Turn Away or Turn Back
The human figure as seen from behind
For a few weeks my feed was full of last year’s reviews. Well, I’m not a fan of the past as a concept (doesn’t sound very trustworthy coming from a historian, does it?), I prefer the future. It is always bright, hopeful and more interesting than the present and the past – that’s for sure.
Anyways, it is always fun to check on Spotify: last year I played Ibrahim Maalouf’s Une Rosa Bianca for 197 times – It was my melody of excitement! At least this year I’m not ashamed to share the results…
As many humans I’m influenced by my surroundings, so my achievement list for 2023 is short, but impressive:
Had two affections (Gen Z call them crushes, right?) – the highest annual rate since… forever. Both were romantic as hell, so vanilla even a romcom writer or producer would not consider them.
Launched three businesses: one is dead now, one is thriving, and the third pays my bills.
Had 240 hours of Hebrew classes – I still don’t speak the language but I’ve learnt enough to impress friends with random texts at night.
Decorated my house (so beautifully that one day I’ll do a room tour)
But then the 7th of October happened and none of that mattered anymore. Every single piece of happyness was erased, broken and bleeding. Hm… but you know what’s the most unbearable – life didn’t stop. It went on. Everything was moving the same pace as it did on October 6 and before that. Three months later the emotional storm subsided and I noticed how many people just found a way to look away or turn their backs to what happened.
I don’t want to point fingers, and I am not a debater character, but I love metaphors and believe that storytelling can be healing, give hope and save the mind (remember Scheherazade and 1001 stories?).
Apart from regretting that I didn’t invent Spotify or Storytel, there is a whole list of exhibitions I’m so sorry I didn’t curate (the list is worth a separate letter). One of them is Rear View at the LevyGorvyDayan Gallery last spring. Well the show’s focus was on butts (and again I regret the selection wasn’t mine), but the idea of talking about figures pictured from behind never ceased to interest me.
Linguistically back has a negative connotation most of the time, and on a certain level it is a sign of betrayal. But I also see tons of different curious meanings out there.
For instance, my aunt would always ask my sisters and me to keep our backs straight in her friends’ presence, so they could see our family was decent. A face that cannot be seen is full of possibilities. The rückenfigur (which literally means a back-figure) definitely adds a touch of mystique. In film, back figures are used to create drama — the audience wonders, what happens, when the subject finally turns around? Unseen faces of a main character/figure can send alarming signals of potential danger (obviously, this method is popular in horror movies). I find the open back dress the sexiest after a well-fitted pair of jeans and a woman looking away is obviously considered worth looking at. Many women treat their backs as an erogenous zone. Babies are soothed by their mothers’ tender touches of the back. I can go on for a couple of hours.
But the motifs I want to explore visually are: Woman Looking Away, Mysterious Person, Sadness, Sensuality & Vulnerability and Danger
Woman Looking Away
Mysterious Person
Sadness
Sensuality and Vulnerability
She is, of course, the embodiment of vulnerability. An image of a woman from behind gives you permission to do something denied in life: stare.
Danger
Of course, you can shuffle the artworks around the categories as you like – I’d recommend you playing this game, it could be fun.
In fact, in all my research I haven't found anything that depicts treachery or betrayal. Perhaps this could be a great start to another investigation? I have loads of material about artists’ desires to capture a range of human emotions – most of them frequently are willing to give the viewer a role in constructing meaning or the story around the image.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that on my Instagram you can find more back-figures to purchase for a reasonable price – it only makes sense if you enjoy adding extra stories.
Hoping that your turned-back-experience was only sensual or mysterious!
Yours,
Miri