Q: Contemporary art and design often looks at the idea of constructed binaries such as man/woman, straight/gay, dirty clean, organic/synthetic. Considering the history of these ‘pairs’, how can art and design interrogate these binaries and offer new insight?
My work is a deepened exploration into the notion that gender is merely socially constructed. Within my process I underwent various experiments that attempted to highlight how we as humans interact with our own gender identity. As a result, I began to think about the intrinsic link between gender and value. To investigate this link deeper I started by asking my female friends what part of their body they liked the most. The majority of features were primarily hair, eyelashes or eyes.
All of the features discussed were predominantly those that denote a sense of beauty and this inspired me to look deeper into the depictions of femininity within society and our community in order to perhaps identify where this intense ideal of correlating our worth to our gender; as simultaneously dependent on each other, stemmed from.
This lead me to an exploration of the concept of gender and value through the symbolism of advertisement. The number of brands that target specific genders in their marketing is numerous and it speaks to a greater socio-economic issue that has essentially evolved into the commercialism of gender, and that’s what I have attempted to represent within my work.
Whilst highlighting the modern commoditisation of gender my work also attempts to confront the specific normative gender binaries that are depicted on and within products. My own designs and the exaggerated forms within them symbolise the overt representations of gender stereotypes we are conditioned to conform to. Their inclusion amongst the foreboding photographs depicting both the original and subverted forms of the ‘real products’ is an attempt to expose the actualities of the audiences own gender identify and provoke thought concerning the representation of gender within media and advertisement.
I chose to include designs hyperbolic of what actually exists alongside images of real products in an attempt to incite deeper critical thinking from the audience about the negative construction of gender within main stream culture and provide a work of art that was more thought provoking than my original idea.
Initially, I was fascinated in designing a label that transcended our stereotypical vision of gender and instead encompassed all non-binary identifying people. The attraction being to confront society through a direct comparison of what was missing (my own designs) against what I thought was essentially wrong (the photographs of the real products). This was eventually debunked through my research, as I came across an incredibly interesting article
in which a person identifying as non-binary talked about how one of the best things about under representation in advertising and media is that they don’t feel like there is pressure to aspire to the stereotype that is portrayed to them because there just isn’t one, ““If your gender is never represented in advertising at all, there can be no ‘advertising stereotypes’ about it. And for me that’s really one of the only liberating things about being non-binary – there is no ‘ideal’ to aspire to”.
I didn’t want to perceive what I thought a representation of non-binary should be so I instead focused on representing both the female and male advertising stereotypes I saw in reality as crudely as I could.
This method was influenced by the ‘kinder-guardians’ promotional video from Sacha Baron Cohens, ‘Who is America?’ television series. Whilst most certainly off topic, it did generate a really interesting premise around how to confront your audience.
In who is America, Cohens character actually agrees with multiple anti-gun control American politicians he is talking to, and as a result, he gets them to talk about and agree with a whole slew of really morally comprising and hilariously caricaturised statements. This, in a way, forces the audience to consider whether or not these are real people or if it is just a satirical comedy sketch and the whole thing is incredibly confronting.
This video inspired the whole notion of creating a facade that at first glance ‘agrees’ with what you’re trying to highlight is wrong, which is what I have attempted to employ within my work.
In order to further this concept, I have arranged the designs amongst photographs of real products that are clearly marketed specifically towards male and females, despite the ingredients being exactly the same. I edited the photographs to give a subtle menacing aura to ensure the multi-faceted nature of the work.
I have included photographs of the same products defaced, with some comment pertinent to the products blatant gender advertising stereotypes, in order to fully represent stereotypes, present in modern advertising.
· Martens, J, Kinder Guardians - Who is America. in , , 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLjAj8620Nk> [accessed 16 September 2018].
· "MoMA | Frida Kahlo. Self Portrait with Cropped Hair. 1940". in , <https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/frida-kahlo-self-portrait-with-cropped-hair-1940> [accessed 29 August 2018].
· Mythical, What's The Difference Between Men's And Women's Shampoos? (TEST). in , , 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXdfKKcjGZQ> [accessed 15 September 2018].
· Necati, Y, "As a non-binary person, I never see myself represented in advertisements – and I'd like it to stay that way.". in The Independent, , 2018, <https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/gender-non-binary-stereotypes-advertising-lgbtq-asa-capitalism-radical-coca-cola-google-a7848521.html> [accessed 15 September 2018].
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton