My Name Is Dita - An Experiment

Hey yall! As you do know by now I am a huge fan of everything concerning the theories of gender, sex, queer, feminism and performance. And as I am very secure in the texts that surround the theories I am tempted to get the whole thing to the next level: reality.

During last Tuesdays LGBT social night we dressed up as a rainbow, and of course, I was in team red. Besides my narcicistic wish to win best dressed, yes I am a bit vain, I also made the whole eening an exciting experiment. As I dressed up, and looked more and more of a mixture of fucked up dirty drag queen and glam rock experiment, I thought about what the color red represents in the LGBT flag. Of course it represents life  but also sexuality. And, the whorry, slutty and cunty person I am, I bought a whip, with a heart shaped end, to complete my outfit for the evening. Covered in red glitter, dolled up with lip stick, eyeliner, red paint and tons of red lipstick I had a close look at my actual outfit. I wore a red shirt, burgundy red pants and my cherry red Dr. Martens boots, and yes they are the same Miley wore in the Wrecking Ball video. I actually looked like a mixture of a dominatrix and busted gender blender. AWESOME!

As you can see, Dita was everything else then shy.

And now, let me build yu a bridge to where I am commig from right now academically. My dissertation is going to be on the use of S&M i pop culture, mainly in thee different types of works. These three are "Venus in Furs" a novel by Leopold von Sacher Masoch, published in 1870, SEX by Madonna, yes I mean the 1992 published super scandalous coffe table book, and the 2012 released 5 minute short film FAME by Lady Gaga which is also a commercial for her perfume Fame. 

And to get better understanding of why Madonna put up the figure of Dita in her book sex, I thaught that for this night, my name could be Dita as well. I introduced my outfit to my friends as: "My name is Dita, I will be your mistress tonight!". Very Madonna, very erotica and due to my outfit and masquerade very much gender fuck.  Below you ca see the pictures of Ditas kisses and lipstick writings on everyone, cause "Dita is one everyone."

As a result I can say that putting on a persona and do something with it is extremely liberatig and very empowering. But at the same time I can imageine that the character in itsself is a very intimidating one.

And of course I want to give a big big big thank you to all my amazing friends who have allowed Dita to kiss, draw on and whip them. You guys seriously are amazing!

DITA IS ON EVERYONE

"I Love Art" - Kathy "Betty" Griffin

As you do know I am ahuge fan of our favorite D-List queen Kathy Griffin. And back in the days she has done an amazing photoshoot with Mike Ruiz for his transformation series.

And as she has celebrated her birthday a few days ago, I think it is time to give Kathy another run in the spotlight. Besides that, my latest article for Vada Magazine has been treating Kathy Griffin as part of the "Holy Trinity of Gay Comedy". And if you have not yet read about it then go and do so! Right here! So now take a good hard look at this drawing and tell me that Kathy was right by saying: "Now I am staning here like this and even the gays are getting hard ones. Well, to the best of their abilities!" (Cause I definitly agree!)

Bettie Paige has nothing on our Kathy! She is a cougar! (And a very sexy one!)

"I Love Art" - Get them clothes changed! - Switcheroo by Hana Pesut

Photographs are great, am I right? You can literally capture everything, from the most candid and meaningless shot to the most iconic and historically important moment. But, what you can capture as well, is potantial for discompfort. Yes, that is possible. And Hana Pesut has done that, in a beautiful way!

 

Her tumbler is a fascinating and very urban seeming wild mxiture of all sorts of (mostly) portrait photographs with tons of different photo concepts and great ideas. But the series that got her in the spotlight, and actually has caught y attention and admiration, is called "Switcheroo". What may sound quite mysterious and maybe complex is actually a simple, but very strong, idea and a clean concept. In this series Pesut has asked couples of strangers, as far as I have seen the pictures all couples are male and female, to be photographed. She has taken a photograph of them and then has taken another one of them. BUT: this time the two photographed individuals have switched clothes. And out comes an interesting picture, with an even bigger question in the back. Do we feel compfortable with these pictures, or do they evoke some sort of discompfort?

As one can imagine, there is a war going on right now. And this war is not faught with weapons or violence, well mostly not, but is between "morals", gender construction and the possibilities and the will of people to accept change. What I mean is: Are we ready to accept different notions of gender in our society as "normal" and part o the spectrum, or do we still keep close to what classically is a manly and what is feminine. Are we able to accept and agree over thefact that gender is fluid, its nature is constructed and its existance is a performance? If looking at the following pictures might evoke the sense in you, that you might feel a discompfort in seeing people wearing clothes not directly assignable to their gender, and walking the streets like that, there is the possibility that you might not agree with me to some point.

By the way: The pictures I use of course are property of Pesut. But these three following are my favorites, of what I have seen so far.

If you ask me, I would loo twice on the streets. But thing is I would actualy walk along with a big smile and be happy that people dare to challenge stereotypical notion of gender through fashion. And, lets be honest for a second, most of the people in the clothes of the other don't look bad. I mean men in dresses is probably the thing that causes the biggest stirr, but they don't look bad in them, they just look unusual. Anyways, I find the photographs to be a great, and much needed, idea. Gender is a construct, a performance and actuallly pretty useless since gender is not sex. So go ask: "Is this causing any discompfort to someone, and if so, why?

"I Love Art" - Masculine,Feminine & Nir Arieli

You know I love me some good art. And this time I can combine my love for art with my activism in the area of gender and gender performance. My focus this time: The gender bending and blurring photography of Nir Arilei.

Nir Arieli started his photography career as a military photographer. He got a scholarship at the New York School of Visual Art and graduated with honors. His website bio says that he is focusing on photography of dance and is into beauty and art. His photographs are wonderfully natural and one series in particular has captured my direct attention through a German news website. The series is called "MEN". I got my two favorite pictures from this series for you below. (And of course the copyright belongs to Nir! ;))

I love this one since it is absolutely the combination of a Lana Del Rey vibe photograph. And Lana is all about the glam side of the 50's and super stereotypical  femininity and bad girl mix. The fact that Nir choose a handsome lack man and added him into the scene of a feminine floral surrounding destroys the stereotype of men ad black men in stereotypical (I mean what is more stereotypical than black man as bro's?). I just love it, and besides: It is a wonderful picture.

And this one? I like that it is sat in this clear environment and as well feminine surrounding of the flower print. And in all this we have a nude man lying down, but with a stereotypical symbol of masculinity: a beard. And since the overall is very white it highlights the vulnerability of men and the constructiveness of masculinity.

On the website I found his photographs said that the series is about men in stereotypical poses is only getting attention because it is shocking to see men in such feminine poses that display the stereotype of women as vulnerable. Okay. I was a bit in shock about this description. I don't find these shocking. I find these to be deconstructive and beautiful. But not shocking. We really need some more gender deconstruction by pictures such as Nir's. Anyways. his photographs are beautiful, amazing, academically usable and they are true art. So go and check out his website nirarielie.com.

"I Love Art!" - Sweeten the Wait No.2

Day two of my "Sweeten the Wait" countdown to Lady Gaga's single Applause. WIth todays back and forth about a leak or not and all the emotions I just hope you can enjoy these two! So I could not decider which one I liked best so you get both! 

"I Love Art" - Lady Gaga, the beauty that deconstructs beauty, using camp.

Monsters, it is only eight days until APPLAUSE from ARTPOP is released. Meanwhile I will continue to sweeten the wait with drawings of Gaga. And isn't she just a beauty? But...

... did you know that Gaga, as our generations pop diva, makes extensive use of the performative class of camp? What you don't know what camp is? Well basically camp is the celebration of passionate failures, it is aesthetics over content which makes camp the perfect thing to criticize the dominant discourse by appearing as a form of it. But basically camp is a masqueraded way of criticizing through the use of irony, parody, aesthetics and theatricality. If you still don't have a glimpse at what camp is, you should really read about it. Probably the best would be to start with Susan Sonntag's essay "Notes on Camp". But listen up: she leaves out camp as a political thing... Alright, that brings me to the following: I have to fucking write about camp.. but in another post! Just enjoy the picture! XOXO

"I Love Art" - While we wait for ARTPOP, I will sweeten the wait!

Well we all wait for ARTPOP and I have done some drawing lately to sweeten the wait, so lets get to it, shall we?

And what do we see here? Gaga giving us face, and may I say: she is very good at it!

"I Love Art" - Marina Abramovic featuring Lady Gaga in "The Abramovic Method"

Hey there! Like you know I love me some good, great, iconic and interesting art. And that includes performing arts as well as the creating arts. And who is one of the biggest names n performing arts? Marina Abramovic. And she is about to start up the "Marina Abramovic Institute" and got a lil promo help from the one and only Lady Gaga.

Picture by Christian Grömer, used under creative common rights.

Marina Abramovic is now 60 years old and still looks like 40. Yes I know that is not the most important to mention at first when you write about such a great contemporary artist, but look at her! She is gorgeous! But now back to the real thing: her art! Abramovic is one of the most discussed, controversial and devoted performance artists ever. Her oeuvre is a wide range of border experiences of the body, very often linked with risk for her life and safety. Her biggest project jet was a retro perspective of her work in the MOMA in 2010. there she instructed others to redo her old performances. And she managed to sit still on a chair each day of the exhibition. This performance run under the name of "The Artist is present". the preparation for the exhibition was captured in the documentation film: "Marina Abramovic - The Artist is present". 

Her work is very often a reminder for the presence of a human in the world and that a human should be aware of this. Well at least in my opinion. Also her performances channel the performer and work to make the artist and the audience aware of the space around them. Her work is also widely open to interpretation and is very exquisit. 

Well the interpretation of that is pretty hard. The nudity of hers maybe says that the performer needs to be nude to be vulnerable to really experience the world. Well work it ad gag on the complexity of that performance. Also Gaga is steaming hot!  I also think that performing without spoken word is a thing reminding us that communication is more than words. Its sound and movement. Also Gaga has blended senses out, like her sense of sight. So she experiences the world differently. Come along Gaga and Abramovic also experiment with the notion of the sense of human life in the chair scene. For me it is very nihilistic. 

Well lets come to the latest video of Abramovic promoting her institute. It features Lady Gaga as Gaga will feature Abramovic in the ARTPOP era. The video is called: 

"I Love Art" - Lindsay shoots the beep, because she is "Private in Public!"

This one is a little older, but I still like it! I hope you guys do as well, but who does not like a celebrity exposed? And especially if its Lindsay Lohan, because she is "Private in Public!" 

Ah Lindsay we know that you are in rehab right now and we all wish you the best, but you playing with that gun, smoking and acting as if nobody is there. Just priceless!

"I Love Art" - Don't Hate Me Because I Am Beautiful

Yes! Finally I have been able to take some time off and was able to draw a nice new picture of my favorite icon: Miss Marilyn Monroe! So let the art awe you!

I thought about the classical age of glamour and of course the first image that popped to my head was the picture of Marilyn Monroe when she was starring alongside Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall in "How to marry a Millionaire?" Despite the fact that her role was a bit of a dumb blonde Monroe had fun on set of the movie and posed for this one photo where she ha this iconic "Don't hate me because I am beautiful!" pose with the hand in her face. Lady Gaga has also used that pose in her videos for "Paparazzi" and "Telephone". This is a campy as fuck pose and an essential one to beauty ad the perception and reception of it, at least in my mind. So enjoy!

Don't hate me because I am beautiful, its more a curse then a blessing!

"I Love Art!" - Enchanting Eyes

I haven't posted one of my drawings for a while, and I am sorry for that but actually I try to draw as much as possible but..

(1) there are so many other good things to blog about, as you can see, and (2) I am right now in the middle of the preparation for an important exam, so my time for drawing is a bit limited. But you will for sure be able to enjoy this one of her, the one and only Marilyn Monroe,  well at least I hope so!

Marilyn Monroe - Enchanting Eyes

I hope you can enjoy this one. When I drew it I was inspired by the iconic but pretty unknown pose Marilyn had while she was reading a book on a sofa She just  layed there and read a book. For me this is a perfect pose because it combines her overly sexual side as well as her sensible and intellectual side, which very often is put aside. And reducing Marilyn to a sex symbol is wrong, since she was so much more!

"I Love Art" - ARTPOP is for sure fierce art!

After her big announcement of the release date of her new single, her album release date and a stunning promotional photograph of her in natural use Lady Gaga has made it back into the music world with a boom! And certainly I could not resist then to draw this amazing picture, Icon Art Marilyn style! So enjoy!

Get read world of pop, she is back and se doe not take prisoners in the ARTPOP aera.

She is bold, she is beautiful and she is the queen: Lady Gaga. Rocking a natural look for her promotional shoot for promoting her upcoming album ARTPOP.

"I Love Art!" - Frankensteins Bride had a sex-change!

Drag divas and queens for me are one hell of a bunch! Since I really like, love and adore them and their tremendous ability to draw a canvas called face, and make their appearance like from another planet! And one of my most famous Drag Queens is Satan's secretary and winner of season IV of RuPauls Drag Race: Sharon Needles!

And to do her spooky drag royalty some justice I did a drawing of her as Frankensteins bride. So I hope you enjoy it and think that this drawing of her drag highness is not only drop dead gorgeous but also spooky sexy! Elvira wishes and Sharon Needles paints it (On her face!)!

"I Love Art!" - "You better Party!" says Miley!

On this point I don't think that I have to explain why I chose to draw Miley Cyrus. So just take the drawing of her I did and enjoy it. Fashionwise I am pretty fine with the sunglasses I drew, or better said the ones that she had chosen to wear in her music video to "We Cant Stop". 

So la la li la di, Miley like sto party!

"I Love Art!" - The Face of M.M.

Hey there! Since it is more than obvious that I have a certain affinity for Miss Marilyn Monroe I am just giving you this: Another picture of the iconic Miss Monroe. This time centered around her face. I hope you like the drawing, since I absolutely love it.

She is beautiful, she is talented and she has a big soul. A huge soul tortured by life, because she and her amazingly beautiful face, were just born in the wrong time. But anyways, even though she looks so sad: Isn't she smizing?

"I Love Art!" - Miley sure knows how to werk that boody for a twerk!

She Can't stop. Since Miley Cyrus has released her new song and video "We Can't Stop" I have watched the video quite a few ties. And due to its DOPE nature and crazy looks and overall conception I decided to do some drawing  on this one. So here is the outcome of what i call the "I Can't stop listening to "We Can't Stop" session!" Enjoy!

Forget that Miley was a Disney princess once and TWERK, because that is
what she does in such a bootylicious way. Not bad!

Miley has sure grown up to be a music force to be reckoned with, even though the promotional campaign for "We Can't Stop" is somewhere between genius and disastrous!

"I Love Art!" - Private in Public starring Lindsay Lohan

Paparazzi's Buzzing Around With Cameras - Take my Picture, I Wanna Be A Star

Just another drawing from the surprisingly interesting Lindsay Lohan, who hasn't got that much of a problem with her privacy. So she is "Private in Public".

Private in Public  means anything goes! And anything for Lindsay means a great pullover dress with a huge amount of charm and voluptuous lips!

"I Love Art" - Lindsay Lohan starring in: Private in Public

Time for just another picture form my candid series "Private in Public: Starring Lindsay Lohan." You know, so it was just another day for Miss Lohan, another day with shopping and al that stuff. So she just got home and took her camera to take a quick shot.

So get into it and enjoy this newest chapter in this "I Love Art" series, and gag on the candid realness!

Uhh Gurrl! She is giving us full face and bikini realness! And I mean: Seriously: How could you resist that smile? You can not!

I Love Art - Lady Gaga in "Machete Kills"

Since the movie trailer for "Machete Kills" has been released i was so exciting to do some drawing of the characters we have seen in it! So here you can see Lady Gaga as "La Chamelon".

I Love Art - Lady Selfie!

We all know and love her. The first Lady and reigning queen of pop: Lady Gaga! An´d this Lady has taken some selfies for her twitter over the time! Her you can see my favorite one drawn by me! Check out also everything else from the amazing "I Love Art category!"

Smile, lightings and Lady Selfie!