Spectacle

Untitled, Studio 54, New York, 1978.

Tod Papageorge’s This Ain’t No Disco. It’s a Photograph series introduces the viewer into the high-spirited landscape of Studio 54. One of the most exclusive clubs in New York City in the 1970s, Studio 54 opened its doors only to the most chic, most famous, most beautiful individuals, shaping the club to be a celebrity playground. Seen as a disco and a place to dance to let loose to the greatest hits of the present day for some, Studio 54 also bred individuals, drawn to its spectacle, enticed by the glittering scene who, in turn became spectacles themselves.  With his Fujica 6 by 9 camera, Papageorge exposed the spectacle of Studio 54 individuals in his photograph, Untitled.

            Untitled depicts three figures, two women, dressed for a masquerade and a man in a suit and tie. The women hold in their fingers heavily decorated masks and cigarettes. They position themselves toward the man who stares to the ground before him. The individuals do not seem to be interacting with one another. While in the backdrop, they are surrounded by other figures in similar festive attire. It is hard to clearly see what these individuals are doing, but their attention, like the three figures in the center also diverts elsewhere, someplace beyond the frame. Papageorge uses the repetition of faces and the height of the figures to create a tidal-like movement from left to right in the frame. Repetition also lies in the woman face’s and their masks. Their masks, which serve to hide their identity, ironically, mirror their natural faces. Bedecked in pale makeup, ornaments, and garlands, the two women’s faces are masks, contributing to the spectacle of Studio 54. The women wear soft and airy robes that float as they walk and represent their dispositions, but in the way they hold their masks, their hands imply rigidness and weight, not grace and elegance.

            Papageorge’s Untitled speaks of spectacle, in which authentic social life has been replaced with its representation. A Marxist critical theory, spectacle elicits commodity and a social relationship between people that is meditated by images. John Leland describes Studio 54 as a “place to be photographed, mass produced, and consumed as a shimmering commodity.”