GOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM

In this exhibit, Martha Rosler takes 5 pictures that Americans would have considered to be normal or very ordinary. It is visible that there are portions of the pieces that are in color and other portions that are in black and white. Rosler’s first piece is titled “Cleaning the Drapes” and it depicts a woman cleaning her drapes with a vacuum and the woman, drapes, and vacuum are all in color, however what is outside the window is in black and white. This is very experimental because it combines two types of photography within the same medium: black and white vs color. This experimentation is purposely attracting attention to the differences between the two styles of photographs. In the second photo it is easier to see because it shows a kitchen with countertop and regular household necessities such as bowls, cups, and dishes. All of the kitchen objects are pictured in bright colors such as white and red and in the background there is even a red and white stripe across the wall. However, upon further investigation, there are two men depicted in dark colors such as green and grey, suggesting that they do not belong. This is shown in the next three photos as well where there are people in settings of a regular American household, however it is a combination of normal and abnormal. In most of Rosler’s pieces, the “regular” American life is depicted in color while the background depicts a darker image that obviously doesn’t belong. This is how Rosler’s exhibit of “House Beautiful” is considered experimental and avant-garde.

Martha Rosler’s collection of “House Beautiful” was compiled over 6 years and used as propaganda to influence Americans’ views against the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was considered the “first living-room war” because there were reporters and journalists and video cameras in Vietnam reporting back to the home front. This is important because it gave the American people a direct look into what was happening overseas and allow them to think they were apart of the war themselves. Rosler takes this idea and amplifies it by taking uncensored images of soldiers and natives in Vietnam. In the first photo, a woman is cleaning her drapes, but outside the window, there are men stationed in barracks made of sandbags and armed with guns. The second photo shows two men searching for something in the background of a kitchen, and suggests that they are searching for hidden bombs or landmines. In the third photo, two parents are playing with their kid on a bed but the walls around them are destroyed and the windows are boarded up from what was assumed to be an explosion. The fourth and fifth photos in the exhibit might be the most disturbing. In the fourth photo, it shows a woman in yellow in her very colorful and luxurious living room however, in a picture frame above the fire place, there seems to be a young woman in a great deal of pain. It even seems as if she was hurt multiple times in her torso either from a knife or from gunshots. In the fifth and final photo, Rosler takes a different view than from her previous photos. Instead of having a distinct colorful forefront and then the disturbing image in the background, she flips the idea. The forefront has a Vietnamese man holding his baby, who is injured and has blood dripping from its neck. It is obvious that these 5 photographs are purposely political against the Vietnam War because Rosler is placing serious and disturbing images in pictures that Americans believe to be “safe”. By combining these two pictures, Rosler creates medium that challenges the support of the Vietnam War.

House Beautiful c. 1967-72 Artist- Martha Rosler