The Gaze

The Unconscious Gaze

Practices of looking and spectatorship are not one-way streams; it is not merely just a viewer observing the busker, but involves dynamic interactions between the viewer-busker and vice versa. These multi-dimensional interactions are vital to the busker “industry” in modernity (Mason 1996). By understanding the concept of the gaze we can investigate the role of the viewer’s activeness (unconsciousness, desire, curiosity) in looking and how looking can mold both the busker and the viewer. Underneath the umbrella of unconscious are concepts of race, gender and age that participate in the act of relational looking. From our observations of the flute-player in the Churchill LRT station at approximately 11AM not many viewers stopped to appreciate the sweet sounds of the flute, but of the ones that did was a male parent with his child. This highlights the variation and importance of each individual’s unconsciousness and desire in determining the type of interaction they have with the busker. An infant/child’s ego is observed to be separate from the world as described by Jacques Lacan (Sturken and Cartwright 2009). Due to this, the infant sees the world as the other and is interested in the “other”.

One study of Jan McCrary from the Western Michigan University investigated the influence of the viewers and performers race on the viewer’s music preference. The study highlights the degree to which the subconscious/unconscious influence of race affects how one interacts with the performer (McCrary 1993). She observes that the “white” person on average has greater flexibility towards different ethnic performers (McCrary 1993). On the contrary, black observers appear to prefer music from their own race (McCrary 1993). In our observations of white buskers/performers at the Churchill station, we did not observe any “black” persons stopping to appreciate the music of the “white” performer.

Historically, the gaze has included concepts of gender (Sturken and Cartwright 2009). Many images were and still are geared towards the male gender (Sturken and Cartwright 2009). The producers of these images inferred that appreciation is gained from male viewers or the male gaze. This idea of the male gaze heavily influencing the production of images and film can be transferred to our investigation of buskers. We observed a greater amount of females looking at buskers versus males. This highlights the neutralizing of the predominant male gaze, which may potentially be due to changing of contents in art displays (including music). It is not just the changing contents that allows for greater female gaze, but the ability of the female to admire male viewing/listening pleasures and to embrace exhibitionism in our society.


The Power of the Gaze

The gaze between the performer and viewer establishes power relationships (Sturken and Cartwright 2009). It is seen that the one who is the “other” (i.e. the performer/busker) is at the mercy of the one that is observing (i.e. the viewer). Those who we observed to stop and listen or those who quickly dropped a couple coins in the busker’s bucket appeared to appreciate the work of the busker. On the other hand, many people who walked past quickly without acknowledgment of the busker appears to not appreciate the art. In either situation, the viewer has the power to engage with the busker and/or give money. Speaking with a busker reveals that they appreciate someone who takes the time to stop and listen to their music versus someone who quickly drops off a coin. Although this is the case with one busker, buskering is interesting in that the observer can hold power by attention or by money. The former plays a large role in the gaze.

The concepts on how the viewer interacts with the performer allow them to shape the performer in the way they see fit. Although the one who is gazing often has the upper hand in the practice of looking, it is important to note that the performer can shape the viewer as well. This is the epitome of the instance of how music can shape our life, how music can accompany us and influence our emotions in the ups and downs of our life.