asyouwish, Macherey 1/21

Having always been visually analytical I greatly agree with Macherey's statement "What is important in the work is what it does not say." While Macherey is mainly talking about written text I believe his statement is equally applicable to the visual texts. Therefore for a change in pace instead of discussing this chapter in relation to literature I have chosen to relate what Macherey is saying to artwork. Having always been a lover of art and done a lot of it myself I believe that a lot of Macherey's concepts are applicable not only to literature but to other fields as well.
Growing up I lived in an apartment building directly across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Needless to say, I paid a visit to the museum as much as I could. My favorite exhibits were always the photography exhibits that the museum would temporarily have on display. Now reading Macherey I realize the reason I was so passionate about viewing the photographs was because I could make my own story about what was going on in the photo before me. As we all know most artworks have titles but they rarely give us insight into what we are seeing. By observing the photographs I was able to decipher the art in anyway I wanted. A girl in a chair looking into the distance scared, became a girl scared by her loneliness. Much of what an artist puts into his creation is influenced by his unconscious. Freud as discussed in this chapter was the psychologist behind the concept of the unconscious, a place where unknown thoughts were stored. Freud's unconscious theory was not only applicable to language but also visuals. As you can see the theory of literature production is much like that of the theory behind the production of artwork.