Ways of Seeing

In a series called Ways of Seeing, John Berger criticizes traditional Western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about hidden ideologies in visual images. Ways of Seeing is a 1972 BBC four-part television series of 30-minute films created chiefly by writer John Berger and producer Mike Dibb. The series is partially a response to Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series, which represents a more traditionalist view of the Western artistic and cultural principle.

In the third part of this series, John Berger questions the value we place on the tradition of painting being the ideal way to celebrate private possessions. At the same time, painters were able to portray people and objects, in a realistic way, during the time of the invention of oil paint.

These paintings are all of Mary Magdalene, a woman who traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. According to the tenets of the 17th century Catholic church, she was a prostitute who became devoted to Christ and repented her past, in which she "comes to accept the mortality of flesh and immortality of the soul", as Christ In each one of these paintings, the way it is painted either represents this story or contradicts this story. Each painter, painting her differently.

Using this part of the series as inspiration, I created this interactive sketch in p5.

This sketch is to show the different paintings that were painted to represent Mary Magdalene. As a whole and as each individual painting.