Fasfem listens : Clara

“Be careful, under my breast, the grenade…” sings the magnificent Clara in her native French being feminist yet emotional yet poetic yet elegant. Follow her steps, you might discover a sense of thyself…I know I did.

Cindy and the Lens

Do you enjoy posing for a photo? I do not. I remember dreading the ‘SAY CHEESE’ moments of family pictures, I could never seem to pull my self together and relax in front of a camera. But we are living in the era of self image making, so even people like me are getting used to striking a pose. To pretend they are in control of their situation and smile.

This attitude of performing in front of the camera was made an art by Cindy Sherman long before the selfie culture took over our lives. Being the last and far younger member of a big family she used dressing up as a way to draw attention. I guess she couldn’t have imagined back then how this tricky behavior would take over the rest of her life.

Of course she understood her arty nature and began her journey with paintbrush in her hands. But soon she found that world to be male - dominated and decided to carve out her own niche by taking photography classes. She decided to study art at SUNY Buffalo State, where she failed her introductory course in photography - another fail of our educational system to identify one’s capabilities. But she became interested in how Eleanor Antin, Adrian Piper and others were using role-playing in their work and fell in with a group of artists, including Robert Longo, who became her boyfriend. She and Longo moved to New York in 1977.

Sherman found the city terrifying as being shy and an introvert. So she stayed in and played dress up. And took pictures of her disguised self. That endeavour would somehow lead to her famous Film Stills series, ‘a hybrid of photography and performance art that reveals femininity to be effect of representation’ as described by Douglas Crimp who gave her the first coverage. Since then her art has influensed self-made imagery everywhere and has won every record an artist could desire.

She stars in all her photographs. She has raised critical questions on what it means to be female. She works solo in her studio and acts as director, make up artist, stylist and model. She denies every narcissistic hint in her work, as every sartorial choice projects a complete identity far apart from hers. Those pictures expose the societally constructed nature of preconceived female roles.

What really interests me in her work is the fact that her camera has always been lying, exposing performativity. Just like the thousands of Instagram posts in numerous so called ‘influential’ accounts - though these pretend to be true ... So I became curious to find out about her stance around street style photography and Instagram.

‘It’s business but there’s something dead about the whole thing’ she claimed while coming across with some accounts. She felt physically repulsed by them. And Project twirl was born. In it she posed as modern-day street style star in collaboration with Harper’s Bazaar. You can see her using high fashion creations with irony and wit by constracting caricature peackoking creatures when wearing them. The Gucci green suit in the picture above ? She found it so outhere that she might have actually wear it….!

And what about Instagram? Take a look at some of her latest pictures on her personal account :

Mock self portraits of ordinary people but cartoonishly caricatured - overmanipulated by apps. You know, the ones we all use to retouch our pics…a laugh at our society being obsessed with what we were programmed to consider as perfect.

Cindy is now 64 and lives in Soho. Her latest cover page is on The Gentlewoman. She considers to turn to film. I am filled with anticipation…

*photography from nytimes and harpersbazaar

Craftivist Collective

A gentle form of activism. When I firstly came across the term couldn’t help but wonder; is there such a thing as a gentle way to protest? Doesn’t the phrase contain an oxymoron? Would gentle activism even deliver what it claims to? So I began my web itineracy…

The term was coined by the sociologist Betsy Greer who refers to it as the

way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper and your quest for justice more infinite.

It was she who encouraged Sarah Corbett -a professional activist and blogger - back in 2009, to gather her increasing number of followers and found Craftivist Collective. Since then their activities have been interwined through many dimensions. Their manifesto and list of goals for the main London based group and ten further active groups includes being positive, creative and non-threatening among other things. They have been characterised as ‘ guerilla crafting ‘; they leave crafted messages in public places. There was a nomination for the Arts and Culture Award in the Observer Ethical Awards 2013, TedX talk, lectures and book publications.

But do all of those things actually work? If you take a look at craftivism projects by the collective you would be surprised to see the outcome. I was. I couldn’t believe that high positioned people in sucessful capitalist business models would pause and listen. That a stiched piece of message would actually be considered as a form of protest.

I guess there is a big amount of power enclosed inside those carefully chosen yarns…there are people who decide that changes for the better can and will happen through generosity and kindness. That we should stand for what we believe by spreading positive viber rather than aggressiveness. That introverts who sit and create rather than yelling are powerful too, in their own way.

I believe in taking action. I believe in the definition of design as a means of creating beneficial change. I believe in the interaction between the body and the garment - on it or created by it. Why wouldn’t these be powerful tools for an effective form of protest?

Your thoughts are more than welcome.

Fasfem watches : Feminists

A new column about all things feminism and fashion in film…hope you enjoy it!

It’s national women’s day today and I beleive it would be on point to watch this documentary, full of personal experiences from women who actually stood up and made a difference…

Fasfem listens : Nina

Nina was ahead of her time yet current..her distinctive voice blew our minds with lyrics like But what have I got? I got myself and I wish I knew what it would feel to be free . Her style was unique. She was political, angry, on fire some would claim. A fire that nearly burnt her…

Fashion nationalism

Can fashion be seen as an act of political statement? I am sure this is not what you might have expected when you come across the term ‘political’. But writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie claims that fashion can be political and proves it by deciding to wear only Nigerian designers to public events.

We have been trained to consider fashion frivolous and guilty of rejecting diversity and ethos. In Lagos though this doesn’t seem to be the case. Clothing is being used to express creativity, to please rather than to prove status. And the well known writer communicates that by the garments she puts on her own body.

I can’t help but wonder whether this could be the case in other parts of the world. Parts where talent and creativity are being overshadowed by fast fashion industry which has taken over the world the last decades. What if we all decided to support made in ….(our country)? Unique garments from talented people made with respect for the human and the environment. Wouldn’t that be a way to give a message, to make a political statement?

As Chimamanda notes in the following video : ‘ In Lagos - the most stylish city - fashion is one true democracy.’

Fasfem listens : Billie

Fasfem listens to the female voice. Ladies of the past, the present and beyond with impeccable style whose dreams of a fair world pour out of their mouth in the form of music.

Here 's Billie, lotus flower wearer, a rather strange yet delicious fruit …