Beauty Disabled

So, a friend has reminded me of the UK reality series Britain's Missing Top Model and I thought I'd share.


And some images that I have collected that struck me as similar:

Pretty Girls and Bruises

Once a while ago in class we were talking about a style of fashion that couples medical fetishism with teen fashion. While not able to find any examples of Tokyo street fashion that reflects this I have found numerous artists that have utilized this uncomfortable juxtaposition in their work. Here are some selections.

Romain Slocombe


Trevor Brown

It's interesting (but somewhat unsurprising) to note that both of these artists are men (French and British, respectively) currently living in Japan. I'm curious if any Japanese artists (beyond Izima Kaoru who I mentioned in another post) or female artists are drawn to portray Japanese women as hyper-sexualized post-violence or if this is merely an outlet of ex-pat male fantasy. Not that I'm knocking it...not really. If the amazing Jarboe approves then who am I to judge?

So, advertising for Aids awareness has done it again.

So, when I went to post this video it asked me to check a box promising that I wasn't uploading obscene material. But, well, I'm not really sure where this video falls. Obscene, perhaps. Grotesque, perhaps. It is sexually explicit so you have been warned.



What ever you think it might be it has certainly generated controversy, but Aids awareness marketing campaigns have never shied away from that as the next images will illustrate. (Different marketing firms each time, btw.) Is the message lost?

Twilight!

So, I'm using this clip for another class. But I think there's something in it for everyone.

Here's the creator's description of the remix:
In this remixed narrative Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Sunnydale High. It’s an example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy’s eyes, some of the more sexist gender roles and patriarchal Hollywood themes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed in hilarious ways. Ultimately this remix is about more than a decisive showdown between the slayer and the sparkly vampire. It also doubles as a metaphor for the ongoing battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century.

Is the normalization of domestic violence for a tween audience grotesque?

Mieskuoro Huutajat

I'll leave it up to you whether or not men shouting musically is grotesque, but there is something about the performance of aggression that speaks to themes of the grotesque, at least for me. Or maybe I'm just a masochist.

Either way, check out Mieskuoro Huutajat they've been around for a while now, and they're fun. Sort of.

Just memento mori

For those of you unfamiliar with Victorian mourning jewelry and photography I thought I would post some examples of both.

These are examples of post-mortem photography popular in the Victorian era when the deceased were often posed with their living counterparts, or propped up as if to appear still alive.




Memorial jewelry is best known to contain locks of the deceased hair, sometimes in sculptural forms to be worn or displayed as constant reminders of those lost.

Memento Mori and Loren Schwerd

Remember we are dying.

Basing her fiber sculptures on the mourning jewelry of the Victorian era and earlier Loren Schwerd uses human and synthetic hair scavenged from a flooded New Orleans beauty shop to recreate the skeletons of the homes in the area.

Sabine Pigalle

Sabine Pigalle often tends to organize her photographs in pairs of comparison, whether it is through placing two photographs side by side in exhibition or by placing two figures or two objects together or in opposition within one photograph. Of particular interest would be her two volumes of recipes: Toxi Food and Festins Libertins.

Fashion!

For some odd reason I have an unhealthy obsession with fashion advertisements. In some cases it provides a wealth of grotesque imagery combining violence, sex, and of course a healthy dose of materialism.

Izima Kaoru has shot advertisements for Gucci and Vivienne Westwood and exhibited a series called "Landscapes with Corpses." All of his corpses are impeccably dressed.

Julia deVille uses taxidermy to create jewlery.



Puma had a little fun with this one.


-theresa