Private Lives, Public Spaces

Jonathan Bain
Art, Cul, Media
Private Lives, Public Spaces

Not going on this trip with the rest of the class made this assignment a little more difficult because when arriving at the exhibit I didn't really know what to look for specifically. My first thoughts, or emotions I should say, were nothing less than uncomfortable. This exhibit itself felt truly invasive as if I shouldn’t be here at all. Seeing other people's private lives projected for a mass majority to see felt wrong. But upon further thinking, why is it uncomfortable to watch? Today’s society runs off of social media. Platforms like Instagram, facebook, twitter, and other forms of social media allow people to project their every thought, action, or experience for the world to see. Was I finding discomfort in the fact that I was viewing this in a place filled with thousands of other onlookers? Was it because of the diversity of the films from amature films to personal home movies? I couldn't really tell. 

The construct of one's identity is a reflection of the life one has lived. Their social, ethnic, or financial backgrounds. One’s personal life experiences. No two people, even twins won’t have the same identity construct the older they get into life. Construct of identity affects the way one thinks and acts. Judith A. Howard stated  “Self-schemas include organized knowledge about one’s self, the cognitive response to the question of identity: Who am I? These include the characteristics, preferences, goals, and behavior patterns we associate with ourselves” our age to our gender all play a factor. In the end this construct is how we express ourselves to the world. The clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the career path we choose. It can also be seen by how we choose to be viewed by others.

Most home videos I had around in my home as a kid growing up were to only document the happy times, much like the shots of a family laughing around the dinner table. But as we all know especially now in the peak of the “social media age” people often “lie” about how their life truly is. This video could have been taken after an argument. What was the context behind the family laughing or the soldiers interacting with one another? It’s not stated in the video, but instead left up to us, the viewer, to decide. But with that being said of course I don’t believe that the people in these home movies ever had plans on being viewed by the world. But I do believe that they wanted to be viewed a certain way. We as humans naturally want to be accepted by the majority and only want certain parts of our lives remembered, which is why most home films show laughter or our happier selves. 

But then there were the downsides to some films. I didn't pay too much attention but I do recall seeing a snippet of a protest going on at Disney, due to the unfair treatment of employees (I believe). Each person had their own motivation for why they felt wronged, but each of their “identities” just screamed “I'm tired of this shit” in my eyes. I think each of us at least once have felt wronged in a workplace and got fed up. 

I'm truly not sure what it was I was supposed to get out of this exhibit. For me it was more about the grade, plus I have never been a huge fan of modern art because in today's society the word ART is thrown anywhere. So I already went in with an unsure mindset. Topped off with looking into the personal life of others that clearly wasn't meant for a museum. But I guess that’s why it's called “Private Lives, Public Space”.

Going to the "Private Lives, Public Spaces" exhibit was something pretty unique to me as I could not go on the original date due to personal reasons so I decided to go on alone on my own time. I feel like this gave me the chance to look at the exhibit with a different set of eyes than if I would have gone with the class. The exhibit was extremely different than what I am normally used to seeing at museums since those videos were so inclusively private yet on display for the world to see. Usually art at museums are also a look into the artists' minds but the format tin this exhibit made it extremely unique and honestly refreshing. Homemade videos not only give you a look into a person's mind but also the lives that they live on the daily, along with their personality and character. In my opinion, I believe that this is why the museum named the exhibit "Private Lives, Public Spaces". Everything about the videos showed a glimpse of individuality, whether it was the content in the video or even something like the way it was filmed.

As individuals, it is said that we all have numerous "faces" that we put on, one you show the world, one you show only to close family and friends, and finally one that we show only ourselves when we are alone. Because of this, one can make the argument that humans have numerous identities. Some of these are how you identify yourself and how society identifies you as. Sometimes these personalities even mix with one another. The construction of this identity is based off of a person's words, actions, and thoughts. It is because of this that Judith Howard stated in his article that identity is assigned not selected. A person can easily say that they are one thing, but if their actions state the opposite, which one has more weight to it? Along with this, there has also been a question in cognitive psychology for decades now asking which one impacts a person more, nature or nurture? D the events of and environment of a person's life dictate who they are or is it something that is genetically inclined? Either way, these are both things that are out of a human's control.

One of the many videos that caught my eye was Howard Guttenplan's "Tompkins Square Park". Even before watching the video in its entirety I was already taken aback by how it was filmed in such a public place as the setting. In this video there were many people many who were dancing and singing with one another. To me it seemed that this video was probably filmed a while ago because of numerous reasons. The way that the people were interacting with one another was very unique to their time period. They were showing so much love and were so comfortable with one another that it really was quite eye opening for me. For them to be able to show that much affection in public and not bat an eye, it was a dead give away that this was a different time in history.

Private Lives, Public Spaces

“Personal identity is the concept you develop about yourself that evolves over the course of your life. This may include aspects of your life that you have no control over, such as where you grew up or the color of your skin, as well as choices you make in life, such as how you spend your time and what you believe” (Study.com).

While thinking about and discussing  identity, there's a lot of things that come to mind. Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? Who are they?  I feel asking these questions starts the process of “constructing” an identity. Constructing an identity is establishing and actualizing who you are. In other words, constructing an identity is shaping who you are based on your values, history, culture, practices, beliefs and what you know. With these aspects, people usually define who they are based on the similarities and differences of other people. From cultural identity, professional identity, ethnic identity, religious identity, and gender identity. There are many different avenues that people travel to define who they are and construct their identity. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to visit MoMA with the class last Friday. Being that I could not go to the museum with the class, I feel I got a completely different experience than everyone else. The exhibit Private Lives Public Spaces showcased random home videos that displayed a little glimpse of the lives of the people in the video. Being that these clips were home videos, I don't believe the people in the videos knew at the time that the videos that were being made were going to be displayed on such a large scale, as a museum exhibit that thousands of people come to see. Home movies are meant to be passed down through generations watching the family to savor memories and relive moments. In watching the videos that were on display, viewers can see very that the subjects are vey diverse and, for lack of better words, natural. With that, it seems that the audience of the videos would be a wide range of people from young to old, light to dark of different identities, but someone that the subject/s in the video knows, or is close to them.

The title of the exhibit is Private Lives Public Spaces and it is extremely fitting for the exhibit. The home movies are intimate moments, grabbed out of people’s lives displayed on a large scale. Diving deeper into that concept, one can relate these home movies to social media. On social media platforms, people are able to post their “identity” or who they are for people to see. I feel like the setup of the exhibit in a way emulates the idea of social media as well. Every video has its own duration, depicting different people, their interactions and shows an identity whether it is false or factual. This relates to me and an individual because I can see how people try to show their “best selves” when it comes to social media and creates this false or altered identity. The videos depict people in their natural state, around people they relate to, so it creates more of a sense of true identity. They aren't thinking about themselves as nothing but themselves, nor what the world or the people around them think about them.

Private Lives, Public Spaces Response

Walking into the Private Lives, Public Spaces exhibit at the MoMa was so captivating – it was like walking into 100 different worlds at once. Each screen displayed a personal part of people’s lives, lives that we were not aware of before this exhibit. I would be mortified to know that my home videos, private moments in my life meant for family to view only, were displayed for so many too see – to be known can sometimes be a scary idea. Of course, this is only my personal opinion, part of my personal identity. It comes from how I was raised; from how my parents personally brought me up to the society I live in. Judith A. Howard brings this concept up in her article Social Psychology of Identities. In her article, she analyzes social psychology (including sexuality, race, gender, age, etc.). She goes through multiple topics concerning this, including cognitive processes, the social bases of identity, and what I would like to focus on: cognitive schemas.

Cognitive schemas are broken down into two categories: self-schemas and group schemas. Self-schemas are knowledge about oneself, whereas group schemas are more akin to stereotypes; “organized information about social positions and stratification statuses, such as gender, race, age, and class” (368). As she explains, they allow people to “summarize and reduce information to key elements”, meanwhile losing valuable information. When walking into the exhibit, you see a vast array of small screens on the wall to your right. The left wall has one big screen, and a handful of small ones. At first it seems as though nothing is amiss, but upon further inspection you see this concept of group schemas at work. On the right wall, the videos playing are fairly happy; you see a couple getting married, a woman taking care of her child, two little boys playing with their toys. These subjects are all white. With the exception of maybe a couple videos, everyone on display on the right wall is white and presumably straight, being filmed by their white family members and friends, everyone perfectly happy to be filmed. On the left wall, there is a different story. People of color are displayed on this wall, and they are not having as much fun. A majority of these left wall videos include them at work or school, not being filmed by a family member but rather an unknown identity documenting them as they go about their laborious days. Also, concerning women, for a large majority of these films, left wall or right, they are seen being homemakers while the men are allowed to have real, fun lives. These videos fall into group schemas. They allow the audience to compartmentalize their ideas about these groups of people and reinforce stereotypes; people of color are poor and are “othered”, and women are homemakers and mothers. These people are given identities by whoever filmed them; identities that are not necessarily their own.

To construct your identity is to display yourself as you want to be seen to the masses. If you want to be identified as rich despite being poor, you would wear designer clothes. If you want to be identified as a Democrat, you would publicly support Democratic nominees and vice versa for Republicans. Of course, there are parts of your identity you can’t personally construct such as gender and race, and this is the issue with how the exhibit is set up. The white, male subjects are given opportunities to display their constructed identities regardless of their innate identities. The women and people of color, for the most part, are not given this same opportunity.

Of course, no one in these videos ever expected to be put on view in this way. As mentioned earlier, home videos are usually meant to be viewed and displayed privately – in the home, by family members. These people (or at least, those who chose to be filmed) expected to only be viewed by future members of their family and by themselves, perhaps as time capsules; moments of their past in which they can reminisce. And now, their lives are on display for hundreds of people a day to view. Hundreds of people a day get to see these people and make presumptions, assumptions, and judgments. There was one video of a man and his wife throwing around their infant baby girl while she was in the nude. Me and my friends thought it an appalling video – why was she nude? Why are they doing these things to her? But, we will never get those answers because the people in the video knew privately what their goal was and what they were doing. They never expected to have to give an answer to their private activities.

That is why this exhibit is called Private Lives, Public Spaces. The people in these videos have their private, personal, not initially meant to be seen videos and lives on display in a public space. Their identities are on display for the world to determine and judge.

Private Lives- An Unpopular Opinion

As a child, my mother instilled the importance of keeping my life private and using discretion when sharing details to others. The photo albums of my childhood are empty and videos of my youth or family moments can only be found in my memories when a smell or sound brings me back to the past for an instant. The Private Lives Exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art made me realize how much my mother’s identity took shape in how I interpreted the home movies and how much I wonder if my childhood memories would have been different and captured if I were another race. Although the purpose of this paper is to analyze 3 home movies, I would like to discuss three theme I noticed from almost every single individual movie.  

In Judith A. Howard’s article Social Psychology of Identities, she analyzes the social psychology of race, sexuality, gender, age, class and disability. The home movies at the Private Lives Exhibit can be categorized into primary themes of race, sexuality, age and gender. Within these primary themes the subcategories of interactionism, social bases of identity and identity struggles can be further analyzed. First and foremost, I would like to say that the home movies chosen for the Private lives exhibit display a time-looped false reality. Much like artistic and commercial cinema these home movies appeal to the masses. Images of happy families, innocent babies, and more importantly homogamy, can be seen as an underlying pattern behind the façade of candid unknown actors and actresses.

            While I enjoyed the exhibit, I could not wrap my mind around the never ending projections of people of the same race interacting with one another. The concept of diversity seemed to be too public for this private exhibit which clearly displayed the past history of our country’s racial inequalities. In each frame groups of like individuals were filmed participating in activities ranging from civil movements walks to family lunches or beach trips. The few films displaying people of color in my opinion displayed individuals as perfunctory bodies. Subconsciously, I truly believe that this exhibit plays on cognitive structures of self- schemas and group schemas. The majority of the frames exhibit a group schema of the white race equaling happiness, togetherness and family.  These images convey a common message of in-group favoritism, white privilege, and a reflection of self-esteem amongst the races.

            Along with the videos of happy families, arises another issue of a lack of gender and sexual identity diversity. While I am fully aware that some of these videos were filmed during a time of gender and racial inequality, I find it hard to believe that every woman was a happy wife, a mother of a big family, a kitchen woman, or a nurse. My eyes watch awaiting a video of a girl graduating high school or college, a non-heterosexual relationship, or even a woman defying gender roles and wearing a suit walking into an office. Much like social media and commercial content, the depiction of what makes a good woman revolves around her success as a wife or mother and the common image of a happy family typically displays a male father and a female mother. While the image of a single mother was not specified as a theme in any of the videos, a large screen with a woman of color in the kitchen with an apron and a look of distress can be connected and interpreted as black women typically lacking the components of a happy family while the white women in the exhibit were seen with their family.

            Lastly, the concept of age was an important theme within my analysis of the Private Lives exhibit. Like many captivating commercials or media content, the ultimate symbol of innocence revolves around a cute baby or little kid with big eyes and chubby cheeks. The chosen movies of babies by the curators in the exhibit create a light hearted touch on the overall content. I begin to wonder what the identities of these babies will be as they become more exposed to the world. The curators of these home movies taught us that photography, videography, and social media are small sections of the truth. As terrible as this many sound, the happy family eating lunch might have only smiled for the video in public but may hate each other behind closed doors. The girls on social media who promiscuously displays her body for attention and is deemed a “hoe” may be a virgin. The happy couple you see walking down the street may struggle with infidelities. The truth about home movies, commercial movies and social media circulates around the idea of giving the audience content they want to see. 

After watching these home movies, I learned that gender, sexual identity and racial inequalities will forever be found in traces through art and media. Regardless of how much our society has become accepting of different lifestyles our individual and group identities will ultimately determine what we do and who we are. An innocent baby will only be a blank slate for so long until their exposure experiences determine their perspectives. Overall the Private Lives Exhibit lacked a true reflection of America’s modern society. If the point of the exhibit’s theme was to preserve the past, the curators did a great job, making me, a woman of color who disagrees with gender and sexual identities inequalities feel caged. 

Private Lives, Public Spaces

Private Lives, Public Spaces

Three films that captured my attention were Best South Seas (Unidentified filmmaker. Best South Seas, c.1937 Digital preservation of 16mm film 12 min. Charles L. Turner Collection

), Singing in the Garden (Carmel Myers, American, 1889-1980 Singing in the Garden, c. 1930 Digital preservation of 35mm film 2 min), and Salvador Dalí’s Home movie (Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904–1989 Home movie, 1954 Digital preservation of 16mm film 2 min). 

 “Best South Seas” is an amusing, cheerful video that shows a group of (supposedly hula dancers) dancing together. This film takes place on a beach, with the ocean and palm trees behind them. Their dancing styles, floral headpieces, and outfits are a representation of their culture (ethnic identities, cultural practices). Furthermore, “Singing in the Garden” is a recording of a woman singing with clear emotion. Her hands are clasped together, and she bows towards the end, so I can imagine that she sings very well. I have never seen someone sing with their hands together, and she was very still - possibly nervous about being on camera (or her gender identity as a woman living during the 1930s)? Lastly, Salvador Dali’s “Home movie” is a very playful film that captures his personality (as he holds pitchfork and simultaneously balances a coconut on his head). He is speaking to the camera in a very animated way, and the camera pans to a beautiful oceanfront view with white buildings in the distance. This film appears to be as personal as “Singing in the Garden,” yet, seems to be more relaxed.

Constructing an identity means identifying what makes you, you. As written by Judith A. Howard, “Self-schemas include organized knowledge about one’s self, the cognitive response to the question of identity: Who am I? These include the characteristics, preferences, goals, and behavior patterns we associate with ourselves”. Our identities consist of our many different aspects, ranging from our age to our gender. Ultimately, it is what we use to express ourselves and identify with us as human beings. It is us attaching meaning to different aspects of ourselves and sharing them by interacting with others.

As for the people in each of the home movies, I think the purpose of their film determines how they expect to be seen by others. For example, in “Singing in the Garden,” Carmel Myers appears very well put together, but stiff and very aware of her movements. She was performing for (assuming) a group, while in her garden. In contrast, Salvador Dali’s Home video above her depicts a playful man expressing his personality. Dali is a lot more lively and energetic! I feel that his goal was for the viewer of this film to see this, whereas Carmel Myers was more subtle and focused on her performance. The people dancing in “Best South Seas” may not know that they are being filmed, considering none of them looked towards the camera. I do not think they expected to be seen in a certain way by others.

The audience for these films can be anyone. Each of these films shows a different side of either a person or a group, which we most likely would not be able to see without these films. It allows them to express themselves and/or share their talents. If someone wants to have a better understanding of culture, films could be a great way to share this as well. The museum possibly calls this exhibit “Private Lines, Public Spaces” because of the settings of most of the films, and how they are being shown to thousands of people in a public space (Museum of Modern Art). Private Lines, Public Spaces, allows for a visitor to see the different sides of a person, which can be a silly cat video or a child swinging on a swing in her backyard. Regardless, this exhibit allows us to get to know someone (a complete stranger!) better, and potentially learn about their identities while being in a public museum. In all, this exhibit was very cool to look at! I enjoyed the homey feeling of the area - especially how it was very dark, but lit up by the many films. Everyone has a story and expresses themselves in unique ways. It was interesting to see some of the film cameras that were used - they look very complicated. Overall, I appreciate that many small and big moments were captured so effortlessly, and were able to be salvaged enough to use for this exhibit.

"Judith Howard Assignment "

Yoshi Stover

2/21/20




"Judith Howard Assignment "

Home movies are a great window into the identity of people. Judith Howard describes identity as, “the need for a sense of who one is, together with an often overwhelming pace of change in surrounding social contexts...” In the MoMA, there was an art exhibition of home movies by various artists. All of them capturing different things different people were doing at various times.

Through Judith Howard’s lenses on identity I see that people seem to identify different parts of themselves in various ways. This is what Judith Howard calls, “Interactionism.” Judith Howard explains that, “the basic premise of symbolic interaction is that people attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people, and they develop and transmit these meanings through interaction.” For an example there was one movie where there were a few African american children, and a white lady dancing in front of the Statue of liberty. To me, these people are dancing in joy of the freedom that they are able to enjoy. The statue of liberty is the symbol of freedom, and the children dancing is their way of interacting with it.

An identity is a social construct. It’s something that people will have to create themselves and learn more about. We will symbolic things that we are able to relate to. Things like flags or symbols are what gives meaning to people’s identity. By surrounding ourselves with these symbolic objects and meanings we are able to start crafting an identity out of it, and start connecting ourselves to groups. Like if a person is gay, they’ll be able to connect themselves to the LGBTQ group and find that it has become a part of their identity.

People in the home movies most likely doubted that they would be judged or seen a certain way by others. After all home movies are generally not meant for the public eyes, hence the ‘Private lives’ part of the exhibition title. I would imagine most of these people would’ve never imagined having the video being some part of a large exhibition especially at a big name gallery like the MoMA. On the other hand if the person was recording doing something illegal or bad, I would imagine that they think they’re most likely going to be judged for what they’ve done.

This isn’t like an artistic film or commercial cinema film, where the actors are expected to be judged or seen a certain way by an audience. In a cinematic film, the audience generally labels characters in the movie, like villain or hero.

As for the audience of home movies, they’re most likely meant for most likely themselves, and some close relatives and friends. Home movies are made more so to properly remember the memory of something, like a wedding. It was never particularly meant for being shown publicly like this.

The reason why the museum calls this Exhibit, “Private Lives, Public Spaces,” is because many of these home videos present how little we see of people despite them being in a public space. Even though people can be in a public space, for example, a supermarket, we don’t pay attention to them. Thus they’re sort of living a private life despite being in a public space.

A lot of these videos foreshadow modern social media. For an example a lot of these videos are snippets of people’s lives. A lot of the time smaller social media accounts send videos of the account owner doing random things to show friends what they’re up to. This is what these old home movies feel like. On the other hand, current social media is different because there are accounts that are specifically for things like, Life hacks or tutorial videos, politics, comedy, and celebrity videos.

Private Lives, Public Spaces- A Forever Question About Identity

Private Lives, Public Spaces- A Forever Question About Identity

     There are countless times people encounter the issue about self-identity during their growth, and usually they would not even notice them. It is because of the existence of society which shaped our identities. Recalling the memory of playing house with other kids and relatives, it is still a myth about when a person put themselves into the specific kind of “gender” the society wanted them to be. The direct influence could come from the parents. Children see all their behaviors and dialogues all the time. It is very hard to let a child choose him or her own identity if their parents are already under societies stereotypes. In Judith A. Howard’s essay, she suggests that there are certain schemas influencing people in multiple ways: “Cognitive schemas, abstract and organized packages of information, are the cognitive version of identities. Self-schemas include organized knowledge about one’s self, the cognitive response to the question of identity: Who am I? These include the characteristics, preferences, goals, and behavior patterns we associate with ourselves. Group schemas (analogous to stereotypes) include organized information about social positions and stratification statuses, such as gender, race, age, or class” (Howard, 368). Luckily, society always change. When society becomes more and more open to new and bizarre stuffs, it will be revolutionary for nearly anyone who did not understand them before. Nowadays, we can only look back at various media recordings to trace the origin. The “Private Lives, Public Spaces” home video show in MoMA represents various styles of people living in different points of the time. More specifically, most of them are showing the real states of human beings under natural circumstances. There are people recording their lives from different races, genders, classes, etc.

The home videos at the show are all slices of different lives in the past. Although the society today is much more open and provide more acceptance toward differentiation, it is still not easy for each other to understand the culture, habits, and moral in other groups. The lack of information is one of the main issues, but the least thing we can do is to understand the situation. Those video records are a good way to demonstrate some of the unknown ways of living between people. Afterall, if only we see more of the behavior, we could be used to them quite naturally. Just as Judith A. Howard’s perspective, “The basic premise of symbolic interaction is that people attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people, and they develop and transmit these meanings through interaction. People behave toward objects on the basis not of their concrete properties, but of the meanings these objects have for them. Because meanings develop through interaction, language plays a central part (see discussion below). Identities locate a person in social space by virtue of the relationships that these identities imply, and are, themselves, symbols whose meanings vary across actors and situations” (Howard, 371). There is one particular video in black and white featuring a girl dancing wearing the Hawaii traditional “Kapa”. At first, she is dancing with a gentle pace, but later it becomes an intense version of “belly dance”. Some people might think it is uncomfortable or inappropriate to see a “night club” dance like that, but remember it is a home video. She might be totally relaxed and happy when dancing like that toward the unknown recorder from her family, or it is even a traditional dancing style in her culture. The video is really a great choice for this show because it catches a precious private moment that may seems weird for general publics. It is worth mentioning that there are also other suitable home video choices for the topic about identity, and the collections at the show is indeed plentiful. However, it will be better if it adds more guidance toward the audiences. There are many family meetings or events like wedding from various races of people, but for some reason they are not putting together. When a video has a lot of visual elements within, it will easily lose focus or attractions to the viewer. But besides that, the close-up videos are well-picked. This kind of video have a clear focus on a single person’s face thus able to see the natural expression. Those facial expressions are totally different from the professional movie close-ups, they are the true expressions people generate from their own understanding of their own identities.

It is a whole new era about identity and many other things, and people will be challenged to accept new concepts and theories. On the way to defining our true identities, how about learning from other kinds of possible identities available? Nobody will be offended and the world will be more multiplex.

Works Cited

Judith A. Howard. “Social Phycology of Identities.” 2000. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393.

MoMa - Private Lives Public Spaces

Elida Abreu
Imagery, Identity, and Culture
February 21, 2020
MoMa - Private Lives Public Spaces

Visiting the Moma was one of the most liberating and extensive museum adventures I have ever embarked on. It felt very intimate and personal to serve as a witness into countless realms within the past full of strange individuals I will never encounter. Their recorded stories, short as they may be, provided context into the histories and dimensions of humanity throughout many walks of life young and old. Throughout Judith Howard's article, where she explores the Social Psychology of Identities, she mentions how certain studies show more successful attainment of a positive social identity for those in dominant social groups. I believe that this significance of this discovery was very evident in most of the videos in this exhibition. This point proves how humans have this kind of hive mind when it comes to their societal acceptance and customs.

The Yoshiko and Akio Morita Gallery was a pleasure to digest and enjoy. I enjoyed the power and heavy involvement that movements and protests attracted throughout the 80s and 90s. The videos were very revealing of a past full of civilian activism, systematic injustices, and peace-seeking citizens. They reminded me of how Howard mentioned the concept of the interactionist approach which relies on the concept of role identities, the characters a person develops as an occupant of particular social positions, explicitly linking social structures to a person. As a collective, a group fighting for change requires someone to act as the head and develop as an occupant of a particular social group and position. Interactionalism is fundamental in the human experience and it always has been.

Another home video that specifically stuck out to me featured the hectic Walt Disney Strike of 1941. These protests began as a direct correlation to Disney's mistreatment of its employees for many years. The video did not directly show the personal identities of the protesters and who they were before the protest but that was purposeful. However, examining what I saw through Howard’s piece on identity, the footage of this protest does a good job of masking the complete identities of most of the individuals because the perspective is fixed on a selected few who particularly suffered. The animators of Disney were at the heels of their corporate bosses, this video was a way for them to tell their side of the story and expand and share their work-related injustices so that change can occur.

I thoroughly enjoyed Charles L. Turner's footage of 6th Avenue, the Subway, and Manhattan in 1942-1944. The chaotic bustle of human life in New York has always fascinated me and made me curious about people's interpersonal lives. It is no surprise that even in the 40's New York was as active as ever but it was an interesting feeling as if I am looking back in time due to how different this landscape was. The old-looking cars, oddly fashioned citizens, and historically old buildings felt very nostalgic to experience for someone who constantly visits new york city.


This exhibition showed that while the sole purpose of displaying ancient home videos during their time could have been for the preservation of that time it can also serve for educational purposes for later generations filled with curiosity. The audience can be anyone depending on where these films end up being broadcast. I believe that the people in these videos had no idea to be seen in a certain way by others, they were naturally and blindly living their everyday lives within these videos. Hence the name "Private Lives, Public Spaces”, this kind of footage was meant to serve as a historic index of some degree for others later on who would be curious about actually visualizing the real, raw, monumental and pivotal societal moments in the lives of others from the past.

Private Lives Public Spaces

The Judith Howard exhibition showcased many different aspects of 20th century life in the United States of America. Walls decorated with many television screens while clips of what seems to be home movies play in a dark room illuminated by these videos. Many of the videos show the everyday life of these Americans in an intimate way. It feels as if the viewer is partaking in the family sitting around the living room, sorting through old home movies. All of these monitors have one common thread. The videos they show are sharing the identities of the people showcased in these films. There are small nuances in the way that they walk, act, or interact with others. It is a view into their private, mundane lives however, that is what makes it familiar in a sense. As the viewer looks on at these videos, they can find themselves inside of them. They instantly get reminded of their families and how they interact with others, they start questioning their identities and their relationships with the ones closest to them. 

There is something special about home movies. It is the vulnerability and intimacy that they have that make it comforting. It captures the true self in a candid way showing all the imperfections that create your identity. Compared to artistic and commercial cinema, these are not planned out of premeditated in any way. This is raw, unfiltered and uncut. There is no room for takes, or repeats, or anything. Those home videos are a moment in time in the life of someone. One film that comes to mind is Russ Meyer’s Home movies 1938-61. It shows a young mother and her child walking through their front garden in what is presumably their home. That scene shows a gentle moment between a parent and child. They are bonding just by simply enjoying the fresh air and nature. That must be a very fond memory that has stuck with that child ever since. For all we know, that could have been a common event in that household, in turn every time they see a garden they think of their parents. That child could have even grown up and bonded with their children the same way the mother did, carrying on that tender moment. Little things like that can shape the way someone feels about certain things and the relationship with those moments, in turn shaping their identity. 

Another home video that shapes identity would be the Christian Boys/Clergy c. 1948 by an unidentified filmmaker.  This shows family in a separate way than maybe most of the movies. This shows family and relationship not bound by blood, but by their faith and ideals. Many identify themselves with their religion or belief systems. That has been the cause for many groups of people and sometimes even civilization. Many find solace and belonging in religion and in turn they meet others that may be different or the same. People who might not have blood ties can still find a family or companionship through this. That is just another form of bonding with others and the relationships they share. This group of boys must seem very tight nit mainly because of their conformity. However, that is not to be used in a negative context, conformity more as in traditional and ceremonial purposes. Tradition forms bonding and bonding forms culture in turn forming identity. 

The final video that comes to mind would be the Lindsley families’ Home movies 1947-55. Simple enough this just shows a group of four young women, presumably sisters,

walking down a neighborhood street. You can see how close they are with each other by how they link arms, smiling and laughing while talking. These are the same bonding moments that happen through every single one of these home movies. This is also very reminiscent of social media in a way. Many feel as if social media is mainly used to take photos centered around one’s egos however, many of those pictures on social media show the tender moments between family and friends. It is no different than these home movies. Sure society has grown more advanced and more self aware of their image but the basis is still there. People still go out and have fun, go to the state fair, amusement parks, and outdoor activities. All of that is just forms of bonding made more prevalent due to technology. The construct of an identity is the relationships you form with the people around you and the activities you do. The best way to form these relationships and in turn identities, is to bond with the ones closest to you. 

Moma Response

The concept of identity is important to the average person. As we grow, people often struggle with the idea of defining who they are and what purpose they have within society. This search for self identification can be assisted with the act of interaction and the concept of identity through time. Interaction can stem from communicating with others both physically present and by means of technology. In the modern world, people often interact with others through social media and garner attention from their personality online, presenting themselves in ways that normally can’t be done while being physically present. Judith Howard states this importance in Social Psychology of Identities in regards to interaction, “the point is simply that people actively produce identity through their talk. Many studies (generally ethnographic) analyze identity through everyday interaction.” (Howard 372) By gaining a following online without major communication with their audience, is enough to produce a sense of identity within the person in front of the camera. However, modern day communication and an online presence occasionally lack a sense of intimacy. While social media makes everything posted available for public consumption, the home videos presented at the Museum of Modern Arts are enveloped with a more personal impression.


The various films on display at this museum all had a unique sense of uncertainty. Every film only had a title, which only leaves the audience to use their imagination to understand what it could be about. This concept was heavily present in “Roy family,” where it starts off in a school in India and transitions to what is presumed to be a funeral. The transition between the two was incredibly off putting as even the literal film transition cut through a few colors and jumped into the next scene. The lack of knowledge of what is happening or how we got to this point further extends the realization of how personal these films can be. The only people that are truly aware of what happened are known by those that filmed it. Despite these shocking moments, the people captured have a sense of unity between them and continue to perform the task at hand.


The next film, “Wise family,” also has a more personal feel to it. It shows a group of people talking on a movie set, presumably taking stage directions for a film called “Science Fiction Film in the Latter Half of the XXth Century.” It’s interesting to see how this was filmed, as most behind the scenes videos have a typical dynamic that generally shows the enjoyment between the cast and crew in the form of bloopers. This instead reveals a more step-by-step process on how the film needs to be done and the work put into it. It’s also centered on what appears to be the director of the project as he interacts with the cast and crew. The film also captures moments of relaxation, as several people on the set enjoy their time smoking and talking.


Finally, the last film is referred to as “Snow” and appears to be a family outing in the snow. This film is the epitome of what home movies are usually about, a family capturing moments of fun in a unique situation. The video shows children playing in the snow to its absolute fullest by riding on sleds, rolling with tires, and throwing snowballs. The way this video was filmed and presented encaptures this sense of relatability to it that videos today fail to attempt. Watching the film made me feel nostalgic to the amount of fun I had as a kid playing in the snow with my brothers growing up and the feeling afterwards when my mom would make some hot chocolate for each of us.





While these films are presented to have those around the filmmaking process understand exactly what’s happening, there’s a feeling of mutual understanding between the three videos that make even those unaware of the situation relate to what’s on the screen. “Roy family” shows the bond of people fulfilling a task, “Wise family” displays the comradery between people during work hours, and “Snow” reminds the viewer of the fun we used to have as children. Howard refers to this concept as interactionism, “The basic premise of symbolic interaction is that people often attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people, and they develop and transmit these meanings through interaction.” (Howard 371) The films were made to personally take a trip to the past and reminisce of what used to be, identifying themselves currently and comparing it from then. While we view these as an outsider to these situations, we can’t help but compare ourselves to what’s being presented and remember of what we used to be as well, comparing our current identity to what we had in the past.

MoMa Trip

During my trip to New York I visited the "Private Lives Public Spaces" exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). There I saw screens all along the wall playing different home movies recorded throughout the last century. From what I saw in the time I was there, there were videos that were made to save memories of moments that the family or group wanted remembered. It goes back to Howard's ideas on interactionism where people “attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people” in the sense that they’re making these private filmed movies symbolic to who they are. However, these movies were most likely meant to be seen by family members, such as parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. The name of the exhibit shows this as these are private lives of peoples in the form of home movies being shown off in a public space such as a museum. Shows evolution of recording, lack of social media makes it more special, 

The first film I watched was called “Hunting Home Movie” which was recorded around 1946. The movie showed a man and his wife taking part in this duck hunt along with their dog. The man would shoot a duck that would be flying and as soon as he shot it and fell to the river their dog would jump in and fetch it. In the next part the man would take the feathers out and prepare it for a home cooked meal. There was a strong bond between nature and man when it came to hunting for a source of food seeing that he was careful with how he treated it. He seemed to be proud during his hunt this sort of routine or ritual a part of his identity, making duck hunting something symbolic for him.

    The other home movie I saw included recordings of people, couples and families, visiting the Grand Canyon and taking various pictures and videos around it. In a sense it felt like a certain culture that they were taking part of. According to Judith Howard, constructing an identity means one must consider interactionism, which states that people attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people, and they develop and transmit these meanings through interaction. You can also construct an identity through language, social status, and politics. Concept of identity – carries the full weight of the need for a sense of who one is. Cognitive structures’ such as group schemas include organized information about social positions and stratification statuses, such as gender, race, age or class. 

Lenses on “Private Lives, Public Spaces” (museum post)

                                                Lenses on “Private Lives, Public Spaces”


Constructing an identity comes from experiences, emotions, connections, environment, and influence. In Judith Howard’s lenses on identity, she goes extremely into detail about identity down to the psychological and social aspects of identity through research. When going to the exhibit located at the MOMA known as “ Private Lives, Public Spaces” you see many screens displayed on the walls some in the middle of a space and others bunched together. Although what made each one unique was the variation in size and how some screen displays were coming out of the wall and more towards the viewers and others were more discreet. As mentioned above there are many factors that go into forming an identity but people seem to do it impulsively every day when seeing others and within themselves. The exhibit itself attacks the subject on identity through videos on “private lives” by putting it in a “public space” in a unique way. The artists create an illusion with identity basically putting together mini-films of people during everyday life but not creating an identity for those people at all but letting the viewer do it themselves without giving too much context at the same time. The three home movies chosen from the exhibition are Victor Ginsburg, New York, 1981 “Digital preservation of 16mm film”, and Charles L. Turner “Manhattan Moods” 1942 and “6th Avenue-Subway-Post” 1942-44. These three films captured the naked eye within the exhibition and will be further investigated through Howard’s lenses on identity.
         Constructing an identity is almost instant when doing it for others but what's beautiful about the exhibit is that there is no description and the artists leave interpretation up to the viewer. In the short film “Digital preservation of 16mm film” by Victor Ginsburg he demonstrates this perfectly. The title is called “New York” and when one thinks of New York they imagine tall skyscrapers, constant moving, and cars beeping although Ginsburg sheds new light. Ginsburg shows New york for what it's known for in the distance with an ominous gloominess mood in the video. Twisting the identity of New York to my own surprise he demonstrates lots of nature and an open road. I almost forgot that the artist is even in New York. The ominous and mysterious of the video is just brilliant because it goes against anyone's expectations of New York for its chaotic energy.
          Furthering this view on identity and tackling the perception of how others are viewed was Charles L. Turner in his film, “Manhattan Moods”. This video is similar to Ginsburg which basically demonstrates more buildings and even railroad tracks but the mood is definitely different than the others. These videos are quick and what also makes the video beautiful is that it is shown in different moods. Some moods are ominous, beautiful and fast-paced. Which I believe is what the artists intended. Even though New York is mostly built and trains it has different moods. What also grabbed my attention was the old family movie effects added to the video giving the home movies the early forties feel to it which added to ominous feel to it and bring many questions. This resulted in creating an identity that made many interviewers believed that this was created in the seventies and that even at that time New York has different aspects rather it be beautiful or strange.
          In addition, the other video that caught the attention of the naked eye was by the same creator which is Charles L. Turner in his short film, “6th Avenue-Subway-Post”. This video takes a different turn although still demonstrating building in New York it shows the lowering of the American flag, soldiers, cars, and even the Moma. Overall this video provided such a unique peacefulness compared to the ominous video that was located right next to it. It's almost unbelievable to really see that the same building, the Moma, had changed so much over the years and has become so modern. While watching people in their everyday lives it also showed that back in the 1940s, young or old, people were dressed very professionally, the cars were designed differently and what was normal to them at the time, it is euphoric to us now. The artists leave everything up to interpretation but the mood of these “private lives” in “public spaces” just shows that the time was extremely different at the time and so were the standards. The artists created this identity in his video. People are constantly judging and making assumptions based on sites that even without sound or communication there is an instant conclusion on identity that people create about other people that is natural and instinctive.

MoMa Experience

Millie Sialer 

Imagery, Identity and Culture 

February 21, 2020 

Response Essay to Moma 

Growing up, I was fascinated by video recorders and cameras. Entering inside the Private Lives Public Space exhibit at the MoMa felt like walking into a giant library of home videos. I was immediately excited to watch them all and analyze how they were taken, where they were taken and when they were recorded. People sometimes don’t understand the beauty of home videos. Home videos are like time capsules that can take you on a journey to past where people showed more emotion, lived experiences fully and mentally brings you into an era where neither you nor I were alive yet to live it.  

Let’s begin with the first video that captured my attention, Roy Family, California, India and Iowa 1972-77. The home video looks as if it has taken place in a classroom in a school in India. It features the Indian students participating in school activities as well as an American Family being present with the students. The mother, father, and son seemed happy and bonded with the kids. After that scene, the video shows a traditional Indian funeral where the entire community is helping dig a grave, build a stoned cross and start bringing the coffin to the location. I believe what the person behind the recording was trying to highlight how culturally different it is in India compared to California (since the title does say California, I am assuming the family is from there). The home video concentrates on cultural identity, as Judith Howard mentions in her case study about identity, people’s identity get developed based on their cultural surroundings and practices. Such as in this video, although the young American boy is being exposed to Indian cultural, his parents are influencing him to learn about other religions' practices, food, and countries for him to grow up being a cultured man.  

The next video that caught my attention was the Wise Family, Filming of Samuel R. Delany’s “Science Fiction Film in the Latter Half of the XXth Century” 1971. The video captures behind the scenes footage of a production set/film. It shows the different costumes on set and how the producers and directors are helping the main actors. The cameraman highlights how the director is working on set and perhaps he is trying to capture him in “his zone” while directing. This type of identity classification is considered to be based on career, profession, and society in the Hollywood industry. It shows how in-depth of how the director tries to lead the group of actors and tries to bring his idea to life. His identity is solely represented by his work/art Howard explains in her article how some careers are based on social status and this clearly is related to the Hollywood society.  

Finally, the last video that I was intrigued to feature on my review was the home video by Victor Ginsburg – taken in New York 1981. I was able to identify with the film because it was a location where I would also visit with my family. It features the skyline of New York City but the location is actually Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Ginsburg captures what Howard mentions in her article, about changes in ages, societies, and eras. Unlike Liberty State Park today, back in 1981, the fashion and trends were very different compared to today. You can see the difference in cars but what stands out most is extremely different are the visitors today compared to 1981. The people in the video are predominantly American – Caucasian, unlike today, where that park has visitors coming from all different parts of the world. The change in culture and society is extreme within 39 years in New York/New Jersey. You can see the Twin Towers in the background in which people relate themselves to those structures and are part of their identity due to the tragedy that traumatized many Americans.  

The exhibition was a pleasant trip back to understanding how people viewed their world

 at that moment in time.