single-channel video and found object installation
color, 00:28
2016

A video installation projected above a plinth, bearing 3 lipsticks with x-acto knife blades protruding from them. The video is of a woman, putting on pink lipstick using her iPhone selfie camera. Written in pink lipstick on the plinth, are the words, ‘If you have been conditioned to view the mediums of fashion and make-up artistry as trivial (along with the women who use these mediums), this automatic response is a testament to the very power these mediums hold: to control the subconscious perception of the viewer.’ The work addresses the knee jerk conditioned response to the archetypal “fashion and makeup loving woman” as one of denigration, for her perceived connection to what are viewed as frivolous forms of expression. The irony, of course, is that triggering a response in a viewer, through embodying such an archetype, implies that those who are aware of this have an avenue to completely control the mind of the viewer through altering their appearance, an act that can only be carried out through hi-jacking the potential of fashion and make up. The juxtaposition of the perceived frivolity of the mediums, with their potential for subconscious mental control, is highlighted.