This project is a commentary on the ritual of wearing makeup. Through exaggerating the concept of makeup being a mask we wear to feel more confident, into a literal, physical mask to wear, this project aims to critique the act of wearing make-up; making it so literal it appears comical.
In MS15, ‘Homescapes,’ we have examined the notion of home. Through analysis of texts such as (Re)-Membering Places and the Performance of Belonging(s) by Annie Marie Fortier (Fortier, 1999) and Belonging: a culture of place, by Bell Hooks (Hooks, 2009), we have explored and discussed the concepts of home and belonging. Home is not solely a geographical location but something intangible we carry with us internally. The idea of home and belonging cannot be defined in simple terms as it manifests differently in each individual, due to the many varying factors that can contribute to this feeling, these range greatly from gender, to emigration and many more complex contributors. Using movement as our tool for exploration, we dissected our daily rituals, examining these often mundane actions we repeat daily without a second thought. It provoked the question: Do these seemingly insignificant actions that we perform regularly, amalgamate to compose a rhythm to our lives and in turn bring a sense of home and familiarity?
My chosen object and ritual to unpack is the act of applying makeup, a consistent ritual in my day to day routine. Makeup and makeup brushes can be traced back to use in ancient times, and have since drastically evolved to their universal use today. The act of applying make-up to cover up minor imperfections and enhance our features in line with society perceived beauty standards is a shared daily ritual amongst a significant proportion of women. Unpacking this provokes the question of why this ritual is stereotypically associated with women and femininity? Why do men not feel this same pressure to cover imperfections and look a certain way to feel comfortable in the same space where women do? Parallels can be drawn between wearing makeup and masks, it can also be argued that makeup is in fact a form of mask.
Artists and photographers Cindy Sherman and Gillian Wearing share a common theme throughout their works, both exploring the constructs of identity, performance and disguise, themes that have heavily influenced my project. Gillian Wearing believes that: ultimately we are all performers with a variety of roles we carry out each day.[1^] Her work 8self-portrait 2000,” is a photograph of the artist wearing a prosthetic mask of her own face, with the viewer only seeing a glimpse of her real eyes through two cut out holes. This act of mask wearing prompts the viewer to question the authenticity of photography, (Campbell, 2005) and by wearing a mask of her own face, Gillian highlights to the viewer how we present our own identity could be considered a performance in itself. Cindy Shermans series consisting of over 70 black and white images named Untitled Film Stills[2^], are a collection of photographs that are very obviously film frames, however do not directly correlate to specific films. Whilst Sherman herself is the subject of each photograph, they are not self-portraits. Sherman successfully uses photography as a tool to deceive, and evade her own personality by taking on different identities. (Artlead, n.d.) Therefore, as the viewer, although we see Sherman in every image, we never truly see her, but herself in an array of disguises. With these disguises Sherman is able to take control of her own image and direct how we the viewer perceive her in different scenes. Parallels can be drawn between the way Sherman employs disguise to mask her true identity and control the image she presents in her photographs with how women apply makeup to present themselves in a particular way in particular spaces.
The medium of Shermans Untitled Film Stills, is described as acting on the intersection between photography and performance. Sherman both performs the character that is the subject of the photographs but also takes on many other roles such as the director, set designer, makeup and costume designer. (Ricci, n.d.) My project aims to take on a similar style of media, where I myself take on the roles of subject and director, whilst enlisting the help of friends to take the photographs.
Similarly my project sits at the intersection of photography and performance exploring the adoption of constructed identity in everyday scenarios.
[1^]: Rewind, Gillian Wearing, 2005 [2^]: Untitled Film Stills Cindy Sherman, 1977-1980
