Lynn Hershman, Seduction

Written by USU Student Amber Utterback

February 10, 2017

Lynn Hershman Leeson is an American artist and filmmaker. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio but has since lived in New York City and San Francisco, both major metropolises for the art world. Hershman Leeson is best known for her works regarding identity, surveillance, the use of media, and the relationship between the human body and technology. She was one of the most influential women artists during the feminist art movement during the 1960s and 70s. She is recognized in many different media including photography, painting, film, installation, interactive and performance art.

Seduction is a black and white photo collage created before the advent of photoshop. Hershman Leeson has said in regards to this work that, “Robotic appendages further dehumanize the bodies, referencing a society evolving toward a techno human existence.” Seduction is one of many works that reference Hershman’s awareness of the effect mass media has on society. Earlier and later works depict images with similar meanings. She was aware of this effect but are we, or are we just blind to what is going on around us now?

This month's From the Vault is part of an object-based research assignment from Professor Marissa Vigneault's course ARTH 3750 High Modernism to Post Modernism: 1945-1989.