull, a hovering memento mori, or reminder of death, in a scene that otherwise celebrates worldly accomplishment” (Gunn 386). The Carters use art history to tell the story of their rise to wealth and fame. Gunn approaches the main problem by explaining the historical context behind each art piece shown in the “Apeshit” video. For example, she explains the camera work that pans from the piece The Charging Chasseur to the black man standing on the horse. By having this juxtaposition, we see the treatment of black people throughout history being portrayed while placing the Carters on their own pedestal. We also see the historical context and significance when Gunn compares Beyonce’s dancing toward the end of the video with the drapery and elegance of the Nike of Samothrace. She talks about the narrative surrounding black culture being painted as “erratic” or “crazy” with Beyonce embracing those false narratives with her dancing. By looking at the “Apeshit” video through Gunn’s lense, we witness a story being woven through the art pieces and the content of the song itself. As the viewer, we see the rise of two black individuals to very high levels of wealth, something that isn’t portrayed in the art pieces in the Louvre. Gunn brings the history behind the art pieces into the contextualization of the video. Gunn’s concluding idea is this: The Carters’ use their wealth and privilege to describe the history of slavery and its repercussions. I find Gunn’s attention to historical context within the music video to be the most persuasive. Without that evidence, I would find her argument less compelling. I also like how she brings the reader through a historical timeline when addressing the art pieces as they correlate to the timestamps on the video. The detail she puts into her analysis also persuades me to agree with her. I don’t find myself having any reservations about her argument as it seems very cut and dry. I would take Gunn’s analysis further into Beyonce and Jay Z’s music, separately and together. I think they tend to use a lot of art history within their songs and album cover designs. It would be interesting to see how the art ties into the context of the songs on the album, as well as the historical/cultural significance it has within the timeframe that the music came out.