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shankposting · 1 month ago

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The Trans Rocky Horror Manifesto

The People wanted to hear more. Who am I to deny them?

So let’s start personal. When I was a young man, I saw myself in Columbia more than any other character. She was quirky, exuberant, a performer. Short hair, spunky style, and a rock and roll heart.

But most of all, deep down, it was because of the way she looked at Frank.

I was looking at him the same way—I idolized powerful men, who claimed their femininity, and depraved sexuality, and creativity, and sexual dynamism, perfectly balanced between sexes but professedly, outwardly, proudly, a man.

He (Columbia) is painfully jealous of the men Frank shafted him for, and Frank himself. It was Columbia’s closest shot at greatness, proximity to exactly what he wants to be himself, but he is too lost and heartbroken and vulnerable to see. The desire for manhood alone was enough to make my heart sing. Domineering, seductive, sexy, irresistible. Desiring what I couldn’t even associate myself with became intoxicating, and dissociating. My relationship to the movie felt like Columbia’s proximity to Frank, and my relationship to this piece of media was my life raft to sail through my own gender dysphoria that I couldn’t even recognize. One summer in middle school, I watched it nearly every day on repeat. Only difference between me and Columbia, my lifeboat never abandoned me.

I see myself in him directly, but more explicitly, my quirkiness, my keening voice, my short hair, my borderline pathological obsession with queered manhood, it was all my manhood filtered through the lens of my “best I got right now” feminized physical form and female social expectations. I did drag makeup to connect with queer masculinity as a female, but nobody could see the layers in which it meant to me, because it was simply read as an affirmation of my womanhood. Columbia’s campy drag makeup style rings true to this for me.

Columbia SCREAMS “queer man helplessly bursting out of the shell of the veil of his female skin, without even understanding what is happening” to me, because I was Columbia. Down to the style, hair, restlessness, and despair.

Riff-Raff I’ve come to realize is (with the help of @manmade-rockyhorrors ) is his true foil. Riff-Raff is (obligatory in my interpretation) is undeniably coded as a deeply sad, closeted, repressed, and bitter trans woman. I’ve met women just like her, I’ve loved women just like her, I have seen this before and I bet many of you also have. And in the film, Riff-Raff and Columbia barely interact, save for the moment Riff-Raff kills Columbia in a fit of rage (as Columbia agonizes over his idol being threatened). As an interpretive choice, this makes sense, to communicate sub-textually that they are both so alienated from their own desires (and community with each other), and the female rage of Riff-Raff shutting down Columbia’s sensitive manhood in bitterness, resentful of the softness she was denied as an alienated AMAB woman. Riff-Raff turns is jealous in her own right, just quietly, as her womanhood feels a pull to be small, brooding, internal, shy, and meek… until she breaks. Columbia’s strangled manhood manifests as visible and explosive, restless neurosis. I’ve been there. Columbia was just like Riff-Raff. Only wanted to share a life with his lover, and feel seen, and embrace everything Frank showed him was possible. But it all went wrong.

Riff-Raff femininity is twisted in part because she is stuck in the old ways, the old ways that made her believe this earth wasn’t meant for her. Leaning into her power, she attempts to control Frank, but in turn, reifies shame and capitulates to the establishment by stifling his lust and exuberance. Even if it’s theoretically the same lust that Riff-Raff has for her sister, but zooming out.. Riff-Raff is the least sexualized character in the whole film, a film about celebration of sexuality. It shows meta-textually how alienated she is from being sexually open and free. Even snubbed by the audience and the text itself! But it’s not like she’s leaned into a sexual becoming she’d be proud to show the world anyway.

She is tragic to me.

Not helped by the fact that she felt she was nothing more than a tool for Frank’s empowerment, was used by him, and all she wanted was to dance with her lesbian lover in her safe, far away home, far from this madness (every single traumatized trans queer I know has expressed the “my only dream is an isolated cabin in the woods with my lover” sentiment). She loved Frank as an idol of what she could have been— feminine and powerful and sexual and loved for it. A blend of science and magic. And in the text, her long neglected desires, emotions, and needs transmute into anger, so she ends up killing Frank, her personal symbol of everything taken from her (her femininity and power) AND… everything she resents inside herself and of her male social role she is forced into failing at (domineering, willful masculinity). She could never reconcile these inside herself and accept her womanhood (*and* her womanhood’s healthy masculinity). Frank was a union of opposites she resigned herself to never accept. So she murders him, and his creation. And runs far, far away to live out her best shot at toxic yuri incest.

I don’t blame her.

It is no coincidence to me that the mind behind this entire piece of media stars as her, the very real, very talented, (and very transfeminine IRL) Richard O’Brien.

Looking to see what people have to say of this interpretation, esp a transfeminine perspective+personal experience cause rocky horror is often given a very transmisogynistic legacy.

But I wanna dig further, cause clearly it still impacts people

#ftm #mtf #rocky horror picture show #rhps #columbia rhps #riff raff #riff raff rhps #trans #the good ending #they transition #trans bisexual non binary orgies abound

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wisdomthroughtime · 3 months ago

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A MANIFEST Manifesto

Think, Believe, Act, three words with the power to change systems, visualize and create the future, and enable generations to remember ideals, victories, achievements, and mistakes that should never be repeated. In MANIFEST, desires, goals, and outcomes are brought to reality by thinking, believing, and acting (Michael, 2024). MANIFESTs believe in the law of attraction, where energies and thoughts, regardless of their nature, bring corresponding experiences and circumstances to existence. As a MANIFEST, I believe in the power of visualization, establishing positive affirmations, and setting goals that clearly define my intentions to ensure that my thoughts and actions are aligned with the outcomes I desire are achieved. As a first step towards positive change, impact, or creativity, we should clarify our goals (Michael, 2024). After that, we can visualize success, adopt a positive mindset, and consistently take action toward our aspirations. We can identify the MANIFEST practice in art by examining what the most famous music moguls, sculptors, and artists intended, promoted, and achieved through their creations.

Artists leverage the connection between the human/mind and body/spirit to nurture a desire and goal that leads to tangible results. The foundational thoughts and strategies used to develop their pieces are founded on the understanding that if one chooses to focus on a single thought regarding a specific goal, they can transfer what is in their hearts and minds into the physical environment (Michael, 2024). In art, MANIFESTs integrate the techniques of manifestation with the practical strategies of setting goals to ensure that they can focus their energies and attention on realizing their desires while enhancing their self-efficacy and empowerment. Family ties are emphasized in the film Godfather, but the characters also base their successes and achievements on the MANIFEST principles (Arias, 2018). Vito might have been corrupted by power, but his rise is attributed to his ability to visualize, set goals that reflect his ambitions, and strategically plan how their desires will be realized (Arias, 2018). A similar trait can be noted in Michael Corleone, who evolves from an outsider reluctant to engage in any family business to a ruthless heir because of his inherent ambitions.

MANIFESTs are not just dreamers but individuals who can consistently take steps to realize their desires and goals. They change the negative thought patterns and leverage the subconscious mind to nurture the realities they desire. For instance, The Church at Auvers, 1890, by Vincent Van Gogh, is an artwork that depicts the transformative nature of manifestation. Gogh creates a memory of a life that resonates with the experiences of most individuals through time (Vincentvangogh.org. n.d.). By depicting the church hidden behind its shadow, he conveys a disturbing thought of the dark emptiness of institutions that should provide hope to the less fortunate. It should be recognized that Gogh leveraged his troubled mind to create pieces that established him as an artistic genius (Vincentvangogh.org. n.d.). As a 'mad artist,' his painting, The Church at Auvers, portrays an innovative and unique style that set the stage for the development of many artists who followed him.

MANIFESTs attract the outcomes they envision by leveraging the power of their emotions and thoughts. As portrayed in 'Emancipation Memorial" by Thomas Ball, Abraham Lincoln stands beside a formerly enslaved person kneeling and with broken chains (Hassler, 2024). The sculpture conveys the power of manifestation because the broken chains represent the potential of all individuals in captivity to achieve freedom and equality through vision, desire, and determined actions. Lincoln envisioned a nation where all individuals live free. He would consequently act by signing the Emancipation Proclamation despite the vast opposition from the southern states (Hassler, 2024). Through the MANIFEST principle, creating change that could only be envisioned is possible.

MANIFESTs leverage the connection between human/mind and body/spirit to bring desires into reality. As depicted through art, everything can be attained by envisioning moments, believing, setting goals, and diligently working toward them. While all individuals dream and have desires, most differ from MANIFESTs because they manifest negatively or overcomplicate their intentions. Our potential to manifest in art is boosted because the work involves deep meditation and creativity (Michael, 2024). Artists exemplify the MANIFEST principle because they leverage their work to place themselves in a position of creative flow. Developing the pieces demands deep and intense focus for long periods and a consistent direction of focus toward what is visualized (Michael, 2024). Through their pieces, artists transform their visions into something physical that amplifies what they envisioned. They portray their desires and how they want them to look like.

By clearly defining what is desired, MANIFESTs enhance their understanding of what they want and why. Goals ensure that the vision is imagined as a vivid memory. In art, MANIFESTs gain insight into the medium and technique once they set their goals. Rather than worrying about the quality of the artwork, they emotionally connect with them and their visual image. Artists also demonstrate consistency in their practice and actions to ensure that each component is delivered as envisioned. As a personal journey, becoming a MANIFEST means that an individual is free to select the strategies and techniques that resonate with them. As such, MANIFESTs must believe in what they envisioned, act as if their visions have been realized, leverage their emotions to embrace the vision, practice gratitude even before fruition, and consistently work towards the set goals.

References

Arias, D. (2018). Cinematography – The Godfather: Anatomy of a Film. UC Berkeley. https://theseventies.berkeley.edu/godfather/tag/cinematography/

Hassler, C. (2024). Emancipation Memorial (U.S. et al.). Www.nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/places/000/emancipation-memorial.htm

Michael, E. (2024, September 26). The Science Of Manifestation: The Power Of Positive Thinking - MentalHealth.com. MentalHealth.com. https://www.mentalhealth.com/tools/science-of-manifestation

Vincentvangogh.org. (n.d.). The Church at Auvers, 1890 by Vincent Van Gogh. Www.vincentvangogh.org. https://www.vincentvangogh.org/the-church-at-auvers.jsp

#Amanifesto

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audramh · 3 years ago

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I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE

[a no holds barred manifesto]

I honestly thought about leaving. I did. It's not fun in here a lot of the time. Truthfully, I don't like Sam or Cait a lot of the time. In my comparatively short three years here, they've managed to make themselves unlikable.

And I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to refute photos and rumors. I'm tired of straining my eyes looking at reflections and areas of possible pixellation and comparing knuckle joints.

I've never been in a fandom in my entire life. That's still not my thing, even in this one. I don't think the words of Diana Gabaldon are sacrosanct. There are fanfic writers who put her work to shame on the regular, and I am in awe of them for it. I think her writing leaves a lot to be desired: it's obtuse when it should be explicitly clear, and the reverse is true as well. She's a self-obsessed show pony who is deaf to constructive criticism.

So I'm not obsessed with the books. I've read most of them. They were alright in spots, endlessly dull in others, but I've just never been a fan of fiction anyway. I prefer realism and have amassed a personal library of hundreds of nonfiction books that are my pride and joy. Facts are more fascinating to me than anyone's fanciful (and often disappointingly non-linear) imagination.

I'm not even obsessed with the show, to tell you the truth. No matter how elaborate the sets, costumes, or accents, I never actually forget that I'm watching paid actors pretending something is real. A famous actor once wisely said: "I get paid to tell elaborate lies."

Indeed.

But an incontrovertible truth did leak out: Sam Heughan fell in love with Caitriona Balfe, and she fell in love with him. I can't pretend I don't know; I committed that fact to memory long ago.

Equally true is how their PR fuckwits and greedy, limp-dicked overlords managed to coerce and convince them way back in January 2016 that staging a public bonfire of that love was the way to a better career.

And so we believers, knowing damn well what we know we've seen and what they cannot help themselves from affirming ad infinitum, are forced to watch them self-immolate. They do it in interviews. They do it in written word. They do it in photos. They do it on social media. They do it by allowing others to connect the dots they'd rather not. They do it by reading Tumblr blogs and deciding what to set ablaze next.

They do it to appease others, they do it to avoid penalties, they do it out of a learned Pavlovian impulse, they do it out of habit, they do it out of fear.

They need us to be compliant, complicit, and complacent... for as long as necessary. They'll block us, they'll mock us, they'll let us wither and die. The destruction must go on.

So I sit here with my glass of whiskey (Jim Beam, because the worst thing he ever did to me was convince me I could dance), full of righteous indignation. I am sick of what these two have turned into: seemingly soulless caricatures of their actual selves that we met years ago, and having allowed their public personas to belie all their truth. It was once beautiful. Still might be.

Fuck everyone involved. And listen up:

I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE, YOU TWO.

You have lost my support for your charities, your side gigs, your products, and your films. That's my choice.

But I'm sticking around for what I know is true. You really should save the elaborate lies for the pages of Outlander scripts.

I will keep writing about you as the life mates I know you are. On my blog in posts like this. In things I write on AO3. In DMs. In groups.

There will be fluff. There will be smut. There will be Applied Lip Reading.

You will not find me compliant.

I'm turning this shit up to 11.

ANTIS AND ASSHATS GET BLOCKED AND MOCKED.

#sam x cait #sam heughan #caitriona balfe #believer manifesto #🖕

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kingstylesdaily · 4 years ago

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EXCLUSIVE: Gucci to Show New Collection Through Film Series

Alessandro Michele and Gus Van Sant codirected seven episodes running Nov. 16 to 22 during digital fashion and film festival GucciFest, and featuring friends of the house including Billie Eilish and Harry Styles.

MILAN — Alessandro Michele is not moving to Hollywood, but he’s clearly embraced cinematography.

Gucci’s creative director will present the new course of the brand through a seven-part film series he has codirected with Gus Van Sant.

Gucci’s upcoming collection will appear throughout seven episodes running from Nov. 16 to 22, screened during a new digital fashion and film festival called GucciFest. The collection and the series are dubbed “Ouverture of Something That Never Ended.”

The films were shot in Rome and feature actress and artist Silvia Calderoni “in a surreal daily routine across the city,” according to Gucci, and encountering a number of friends of the house, each wearing garments from the new collection. These include Spanish writer Paul B. Preciado; Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva; Grammy Award winner Billie Eilish; artist and fine-jewelry designer Darius Khonsary; Chinese singer and actor Lu Han, who has fronted Gucci ads; American actor and playwright Jeremy O. Harris; artist Ariana Papademetropoulos; singer Arlo Parks; singer Harry Styles, who has also fronted Gucci ads; German choreographer and dancer Sasha Waltz, and singer Florence Welch.

In January 2019, during Milan Fashion Week, Gucci held an impactful performance by the androgynous Calderoni at the Gucci Hub instead of a men’s fashion show. The 90-minute “Motus MDLSX” play was a manifesto about gender fluidity and the journey in affirming one’s own identity, transcending labels imposed by society, mixing a monologue with a DJ and VJ set.

The seven episodes this month will be released daily through the course of the festival as an exclusive broadcast on YouTube Fashion, Weibo, Gucci YouTube, and embedded on the dedicated site GucciFest.com, gradually revealing the new collection day by day until Nov. 22.

At the same time, GucciFest will be screening fashion films celebrating the works of 15 independent and emerging young designers selected and supported by Michele: Ahluwalia, Shanel Campbell, Stefan Cooke, Cormio, Charles De Vilmorin, JordanLuca, Mowalola, Yueqi Qi, Rave Review, Gui Rosa, Rui, Bianca Saunders, Collina Strada, Boramy Viguier and Gareth Wrighton. The designers will be able to showcase their collections across the digital platforms of the GucciFest.

Last month the Italian fashion company teased the new collaboration with Van Sant by posting on Instagram drawings by him with a cryptic caption, “Impressions of Rome,” and the hashtag #GucciOuverture, as well as a Polaroid by Paige Powell of Van Sant and Michele.

Michele in May with his manifesto “Notes from the Silence” revealed he was crafting a new course for the brand, abandoning what he has called “the worn-out ritual of seasonalities and shows to regain a new cadence, closer to my expressive call. We will meet just twice a year, to share the chapters of a new story.”

Conceiving new names for the collections and inspired by the music world, Michele in July presented what would have traditionally been called a cruise collection and that was dubbed “Epilogue,” worn by the team from his office instead of models in a project that included a 12-hour livestream.

Gucci skipped Milan Fashion Week last month.

The collaboration with Van Sant is in sync with Michele’s own sensibility. The American film director, screenwriter, painter, photographer and musician is a champion of diversity and inclusion and has typically dealt with the issue of marginalization and in particular of homosexuality.

His feature-length directorial debut came with the film “Mala Noche” in 1985, followed by “Drugstore Cowboy” in 1989. For “Good Will Hunting” in 1997 and 2008’s “Milk,” based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, Van Sant was nominated for the Academy Award for best director and both films received Best Picture nominations.

source: wwd.com

#kingstylesdaily #Harry Styles #hs: gucci #hs: GucciFest 2020 #hs: news #november 2020

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hlupdate · 4 years ago

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MILAN — Alessandro Michele is not moving to Hollywood, but he’s clearly embraced cinematography.

Gucci’s creative director will present the new course of the brand through a seven-part film series he has codirected with Gus Van Sant.

Gucci skipped Milan Fashion Week last month.

#harry styles #051120 #guccifest

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maddalenafragnito · 4 years ago

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ART FOR UBI (MANIFESTO)

Happy to join forces with this movement and create a network that strongly demands the introduction of a Universal Basic Income as the main response to the systemic crisis that is affecting not only the art and cultural production sector but the whole ecosystem in which we move every day!

The ART FOR UBI campaign promoted by the Institute of Radical Imagination.

1/ Universal and Unconditional Basic Income is the best measure for the arts and cultural sector. Art workers claim a basic income, not for themselves, but for everyone.

2/ Do not call UBI any measures that do not equal a living wage: UBI has to be above the poverty threshold. To eliminate poverty, UBI must correspond to a region’s minimum wage.

3/ UBI frees up time, liberating us from the blackmail of precarious labor and from exploitative working conditions.

4/ UBI is given unconditionally and without caveats, regardless of social status, job performance, or ability. It goes against the meritocratic falsehoods that cover for class privilege.

5/ UBI is not a social safety net, nor is it welfare unemployment reform. It is the minimal recognition of the invisible labor that is essential to the reproduction of life, largely unacknowledged but essential, as society’s growing need for care proves.

6/ UBI states that waged labor is no longer the sole means for wealth redistribution. Time and time again, this model proves unsustainable.Wage is just another name for exploitation of workers, who always earn less than they give.

7/ Trans-feminist and decolonizing perspectives teach us to say NO to all the invisible and extractive modes of exploitation, especially within the precarious working conditions created by the art market.

8/ UBI affirms the right to intermittence, privacy and autonomy, the right to stay off-line and not to be available 24/7.

9/ UBI rejects the pyramid scheme of grants and of the nonprofit industrial complex, redistributing wealth equally and without unnecessary bureaucratic burdens. Bureaucracy is the vampire of art workers’ energies and time turning them into managers of themselves.

10/ By demanding UBI, art workers do not defend a guild or a category and depreciate the role that class and privilege play in current perceptions of art. UBI is universal because it is for everyone and makes creative agency available to everyone.

11/ Art’s health is directly connected to a healthy social fabric. To claim for UBI, being grounded in the ethics of mutual care, is art workers’ most powerful gesture of care towards society.

12/ Because UBI disrupts the logic of overproduction, it frees us from the current modes of capital production that are exploiting the planet. UBI is a cosmogenetic technique and a means to achieve climate justice.

13/ Where to find the money for the UBI? In and of itself UBI questions the actual tax systems in Europe and elsewhere. UBI empowers us to reimagine financial transactions, the extractivism of digital platforms, liquidity, and debt. No public service should be cut in order to finance UBI.

14/ UBI inspires many art collectives and communities to test various tools for more equal redistribution of resources and wealth. From self-managed mutual aid systems based on collettivising incomes, to solutions temporarily freeing cognitive workers from public and private constraints. We aim to join them.

FIRST SIGNATURES:

Individuals

Emanuele Braga / Macao, Milan; Institute of Radical Imagination

Marco Bravalle / Sale Docks, Venice; Institute of Radical Imagination

Gabriella Riccio / L’Asilo, Naples ; Institute of Radical Imagination

Ilenia Caleo / Campo Innocente; Incommon – Università IUAV Venezia

Anna Rispoli / Artist

Maddalena Fragnito / Macao, Milan; Phd at Coventry University

Andrea Fumagalli / Effimera; University of Pavia

Nicola Capone / Philosopher; L’Asilo, Naples

Luigi Coppola / Artist

Giuseppe Micciarelli / L’Asilo, Naples, University of Salerno

Julio Linares / Economist and Anthropologist; JoinCircles.net

Dena Beard / The Lab, San Francisco

Manuel Borja-Villel / Museum Director, Madrid

Salvo Torre / Professor, member of POE Politics, Ontologies, Ecologies

Sara Buraya Boned / L’Internationale; Institute Of Radical Imagination

Kuba Szreder / Curator and theorist, Warsaw

Dmitry Vilensky / Chto Delat

Charles Esche / Director of Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

Franco Bifo Berardi / Philosopher

Gregory Sholette / Artist

Zeyno Pekunlu / Artist, Institute of Radical Imagination

Anna Daneri / Forum dell’arte contemporanea italiana

Massimo Mollona / Goldsmiths’ University of London, Institute of Radical Imagination

Jerszy Seymour / Artist and Designer; Sandberg Institute

Marco Assennato / Maître de conférences in filosofia, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture, Paris-Malaquais

Roberto Ciccarelli / Philosopher and journalist

Sandro Mezzadra / Philosopher

Geert Lovink / Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam

Alisa Del Re / senior professor Ateneo Patavino

Andrea Gropplero / Film Director

Giuseppe Allegri / Activist

Elena Lasala Palomar / Institute of Radical Imagination

Nicolas Martino / Philosopher

Ilaria Bussoni / Editor and curator

Danilo Correale / Artist

Annalisa Sacchi / Incommon – Università IUAV Venezia

Giada Cipollone / Incommon – Università IUAV Venezia

Stefano Tomassini / Incommon – Università IUAV Venezia

Piersandra Di Matteo / Incommon – Università IUAV Venezia

Elena Blesa Cabéz / Researcher, Barcelona; Institute of Radical Imagination

Jesús Carrillo / Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and Theory of Art Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Institute of Radical Imagination

Pablo García Bachiller / Arquitecto; Institute of Radical Imagination

Theo Prodromidis / Artist; Institute of Radical Imagination

Mabel Tapia / Art Researcher Madrid-Paris

Chiara Colasurdo / Labour Lawyer

Organizations

Institute of Radical Imagination

Il Campo Innocente

Macao

Sale Docks

Chto Delat

L’Asilo

Euronomade

Dirty Art Department Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Dirty Art Foundation

Effimera

OperaViva Magazine

Basic Income Network – Italia

Community and Research for Circles UBI

Forum d’arte contemporanea

Global Project

Dinamopress

Sherwood

AWI Art Workers Italy

Maestranze dello Spettacolo Veneto

Autonomedia New York City

#ARTforUBImanifesto

You can sign ART FOR UBI (Manifesto) on change.org

We strongly invite you support the EU Citizen’s Initiative to Start Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI) throughout Europe

#project #art #campaign #ubi #basicincome #network #Europe #care #collectiveproject

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briesmusings-blog · 6 years ago

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the university experience

it’s waiting in line for a coffee on campus and the cafe is playing an audio book of the communist manifesto.

it’s vehemently rejecting one of your lectures and everything about it because the lecturer is a piece of shit.

it’s being terrified of a class mate but still having to see them everyday.

it’s completing an in class survey and seeing it shitposted with film memes.

it’s falling asleep in the library while watching a vine compilation.

it’s falling in love with every butch girl i see on campus.

it’s looking in the mirror in the public bathroom and seeing positive affirmations all over the class.

it’s tearing down terf and pro-life posters.

it’s running across campus to get free food.

it’s locking yourself in a toilet to cry.

it’s not wanting to go home because you’re scared of your flatmates.

it’s falling down two flights of steps.

it’s blacking out in lectures.

it’s everything and nothing all at once.

“it’s the university experience.”

#poem #poet #poetry #female author #female poet #female writer #university #college #this turned out a lot more depressing than i planned #still like it though #and yes all of this shit has happened to me #depression #mental illness #studying with a mental illness #experience

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theseadagiodays · 5 years ago

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June 14, 2020

Stuck Together

Dresses by Gabrielle C - lemons; Evelyn K - tux; Callan R - Black Lives Matter

For the past three months, I have so appreciated sharpening my lens towards the creative gestures that this time has inspired. These musings began with a hunch that artists would play a significant leadership role in the resiliency that such crises require. While confirmed, my thesis has expanded to recognize that ALL humans are fundamentally wired to be resilient. And because innovation is a key ingredient of resiliency, people from all walks of life (professional artist or otherwise) have been seeking creative expression to tether them through these uncertain times.

For example, take these insanely fanciful prom dresses that teenagers around the US have designed in just 48 hours, using 40 rolls of duck tape and no other materials. I can only imagine to what extent feelings of uncertainty have been exacerbated for these high school seniors, already poised for one of the biggest leaps of their life. With the possibility of on-campus fall enrollment at new institutions threatened, and stripped of important rituals like graduation ceremonies and grad dances, these youth have had to contend with an abundance of shattered dreams. So, it was unexpectedly surprising to see the hope, compassion and beauty in the creations that resulted from this year’s Stuck at Prom Duck Tape Challenge. Browsing the 100’s of jaw-dropping entries on the contest’s website (https://www.duckbrand.com/stuck-at-prom/2020-gallery), there was not a single Covid Sucks, self-pitying design in the bunch. Instead, you can find tributes to essential workers and Black Lives Matter, mottos of solidarity, and an artful nod to “making lemonade.” Knowing that our future is in the hands of these thoughtful young people is perhaps the most encouraged I’ve felt during this entire pandemic.

Dress by Peyton M - frontline workers

June 15, 2020

Covid Commissions

Various WPA Virtual Commissions - see link below

Physical distancing and other economic challenges, resulting from the coronavirus, have taken a huge toll on artists’ livelihood. Currently, many existing arts grants have been either cut or postponed, in order for governments to reallocate funding towards critical services like health care, transportation and housing. And while I believe that the arts are as critical as breathing, full-well contributing to our physiological, psychological and self-actualizing needs, they still fall pretty far down most people’s interpretation of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Thankfully, there have been numerous emergency relief funds available to pick up the financial slack for artists. So, these have provided much needed temporary help to cover living expenses. But they haven’t necessarily supported the creation of new work. Fortunately though, some institutions have recognized the essentiality of the arts by putting them front and centre of their funding priorities. One such organization is the Guggenheim, whose board and donors contributed $150,000 to their Works & Process Virtual Commissioning fund which supported performing artists from a variety of mediums to create up to 5-minute video pieces from home. Like Cooped, a project I referenced on June 4th, all of the resulting works can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ08rQmWB63RFC3avQF-nDsneUXLrUd4X

As I mentioned earlier, we dabbled in a little commissioning ourselves, during quarantine. And here is the promised finished product by Natalie Warkentin (@morningmusings), the very talented artist of Bloom: A beautiful process of becoming. Her playful, vibrant piece has made a world of difference to our daily joy, with the inordinant amount of time that we usual out-and-abouters have been spending at home! And we were also thrilled to learn that it has, indirectly, already led to a second commission for her.

June 16, 2020

Piano Play

In surveying my peers, I’ve noticed that this has been a time for reconnecting with long-lost friends. As some of these old relationships have resurfaced for me, one of my favorite “icebreakers” has been to ask what new pursuits they’ve enjoyed during this period. For many, it’s been sourdough starters; others gardening; and some, learning French. But I’ve also found that many adults are taking up instruments, which makes me extremely happy. I can’t tell you how many times, throughout my career, after mentioning to a stranger, on a plane or elsewhere, that I was a flutist, they replied “Oh, I wish I played an instrument,” ... almost as if they were already dead. My habitual response is always to encourage adult music-making, and it’s one of the reasons that the majority of our non-profits’ arts programs target adult populations. While I fully support early childhood musical and artistic development, I don’t think these opportunities are nearly as lacking as those for “big kids”. One of my friends, in an effort to brush up on her Grade 4 childhood piano skills, recently asked if I could recommend some playable, accessible pieces in a variety of genres (from film scores to pop to classical). Since keyboard or piano seems to be the most common new instrument for people to learn later in life (with perhaps only ukulele as a close second), I thought it would be fun to post the list that I shared with her. Each of the scores, below, is available online, for free or purchasable download, and generally requires the player to use only one finger, in either hand, at the same time. For a final extra tip: Musescore.com has a 30-day free trial, during which you can download to your heart’s delight!

Regina Spektor The Call (from Chronicles of Narnia)

Sufjan Stevens Mystery of Love (from Call Me By Your Name)

Erik Satie Gymnopedie #1-3, & Le Tango Perpetual

Arvo Part Fur Alina

Olafur Arnalds Tomorrow’s Song

Thomas Neumann Theme from American Beauty

Yann Tiersen Valse d’Amelie

Icelandic pianist, singer/songwriter, Olafur Arnalds

June 17, 2020

Cause and Effect

I love the music of language. Perhaps it’s why my transition from flutist to writer has felt so natural. I rarely remember the lyrics to songs, instead hearing the syllables as a collection of phonetic melodies. I also experience sounds somewhat synaesthetically (synaesthesia being the neurological condition where certain senses, which are not normally connected, join or merge together. Like certain alphabetic letters being associated with certain tastes, or particular smells being connected to sounds). For me, musical sonorities have always been strongly linked to specific colors or shapes. And the geometry of certain words have very distinct and often pleasurable textures when they bounce around my mouth. Perhaps my favorite example of this is the Buddhist word for the “interconnectedness of all things”: Pratītyasamutpāda. More clearly defined, this term refers to dependent origination, or dependent arising, a Buddhist philosophy which states that all phenomena arise in dependence upon other phenomena. Simply put, it’s the law of cause and effect. The far-reaching global butterfly effect of Covid has made all of us keenly aware of this law. Like never before, we are now considering the consequences of our actions in a myriad of ways: like whether or not to touch a pedestrian crossing button with our hands, scratch our nose when it itches, or hug an aging parent. So, while the threat of this virus has had huge negative repercussions for many people’s physical and mental health, I can not deny that there is also a positive way in which it has reminded us of our interconnectedness. Of course, it’s a horrific shame that it took a deadly pandemic to wake us up to they symbiotic nature of all things. And, for my generation and those younger than me, (particularly in North America and other cultures who have not experienced war or famine or a health epidemic, first-hand, for more than half a century), it may only be global warming that has demanded we truly consider how our behavior impacts the people and environment around us. However, even the impact of that seems too large and slow for most to fully fathom. It’s why we still drive like fiends, strangle turtles with our plastics, and fly to Hawaii for weekend getaways (and, of this sin, I shamefully confess I’m guilty too!).

So, we clearly need all of the reminders we can get, which makes this recent contest I learned about all the more fitting. There is perhaps no one who has more artfully or playfully illustrated the nature of phenomenological cause and effect than Rube Goldberg. Maybe you have seen his machines that combine cuckoo clocks, toy rockets, ping pong balls and string in elaborate chains of events that result in a single action. The band OK Go is famous for music videos crafted around such devices. And here, you can check out an absolutely brilliant one of theirs, with a message that we all need to hear right now, This Too Shall Pass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Everyday folks have also been trying their hand at making such contraptions, for the sole honor of being named winner of the recent Rube Goldberg Soap Challenge. And you’ll be amazed at what this Toronto family devised to earn the crown: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.5604697/toronto-family-thrilled-and-a-little-bit-surprised-to-win-rube-goldberg-challenge-1.5604698

June 18, 2020

Sensibility

My Uncle Len, a playwright and educator who has engaged in community arts throughout his career, has been a constant muse for me. But more than professional expertise, it has been his sensibilities that have served as my true inspiration. Len defines sensibility as “how we see, what we focus on, affirm and move towards in life.” He is so convinced it is the subject most necessary to study, at this time, that he has written a book about it - his life manifesto, if you will.

Len is simply one of my favorite people on earth. It’s hard not to adore a guy who decorates his exquisite garden with found objects, runs each of his theatre pieces as benefits for various charities, and tries paddleboarding for the first time at 85. This is right in keeping with the sensibilities he holds to be most critical in life, “beauty, fairness, and playfulness.” And while he’s worked on this piece for years, its message could not be more well-timed. Because, to use his words, imagine how effectively we could deal with pandemics, police brutality, and global warming, “if only everyone was rooting for everyone.”

Len’s Einstein likeness is not lost on anyone. And he has made him (and his physicist pal, Niels Bohr) the subject of many of his theatre pieces, not because of their scientific prowess but because they are prime models of “beauty, fairness, and playfulness” themselves.

Like Len’s inspirations, Einstein and Niels Bohr, he possesses the rare ability to find unified principles in seemingly disparate things. In Sensibility, a child’s wonder for a butterfly is illustrated to be as important an ingredient for the welfare of humanity as the thoughtfulness these giants’ exercised, advising on the development of the atomic bomb. Through Len’s unique lens, the reader understands fairness from the perspective of a fifth grader dealing with bullying to a physicist harboring Jews in World War II. We see the critical need for playfulness in everything from driving a junk truck to making a theatre piece. And now, just as the specter of a dangerous virus is re-awakening our sensibilities to affect social change with unprecedented speed, this book is a perfect tale for the times. It concludes with the prescient and hopeful story of 1,500 activists, linked hand-in-hand at the Encirclement of Rocky Flats, while they protest a nuclear plant in 1983, ultimately resulting in its shut down. This exquisite, slender volume is packed with instructions on how to live a compassionate and fertile life. And the beautiful equation it proposes is: Essential life skills = Mastering a Childlike Quality squared (E=mc2).

Just released on Amazon, it is now available here:

https://www.amazon.com/Sensibility-Children-Albert-Einstein-Niels/dp/B088B59P9Z/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=sensibility&qid=1591823421&s=books&sr=1-6

June 19, 2020

Comfort with Impermanence

Historically, humans have gone to preposterous lengths to deny and defy their impermanence. From Egyptian mummies, to cryogenic freezing, to time capsules left for future or alien populations to learn of our legacy. One such preservationist effort was the Voyager Golden Record - a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk curated by Carl Sagan, and sent to space with the 1979 launch, to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth to whomever might find it. In addition to photos of athletes, mathematical formulas, and mothers with child, are recordings of birdsong, speech in 50+ languages, Bach, Chuck Berry, Indigenous songs and Indian ragas. To judge, for yourself, the accuracy of this audio/visual snapshot of human worth, you can listen to the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4D51474AB7BE5595

Despite these attempts to ameliorate our fears about our own mortality, our anxiety persists. And now, in these particularly uncertain times, with viral stats, regulations and restrictions changing on a daily basis, more than ever, we need tools to help us become more comfortable with impermanence.

For me, mindfulness meditation is the most expedient way to come to terms with the fundamental truth that all states of being are fleeting and everything is in constant flux. As we become the Watcher rather than the Doer, we observe that our thoughts and feelings are as fleeting as the phenomena around us. And simply recognizing and accepting this can actually bring great comfort. Poet Mary Oliver understood this well, as she describes evocatively in her poem, In Blackwater Woods.

Look, the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light, are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment, the long tapers of cattails are bursting and floating away over the blue shoulders of the ponds, and every pond, no matter what its name is, is nameless now. Every year everything I have ever learned in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation, whose meaning none of us will ever know. To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.

And so, too, I think it is time to let this blog go. At least for now. It feels, in its own way, like a time capsule of a very potent moment in our lives. And, as that, this infintissimal drop in the bucket of human thought feels complete. So, while it can seem frightening to be reminded of the speck in the universe that human history truly is, I actually take great solace from understanding our smallness. On this note, I will return to the same text that consoled me early in lock down. I also shared this with my dear Uncle Len, whose 87th birthday just happens to be today. As all people his age, his life has been particularly disrupted by this virus. But as someone who appreciates physics from the persective of the beautiful dance we all do with each other and the cosmos, he received these words with particular gratitude. It is a passage from Maria Popova’s March 18th Brainspickings newsletter, published just one day after the world shut down:

“Meanwhile, someplace in the world, somebody is making love and another a poem. Elsewhere in the universe, a star manyfold the mass of our third-rate sun is living out its final moments in a wild spin before collapsing into a black hole, its exhale bending spacetime itself into a well of nothingness that can swallow every atom that ever touched us and every datum we ever produced, every poem and statue and symphony we’ve ever known - an entropic spectacle insentient to questions of blame and mercy - devoid of why...The atoms that huddled for a cosmic blink around the shadow of self will return to the seas that made us. What will survive of us are shoreless seeds and stardust.”

This final entry is my 64th, a number that has been my favorite since I was a small girl, for its symmetric beauty (8 squared, 4 to the 3rd, 2 to the 5th). Interestingly, this powerful number is also frequently referenced in spiritual texts and throughout pop culture (the number of generations from Adam to Jesus; the number of “tantras” in Hinduism, the number of squares on a chess board, the number of crayons in the popular Crayola pack, and the number of Hexagons in the I-Ching). The meaning of Hexagon 64 is “unfinished business.” Therefore, the story, of course, will go on. Whatever windswept seedling will take root next, however, I do not yet know...

64th Hexagon combination in the I-Ching

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stripdownforamoment · 6 years ago

Text

WEEK 16_ MEDIA and IMAGES : shaping the modern woman

London, 12 February 2019

This week the theme is media. More currently we see the effects of social media in shaping our desires and ideas. It's been -and will continue to- be mentioned in many of my interviews both with the models and the artists. Not only that but, the different types of media that transcend the technological era. As a body artist, ORLAN expresses that beauty ideals can be traced back to classical and renascence art. That was a source of inspiration to her work that deals with BODY MODIFICATION.

Also, the topic of eating disorders will be a bit present in both this week´s reading as well as the interview with Joana. We will mention some negative parts but also how someone can take something as concerning and serious and take positive action in their lives.

Finally, we see the effect of traditional media such as magazines and television. And the ongoing desire that humans have to improve themselves aesthetically. I guess what we are really looking at is the way IMAGES inspire and shape beauty ideal throughout the years.

STRIP DOWN FOR A MOMENT with Joana Silva

" My favourite part about my body is my BUM!"

"...it´s big. I worked hard on the gym to have this body that I love". Joana explains to us that is something that she feels proud off not only because it makes her feel beautiful and sexy but it comes from a place of hard work and self-love. "It´s also something that people notice on my appearance and compliment me on". She explains that is a good thing to feel good about your self though compliments and its a boost in your confidence and "there is nothing wrong with that".

She tells us that the part of the body she is more SELF CONSCIOUS of are her breasts. "I think they are a bit small but I don’t see them as a bad thing anymore". She has learnt to love this trade of hers and ignore beauty stereotypes and what is considered proportional by beauty standards. Once she even pierced her nipple as a way of self-expression. She explains that it was "just for fun" at the time and she didn't do it as an affirmation or anything. But looking back she recognised that experience made her feel good about this part of her body she didn't like as much. " Now I look back and see this moment as a way to embellish and give a purpose to that conflicted area of my body”.

"I grew up being a very underweight both as a child and a teenager. I would go as far as to say I had anorexic behaviour. But one trade that I always had was my big booty. No matter how skinny I was. I think it´s just genetics. Only in my late teenage years, I become a bit more chubby. At that point, people were commenting a lot about it because they were not used to it. And I wasn’t either. So I started to be very self-conscious about it".

At this point, she started to embrace a lot of dietary practices to cope with her lack of self-love to the way she looked. She tried veganism and is now a vegetarian for a few years. Joana decided to embrace a very healthy lifestyle and eating habits because it also promotes self-love and "makes us feel good from within".

Joana and I are very close friends and shared a lot of time and space with each other. By knowing her and living with her it really shows her passion for exercise and good eating habits. Also, she shows a big devotion to the gym and having an active life. She tells us how she really likes it and says it helped with a lot of thing in life. Both overcoming health problems and loving her body but also mentally. "It’s a space I go to reflect, almost like meditation". It helps to stop her busy life and have a break. It also a place to socialise and create a community. Many of her friends back home come from gym life. They met there and had become close friends and it’s a thing to bound over.

Her family is also very supportive of her diet which is good surprising in a way. She explains that in Portugal vegetarianism is not very well embraced lifestyle at times. Only recently there are more options for vegans and vegetarians as MEAT is a big part of our culture. Her mother and brother have also embraced a healthy lifestyle. She was a great and positive influence on her family and to be fair she was also the reason I started my vegetarian diet too.

She says that even with all the positive changes that her habits have had on her health "people still like to find a reason to criticise her lifestyle". That might be by commenting on her vegetarianism, or thinking that she might be obsessed with her figure and gym life. Or maybe they just think she is superficial.

"I enjoy posting on social media about my lifestyle. I like to take pictures in the gym and showing my beautiful body". She says this is very empowering and helps her express self-love.

" It comes from a place of hard work and pride".

"But sill people will always twist it and think I am showing off or I am vain". She strongly believes we need to stop caring about what other people say. "They will always find something to criticise. At the end of the day if you are not hurting anyone and you are being good to your self that’s all it matters".

To FINALISE we talk about her experience in this project. Joana was the very first guinea pig for this whole project as she participated as a model in my very first test photoshoot.

"In the first shoot, I really didn’t like it. We took some pictures where you could really see my belly rolls. When we take pictures of our selves for Instagram for example, we are used to posing or bodies in a certain way that is more flattering. So when we see our selves in another angle or different from what we are used to it, looks BAD".

Maybe also the factor of exposure. After all, is a nude shoot. Truth be told clothes help accentuate thing we like about our selves and hide other things.

"It was a shock for me. But its really a matter of self-acceptance. And also, I got used to the idea and the concept".

The second time we shoot, the final shoot, was a lot more professional- with all the lighting and camera. "It was better. The professional atmosphere and now knowing what the project. Also seeing how other people had done it as well helped me feel more comfortable".

" The pictures where now a lot more meaningful and I liked that they had a point. We worked with different angles and close shots. That makes it feel less personal and less intimidating. It's not about me as a person but is now about this story and to sharing my experience to maybe make other people feel good".

VISUAL REFERENCES work of French artist ORLAN

My father introduced me to her in a conversation about my project. I was updating him on this project and talking about some artists I have come across in my research. When talking about Body Image the topic BODY MODIFICATIONS came to my dad´s mind and he told me to explore the works of ORLAN. He told me her work was very diverse but she was famously known for her performative works that revolve around body modification and surgery.

Born Mireille Suzanne Francette Porte, the French artist first adopted the name ORLAN in 1971. Although ORLAN is best known for her work with PLASTIC SURGERY in the early to mid-90s, she does not limit herself to a specific medium and in her website, you can find photography, sculpture, installations and other types of art.

She was credited with great importance in art history as a body artist. Her work explores themes related to IDENTITY and TECHNOLOGY. Also, the rediscovering of the poetics of the body: the REAL body and IMAGINARY body, the LIVED and EMOTIONAL body, the MYSTIC and SOCIAL body and the DIFFUSE and HYBRID body.

The Reincarnation of Saint-ORLAN

This is her most remarkable work related to self-MODIFICATIONS. Started in the 1990s involves a series of plastic surgeries through which the artist transformed herself into elements from famous paintings and sculptures of women. As a part of her "Carnal Art" manifesto -and related to contemporary performative and artistic movements- these works were filmed and broadcast throughout the world.

Her goal with this series of cosmetic modifications is to acquire the IDEALS of female beauty- depicted by male artists though out art history. When complete ORLAN will have Venus chin from Botticelli's, Psyche nose from Jean-Léon Gérôme's, Europa lips from François Boucher's, the eyes of Diana -as depicted in a 16th-century French School of Fontainebleau painting- and the forehead of Mona Lisa from Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece.

ORLAN explain that the reason behind her references is “not for the canons of beauty they represent... but rather on account of the stories associated with them." ORLAN chose Diana because she is inferior to the gods and men, but the leader of the goddesses and women. Mona Lisa, because of the standard of beauty, or anti-beauty, that she represents. Psyche, because of the fragility and vulnerability within her soul. Venus, for carnal beauty and Europa, for her adventurous outlook on the future.

Entre-Deux, a self-portrait inspired by Venus, by ORLAN in 1994.

"When I embarked on my project The Reincarnation of Saint ORLAN in 1990, I had a series of operations that had never been done before. I wasn’t using plastic surgery to bring me closer to the norm of beauty. I wanted a procedure that would disrupt the very idea of what beauty is." (The Guardian, 2016)

"People often focus on the implants I had put in on my temples in 1993. They’re meant to permanently heighten the cheekbones, but I had them inserted on each side of my forehead. When people describe me without seeing me, I sound like an undesirable monster. But when they see me it’s different" (The Guardian, 2016).

Occasional Striptease with linen from the trousseau, 1974-1975

Études Documentaries, LE DRAPÉ BAROQUE 1978

"All through time, civilisations have re-imagined the body, through tattoos, scarring, modifications to the skull. Now, we can replace teeth when they fall out or fix a cleft lip and other deformations – nature’s horrors. Nature shows us what a complete transformation looks like: a baby’s head becomes a teenager’s and an adult’s head becomes that of an old woman or man. To transform one’s body, to cross-dress, to change the colour of one’s hair, to me doesn’t seem so different (The Guardian, 2016).

It was very hard for me to look into her artwork, especially her The Reincarnation of Saint-ORLAN work. I really struggle with the topic of surgery and it was very squeamish for me. I couldn’t make myself look at one of her performances so I asked people around me to describe it to be.

It's so interesting to me because even ORLAN herself recognised how her appearance can be compared to much as a monstrosity - due to all these unnatural pressures. Her appearance is a LIVING PARADOX. All here references are this beautiful creature but in the end, she becomes this self-made Frankenstein like Alien-like CREATION.

READING book by Wykes and Gunter

This week´s reading on The MEDIA and Body Image by Meggie Wykes and Barrie Gunter was very informative. In it, you can find detailed text full of facts and scientific and historical research. It also references a lot of other writers, studies and surveys.

The chapters I was the most interested -and focused my lecture on- we about themes such as different Body Shapes and Ideals, Locating a source for this issue to blame, Gender and Body, Body Matters and Selling the body. Also, other chapters such as From Representation to Effects, the Prevalence of Concerns About Body Image and Mediated Bodies (Wykes and Gunter, 2005).

Each chapter and title were very complex and extensive. Although I found myself further reading about the topic I find difficult to analyse and comment on this content due to its factual nature. However, it's very noticeable for me the connection with these texts and the subject matter addressed in the interview with my models. A current theme in the interviews I made for this project is the effect puberty has on US. This is not new information, as we learn from an early age that this stage of our life provides loads of emotional, hormonal and physical change. Nonetheless, this was a statement and further affirmation of how these issues are not just abstract concepts and topics we read in books, but real stories that affect REAL PEOPLE in their lives.

In the book, the authors mention and comment on studies that show that these obsessions with body image develop from ages 13 to 18. After it's development these OBSESSIONS, most of the time, continue to evolve and lead to eating disorders. It just comes to show that these changes impact our lives dramatically and permanently (Wykes and Gunter, 2005).

There are a lot of parallelisms between the information found in this book and the events portrait on the interviews.

I will not be focusing too much on this review as I prefer to develop in better detail my own research with the model and artists interviews. Still, this reading was very important and enriching for my project in a more factual way. I think it is important to back up some of the experiences you and the people around you been through with some information that is available in studies.

REFERENCES

Orlan.eu. (n.d.). Artiste transmédia et féministe. Météorite narratif du BIO ART. Son oeuvre questionne le statut du CORPS dans la société. Ses sculptures, HYBRIDATIONS et autoportraits réinterprètent le rôle des nouvelles technologies.. [online] Available at: http://www.orlan.eu/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2019].

The Guardian. (2016). Beauty reimagined: 500 years of Botticelli. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/14/what-is-beauty-botticelli-art-victoria-and-albert-exhibition [Accessed 14 Feb. 2016].

Wykes, M. and Gunter, B. (2005). The Media and Body Image.

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laularlau8 · 8 years ago

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The history of India’s independence and the creation of Pakistan had been unfamiliar to Gillian Anderson when she took the role of Lady Mountbatten for her new film Viceroy’s House. The actor had once hired a private history tutor, a dozen years ago, to fill in some gaps of history she was hazy on – “Stuff that just wasn’t in my brain” – but this had not been one of them.

“No, I’d thought let me start with a couple of things that I don’t actually know that much about, or I can’t remember that much about, which was the first and second world wars.” She starts to laugh. “But it was a disaster. Because I have no memory. I took notes, blah, blah, blah, but couldn’t remember a thing he taught me. Nothing. I’m not even sure, if you’d asked me the next day, I could have told you what I’d learned. You know, even my favourite books, I couldn’t tell you what they were about. It’s always been that way.”

The menopause hasn’t helped, and lately things have become so bad that she’s going to get herself tested to see if she might actually be dyslexic. “Somebody had said to me that dyslexia isn’t just about seeing words backwards, it’s also about the assimilation of information. I’d always been afraid to look into it, because I was afraid that if I found something out, I would think that I couldn’t do anything that I wanted to do. I have this impression that I can do whatever I make up my mind to. But the reality is...” She lets the sentence fall away with a grimace.

By a bit of luck, the one thing the actor has always been able to remember are her lines. “But of course that’s terrifying for me, thinking, well, what if this problem that exists in the rest of my life shows up in that respect, too? Then I’d be buggered.”

If this creates an impression of a ditzy blonde, it would be misleading. We meet at the photographer’s studio, where a rack of stylist’s clothes stands unused; she chooses to be photographed in her own, and the way she chuckles about this makes me think the preference is par for the course for Anderson on shoots. Her fitted black trouser suit and heels are a sort of corporate/fashion hybrid, and her manner is similarly friendly but business-like. Apart from her enormous eyes, everything about Anderson is tiny, and the compactness reinforces the sense of efficient self-possession she conveys. She was just 24 when, as FBI agent Dana Scully in the paranormal TV drama that would make her a global star, she captivated X-Files fans for 10 years with her hyper-rational cool, before moving to London where her career has been equally sure-footed. From period dramas (Bleak House, House Of Mirth, War And Peace) to big-budget TV series (Hannibal, The Fall), to independent movies (The Last King Of Scotland, A Cock And Bull Story), comedy (Boogie Woogie, Johnny English Reborn) and theatre (A Doll’s House, A Streetcar Named Desire), Anderson seems to get busier the older she gets. It’s a tall order for a beautiful blonde to play consistently powerful, intelligent women, but Anderson has pulled it off.

The actor brings her air of serious purpose to the role of Lady Mountbatten, giving us a less flighty version of the aristocrat than the good-time girl caricature we’ve been accustomed to. She evokes her character’s classic colonial glamour, but depicts her dashing about nursing the sick and injured, and being a generally good egg.

“One of the things that I was surprised by in studying Edwina was that there was certainly a turning point in her life when she went from being predominantly a socialite, and wafting around and having affairs, living pretty much from holiday to holiday and leaving her children at home. But when the war happened and she started to participate in nursing et cetera, her escapism completely switched over to being of service, so everything she did from that moment on was about properly digging in and working around the clock.”

Viceroy’s House opens with the arrival in India of Lord Mountbatten and his wife in 1947, to oversee the nation’s transition from colonial rule to independence. Hugh Bonneville plays Edwina’s husband, and their official residence – Viceroy’s House – is not so much the film’s setting as the third star member of the cast. Sumptuously filmed, at moments the movie is a sort of Downton Abbey of the Raj, with all sorts of romantic intrigue going on below stairs among the 500 Hindu, Sikh and Muslim household staff. But there is not so much as a hint of the affair Lady Mountbatten was rumoured to take up with the man about to become India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Their romance was to have been the subject of a 2009 film, Indian Summer, until the Indian government took exception to the salacious storyline and forced the movie to be cancelled. In the hands of British director Gurinder Chadha, whose own family were among the 14 million displaced in the violence and bloodshed of the period, this new version of India’s independence is less racy, if rather more substantial, and concerns itself with the politics of partition.

Anderson says she was always conscious while making the film that some viewers will find the concept of a “good” colonialist inherently problematic – “yes, absolutely, absolutely” – and 70 years after independence, she found herself revisiting colonialism’s dynamics on location. They filmed in Jodhpur, staying at the Umaid Bhawan Palace hotel, where the film was also shot, using the palace to double for the real Viceroy’s House. “And, you know, we’re in a situation where we’re in a developing country and we are filming at the height of luxury and, yes, there’s an uneasiness to it. There was one actor we worked with, who does a lot of work around the world in – I can’t remember whether it’s around poverty or Aids – who would not stay there. He refused to stay in the hotel, and wanted to stay in some place that felt more like India.”

Even by the standards of activist actors, Anderson’s own involvement in social and political causes is prolific. The 48-year-old has campaigned variously for women’s rights in Afghanistan, against sexual violence towards girls in Myanmar, for better access to HIV treatment in South Africa and education in Uganda, against domestic violence in the UK and child trafficking across the globe, for the rights of indigenous tribes in South America and conservation of cheetahs in Namibia, against deforestation in the Amazon and rabbit fur farms in China – and that is nothing like the full list. I was therefore expecting her to be quite forthright about current political affairs, but am completely wrong.

“I generally have a tendency to steer away from outright political discussion in interviews, because I am an actor, and there’s so much that I don’t understand, and I don’t for a second feel like I have a right to that platform. I don’t want to get into a discussion about Trump or about Brexit or any of that – I feel it’s best left to people who really understand the very, very complex issues. Not for a second am I going to pitch in, because I don’t really know what it is that I’m talking about. I have opinions, but I don’t think my opinions are more valid because I’m an actor and have more of a platform than others.”

I wonder if this is her way of saying she shares the view that actors ought to stop turning awards ceremonies into anti-Trump rallies, but she looks faintly alarmed. “No, no, no, I’m not saying that at all. I’m only talking about myself. I don’t have an opinion on whether or not actors should speak out.”

She has, on the other hand, just co-written a book called We: A Manifesto For Women Everywhere. Rather like Anderson, it is less polemical than one might guess from the title, and more a manual for spiritual self-improvement. Co-written with her close friend Jennifer Nadel, a former barrister and BBC documentary maker, Anderson has described it as a work of advice to her younger self. “I have struggled with self-esteem myself,” she said last year, “and in looking at the ways that I have dealt with overcoming those things, I started to think that maybe some of it might be potentially useful for other people of all ages.”

According to the introduction, it is a “manifesto for a female-led revolution”, and Anderson stresses that it is “not a self-help book”, although it reads a lot like one. Chapters are called things like Acceptance: Making Friends With What Is, and Courage: Ending The Victim Trap, and its pages promise to “change your life”. It prescribes a detailed programme of fairly recognisable techniques, which range from meditation, affirmations (“This is who I am and I’m glad to be me”), messages to oneself on Post-it notes stuck to the bathroom mirror (“My name is Decca. I am a good and kind person. I do not need to please everyone. I do enough. I am enough.”) and a nightly gratitude list of reasons to feel grateful to the universe. As is often the case with this sort of book, I find myself torn between cynical giggles and the mesmerising thought: what if it works?

Anderson swears it does, but she has such cut-glass British poise that I struggle to picture her solemnly reciting affirmations. It might have been easier to reconcile her voice with the book’s rather Californian, new-age tone had we met in America, for she is what’s called bidialectal; when in the US, she speaks in an American accent, but here she sounds completely British, and says she has no control over it. “I was in Los Angeles recently with a couple of Brits and I thought, I’m going to see what it’s like to talk among Americans with a British accent, and I felt so uncomfortable. It felt so disingenuous, and I kept thinking they must think I’m a complete twat. But when I’m here, it’s nearly impossible for me to maintain an American accent.”

Anderson was born in Chicago but moved to London aged five, while her father attended film school in the city. When she was 11, the family moved back to the States, to Michigan, but continued to spend summers in London, and by her early teens Anderson was rattling off the rails. Punk rock, drugs, an addict girlfriend and a much older boyfriend all featured heavily in her adolescence, and her classmates weren’t wrong when they voted her “most likely to get arrested”. On the night of graduation, she broke into her school to try to glue the locks shut, and was charged with trespass.

She has been in therapy since the age of 14, and the book is interspersed with personal passages on her own experience of mental-health difficulties. “There were times,” she tells me, “when it was really bad. There have been times in my life where I haven’t wanted to leave the house.” But there’s a bit of a dance between disclosure and discretion, because whenever I ask her to elaborate on the personal vignettes in the book, she shuts down.

I kept hearing myself say, ‘I’ve got to slow down, I’ve got to slow down, I’ve got to slow down’

The book contains enough 12-step-style advice to make me think addiction issues went beyond teenage experimentation for Anderson, and when I say so, she nods. Could she say a little more? “No.” After 24 years in therapy, and writing the book, I’m guessing she has a good idea where her problems stem from, but the question receives a chilly, “Pourquoi?” There are “quite a few”, she says, but “I would have put them in the book if I wanted to talk about them out loud.”

Her first husband was a Canadian art director she met on the set of The X-Filesand married at 25. Their daughter Piper was born a year later, but the marriage was over within three years; her second marriage, in 2004, to a journalist and producer, ended within two. Months later, she announced she was pregnant, and had two sons – Oscar, now 11, and Felix, nine – with a British businessman, before they split up five years ago.

I’m curious about how a single mother who has been working flat out for 25 years (she was back on the X-Files set nine days after giving birth to Piper) can even find the time to practise all the spiritual techniques her book recommends.

“Well,” she smiles, “I’ve definitely deliberately slowed down. Because I kept hearing myself say, ‘I’ve got to slow down, I’ve got to slow down, I’ve got to slow down.’ I must have said that for 10 years, or maybe even 20 years. I was just sick and tired of hearing myself. I just thought, why do I do this to myself, and why have I done it for so long? People would laugh at me because I’d be like, ‘I had an extra 10 minutes, so I stopped in to say hi, you know.’ It became enough of a joke among my friends that I had to start paying attention to it. So one of the things I try really hard now to do is, no matter what, after I drop the kids, I go back home so I can meditate.”

Why has she always pushed herself so hard? “Well, the bigger-picture part is that I’m responsible for quite a lot of people financially, so it’s that. But it’s also a little bit of fear of what happens when one slows down. When I think about an empty period of time, fear comes up. I’m quite good at being on my own, so it’s not necessarily fear of myself, but probably fear of facing those things like: why do I drive myself so hard?”

Does she really compile a list of things to feel grateful for every day? “Yes! I do a gratitude list every night. I mean, it’s in my head now, but I go through stages where I think I’m just complaining all the time again. It’s too floating in my head, it needs to be on paper.” Complaining all the time is “probably one of the things I struggle with most. I suffer from great intolerance. Such intolerance of so much.” Such as? “Oh, intolerance of myself. Intolerance of situations. Intolerance of people on the street. Intolerance of whatever. So I have to constantly settle myself down from the state of being aggravated.”

I try to picture her stropping about, grumbling about roadworks or noisy neighbours, and find this image easier to conjure than the new-age version of her intoning, “My name is Gillian Anderson, I am a good and kind person.” She has a steeliness about her that I really like, but whether it’s proof of the success of her spiritual techniques or indicates the limits of their powers, I can’t decide. She certainly feels like someone in full control of herself and her life, and if this keeps her at a slightly cool distance, it is also rather enviable.

She says she used to be pitilessly intolerant of her own physical self, but won’t elaborate on how that manifested itself, because she refuses to allow herself that line of thinking. “I will not go there. I simply will not allow it any more. Because the things that we might be critical of ourselves about actually don’t matter. The only thing that really matters in terms of our peace of mind is our peace of mind itself, and how we react to things. All I know is that when I meditate, one goes beyond the physical, and it is possible to tap into a sense of absolute contentment and joy in that place. So if that’s where you’re starting, then actually none of this,” and she gestures to her body, “means anything, really.”

How is it possible for a working actor to liberate herself from concerns about physical appearance, when her existence is so entwined in it? After eight seconds of silence, she replies: “I don’t know. I mean, as I get older, I imagine the roles that I’m able to get are going to change. There will be a certain point where I’ll make the decision to go grey, you know. There might be a certain point where I decide that it’s silly for me to continue being blond when I’m in my 60s. I’ve also always wanted to direct, I’ve also always wanted to be an artist. Maybe when the kids are out of college, I can decide to downsize and go grey and get less work.”

The art of acceptance is one of her new book’s biggest themes. As someone who is terrible at it, I’ve never been sure how realistic an ambition true acceptance really is.

“Well, there’s an opportunity for fear around every corner, fear of the future, fear of what if,” Anderson says. “But the acceptance of wherever we are, whoever we are, is freedom. So, you know, I can sit and bemoan the fact that I don’t get the same roles, or bemoan the fact that my skin is starting to look like chicken skin, or bemoan whatever it is. But that’s not reality. That’s fighting reality.”

#gillian anderson #viceroy's house #film #culture #television & radio

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film-movies-cinema · 5 years ago

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At the beginning of the fifties, just after the end of the second World War, young French critics took the distances from the traditional French cinema, looking at different and more vital productions than the French one, ‘derided as ‘le cinema de papa’ (‘Daddy’s cinema’)’ (Darke 2003, p. 423). This change of mentality underlines that cinema was finally considered as an art form, and that it was necessary to approach it in a new way. For this reason, André Bazin and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze founded, in 1951, Les Chaiers du cinéma et de la Télévision, a monthly magazine that analyzed the performance of past and present directors to define whether they could be considered artists or not with regard to the so called ‘politique des auteurs’. This innovative approach to their works tried to individuate between all the filmmakers those who could be defined as auteur, ‘a central consciousness whose vision is inscribed in the work’ (Fabe 2014, p. 174) and ‘differentiated (…) from metteurs en scène, directors who (…) did not inscribe their individual personalities or styles onto their films’ (Fabe 2014, p. 175).

To do so, French critics who wrote for Les Chaiers used a critical method defined as mise-en-scène criticism, based on the description and analysis of the elements that constitute a shot, a scene or a film in order to find the style and the main themes of an author (Darke 2003, p.425). In this essay, it will be demonstrated that Jean- Pierre Jeunet, a contemporary French cinema director, can be considered an auteur in the meaning previously explained. Through the analysis of Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) and Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004), themes, personal style and narrative techniques, and issues related to authorship and freedom will be discussed.

Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain is a romantic comedy set in a fairy, postcard-like Paris. The story of an innocent but smart young women who finds her mission in helping people had a great success all over the world, ‘probably because the story is very international(…) (as) we speak about the small details of life that everybody knows, in every country’ (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2011). This film is very particular, because despite the international success and the influence from Hollywood production that can be noticed in different stylistic elements, it shows Jeunet’s personal signature, and the freedom he had in the realisation of the film. In fact, the director affirmed that ‘in France, when I make a film, I have complete (…) freedom; nobody has to explain to me nothing’ (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2011, video, YouTube).

On the other hand, Un long dimanche de fiançailles, hadn’t the same success: many critics have considered it as a sort of Amélie 2 for its extreme similarity with the previous Jeunet’s success. However, despite the stylistic similarities, the second film has a more realistic base, as it’s intertwined with the European history, as its fictional plot represents real stories which happened to the families touched by the War. As Durham (2008, p.913) states, this film ‘is thus one at the same time a mystery, a romance, a sociological study (…) and, especially, an anti-war manifesto’. This happens because it’s an adaptation of Sébastien Japrisot’s Un long dimanche de fiançailles, which is an historical novel. However, Jeunet takes the distances from the romance, and puts his own firm on its adaptation, starting from the focus, which isn’t on the anti-war discourse, but on the love story between Mathilde and Manech. In fact, the war is shown only from the flashbacks and anecdotes, and is not central in the plot.

In both films, the first thing that surprise the audience is the image: the glossy shots, coloured with hedonistic attention, please the viewer’s eyes and introduce him in an idealized, perfect postcard-like representation of Paris and France. Jeunet reflects on the power of images and on the sense of view, not only in the references of other films and French paintings, and not even in the idealization of France. His meditation on pictures’ force starts from a simpler level, the one of the photographs which Amélie finds under the photo booths around the city, the same level of the shots that an old soldier shows to Mathilde. Those images have a power since they encourage a series of questions: who is that man? Why he throws away his pictures? Who are the soldiers in the photograph? Are they still alive? Moreover, these images have effects also at an higher level: in fact, they stimulate curiosity and fantasy of Amélie and Mathilde, and indirectly of the audience.

Jeunet’s attention to the shots’ construction recalls many cinema genres, that have influenced the auteur during all his career: Oscherwitz (2011), affirm that Amélie represents a French example of ‘heritage film’, defined by Higson (2003, in Oscherwitz, 2011, p.513), as a genre of films which ‘turn their back on the industrialized chaotic present… [and] offer apparently more settled and visually splendid manifestations of an essentially pastoral national identity’. Indeed, the visual elements of the films celebrate the past, with a poetic and suspended atmosphere, as well as the sounds and the music, that accompanies and completes the scenes stimulating images of a certain idea of France. In Un long Dimanche’s inside shots, the camera indulges on the furniture, the dresses, the technological inventions of the beginning of the past century, the yellow, warm light that filters through lace curtains into countryside rooms. Nostalgia is always present: but, the memory of the past is also a secure starting point that gives the two heroines the hope, the force and the courage to go against the vicissitudes of present times and to continue their researches. Jeunet puts a lot of effort in recreating, with images and music, this emotional atmosphere, that he personally feels when he deals with past thematics such as European history: ‘I have a big fascination for World War I, don’t ask me why. I do sometimes a joke, I say I think I died in another life during the war’ (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2017, video, YouTube) .

In both films, many scenes start with an external shot, followed by an internal focalization that frames the plot and give a special sense to the story. In both cases, the heroines moves all around France and Paris; the space becomes relevant and is never put apart. It always shapes the actions, and is celebrated in its beauty as it was another character. This attention to the location, that awarded both movies the prizes of best photography and best setting, associate Jeunet’s style with the ‘cinema du look’ genre, “characterized by sleek, colourful urban settings, a high degree of artifice, and a celebration of the visual and sensory elements of the filmic text”’ (Orlando 2010, p.86). Jeunet’s brilliance is in the capacity of recreate places, atmospheres, dramatic feelings with artistic images made up with pastel colours (Amélie) or warm and sepia colours in contrast with cold shades (Un long Dimanche) that immerge the audience in the setting.

The two films are an example of pastiche, as there are a lot of references to French artists, films, books and poems. Baudelaire, Zola and many others are cited in Un long Dimanche, while in Amélie Montmartre as a setting recalls Les Quatre-cent coups by Truffaut, as well as the title seems to be borrowed by Guitry’s ‘Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary’ (Oscherwitz 2011, p.506), and the fantasy elements prosecute le cinema fantastique born with Méliès. Moreover, the glossy and unrealistic Paris remembers with its colours Impressionist paintings. Finally, the focus on human nature in its simplicity and immediacy might recalls the Nouvelle Vague’ s interest for the exploration of reality; in fact, despite Jeunet’s movies contain fantasy elements, they also have a realistic base. The discourses between Mathilde and her uncles, their actions in the countryside’s home, the hopes of Amélie, sex, imagination, voyages: all these things characterize humanity, despite Jeunet represents them in a poetical way rather than showing them in a non constructed way as in the Nouvelle vague films. All these citations honour the French national identity, to which Jeunet feels very bound, and give to the films a local base.

But the pastiche is also inside the plot: for example, in Amélie is represented by the false letter addressed to Madelaine, or by the mix of images in the videotapes that Amélie gives to the painter Dufayel (Oscherwitz 2011, p.509-510).

Jeunet’s personal style is remarkable also in the experimental and humorous language, which uses widely proverbs, supernatural tests and words with a strange sound (Bingo Crépuscule; Pois chiche, ‘chickpeas’; je touche du bois, ‘touch the wood’) , and in the presence of technological devices and mechanical invention, of which the auteur is a passionate admirer. Videotapes, letters written with pieces of newspapers, telephone, sunglasses with guns,… These objects connect the characters, over time and space, as Dominique Bretodeau’s box and the love letter for Madeleine from her ‘husband’ in Amélie, or the five soldiers’ belongings in Un long Dimanche de fiançailles.

Finally, Jeunet expresses himself as an auteur also in the plot, especially in his interest for the stories of unpredictable wise women.

Women with an uncommon ability for independent actions and thoughts, imagination and determination, whose lives intertwines with other stories, both fictional and real, and whose identity is a mix of ingenuity and naivety.

An auteur has total control on his films: Jeunet’s ability in recreating real stories, settings and atmospheres, quiet suspended times, noises, dirt and discomfort of the front, fear, joy, curiosity dives the audience in a dramatic and spectacular fictional France, poetically presented by a narrator, as at the beginning and the end of every fairy tale, and elevates the director to the status of artist. His own style and preferences are continuously present in all his films, and the freedom he has in the writing and the realisation of his works makes him the ‘central consciousness whose vision is inscribed in the work’ of which Fabe (2014, p. 174) talks about.

References

Darke, C 2003, ‘The French new wave’, in Nelmes, J (ed.), An introduction to film studies/, Routledge, London, pp. 422-450, via UniSa Library eReadings

Fabe, M 2014, ‘Auteur Theory and the French New Wave: François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows’, Closely Watched Films : An Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film Technique, University of California press, ProQuest Ebook Central

Durham, C 2008, ‘Auteurism and Adaptation in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Un long Dimanche de fiançailles’, The French Review, Vol. 81, No. 5, American Association of Teachers of French, pp. 912-927

Orlando, V 2010, ‘A review of “Jean-Pierre Jeunet”’, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 28:1, pp. 86-91

Oscherwitz, D 2011, ‘Once Upon a Time that Never Was: Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain”’ (2001), The French Review, Vol. 84, No. 3, pp. 504-515

Filmography:

Jeunet, J (dir.) 2001, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, streaming video, Canal +

Jeunet, J (dir.) 2004, Un long dimanche de fiançailles, streaming video, Canal +

MEDIADeskUK, 2011, Jean-Pierre Jeunet – MEDIA interview, video, YouTube, 20 October, viewed 20 September 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukTd3BIDoU

FilMagicians, 2017, A Very Long Engagement – Interview with Audrey Tautou & Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004), video, YouTube, 26 May, viewed 20 September 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPYjQu2RO6M

The auteur theory in contemporary cinema: a research on Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s works At the beginning of the fifties, just after the end of the second World War, young French critics took the distances from the traditional French cinema, looking at different and more vital productions than the French one, ‘derided as ‘le cinema de papa’ (‘Daddy’s cinema’)’ (Darke 2003, p.

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computerguideworld-blog · 6 years ago

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Dirty Computer: Janelle Monaes Electrifying Coming Out Party

New Post has been published on https://computerguideto.com/must-see/dirty-computer-janelle-monaes-electrifying-coming-out-party-2/

Dirty Computer: Janelle Monaes Electrifying Coming Out Party

Janelle Mones new album Dirty Computer features the acclaimed singer-songwriter at her most revealing and freewheeling.

The 32-year-old star is one of the most respected in music, and shes won raves and challenged listeners with an ambitious blend of funk, pop, rock, soul, and hip-hop that has often made her hard to define. But being pinned down has never been Mones styleand on Dirty Computer she lets her freak flag fly.

Mone has admitted that her early android persona and conceptual The Metropolis and ArchAndroid projects were sometimes driven by the need to protect herself from judgment. As Mone has evolved as an artist, shes come into her own creatively and as a womanand now seems fully in command of her art and emboldened by living in her truth. Like virtually every full-length release in her genre-bending discography, Mones Dirty Computer is a conceptual affair: In the accompanying short film, shes Jane 57821, a nonconformist in the near future who needs to be cleaned by the powers-that-be. Shes a rebel in love with her community and in love with Zen (Tessa Thompson)and shes fighting to be herself.

Arriving a whopping five years after 2013s The Electric Lady, the new album finds Mone simultaneously at her most musically accessible and her most forthcoming lyrically. It feels like shes the most free on record that shes ever been. Not that Mone has ever seemed constrained, exactlybut her work has always seemed to put the concept ahead of emotional nakedness. On Dirty Computer, the concept is driven by her introspection, not the other way around. This is the strongest set of pop songs that Mone has released, as she dances between sunshine synth-pop, dance-driven funk jams, and lush soul. Working alongside longtime collaborators like Deep Cotton and Roman GianArthur, Mone isnt in altogether unfamiliar territory musically, but she is breaking bold new ground in terms of themes, and shes putting them across in more engaging ways than she has before.

It sounds like an anthem for youthful brazenness and epic summer nights; it also sounds like a spiritual manifesto.

The album opens with the Brian Wilson-assisted title track, with Wilsons trademark only-but-him harmonies providing a warm bed on which Mones warm lead vocal coos, I love you in space and time, with sparsely skittering production. With its twinkling chords and cascading drums, Crazy Classic Life channels 80s synth sounds a la Depeche Mode as Mone outlines her version of freedom: I am not Americas nightmareI am the American cool. She wants a crazy classic life, and shes perfectly OK with however it ends as long as shes done it all. It sounds like an anthem for youthful brazenness and epic summer nights; it also sounds like a spiritual manifesto. The synth vibes remain on Take A Byte, and its a pure party: The thumping groove and handclaps are dance-floor-perfect, as Mone sings, Dress me upI like it better when we both pretend, in one of the most effectively sensual and slinky moments on Dirty Computer.

Princes influence looms large on Dirty Computer, an album that owes a lot to his most personally affirming dance anthems like Uptown and Erotic City. The guitar-driven Screwed even opens with a rhythm-guitar lick thats a clear nod to his 1986 classic Kiss, but presented in a completely different musical context. Sex, bodywere gonna crash your party, sounds like the best kind of warning, as Mone provides yet another song that sounds like it was made for the best weekend youve ever had.

This is a fucking fun album.

Django Jane debuted online back in February, with Mone trying on trap and showing that her creativity sits comfortably at virtually any stylistic table. Sassy, classyKool-Aid with the kale, Janelle raps confidentlyand with more panache than most others who regularly trade in the format. Remember when they said I looked to mannish? she pointedly recalls, reminding everyone that during her ArchAndroid days she wasnt always the beloved pop culture icon she is today. She deftly addresses gender, race, and her own still-growing legacy as an artistperfectly seguing into Pynk, the other previously released single that had fans salivating in early April.

The double entendre of the title/hookand the cheekily clever music videois sort of a second affirmation of Django Jane. The color pink serves as a metaphor for both the universality of human existence and the specificity of womanhood. When the surging guitar and Some like that! hook kick in, its clear that Mone knew she had another anthem here.

youtube

Prince collaborated with Mone directly and Make Me Feel is an appropriate tribute, homage, and confirmation that no mainstream artist embodies His Royal Badness most provocative, singularly focused creativity as much as Janelle Mone. That groove burns itself into your brain within seconds, when that all-too-distinctive rhythm guitar begins punching holes in the pace, as Janelle ad-libs a joyful screechit sounds like an old friend making a welcome appearance at this Mone-led party. Prince lives. Pharrell shows up for I Got the Juice, as Mone flaunts and taunts a bitover African rhythms and a percolating beat.

I Like That is the most atmospheric moment on Dirty Computer, a gorgeous melody carried on a wave of synth strings, as Mone sings, A little crazy, little sexy, little cool / Little rough around the edges but I keep it smooth / Im always left of center and thats right where I belong / Im the random minor note you hear in major songs. She drops a brief rhyme about a childhood crush who rated me a 6 after she cut her perm, but makes it clear that she always knew I was the shit. And she goes for 90s neo-soul vibes on Dont Judge Me, a song that addresses personal insecurity and the fear that comes from wanting to open and be your real self around the person who makes you feel the most loved but also the most scared: Even though you tell me you love meIm afraid that you just love my disguise.

That element of fear is revisited on So Afraid, a somber, guitar-driven tune that somewhat recalls the 60s vibes of the title track. Theres so much to be gained by running toward love, but Janelle Mone expresses the doubt and apprehension of emotional connections beautifully here. And she parodies the jingoism and paranoia that defines so much of the good ol US of A on the rollicking album closer Americana. Once again playfully tapping into her Prince-ish tendencies, Mone offers a nod to the foot-stomping raucousness of Lets Go Crazy, while taking aim at everything from traditional gender roles to xenophobia to generic Americana. Its an upbeat end to an album full of joy and freedom, and it offers its best line: I wonder if you were blind, would it help you make a better decision.

Janelle Mone has been one of the most era-defining artists of the past 10 years, and shes done it without the kind of all-world hit singles that seem to define pop culture status. Shes managed to carve a niche in contemporary music that is uniquely her own, and here shes created the kind of album that gives voice to the creative, proudly outside-the-box individuals that have fueled so much of the cultural and social change of the times. The android Cindi Mayweather gave Mone a persona on which to explore her boldest ideas, but in putting who she is front-and-center, Mone has delivered her most relatable work to date. And it couldnt come at a better time. Black women have been leading a cultural charge, and Mone sits alongside so many of the boldest women of her generation. With Dirty Computer, shes given us a stellar pro-woman, pro-LGBTQ, party like its 1999, middle-finger-to-the-status-quo dance record.

There has beenand will continue to bea lot written about Mones coming out in the latest issue of Rolling Stone and how this album is reflective of her desire to be her. She said in the interview: Being a queer black woman in America someone who has been in relationships with both men and womenI consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker. Mone has long been an inspiration to anyone who dared to be themselves, and her latest art documents an important moment in her journey as a creator and as an individual. Its exciting to witness her come into her own.

And it sounds like shes having a blast.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com

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ravindrashiwnandan-blog · 7 years ago

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Overcoming The Strongman 2

2. The Lausanne Covenant

Spiritual warfare is necessary for the survival of the human race and for man to fulfill the purposes of God on the earth, while at the same time snatching the souls of lost ones from the jaws of Satan.

This war is real and ongoing, and will only end when that old devil is cast into the Lake of Fire. We cannot fight him alone, not as one individual, but yes, as the church, as a community, and as a nation. But, our victory over him will be greater the stronger our unity and numbers are. This is not a new idea for our brothers of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization recognized this when 2,700 Christian religious leaders from over 150 countries and was called by a committee headed by Billy Graham in 1974 to draft a Christian religious manifesto to promote active global Christian evangelism.

The drafting committee for this document was chaired by John Stott of the United Kingdom and the final Lausanne Covenant was adopted by 2,300 evangelicals at the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, from which it takes its name. The Lausanne Covenant [1] contained 15 statements of affirmation and resolve. Statement 12 has to do with Spiritual Conflict as follows:

Statement 12. Spiritual Conflict

“We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know our need to equip ourselves with God’s armor and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God. We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We acknowledge that we ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thoughts and action, that is, to a surrender to secularism. For example, although careful studies of church growth, both numerical and spiritual, are right and valuable, we have sometimes neglected them. At other times, desirous to ensure a response to the gospel, we have compromised our message, manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, and become unduly preoccupied with statistics or even dishonest in our use of them. All this is worldly. The Church must be in the world; the world must not be in the Church.

(Eph. 6:12; II Cor. 4:3,4; Eph. 6:11,13-18; II Cor. 10:3-5; I John 2:18-26; 4:1-3; Gal. 1:6-9; II Cor. 2:17; 4:2; John 17:15)”

The Lausanne Covenant was followed by the Manila Manifesto in 1989 which stated:

“We affirm that spiritual warfare demands spiritual weapons and that we must both preach the word in the power of the Spirit, and pray constantly that we may enter into Christ’s victory over the principalities and powers of evil.”

This was later followed by the Statement on Spiritual Warfare in 1993. This statement, which I think is a significant document, is stated in its entirety below. It was used by permission.

Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

Statement on Spiritual Warfare (1993)

A Working Group Report

The Intercession Working Group (IWG) of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization met at Fairmile Court in London July 10-14, 1993. We discussed for one full day the subject of spiritual warfare. It had been noted at our IWG Prayer Leaders’ Retreat at The Cove in North Carolina, USA, the previous November, that spiritual warfare was a subject of some concern in the evangelical world. The IWG asked its members to write papers reflecting on this emphasis in each of their regions and these papers formed the basis of our discussion.

We affirmed again statement 12 on “Spiritual Conflict” in The Lausanne Covenant:

“We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil who are seeking to overthrow the church and frustrate its task of evangelization.

“We know our need to equip ourselves with God’s armor and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the church but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put man in the place of God.

We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We acknowledge that we ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thought and actions, that is, to surrender to secularism…”

We agreed that evangelization is to bring people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:17). This involves an inescapable element of spiritual warfare.

We asked ourselves why there had been almost an explosion of interest in this subject in the last 10 years. We noted that the Western church and the missionary movement from the West had seen the remarkable expansion of the church in other areas of the world without special emphasis being given to the subject of spiritual warfare.

Our members from Africa and Asia reminded us that in their context, the powers of darkness are very real and spiritual warfare is where they live all the time. Their families are still only one or two generations removed from a spiritist, animist or occult heritage.

This led to a discussion of the effects of one generation on another. We noted that in the context of idolatry, the Bible speaks of the sins of the fathers being visited upon their descendants to the third and fourth generation.

Likewise, the blessing of God’s love is shown to successive generations of those who love him and keep his laws. We wondered if the time we have had the gospel in the West has made us less conscious of the powers of darkness in recent centuries.

We noted, also that the influence of the enlightenment in our education, which traces everything to natural causes, has further dulled our consciousness of the powers of darkness.

In recent times, however, several things have changed:

Change in Initiatives: The initiative in evangelization is passing to churches in the developing world, and as people from the same background evangelize their own people, dealing with the powers of darkness has become a natural way of thinking and working. This is especially true of the rapidly growing Pentecostal churches. This has begun to influence all missiological thinking.

Increased Interest in Eastern Religions: The spiritual bankruptcy of the West has opened up great interest in Eastern religions and drug cultures and brought a resurgence of the occult in the West.

Influx of Non-Christian Worldview: The massive migrations of peoples from the Third World to the West has brought a torrent of non-Christian worldviews and practices into our midst. Increasing mobility has also exposed developing countries to new fringe groups, cults, and freemasonry.

Sensationalization of the Occult: The secular media has sensationalized and spread interest in these occult ideas and practices. This was marked by the screening of the film “The Exorcist.” In the Christian world, the books by Frank Perretti and the spate of “How to…” books on power evangelism and spiritual warfare have reflected a similar trend.

Lausanne’s Involvement in the Process: We in Lausanne have been part of the process, especially in the track on spiritual warfare at Lausanne II in Manila and in the continuing life of that track under the aegis of the AD 2000 and Beyond movement.

We recognize that this emphasis will be with us for the foreseeable future. Our concerns are:

To help our Lausanne constituency to stay firmly within the balanced biblical teaching on prayer.

To provide clarity, reassurance, and encouragement to those whom the emphasis is causing confusion and anxiety.

To harness what is biblical, Christ-exalting and culturally relevant in the new emphasis on the work of evangelization so that it yield lasting fruit.

We noted the following dangers and their antidotes:

Reverting to Pagan Worldviews: There is a danger that we revert to think and operate on pagan worldviews or on an undiscerning application of Old Testament analogies that were, in fact, superseded in Jesus Christ. The antidote to this is the rigorous study of the whole of Scripture, always interpreting the Old Testament in the light of the New.

A Preoccupation with the Demonic: This can lead to avoiding personal responsibility for our actions. This is countered by an equal emphasis on “the world” and “the flesh” and the strong ethical teachings of the Bible.

A Preoccupation with the Powers of Darkness: This can exalt Satan and diminish Jesus in the focus of his people. This is cured by encouraging a Christ-centered and not an experience-centered spirituality or methodology.

The Tendency to Shift the Emphasis to “Power” and Away From “Truth”: This tendency forgets that error, ignorance, and deception can only be countered by biblical truth clearly and consistently taught. This is equally, if not more important, than tackling bondage and possession by “power encounters.”

It is also the truth that sets us free, so the Word and the Spirit need to be kept in balance.

Emphasis on Technique and Methodology: We observed the tendency to emphasize technique and methodology in the practice of spiritual warfare and fear that when this is dominant it can become a substitute for the pursuit of holiness and even of evangelism itself. To combat this there is no substitute for a continuous, strong, balanced and Spirit-guided teaching ministry in each church.

Growing Disillusionment: We had reports of growing disillusionment with the results of spiritual warfare in unrealized expectations, unmet predictions and the sense of being marginalized if the language and practice of spiritual warfare are not adopted and just general discomfort with too much triumphalist talk. The antidote to all of this is a return to the whole teaching of Jesus on prayer, especially what he says about praying in secret that avoids ostentation.

Encountering the Powers of Darkness by the Peoples Themselves: While recognizing that someone initially has to go to a people to introduce the gospel, we felt it was necessary always for the encounter with the powers of darkness to be undertaken by Christian people within the culture and in a way that is sensitive in applying biblical truth to their context.

Caution Regarding Territorial Spirits Concept: We are cautious about the way in which the concept of territorial spirits is being used and look to our biblical scholars to shed more light on this recent development.

Warfare Language Can Lead to Adversarial Attitudes: We heard with concern of situations where warfare language was pushing Christians into adversarial attitudes with people and where people of other faiths were interpreting this as the language of violence and political involvement.

We saw that the language of peace, penitence, and reconciliation must be as prominent in our speech and practice as any talk of warfare.

We are concerned that the subject and practice of spiritual warfare is proving divisive to evangelical Christians and pray that these thoughts of ours will help to combat this tendency. It is our deep prayer that the force for evangelization should not be fragmented and that our love should be strong enough to overcome these incipient divisions among us.

In his cross and resurrection, Jesus triumphed over all the powers of darkness; believers share in that triumph. We would like to see evidence of this in our unity in prayer.

I have given the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Statement on Spiritual Warfare (1993) above because I would like to use it as a springboard to talk about the realities of spiritual warfare and how to use them to our advantage to gain victory.

So, the War is Real!

Spiritual warfare, as we have highlighted, is not an option; it is a reality. Satan’s anger against the Lord has been displaced to the human race because he became jealous of the image of God in man. He was successful in getting Adam and Eve to join his rebellion against God by deceiving them and leading them to doubt God’s word and disobey Him.

Now, as the children of Adam and Eve, we inherited their sinful nature and we are born into this world alienated from God with tendencies to do evil. The Apostle Paul says that we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3).

Further, as Adam’s children, we have suffered the result of his disobedience: sin brought misery, emotional and physical suffering, and finally death. There is only one way out of this sad situation; the way provided by God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that frees us from the penalty of eternal death (Ro. 5:6-10).

Salvation and life are only possible through Jesus. He is the only way back to the relationship with God from which we have fallen. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). In the face of Satan’s eternal condemnation, this has made his hate to boil over; the possibility of man’s salvation and his glorious position in Christ in this world and in the world to come. Those who have restored the relationship with the Father through Jesus will have to face a barrage of daily insults and attacks from Satan, even though he knows he is defeated. He will do his best to deceive us as he did to Eve.

Those who neglect or oppose biblical truth will face similar attacks and be overcome by him because they do not trust in the Lord.

So, Christians who enjoy victory in Christ will have to wage war for ourselves and for those who do not know how to do so and further, for those who are ignorant of the fact that a war is raging.

Nevertheless, as we get involved in spiritual warfare, we should guard against two possible extremes. One, over-emphasizing the things of Satan where we see demons behind every negative situation and adversity, and two, under-emphasizing the things of Satan; where we don’t want to talk about the devil or think about him.

Our true posture should be one of scriptural balance which includes the reality of Satan and spiritual warfare and the reality of Christ’s victory over him. There is Satan and his demons, there is a need to assist and minister to people but there is victory in Christ Jesus! It is from this standpoint that the subject of spiritual warfare is presented and it is my hope that you will be strengthened to fight victoriously as you read, digest and apply the contents this book.

[1]

The Lausanne Covenant https://www.lausanne.org/content/covenant/lausanne-covenant

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5minswith · 8 years ago

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London-based Tim has been a photographer for over 25 years. His professional career began in beauty and fashion but soon moved to interiors, food and travel. He has worked with many clients across the UK including: Cath Kidston, Country Living Magazine, Principal Hotels, Sunday Times Style, imbibe and Good Housekeeping, to name just a few.

Tim’s work has also featured in several books, with the most recent being Paula Pryke OBE, Wedding Flowers: Exceptional Floral Design for Exceptional Occasions.

1. How did you get from being an aspiring photographer to doing it full time, for a living?

I worked in Lloyd’s of London insurance market as a trainee underwriter for 18 months straight from school, quickly realising that I didn’t want an office-based life.

I joined a camera club, one evening a week, then found a job as assistant to a commercial photography studio in Oxfordshire, where I had grown up. I worked there for just over a year, printing negatives of cracks in metals for a local Government laboratory, as well as photographing books, paint tins and other products on a large format camera against paper backgrounds. Not the most inspiring work, but a fantastic technical grounding. From there I went to Gloucester College of Arts and Technology to take a 2-year HND in Advertising and Editorial Photography.

The course was hands on, practical and in no-way arty-farty, and aimed to send graduates out into the industry as competent assistants. Next stop London, and within a couple of weeks I had secured a full-time job assisting a long-established advertising photographer who at the time was shooting billboard campaigns for British Airways.

I assisted him and several other photographers for three full years, before finally feeling ready to step-up and go on my own, and immediately picked up a few small jobs for magazines (She, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping et al). From there work ballooned, I took on an agent and had ten very solid years in fashion and beauty work, before making a switch to interiors and food imagery.

2. Do you have a specific technique to help you achieve the results you require?

I like to light my images to achieve a degree of consistency (and have been told my style is very “clean”). I use a mixture of daylight and flash (we work mainly in the UK so daylight can throw up continual challenges). That said, I like to be flexible, and take the attitude that the client has a better idea of what they would like to achieve for the shoot than I do. I will not engage in battles of ego, and learnt from Anthony Crickmay, a photographer whom I consider to be my greatest mentor, that there is no room for stress in the workplace.

3. What other photographers have influenced your career?

Anthony Crickmay was my greatest influence. He used to shoot portraits of the Royal Family, Royal Ballet, and countless celebrities, actors and musicians. He was also responsible for many Athena posters, for those who can remember them.

He had the most beautiful studio in Fulham, and I was at times responsible for hiring it out to other photographers. Through this I met Patrick Demarchelier, who was shooting portraits of Princess Diana, and Michael Roberts (Sarah Ferguson in his case). They both bought large teams of assistants with them, but through all that I could see that their lighting styles were incredibly simple.

4. Can you tell us about your latest project?

I am currently engaged in a long contract shooting for Principal Hotels, who are refurbishing several huge landmark hotels in Edinburgh, York, Manchester and soon London. Principal have a very strong visual brand identity, and we have had to establish and maintain a clear style and “feel” to images in each room.

The cavernous reception area of #principalmanchester with horse sculpture by Sophie Dickens

A post shared by Tim Winter (@twinter1) on Feb 28, 2017 at 8:58am PST

We will be shooting images of the Principal London, (formerly the Hotel Russell) in Bloomsbury, over the next few months, in time for its relaunch in the Summer 2017.

I also shoot regular updates for the Aqua group of restaurants. Each time I am asked back to the 32nd floor of The Shard to photograph food, cocktails and staff, I get a real buzz of affirmation that I am doing the job I love.

Covering all angles @aquashard #foodshoot #foodphotography #menu #food #restaurant #england #landmark #london #theshard #theshardlondon

A post shared by Tim Winter (@twinter1) on Oct 4, 2016 at 5:37am PDT

5. From your whole body of work, which is your favourite photo and why?

Without a doubt, it is a portrait I took some years ago of actor Jenny Agutter. Unfortunately, the image was shot on film, and is hidden away in storage somewhere. It was for a magazine feature called “My favourite dress”, and she had chosen a Zandra Rhodes, elfin, pleated rust-coloured number.

I should point out that I had had a huge adolescent crush on Ms Agutter (think Walkabout, Equus) and was quite nervous at the prospect of meeting her. We hired a studio that happened to have a wooden throne and two enormous floor-standing candelabras, so sent out for 40 large church candles, sparked them up, and awaited hair and make-up to do their thing. I hadn’t at this point had the chance to say hello to my sitter.

When she walked on to set, my voice went. I was unable to speak.

Jenny coped well, and said “Hello. Tim, isn’t it? I suspect you would like me to sit here, Tim?”.

I nodded.

She sat, very upright.

“I could sit like this and look very sweet, or, and I think you might prefer this, I could sit like…this”, at which point she slid down in the chair, and reclined in the most alluring way.

I nodded. Then pressed the shutter a few times, and nodded again and gave a weak wave to suggest that I had all I needed.

She stood, thanked me, and went off to the changing room.

A while later she returned, thanked us all once more and started to head off to her taxi. Seeing my opportunity, I picked up her bag and escorted her out, hopeful that my power of speech might return. It didn’t. We got to the cab, she got in, I shut the door, and nodded. And waved.

And Just for Fun…

6. What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?

It would have helped had someone given us a warning that digital technology was due to come in and upset the apple-cart! When I was at college, there was one word-processor in the whole faculty. We shot film, were careful in our use of polaroid, and had to keep an eye on how many frames we took of an image. That meant we composed, checked, dusted, rechecked everything as we went along. We also used our imaginations more, and were more decisive about how and what we were shooting.

Digital has changed everything. We used to have our own favourite film types, and knew how to manipulate the film in chemical processing. This can all be done now in post-editing in Photoshop, and there are myriad apps and filters to take you “there” with an image, but the excitement of waiting, sometimes in doubt, to see if you have achieved the planned result has been taken away, as has the social circle that was the processing laboratory. This is now the preserve of the bearded hipster. Clients don’t want or need to see film now, nor pay for the conversion of it to a digital file.

That said, Photoshop has bought so much more control. We shoot more by coalition now, with many more people having input on the day, and it has made photography more affordable to more people.

7. If you could take a photograph of anyone or anything in the world, past, present or in the future, what would it be?

I still have a wish-list, and am trying to make time to tackle it. I have always wanted to see and photograph the Aurora, be it in the Northern or Southern hemisphere. I was finally going to have a commissioned chance this spring (now, in fact) as I was invited by a cruise company to guide a group to shoot the Aurora Borealis in Norway. Unfortunately, their company went under in January, so I will have to keep looking.

8. What are you most afraid of?

Like any freelance professional, I most fear that the phone will one day stop ringing. Our industry favours youth, but that said, having survived two large and one small recessions, as well as reinvented myself in the digital era, I hope I am doing something right. The current generation of photography graduates have grown up with digital media, and should have a competitive advantage, but having learnt my trade by looking in detail when composing an image, there is a lot to be said for experience. Oh, and those running snakes on Planet Earth!

9. Where is your favourite holiday destination and why?

New Zealand. We went there for our honeymoon 22 years ago, and are going back this year, this time with our children. It is the most photogenic place I have seen, and so varied. That said, I am getting better at looking and enjoying the moment now, rather than feeling obliged to snap at every juncture.

10. What is your favourite quote?

I personally detest manifesto-style preaching: so many people use Instagram to illustrate that they have just found another daily mantra! Route 1 to an “unfollow” in my book.

I quite like one I heard on “Quote, Unquote” the other day: “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth” Mike Tyson!

View the gallery below of Tim’s work:

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See more of Tim Winter’s beautiful photography at timwinter.co.uk You can follow Tim on Instagram – @twinter1

Read our #5minuteswith professional photographer Tim Winter @T12Winter #photography London-based Tim has been a photographer for over 25 years. His professional career began in beauty and fashion but soon moved to interiors, food and travel.

#Featured Post #Photography #Tim Winter #Tim Winter Photography

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neo-losangeles · 8 years ago

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bell hooks on lemonade

Moving Beyond Pain

bell hooks InstituteMay 9, 2016 Fresh lemonade is my drink of choice. In my small Kentucky town, beautiful black, brown, and white girls set up their lemonade stands and practice the art of money making—it’s business. As a grown black woman who believes in the manifesto “Girl, get your money straight” my first response to Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, was WOW—this is the business of capitalist money making at its best.

Viewers who like to suggest Lemonade was created solely or primarily for black female audiences are missing the point. Commodities, irrespective of their subject matter, are made, produced, and marketed to entice any and all consumers. Beyoncé’s audience is the world and that world of business and money-making has no color.

What makes this production—this commodity—daring is its subject matter. Obviously Lemonade positively exploits images of black female bodies—placing them at the center, making them the norm. In this visual narrative, there are diverse representations (black female bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and textures with all manner of big hair). Portraits of ordinary everyday black women are spotlighted, poised as though they are royalty. The unnamed, unidentified mothers of murdered young black males are each given pride of place. Real life images of ordinary, overweight not dressed up bodies are placed within a visual backdrop that includes stylized, choreographed, fashion plate fantasy representations. Despite all the glamorous showcasing of Deep South antebellum fashion, when the show begins Beyoncé as star appears in sporty casual clothing, the controversial hoodie. Concurrently, the scantily-clothed dancing image of athlete Serena Williams also evokes sportswear. (Speaking of commodification, in the real life frame Beyoncé’s new line of sportswear, Ivy Park, is in the process of being marketed right now).

Lemonade offers viewers a visual extravaganza—a display of black female bodies that transgresses all boundaries. It’s all about the body, and the body as commodity. This is certainly not radical or revolutionary. From slavery to the present day, black female bodies, clothed and unclothed, have been bought and sold. What makes this commodification different in Lemonade is intent; its purpose is to seduce, celebrate, and delight—to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body. Throughout Lemonade the black female body is utterly-aestheticized—its beauty a powerful in your face confrontation. This is no new offering. Images like these were first seen in Julie Dash’s groundbreaking film Daughters of the Dust shot by the brilliant cinematographer Arthur Jafa. Many of the black and white still images of women and nature are reminiscent of the transformative and innovative contemporary photography of Carrie Mae Weems. She has continually offered decolonized radical revisioning of the black female body.

It is the broad scope of Lemonade’s visual landscape that makes it so distinctive—the construction of a powerfully symbolic black female sisterhood that resists invisibility, that refuses to be silent. This in and of itself is no small feat—it shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture. It challenges us all to look anew, to radically revision how we see the black female body. However, this radical repositioning of black female images does not truly overshadow or change conventional sexist constructions of black female identity.

Even though Beyoncé and her creative collaborators daringly offer multidimensional images of black female life, much of the album stays within a conventional stereotypical framework, where the black woman is always a victim. Although based on the real-life experience of Beyoncé, Lemonade is a fantasy fictional narrative with Beyoncé starring as the lead character. This work begins with a story of pain and betrayal highlighting the trauma it produces. The story is as old as the ballad of “Frankie and Johnny” (“he was my man alright, but he done me wrong”). Like the fictional Frankie, Beyoncé’s character responds to her man’s betrayal with rage. She wreaks violence. And even though the father in the song “Daddy’s Lessons” gives her a rifle warning her about men, she does not shoot her man. She dons a magnificently designed golden yellow gown, boldly struts through the street with baseball bat in hand, randomly smashing cars. In this scene, the goddess-like character of Beyoncé is sexualized along with her acts of emotional violence, like Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” she destroys with no shame. Among the many mixed messages embedded in Lemonade is this celebration of rage. Smug and smiling in her golden garb, Beyoncé is the embodiment of a fantastical female power, which is just that—pure fantasy. Images of female violence undercut a central message embedded in Lemonade that violence in all its forms, especially the violence of lies and betrayal, hurts.

Contrary to misguided notions of gender equality, women do not and will not seize power and create self-love and self-esteem through violent acts. Female violence is no more liberatory than male violence. And when violence is made to look sexy and eroticized, as in the Lemonade sexy-dress street scene, it does not serve to undercut the prevailing cultural sentiment that it is acceptable to use violence to reinforce domination, especially in relations between men and women. Violence does not create positive change.

Even though Beyoncé and her creative collaborators make use of the powerful voice and words of Malcolm X to emphasize the lack of respect for black womanhood, simply showcasing beautiful black bodies does not create a just culture of optimal well being where black females can become fully self-actualized and be truly respected.

Honoring the self, loving our bodies, is an appropriate stage in the construction of healthy self-esteem. This aspect of Lemonade is affirming. Certainly, to witness Miss Hattie, the 90-year-old grandmother of Jay-Z, give her personal testimony that she has survived by taking the lemons life handed her and making lemonade is awesome. All the references to honoring our ancestors and elders in Lemonade inspire. However, concluding this narrative of hurt and betrayal with caring images of family and home do not serve as adequate ways to reconcile and heal trauma.

Concurrently, in the world of art-making, a black female creator as powerfully placed as Beyoncé can both create images and present viewers with her own interpretation of what those images mean. However, her interpretation cannot stand as truth. For example, Beyoncé uses her non-fictional voice and persona to claim feminism, even to claim, as she does in a recent issue of Elle magazine, “to give clarity to the true meaning” of the term, but her construction of feminism cannot be trusted. Her vision of feminism does not call for an end to patriarchal domination. It’s all about insisting on equal rights for men and women. In the world of fantasy feminism, there are no class, sex, and race hierarchies that breakdown simplified categories of women and men, no call to challenge and change systems of domination, no emphasis on intersectionality. In such a simplified worldview, women gaining the freedom to be like men can be seen as powerful. But it is a false construction of power as so many men, especially black men, do not possess actual power. And indeed, it is clear that black male cruelty and violence towards black women is a direct outcome of patriarchal exploitation and oppression.

In her fictive world, Beyoncé can name black female pain, poignantly articulated by the passionate poetry of Somali-British poet Warsan Shire, and move through stages evoked by printed words: Intuition, Denial, Forgiveness, Hope, Reconciliation. In this fictive world, black female emotional pain can be exposed and revealed. It can be given voice: this is a vital and essential stage of freedom struggle, but it does not bring exploitation and domination to an end. No matter how hard women in relationships with patriarchal men work for change, forgive, and reconcile, men must do the work of inner and outer transformation if emotional violence against black females is to end. We see no hint of this in Lemonade. If change is not mutual then black female emotional hurt can be voiced, but the reality of men inflicting emotional pain will still continue (can we really trust the caring images of Jay Z which conclude this narrative).

It is only as black women and all women resist patriarchal romanticization of domination in relationships can a healthy self-love emerge that allows every black female, and all females, to refuse to be a victim. Ultimately Lemonade glamorizes a world of gendered cultural paradox and contradiction. It does not resolve. As Beyoncé proudly proclaims in the powerful anthem “Freedom”: “I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner-strength to pull myself up.” To truly be free, we must choose beyond simply surviving adversity, we must dare to create lives of sustained optimal well-being and joy. In that world, the making and drinking of lemonade will be a fresh and zestful delight, a real life mixture of the bitter and the sweet, and not a measure of our capacity to endure pain, but rather a celebration of our moving beyond pain.

--bell hooks

http://www.bellhooksinstitute.com/blog/2016/5/9/moving-beyond-pain

#important #a #bell hooks

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