electromagnetic pulse

MMeO. make me over.

I am working on a new project idea. It might stay in the idea phase for a while, but sharing I am nonetheless.

make me over
We live in societies and we communicate through a myriad of different means - with words both spoken and written, using our bodies (willingly and not), and through our appearances and actions. (These are just some of the major ones that I think about on a regular basis.) We use these means to dissent and to follow (and other things, but again, this is supposed to be short). And I'm interested in why it is important - or not - for us to follow popular (i.e. widespread, functioning) communication methods.

The example that most irks me is appearance, particularly women's appearance (I focus on women b/c I know them better, sorry guys).

I am not a make-up wearer. Like most little girls, I did experiment with it some -- and for a stretch even worn minimal amounts. But I finally gave it up - mostly b/c it was easier to go without. A few years after that, I remember preparing for an interview and asking my friend (who does wear make-up) whether I should put on a little mascara or lipstick. "Well," she said "it shows effort." And like the big dope that I am, I thought that was logical and put on the mascara. What I forgot is that on me, makeup just looks foolish.

I remember another time I let a friend do my eyes. She dressed them up very dark and smokey. She loved it b/c it made me look sexy and mysterious. I HATED it b/c I couldn't recognize myself! I thought it looked false and fake.

I am a terrible liar. I wear every thought on my face and no amount of makeup will disguise that. Though I may be bewildering to people, I am not sexy and mysterious. At least not in the smokey eyes kinda way.

So here I am, hungry to know more - objectively and emotionally - about how we communicate what we want to be through such established methods as "dressing up" or "putting on our faces". There's a great deal more I need to explain here, but I'm running out of time, so I'll just finish by saying that the project is first and foremost a study. I'd love to make a performance piece out of it, but now is the time for research - and I'm the guinea pig.

Stay tuned to find out how...

Labels: MMeO

posted by e m p @ 11:49 AM