Monthly Archives: December 2011

The Undead: Models v. Zombies

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I am always amazed when, flipping through a magazine, I come across an incredibly well-shot image of a dead woman only to find it is a clothing, shoe, or handbag advertisement.  What is it with fashion spreads and dead-looking women?  To prove my point, here are a few snapshots from the “Fashion Sucks At…” tumblr, .  I think it’s pretty clear that fashion sucks at “life” :

“Just position me so I can see my shoes as I take my one last, dying breath.”

You forgot to bury the head-

This particular look is free with any purchase at your local Walgreens.

“Just hangin with my dead friend.”

Not sure why this is such a trend, but it’s disturbing to say the least.  You can find a great example of this in Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Monster” music video, which I won’t link to because why would I?  The entire set design is composed of naked, dead models hanging from the ceiling.  Jay-Z raps with a naked dead model in the background.  Why is something so suggestive of rape okay for tv? Why is this violence against women from the visual and musical communities okay? Ask yourself.

Fühlometer is a mood ring for your nation’s chubby finger!

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I highly recommend building these outside congress, and putting un-deletable apps on our congresswomen and congressmen’s smart phones.  All politics aside, this is a fantastic yet simple piece of interactive art, extremely successful I think in connecting you with your neighbors.  It gives a sense of shared citizenship.

Childish Behavior: Frieke Janssens’s “Smoking Kids”

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Frieke Janssen is a Brussels-based artist whose photographs are full of life. On his “Smoking Kids” he writes:

“A YouTube video of a chainsmoking Indonesian toddler inspired me to create this series, “Smoking Kids”. The video highlighted the cultural differences between the east and west, and questioned notions of smoking being a mainly adult activity.

Adult smokers are the societal norm, so I wanted to point the viewer’s focus on the issue of smoking itself. I felt that seeing children smoke would have a surreal impact on the viewer and compel them to truly see the acts of smoking rather than making assumptions about the person doing it. Coincidentally around the time of the gallery opening of “Smoking Kids”, a law was passed that banned smoking from Belgian bars. There was an outcry from the public about government intervention, feelings that freedom was being oppressed, and that adults were being treated like children?
With health reasons driving many cities to ban smoking, the culture around smoking has a retro feel. It’s like a throw back to the ’Mad Men’ era when smoking on a plane or in a restaurant was not unusual. The aesthetics of smoke and the particular way smokers gesticulate with their hands and their posture cannot be denied, but among the different tribes of “Smoking Kids,” – Glamour, Jazz, and The Marginal – there is a nod to less attractive aspects, balancing the line between the beauty and ugliness of smoking.
To assure you of the safety of the children, there were no real cigarettes on set. Instead, chalk and sticks of cheese were used as props, while candles and incense provided the wisps of smoke.”

Frieke Janssens’s work can be found here.

It’s not Christmas Without Star Wars

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Jesus and his daddy aren’t the only father-son duo who get to steal the thunder on December 25th:

For those of us who are not Christian or know that Mary should get a little more credit for popping out the “messiah,” feel free to celebrate that Jesus was a radical advocate of women’s rights in his time.