First of all I discovered Orlan, a so called 'performance-artist' who has dramatically changed her face through surgery as part of her art. There have been huge debates over her work and how people, mainly females, have altered their bodies to attain this 'ideal beauty'. Is it just purely narcissistic or does she effectively comment on pertinent issues facing society today?
Here is the Guardian's article on Orlan - www.guardian.co.uk
But what really interested me from this class debate was a later topic brought up, asking about the similarity between Orlan and Katie Price. They have both changed their appearance to conform to a particular ideal of beauty so surely that makes them the same?
There were many posts by peers that had strong opinions about plastic surgery and what Orlan was doing to her body under the name of 'art'.
A noticed a discussion between two photography members which I wanted to get involved in as I had similar views.
They agreed that Katie Price and Orlan are both doing the same thing, whether its to make themselves attractive or to make art. The go on to bring up Valeria Lukyanova, a female who has made herself look exactly like a barbie doll. I had seen an article a few weeks before and was amazed.
Here is my response to the forum..
Out of all of the comments added to this forum so far this is the one I wanted to reply to as I have also read one of the articles on Valeria Lukyanova. I stumbled across it on Facebook a few weeks ago and to say I was shocked would be a massive understatement, Why I ask? I just don't get it.
I have never really been a huge fan of plastic surgery but then again, some people feel they want it and that's up to them but in my opinion I think that it causes more problems than anything else.
For anyone who hasn't seen the human Barbie Doll, take a look here www.geekologie.com
Anyway, back to the discussion on Orlan and Katie Price, when you think about it they are both exactly the same, even though at first glance people think they are far from it. Just because Orlan argues that she creates 'art', through changing her bodily appearance, surely Katie Price could say exactly the same?
For one reason or another, they both do it to alter how they look but I definitely don't think that either of them are creating 'art' in any way.
I also agree with Leah when she says that it is not right that Jordon gets all this critical and negative abuse from the public when others out there are doing or have done exactly the same.
I can kind of understand why they have done it, mainly for attention. The same with Valeria Lukanova and Lady Gaga and her synthetic 'star image'.. would she be as successful today without it?
Minus the surgery they would be like everybody else, but is that really such a bad thing? Has what they have done made it worse for themselves or do people actually appreciate this so called 'form of art'?
LIVING AS A HUMAN BARBIE DOLL..
They agreed that Katie Price and Orlan are both doing the same thing, whether its to make themselves attractive or to make art. The go on to bring up Valeria Lukyanova, a female who has made herself look exactly like a barbie doll. I had seen an article a few weeks before and was amazed.
Here is my response to the forum..
Out of all of the comments added to this forum so far this is the one I wanted to reply to as I have also read one of the articles on Valeria Lukyanova. I stumbled across it on Facebook a few weeks ago and to say I was shocked would be a massive understatement, Why I ask? I just don't get it.
I have never really been a huge fan of plastic surgery but then again, some people feel they want it and that's up to them but in my opinion I think that it causes more problems than anything else.
For anyone who hasn't seen the human Barbie Doll, take a look here www.geekologie.com
Anyway, back to the discussion on Orlan and Katie Price, when you think about it they are both exactly the same, even though at first glance people think they are far from it. Just because Orlan argues that she creates 'art', through changing her bodily appearance, surely Katie Price could say exactly the same?
For one reason or another, they both do it to alter how they look but I definitely don't think that either of them are creating 'art' in any way.
I also agree with Leah when she says that it is not right that Jordon gets all this critical and negative abuse from the public when others out there are doing or have done exactly the same.
I can kind of understand why they have done it, mainly for attention. The same with Valeria Lukanova and Lady Gaga and her synthetic 'star image'.. would she be as successful today without it?
Minus the surgery they would be like everybody else, but is that really such a bad thing? Has what they have done made it worse for themselves or do people actually appreciate this so called 'form of art'?
LIVING AS A HUMAN BARBIE DOLL..
I may be by myself on this one but I can't understand why someone would do this to their body, making it look so unnatural. I was genuinely so amazed the first time I discovered her.
I have to ask, has the continuous publication of 'faultless models' with 'idea bodies' getting the 'perfect man' pushed people to far into believing they need to be something they are not?
Are we starting to lose a sense of reality?
Aspiring to look like a plastic child's toy? Imagine that question in a school classroom..'so, what do you want to become when you are older?'.. with a child replying 'a Barbie doll'.. the teachers would have a fit!
The whole world is going mental when it comes to how you should look in order to fit in with society nowadays...
I have to ask, has the continuous publication of 'faultless models' with 'idea bodies' getting the 'perfect man' pushed people to far into believing they need to be something they are not?
Are we starting to lose a sense of reality?
Aspiring to look like a plastic child's toy? Imagine that question in a school classroom..'so, what do you want to become when you are older?'.. with a child replying 'a Barbie doll'.. the teachers would have a fit!
The whole world is going mental when it comes to how you should look in order to fit in with society nowadays...
Fashion and beauty photography over time probably hasn't helped this situation, especially now with the digital manipulation technology which is around. The majority of magazine as well as tv adverts have been Photoshoped or edited in some way. Removing blemishes, taking inches off the waist, sharpening jaw lines, brightening eyes or even straightening teeth have all given us the wrong view on how people need to appear in order to get by in our world.
A very interesting thought provoking blog. I feel that if someone has to alter their appearance just to attract a member of the opposite sex, then they are probably pretty insecure. I think that personality is far more important. I think that tattoos fall into a similar category. They may look Ok at the start, but as soon as one ages they ( the tattoos ) look horrible.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I totally agree with this comment, especially the part about tattoos. Yes, its all very well getting a tattoo at a young age and it looking attractive on a nice tight layer of skin but I have seen some horrible results. It looks better on males but elderly woman unfortunately, its not nice and once it is done there is nothing you can do about it. Personally I'm also against this type of body art.
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