Scopic Regimes of Modernity

In Scopic Regimes of Modernity, Martin Jay discusses the three scopic regimes that have been made available to us. He explores the limitations and criticisms revolving around each one of them and concludes that it is imperative for us to acknowledge the plurality of them, and revel in the possibilities opened up by them without demonizing one or another.
In analyzing the different scopic regimes made available, the question of what an image is has to be reexamined. If the image is an instantaneous visual experience that occurs on the first encounter with the viewer, then the only point of convergence between the three scopic regimes is the fact that a perfect relationship between the spectator and the spectacle can never be formed. Cartesian Perspectivalism is being criticized for its privileging of a disinterested subject entirely outside of the world, with only one position. Narrative art rejects the constitutive role of the monocular subject but insists on a world indifferent to the beholder’s position in front of it. The scopic regime known as Baroque merely romanticizes this idea by including an element of unreadibility and desire. Yet, all three scopic regimes reveal that a medium or gap exists in between, and that the medium stops the image as imagined by the artist or the intentionality to be every recreated. Despite the existence of a vanishing point, the image remains imperfect due to the presence of a space beyond the frame that is unrepresented. One very thought provoking point that is being raised by Jay is our eagerness to assume that desire is superior to disinterest. The Cartesian Perspectivalism is being devalued for creating a more detached relationship between the spectator and the spectacle. The basis of this superiority is questionable. I feel that the three different scopic regimes merely enable three different types of visual experiences to be created, all as equally valid. Thus, it is in my opinion that we should not attempt a hierarchy but instead examine what our need to create a hierarchy says about the modern viewer. The eagerness of the modern viewer to accept the third scopic regime reveals our modern attitude towards art.