“You can only hide behind a mask for so long.”

First off, the movie is not like the graphic novel. I think it’s better, and though I’m not alone there, not everyone would agree.

The story takes place in a fascist England (the U.K. is no longer “U”) after a world-wide nuclear semi-apocalypse in which the government controls what you see and hear, listens to what you say (in ways you wouldn’t like), and watches everything you do. All of this is stored in a computer, FATE, who you believe controls yours. Minimal comforts. strict curfews, and draconian enforcement leave most of your fellow citizens up in silent arms until a vigilante exacts his vengeance on the government under the guise of a “Vicious Cabaret.” Proclaiming Anarchy (“no leaders”) as his new mistress over Justice.

In the movie everything builds to an operatic crescendo whereas the graphic novel ends with a somber, somewhat destitute rubble-strewn blank canvas on which a new society can begin… maybe.

There’s a lot going on, so it’s hard to say a lot about any one thing without starting on another. Perhaps the most striking–the most ironic–is that fascist leader Adam Susan, the man at the Head of the machine falls in love with the FATE computer, which is hacked by the vigilante/terrorist V. Susan perceives FATE as being sexually unfaithful. V speaks to a personification of Justice on top of the Old Bailey building and describes her as being sexually unfaithful with Adam Susan. V then moves on to bed with (a personification of) Anarchy. So you end up with a tryst between unfulfilled but meek men, an unfulfilled but formidable man, two abstractions, and one computer. A virulent vivisection of viable modern values!

Inspired by the swine flu pandemic, Hoorshnias early warning systems”for other people, at least”span the design gamut, from the traditional medical mask to a rather fetching wrap-around scarf.

In addition to full-face sinus masks that detect temperature increases around the forehead or mouth.

Source:
http://www.ecouterre.com/6805/color-changing-temp-sensitive-textiles-flu-masks/

I just had the urge to write this down:

Have you ever felt so lonely? Although you are surrounded by people,some that love you and care.Have you ever felt that you don’t even know yourself anymore?And the dreams you try to pursue,the goals you’re always trying hard to achieve seem all of a sudden expendable and just out of reach?

And you just seem to be giving up…..surrendering….

At some random moment, every one of us, faces such questions that race through his mind, taking joy and meaning out of his/her life,instead leaving behind millions and millions of scattered vague question marks…..

A person  starts to question him/her-self,doubting his identity and abilities as well….

The solution?The answers of these infinite questions of the mind and heart?…. They just lie within each one of us……we just have to dig “deeper”,

But we’re just too blinded by the darkness of our own doubtful thoughts,to see….and maybe things turn out to be  less complicated that we think…maybe even more……Only we can determine that….on our quest of heart and mind

In the end, i think, the main reason behind these questions is that we fear the truth, the truth behind the lies, the thoughts,…..Since on a self-journey….where all the walls fall down,and where shields and defenses are shoved aside, and masks are unmasked,and where everything is just revealed as it truly is…..there is a moment of truth and clarity.

To some of us, this moment can bring some kind of pain since it may bring up old memories that should have been buried and forgotten, to others a simple relief, a feeling of peace……

shin murayama

SOLD OUT

Epictetus once said, “It is impossible for man to learn that which he thinks he already knows.” This quotation sums up why so many of us are not experiencing contentment or serenity in our lives. We think we possess knowledge that we actually haven’t yet acquired. And where our ignorance has the most devastating impact on our ultimate outcome is when it pertains directly to ourselves.

If we think we know ourselves, yet we have never taken the time to understand ourselves, then it will never be possible for us to live an authentic life.  What is an authentic life?  It is a life in which we are making the decisions that are in keeping with what is best for is. It is a life where the opinion of those around us matters a great deal less than the opinions we have about ourselves.

To live authentically, you have to strip yourself of everything that is not genuine. You have to let go of learned behavior that does not match up with who you really are. And you have to get to the point where you would rather disappoint everyone else in your life than to disappoint you.

Some people would say that such a philosophy promotes selfishness. But what it really does is enable you to give others the freedom to be authentic, too. Once you cease meeting or trying to meet the expectations of others at the expense of your own needs, they will be forced to gain clarity about themselves and what their needs may be.

I have spoken about the potency of habits in a previous blog post. And I want to delve more deeply into the way that habits can negatively impact both your life and the lives of those around you. When William James wrote his chapter on “Habit” in his Principles of Psychology, there were many things about human behavior that had not yet been discovered or analyzed. James encouraged people to allow certain actions to become habitual, such as eating a meal or taking a bath.

The problem is, even these seemingly innocuous activities should actually be engaged in while we are thinking about them. Why? Well, the more we get into the pattern of doing things without engaging our mental faculties, the more inclined we are to not use those faculties at times that it is essential for us to do so. Now, there obviously are habits that have a positive influence on our lives. But sometimes we need to make sure that the habits we think are positive actually are.

For example, if we have a habit of repressing our true thoughts and opinions in order to be accepted by others, is that really a good habit?  Or does it simply appear to be good on the surface? And, even if we do win this much sought-after acceptance, is it really worth very much if we had to pretend to be someone other than ourselves in order to gain it?

Let me ask you something. If someone told you that he or she would write a book under your name and that it would be a best-seller, would you think that was a tempting idea? Even if you did, would the accolades that you received when the book was published mean nearly as much to you as if you had written the book yourself? Or would a certain part of you feel like a fraud?

When people told you what a wonderful writer you were, would that mean that you would actually believe them? Or is it possible that you could get to the point where you actually believed that you had written the book? If you answer no, I challenge you to reconsider your reply. Although you may think that I’m taking things too far by using this example to illustrate my point, you probably at least concede that it would be possible for some people to buy into their own fraudulent identity.

Sometimes it is easier to get trapped in a life that is compromised of learned behavior patterns and assumed opinions than it is to explore our own authenticity as an individual. To conform to what others think we should be does not require courage or conviction. What it does take is a self-image that is not clearly defined. I am often told by people who cross my path that they would finally have happiness or contentment in their lives if they could just find the right career or if the man or woman of their dreams would miraculously come into their lives. Although I empathize with such thought patterns, I think that they are both unrealistic and dangerous.

For one thing, such beliefs prevent us from taking the time to work on ourselves. They remove the necessity of personal growth because we are looking at  something outside of ourselves to make us complete.  And, when that person or that career fails to live up to our idyllic fantasies, we are left feeling even more dissatisfied than we were before. In a way, it’s like someone with an eating disorder attempting to “cure” the problem without getting to the root of what is causing it.

When I was thirteen, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The illness itself harmed me far less than the way the doctor I was seeing at the time treated the illness. Rather than taking the time to analyze and examine what was causing me to deprive myself of nourishment, she blamed me for not eating and seemed to subscribe to the erroneous assumption that I was making a conscious choice not to eat. If you know anything about anorexia, you understand that it is not a choice. Even though those who are anorexic often use starvation as a coping mechanism to handle the fact that certain aspects of their lives seem to be beyond their control, they are not consciously engaging in this behavior.

Similarly, if you are unfulfilled or unhappy and you are seeking a relationship or a career to escape from the emptiness within yourself, you may not be doing this intentionally. When we feel a void within us, it is only natural that we might have a frantic need to fill that emptiness.  It’s interesting how quick we are to talk about connecting or reconnecting with our bliss. But is there still not the assumption that we have discovered our “bliss”? Emptiness and bliss are not compatible. Thus, as long as we have a nagging sense of dissatisfaction within ourselves, we are not only not connecting with our bliss–we have not found our “bliss”.

Of course, like the word happiness, bliss is also a word that can be defined in many different ways. However, I have the sense that it conveys the essence of elation or exuberance. If we use that definition of bliss or even partially subscribe to that definition, then we must also admit that there are not many people whom we have ever known who have seemed very exuberant or elated. Does this mean that it is unrealistic to expect to ever feel bliss? No. But it does mean that we may have to redefine the word. The other option is that we will have to accept the fact that, even though we want to believe we are connected to our bliss, we are actually still pursuing it.

One assumption that prevents us from living authentically is the idea that happiness or bliss is a destination that we will someday reach. Perhaps, some of us even think that if we feel loved and appreciated enough, contentment will be ours. But what sort of contentment are we seeking? If you are honest with yourself, I think you’ll admit that you are not looking for the temporary feeling of rapture that comes from devouring a piece of chocolate cake.

Chocolate cake is wonderful, but once you’ve eaten it, it’s gone. If you pursue the wrong type of bliss or if you are not clear about the type of bliss that you won’t, you may end up with a lot of what I would call “chocolate cake” moments but no lasting feeling of fulfillment or significance. Is that what you want? Even if you could exist on a diet of nothing but candy, cake, and cookies, would that ultimately satisfy you?

To me, the satisfaction that comes from lots of  “chocolate cake moments” is a bit like the happiness that is derived from buying clothes and jewelry or taking a trip to some country you’ve never traveled to before. Sure, there is enjoyment–but how long does it last, and how profound is it? Your soul is never going to be content if the only nourishment it gets are from things that have no lasting value.

At the end of your life, knowing that you have lived authentically and honestly is going to mean a great deal more to you than how many pairs of shoes you have in the closet or how many trips to Europe or exotic locales you have taken. And unless you are living authentically at the time that you enter into a relationship or marriage, you will not find happiness in that partnership, either. For no matter how much love, admiration, and acceptance you get, if it isn’t the authentic you who is being accepted or loved or admired, how can it make you happy?  

An actor I once knew told me that he believed that nearly all people are wearing masks and that only when we get to the point in our lives where we are willing to take off our masks will we be at peace with ourselves. It is somewhat uncomfortable to accept this concept. For, if we do, we have to wonder how much of the behavior we are witnessing on the part of those around us is sincere.  But when we understand the reason why we wear masks, we can embrace the idea without it making us feel overwhelmed, confused, or uneasy.

Usually, we put on these masks at a very young age. Why? Because when we are children, we start being told what behavior is “acceptable” and what behavior is “unacceptable”. Our hands are slapped when we touch the hot stove, and we get a spanking when we decide to stick our finger in an electrical outlet. We hear so many “thou shalt nots” that, merely for the sake of ease, we repress our needs and desires and modify our words and actions in order to please those around us.

The problem is that we carry this repressed behavior into our adult life, and, instead of the masks getting more transparent, they oftentimes get more opaque. Eventually, separating our real faces from the masks that have been covering them for so long becomes almost impossible. For one thing, the masks have become our security blankets. As long as we are wearing them, we are able to face the world without having to constantly worry about being rejected. Even though we may get rejected when we wear our masks, the real persons being rejected are the persons we’re pretending to be.

In a way, wearing a mask not only protects us from being hurt but it also means that many of the negative judgements that are made about us can be disregarded. We can tell ourselves, “Well, that person didn’t really know me. If  he had, he wouldn’t have rejected me.” Yes, this  may be the case, but is it not better to be rejected for ourselves than to be accepted for someone we’re not? 

If we do not give other people the chance to see and get to know the true individuals that we are, we are inadvertently forcing them into the role of unwitting conspirators in our  elaborate attempts to weave a life built upon half-truths and lies. So, we are both failing to connect with our own authenticity and encouraging others to be inauthentic as well.

As I learn more and more about human behavior and examine with growing clarity the role that our mental conditioning and our learned patterns of behavior play in our success and happiness, I realize that as much as an artist works to perfect his paintings or a pianist works to polish his or her technique, we must work at mastering the art of living.  Once again, I turn to Epictetus, who said, “For as carpenter’s material is wood, and that of the statuary is copper, so the matter of the art of living is each man’s life.”  In the end, each of our lives if what we have made of it, and we can either choose to master the art of living or we can always be stuck in a never-ending cycle of lies, destructive patterns, deception, emotional pain, and learned behaviors. Which choice will you make?

Until soon,

Alexis, the SuccessDiva

This page and all written material at the SuccessDiva pages is written by Alexis Wingate. All rights are reserved. (C) Copyright by Alexis Wingate, the SuccessDiva

image from Fine Little Day

My parents go through a frenzy of decorating and re-decorating the house in anticipation of guests. There is a whole exercise of cleaning the house, taking out the best linens, changing the drapes and buying special things for the guest. We were managing the impression.

Like all sick cycles, having formed the impression, we had to live to it at every visit. And we were by far the most gracious hosts and the most tired human beings in the planet.

I do get the idea of making things comfortable for the guest, of taking out the fresh linen and adding a vase of flowers by the bedside. But I don’t get the redecorating, the buying of new things, and the other ‘unnatural’ things we put up when we have guests. It was the whole ’script’ we had to follow that bothered me. And yet, the best times I had when visiting other people were times when there was no outlandish show, instead people went on their business like you were part of the family.

It is different to be a consistently clean, fresh and chic in your house from being chic only when guest were around. I enjoy the new things, the decorations, and the beauty of the house when guests are expected, but it makes me wonder why it has to be this way ONLY when guests were around.

Through the years I realized we were managing an impression. We were trying to persuade people that we were intellectual, elegant and sophisticated; even though we were just plain average.

Now, I am learning to simply be consistent. To appreciate that who we are, how the house is, and all the other in betweens is okay and impressions need not be managed.  Simply be true.

-eM

In the mornings where the moon fails shining, or on your own terms. I will not easily be erased or eliminated, temporarily circumvented at best. I am a creeping pestilence that will taint and turn your blood sour as winged maggots come to consume you. I am a decaying corps dreaming of a way out, leaning on stilts and riding unicycles through your sleeping years. Your rotting memories are transmorphing into cheerily over saturated undertones that vaguely cover the gloom that slipped under your regretted yesterdays. I am, have become, a wind blown rickety picket sign stabbing deeply into the icy earth of your defaced self centered dementia. I am the undead brain spasm that will convulse you into a convoluted lack of delusion. You will fuck me in silent nightmares and awake screaming and impregnated by the deformity of my triumphant will. This is not a reflected metaphor, I mean all of this literally. Someday somewhere you will wake up and I will be sitting serenely on the edge of your bed. My mouth will slowly turn cheek-ward and my smile will become your horror as you erupt inwardly by the pain of your own ignorance. This is not a test or a day dream, the something coming for you is so far beyond your conception that your fathom will fail and die a shrieking death of impunity. I am your death bed, and for you I lie waiting.

Interior designers and architects have known for years that modernism and African art make a great combination. This is true not only for classic traditional African art but for contemporary African artists.

Here are some ideas you can recreate in your own home:

Fang masks in a modern home (Toyota ad)

One of my primary beefs with modernism is that done wrong, it can come off as very sterile and antiseptic. African art, especially traditional pieces such as Fang masks, mudcloth, and Ethiopian stools can really help give life and vibrance to clean lines.

California Desert House (Courtesy of Architectural Digest)

California Desert House (Courtesy of Architectural Digest)

In the same house, A Fang mask and mudcloth pillows create a perfect segue between the minimalist interior and the natural tones of the great outdoors:

In addition to African traditional art’s brilliant pairing with modernism, many people are surprised by how many groundbreaking contemporary artists are on the scene. Below are some paintings from one of our good friends and favorite painters, Souleymane Keita, who works out of Dakar.

A Souleymane Keita painting

One of Irene's own Keita's

If you’d like to find out more about how you can incorporate African art into your modern home or incorporate more modernism into your African art collection, please stop by and see us or give us a call. We’re at

1524 U Street NW

Washington DC 20009

202.232.2214

zawadi1524@aol.com

(Published in the November 11, 2009 issue of The Pendulum)

Senior digital art major Travis Butler describes his artistic vision in one word — “experimental.”

His work with animal bones, found objects, felt masks and mythical creatures gives the sense of a constructed reality never before explored.

Butler has spent the past three months creating and collecting pieces for the installation he will present for his senior art seminar in the spring. A mixed-media artist, Butler sketches, paints and works with fiber and digital programs. Through fiber art, fiber installation and digital imagery, Butler said he ultimately hopes to achieve a detached reality in his installation.

“My installation work uses the material of felt and found rusty, recycled and discarded objects to create an environment that seems weathered and frozen in time but soft like the wasteland of a forgotten dream,” Butler said.

In the senior art seminar, students are expected to spend their senior year working on one project. They build a concept, work with faculty and other students, show their work and finally present and defend a thesis at the end of the year. Butler entered his fourth year already knowing what he wanted to produce.

“This past summer, I took a course at (Virginia Commonwealth University) where I learned different fiber techniques like felting,” Butler said. “I made two of the masks there.”

These masks are perhaps the most noticeable elements in Butler’s installation. Unique in form and emotional expression, Butler makes the eyes and mouth for the masks separately with a basic fiber technique called coiling. The emotions and faces of the masks — which each take about seven to eight hours to create — emerge as the form is finalized and composed. Butler said he plans to create a community of about 10 masked figures.

“I think these anthropomorphic figures are the most recognizable because they could be related to humans or cute, cuddly creatures,” Butler said. “A connection is made between viewer and masked figure because both possess a spirit.”

This sense of spirituality, fantasy and mysticism surrounds all of Butler’s work, especially his sketches. In the installation, Butler takes this theme further, highlighting the soul and unknown history of the felt figures and the found objects that embellish them.

“The found objects contain a certain personality and history to them,” Butler said. “They can all be found on the sides of railroad tracks. But when seen in the context of the gallery, they take on new, fantastic lives. I like to think that when everyone leaves the building for the night, the figures let out a breath of air. Shadowy figures spring to life from their relaxed positions, and the silence of the white walls is broken.”

Butler said he hopes the setting and layout of his artwork will express an openness that emphasizes detachment, adventure, desire and discovery. Butler guides the viewer to experience the installation first as a removed participant, then to search for the adventure and alternate reality.
He said he leaves it to the imagination of the viewers, based on the material he has presented, to create their own stories, myths or histories.

As a contemporary artist, Butler does not want to control viewers. Instead, he presents his work and challenges them to appreciate it more than they may have appreciated other artwork — by literally becoming the art.

“To fully experience life, you can’t be stuck in the same routines,” Butler said. “You have to be adventurous and continually see things in new ways. In life, we are presented with questions. Should we keep doing what we are comfortable doing, or should we try new ways of thinking?”

Butler said he does not expect or want everyone to walk away from his work with the same understanding. Rather,  he said he hopes they will experience the installation at different levels but ultimately grasp the larger themes of different levels of framing, searching and constructed space.

“Every adventure has a starting point,” Butler said. “In many ways, this installation piece is my starting point. I hope I can guide viewers to find their own adventures by sharing mine.”

Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008) on (Streamline/Konlive/Cherrytree/Interscope)

Part 1:

Oh snap. Yes, I just said it. Lady Gaga’s music is feminist. Why do I say such things? Because I can back it up. And because I love her music, videos, and persona. She is the reason I have actually started to listen to pop music again. So, let me tell you about feminist music….

Why do I say that her music is feminist? Whether or not she herself claims to be a feminist, her work criticizes gender, sexuality, the body, pop culture’s representations of women, and the nature of power. This in itself is a feminist act. Now, feminism, I guess we must define in some form, considering most representations of it are: man hater, bra burner, lesbian, ugly, want power over men, bitchy, hate children…..not true. Feminism is the political and social movement for women’s social, political, and economic equality. In that social part lies music, and Lady Gaga knows exactly what she is up against in the music industry. Feminist Music therefore, can be made by anyone, male/female/trans, as long as it fulfills the goals of fighting for equality and justice based on gender.

How does she present feminist ideas? I will give you a few examples.

1. Paper Gangsta

This song is my favorite from “The Fame.” This song discusses the institution of marriage, or at least, power in relationships. In the first part of the song, Lady Gaga says:

“Midnight rush with a pen in my hand
Inkin Lincoln sand-script with a fan
Remembering me before it began
Sometimes I felt so def in the jam
But the ones who loved me told me to stop
Like home girl can’t catch shit if it drops
A superwoman chick you know that I am
Some shit don’t fly by me in a man

‘Cuz I do not accept any less than someone
Just as real, as fabulous”

These lyrics first speak as an individual as an active subject of their reality. Lady Gaga is not being talked about as an object, through the Patriarchal Gaze, as someone who does not have any ideas, emotions, or power of her own. She is not a tool. Instead she proclaims herself a superwoman, she won’t stop being who she is, and that she knows what she wants in a man. She then states what she wants, not what she thinks she should want to please someone else. She will not accept anyone who is less than “real.”

The chorus then, I think sums this statement of independence and freedom.

“Don’t want no paper gangsta
Won’t sign away my life to
Someone whose got the flavor
But don’t have no follow through
Don’t want no paper gangsta
Won’t sign no monkey papers
I don’t do funny business
Not interested in fakers
Don’t want no paper gangsta
Don’t want no paper gangsta”

Once again, someone here who is real in the sense that they are not your typical dominating player. She will not accept someone who just puts on a show to impress her. She will not “sign her life away.” Basically, she will not commit to a relationship that will just use her. Hence, a “paper gansta” is someone who uses tradition patriarchy to get what they want from her. Criticizing that, and fighting against that IS feminist.

Finally, the last verse:

“Got something really shiny to start
Want me to sign there on your range rover heart
I’ve heard it before yeah the dinners were nice
‘Till you diamond words melted in to some ice
You should have been rapping to the beat of my song
Mr. California paper gansta
I’m looking for love not an empty page
Full of stuff that means nothing but ‘you’ve been played’”

Here, her themes of empowerment and independence from power are clear. At first, all the attention from a man seems great. Yet, his intentions were not honest, not “real.” The man in question was not “rapping to the beat of her heart.” He was not looking for love, but it seems a good time. Hence, if she signs (stays) with him, she’s been played. She knows this. She refuses this traditional masculine power structure as defined in relationships. She will not be a tool. She will be herself, and anyone who wants to be fabulous with her, must be true to her heart, to the beat of her song. She knows what she wants. She will not accept anything less. She is smart, confident, and is an active authority in her life. That IS feminist.

2. Her female-form distorting outfits

If you are just going to continue to judge women’s intentions, ideas, value, and indeed empowerment based on their appearance and how they dress, then that is still SEXISM, no matter if they are wearing a bustier or a habit. Valuing women as “less than” via what they wear is one of the pillars of domination. Most criticism I have seen about Lady Gaga has been on her appearance. Typical. That is first thing anyone goes at when it comes to female musicians. Their value is still based off how they look, not how talented they are, or what statements they are making or what they doing. For women who are musicians, you are in a double bind. If you do what they guys do, you’re a freak. If you do what women are supposed to do, well, that just proves how much you are not as good as the guys. You’re just a girl after all. Know you place, be a little sex kitten, ready and willing, talentless and voiceless. But Lady Gaga defies it all by reversing the Patriarchal Gaze of how we view women in pop culture. Like Madonna before her, it is a fine and hard line to walk. Most people see her half-naked and assume negative from the start. But her image is carefully crafted for a purpose. And that purpose is not objectification.

For example, her outfits reveal skin, but often distort things that out culture associates with being a feminine woman. Long legs, big breasts, full lips, figure eight body shape, hips ect. This distortion catches you because it is not what you expect or want. We want the pornified female form. The image she presents is not pornified, but an exaggerated caricature of femininity. Thus, she is taking the things pop culture wants women to be, reveal and stretches it so far so that we can see how silly and confining it is. She cinches her waits to the extreme, extreme high heels, overdone makeup to make you see how made-up women are. She wears masks and sunglasses, a symbolic hidding of parts of her herself, so you can’t see….but she can still see you. She is the one doing it; it is not being done to her. She is returning the gaze, looking at you looking at how you look at her, and she is laughing in your face. She is deciding about her, not you. She is not duped by the patriarchy just based upon her looks. Assuming that women have no agency is sexist. She is purposefully throwing back femininity in your face, and it is not the kind you want. That IS feminist.

3. Paparazzi Video

The Paparazzi video does this extremely well too. Lady Gaga’s form is distorted in her outfits that twist her feminine body in ways that are extreme. She is portayed sexed up, even when in a neck brace and bloody. This video is a criticism the violence against women in pop culture.

It is extremely fashionable to show women dead, being beater, or assumed violence upon them in popular media. Whether it is to sell vodka, shoes, video games, or security devices, violence against women in advertising is everywhere. It is often sexualized, and combined with objectification. What this means is that often if violence is enacted upon women in ads/videos, it is made to be sexy, appealing, what the women want, and hence deserve. It is sexy to be violent, and women love it. This is the paparazzi video in a nutshell.

Lady Gaga’s rise to fame in the video coincides with her being abused. She refuses the man’s advances in the video, hence she is called a “c*nt” and tossed of the balcony. If she won’t give into male entitlement to her body, and use of it to take pictures for his gain, she will be punished. Hence she “dies” and comes back her body broken. The sequence continues, showing her with a neck brace and crutches while showing other images of glamorous looking women dead. The images of women being murdered are everywhere in the video and they are everywhere in our pop culture. Just look at the Hitman ads as an example.

In the video, the female dead bodies are sexed up. But it does not stop there, even when she is alive on the couch, she is being sexed up, and in some cases licked up. Finally, near the end of the video, she is back with her old flame (disguised as the “new” girl toy”), in her yellow outfit. She is the newest disposable female body for this guy. Or is she? She quickly reassumes her agency, poisons her boyfriend’s drink, and acts all feminine and coy. Oops! Even her outfit, a sorta Minnie Mouse hides her revenge. Appearances are deceiving in this video. If may seem in this video that women are helpless, powerless and just tools to be used. But underneath it, lies a women’s refusal to succumb to that end, hence Lady Gaga freeing herself from her boyfriend via poison. The end is also very telling when she is arrested for enacting the same type of malicious violence against her boyfriend. He got away with it, she doesn’t, symbolizing the double standard in so many ways. Lastly, she poses for the camera for her mug shots, does so with exaggerated sexiness, which we see then is being directed at her to do. Finally, the cameraman tells her to walk away.

This video blatantly reveals violence against women in pop culture. Lady Gaga analyzes it, shows the impact of it, and symbolically comes back from the dead to take justice for it for her and all women. Her arrest in the end reveals the double standard of treatment for not only her actions, but also that when a dead male body shows up in pop culture it is rare, and not sexualized, but a tragic event. Oh no! Can’t have any of that. This type of video-activism, playing with these ideas, yet still remaining artistically valid and not further objectifying women IS feminist.

So, that’s all for this post. I will continue with more on her work from The Fame and The Fame Monster. Thanks!

Masks have been around since the dawn of time. While their recent presence in pop culture once appeared to be nothing more than a passing phase,  global conversations encompassing human behavior in the digital realm continue to keep this trend in the limelight. Living with hyperconnectivity, the average person can aim for fame and obscurity all from the comfort of their own home.

Privacy operates like a two-way mirror and these carefully constructed masks allow regular personalities to hide behind artful obscurity. Be it Peter Pilotto’s punk masterpiece for Dazed and Confused, this paper collection found on Cool Hunter, the bobble and animal heads from Theme Magazine, Mike Mill’s textile models, this old Hair’em or Scare’em book cover covering hair-centric conversations, Stella McCartney’s budget-minded retail windows or this devilish McQueen mask made from childrens toys, all of these examples allow the user to be seen behind a veil of mystery.

Hidden visibility poses the public vs. private dilemma and as digital voyeurism continues to grow, we anticipate more masks and more debate.

By: Kelsey-Lee LeGassick

Sometimes I like to draw.

I am by no means a bonafide, or even skilled, sketch artist, but I often find myself doodling randomly, especially when bored. For some reason, I like to draw side profiles of people (what does this say about me?). I love people with unique faces, especially those with prominent features. I am a huge fan of the “character nose.”

Lately, alot of my doodles have featured side profiles with masks. I haven’t a clue why, but I like masks. I’m not particularly fond of scary masks, but rather the ornate and bejewled, or artistic and fun, ones. I’d love to create a collection of fun masks (perhaps incorpating crochet or macrame?), and would absolutely recommend to customers that they should wear them all-year round, not just on Halloween

While thinking of costume ideas this year, my friend Sean and I made two masks by cutting a pre-existing paper-mache one in half. He decorated his half and I decorate mine. For my half, I cut strips of used film like jagged teeth, and sewed them in a layered effect (like a shingled roof) using a sharp embroidery needle.

Voila! A super-easy mask!

Do I look mysterious?

Long long ago in a deep darkly wooded forrest, a young rabbit girl was on a journey to find some poison berries. This was of course, when the rabbit and wolf peoples of the earth where dominant species. On her way to a particular stretch of wood where the rare poison berries grew abundantly at that time of year, the rabbitress was spotted by a fiercely strapping and viscously cunning wolf boy, now waking from a short spell of hibernation and achingly hungry. Quiet and cautiously he stalked her on her path, drawing near and nearer to her as she trod hopingly along the forrest floor. As he stalked closer and closer he became more and more enchanted with the quirks of her merry bunny way, singing to herself quietly and jumping merrily with her fluffy bunny bottom shaking adorably behind her as she went. He prowled and stalked, closer and closer until anti-climactically he howled out rather shyly, “pardon me miss, do you know the time of day per chance?” In a sudden move to make small talk as apposed to devouring her. She looked up at the sun to check the time, confused and rather taken aback by his sudden emergence from the wood, but as she looked back to him she became entranced by the handsome lack of ferociousness in the charming look he gave her. Forgetting his question she respond timidly, “excuse me”, he then burst forth with some meaningless small talk about the great abundance and variety of mushrooms abound in the forrest that year. Before the two of them knew what had happened they had fallen madly in love, and tried desperately to conceive a child together out of the immense adoration that without warning had befallen them, being only slightly saddened by the lack of conception. Their love for each other was so grand and profound that soon all the other bunny and wolf peoples got wind of their great and epic love for each other, and began more commonly seeking out such previously unthinkable relations. Specialty establishments began popping up all over the forest, catering specifically to this new niche of singles night life. Eventually it seemed, the trend grew so common for bunny and wolf peoples to mate, despite the obvious lack of offspring, that to see a bunny with a bunny or a wolf with a wolf, was considered ultra passe and unfashionable, and as the years went by a general decline in the genetic diversity required to continue each species as such occurred, so they slowly devolved into what we now know as the common bunny and wolf. Though every now and then in the declining forests, one will see a bunny and a wolf getting on rather oddly well, and those in the know smile at the remembrance of the old wives tale about the great love between the bunny girl and the wolf boy.

Found on Dave Crosland’s blog.

My part of making the masks may be done when they go to their new homes but

Nihilus mask being worn

they still are not fully finished until they are worn. I don’t always get to see what happens with them but it’s always fun to find out how they’ve been used. One of my Etsy buyers was kind enough to forward some pictures to me of the finished costume, using my mask.

Nihilus mask

This one is a modified skull shape design that was based on a computer game character. (it’s not a perfect match to the character look and the wearer clearly wasn’t trying for that character either) You can see that they really used the mask as one component of the total look. The jaw piece isn’t mine , but it matches perfectly! I also love the look of going with bright contacts and blackening the skin rather than a black face stocking under it. It’s not something that I would have come up for this piece and that is the really fun part. It’s so great for me to see how someone made what was my mask into their mask!