Rombad Kenn
Rosalind Krauss. Cindy Sherman 1975-1993
New York: Rizzoli, 1993
Son Peo. AVE TOLD MIE THEY HEMAMNEI THE MOVIE TRICE ONE OF MY IMAGES
DDeRIVED FROM, RUT IN EY E RAD NO FHACAN ARID AT ALE
Cindy Sherman presenting her work co an art-school audience. She shows tides of her
Untitled
series an account of
‘Suille—the black-and-white photographs in which as both director and actress
she projects a range of 1950s sereen images—and next to each, he reports, she presents stills
fom dhe movie on which hes
wges were based. What emerges through th
comparison, he
says, is hae "vircually every detail seemed to be aecou
ed for: right down 10 the buttons on
the blouses, the cropping of the image, even the depth of field of the camera.”?
Alehough be is upset by what this comparison reveals about
the slavishness of Sherman’ procedure—ihe stroke-forstioke meticulousness of the copy, so
to speake—he i certain that what Shetman is after in any casei weoognition of the original,
although not as a source waiting ro be rep
moned. So he speaks sb
0 recall she original film image.” And, hocaye, “ii wane dhe setue file the viewer recalled,
ced, but rather 35a memory waiting t be sum-
«the viewer of ihe normally unaccompanied Sherman Still “starting
“then ie was an ad fort and if noc tha, then ic was a piture From a review ina newspepee”
(On its face tis sory is amazing. Because in a Sherman Film
Still ehere is no “orginal.” Not in the “aenal file
1-3 publicity shot or “i,” nor in any
other published "picture" The condition of Shermauis work in the Fm Sul
le—and pare
of theie point, we could say —is che sinvabcral nature of what they conssin, the condition of
being a copy without an original
‘The structure ofthe simulacrum, along with Shermans explo-
cao ofits lal something that ees tobe examined. But even before doing, cis
wort eying wih de story of deslide show an is puaive unvling ofan “ginal” which
isto iy he stony Bain, screaming Rama ike, misecogstion
Did Sherman ever show real movie sill nexc 1 het own work?
And ifs, 10 what end? Since hee own inuges manage to project as aera of stecorypical
Hollywood of New Wave
somes along with the very atmospheres through hich they ae
the fln noir bacd-biticn denizen af the night, ome of Hicchcock’s plucky bu vul-
nese carer gids dhe B-movie small