twenty-third.

I’ve been looking up some old music lyrics (band’s like Duran Duran, Sweet, Led Zeppelin etc.) One of the reasons I am doing this is because I love how artists in that time allowed women to be a sex object and they seemed to embrace it. I love that the women they sing about are so full of mystery and obvious sexual tension.
I think that era makes a great contrast against how our society portrays women, and how they embrace it. In today’s world, women are shown as incredibly strong, determined humans who are hardly having to compete with men at all now – and they embrace it. They’re still feminine and sexy but they are also completely independent of how men would like to portray them.
Below are some lyrics from Duran Duran, Girls On Film:

See them walking hand in hand across the bridge at midnight
Heads turning as the lights flashing out it's so bright
Then walk right out to the fourline track
There's a camera rolling on her back, on her back
And I sense the rhythm humming in a frenzy all the way down her spine

Girls on film, girls on film, girls on film, girls on film

Lipstick cherry all over the lens as she's falling
In miles of sharp blue water coming in where she lies
The diving man's coming up for air cause the crowd all love pulling dolly by the hair, by the hair
And she wonders how she ever got here as she goes under again

Girls on film (two minutes later), girls on film
Girls on film (got your picture), girls on film

Wider baby smiling you just made a million
Fuses pumping live heat twisting out on a wire
Take one last glimpse into the night I'm touching close I'm holding bright, holding tight
Give me shudders in a whisper take me up till I'm shooting a star

Girls on film (she's more than a lady), girls on film
Girls on film (two minutes later), girls on film
Girls on film (see you together), girls on film
Girls on film (see you later), girls on film
Girls on film (what ya doing), girls on film

There is something incredibly alluring about these ‘Girls on Film’, they are wanted objects and adore the attention they get. I would love to explore how different music lyrics and video clips have changed through the centuries, especially male artists speaking of women.

twentieth.

Through this process, I would also like to work out what medias I will use and some sort of rough outline as to where I’m going with my collection.

Medias that I like to use:

* Photography
* Painting
* Videos
* Sculptures (Clay, Wax, Wire etc.)

Things that have strong meanings to me:

* Motion
* Keys
* French words
* Culture (belonging to something, in particular the French culture)
* Critique
* Pin hole photography
* Stories behind things/people
* Femininity

Inspiration:

* French artist JR, “Photograffeur”. Pastes enormous black-and-white photographic canvases of eyes, noses and mouths in various urban environments.
* Sophie Calle – Break up letter addressed to her, had 107 women dissect it, understand it for her in a way that allows her to “take care”.
* Lynn Randolph
* Hilla Becher
* Robert Doisneau
* The idea of physiognomy, or the notion that a person’s physical features are a manifestation of one’s personality or character.

eleventh.

As part of my senior art body of work, we are required to show a process of thinking and feeling to show how we arrived at our final collection. For me, this will take place in a blog.

We will spend the next term following this Criteria sheet:

Focus
Students determine their own focus, exploring the nature and meaning of the extrinsic through:

* The voyeur
* Dichotomy
* Symbolism
* Artificial/natural
* Political
* Metaphor
* Social commentary

Contexts
Students to select their own contextual references. Exploration of representations and expressions within historical, social cultural, geographical, psychological context that may reflect issues, attitudes and values.

Media Areas
Student choice

Media is negotiated with teacher but could include 2D, 3D and Time-based Media.


For me, my interest is largely based on being a female. There are lots of cliché’s which obviously come with this (“A female in a man’s world”, “Womens Rights!”) but I wish to explore what exactly makes an object feminine and the word ‘feminine’ by itself.

I did a mind map in my art workbook, but I will just list the key words that I used.

FEMINISM/WOMEN:

* Lace garments
* Lipstick
* Witch Hunts
* Curves
* Sexuality
* Motion
* Hidden/Secretive
* Prey/Predator relationship with man
* Dominatrix
* Titanic
* Corset
* Stiletto’s
* Lingerie
* Body image
* Sexual Prey
* Relationships
* Housewives
* Arranged marriages
* “Elle” – ‘she’ in French

For me, the words highlighted are going to be important towards my research, although I feel as if I was always come back to this list as a way to start new ideas and explore different relationships.