A sincere investigation into a vain phenomenon

The blog has been quiet for awhile, and I am not completely sure that this is blog-worthy, but I have to put it SOMEWHERE. I am going to address the issue of "duck lips," a phenomenon that has a huge following among women (and men) who post pictures of themselves on social networking sites. So what exactly is this? Why do people do it? How did it become such a universal face to make? The look of duck lips comes across as slightly arrogant, a little confrontational, but also something people do to accentuate their sexuality, obviously to draw attention to the face and the lips. The face also seems to be something that accompanies a scene...to put it simply, it says: "Look at me, I am holding this bottle of Dom, this small dog, this camera, etc."  Over the next month, I will address this through a series of images and "selfies," as they are called today.

First, I will break down the anatomy of the duck lips:

To do this, it requires the flexing of muscles around the mouth in order to purse the lips..

Side view

The complete look also requires a certain look for the eyes. Lets say, for now, the face requires looking straight into the camera. 

You can alter the expression of the eyes from neutral, as shown above, or slightly annoyed.

As I was practicing my best duck lip face, I realized that it is not an easy face to make....I rarely use my mouth muscles in this way, and I hazard to say that making a really good one takes some practice. You might end up looking bewildered:

                                   or just completely silly, resulting in a failed duck lip face:

After this research was completed I realized the face is very similar to the look of sipping a hot cup of coffee or tea.

As the face-making continued, I started to get "better" at making the face and started adding props. 

Note the third and final element of the standard duck lips selfie, the extended arm. 

Please check back soon as I continue to investigate the elements of this far-reacing face.

There is something stirring

It's been about a year since I earned my MFA from Moore College of Art and Design. Since then I have done a lot....I feel like I have been catching up on all the projects and things I wanted to do while in school. The wedding happened, the gardening has been ongoing, the house has been cleaned many times over, and I even had a yard sale, took up bread making, and adopted a cat, Effie. It's been a busy year and I have had a lot on my mind...including my artwork. In my mind is where it has stayed. I have played around with some things, done a few paintings, but nothing momentous or notable happened. Is it a total loss? Definitely not! I feel like perhaps I needed that break, to step back after three years of being an art making machine! Over the past year, I kept asking myself, what SHOULD I be making? Lately, I have been asking a different question: What CAN I make? What do I WANT to make. I believe that I need to let go of the notion that I should be working in a certain way,  and just let it flow.

Back from the dead?

Well, it has been awhile since I made a post on my blog. I can honestly say, it has been on my mind constantly, but so have little details like what my bridesmaids are wearing, and how to construct a forest of giant tissue paper flowers.  I am getting married....soon (one month give or take) and totally involved with every little detail.  Since I am an artist, I feel compelled to hand-make everything.  This obviously takes away from my art making, although I have been thinking about it.  It's hard to develop ideas without any actual making. It's hard not to make when you have it on your mind so much.  I am going to make a concerted effort to produce something this week...whether it's an image, several images, or just some actual IDEAS.  I am also heading to Philadelphia Friday to see some  work by my professor Jennie Shanker.  I am looking forward to this and I am hopeful for some inspiration. 

A sneaky surprise

So, I recently learned that Andy, my fiance, was working on his own version of His and Hers, completely independent of my own work. He has been going around the house guerrilla style taking photos of my messes with his smart phone. That is exciting because I really want to include him in my recent work..it is, after all, about our connection. Hopefully I can convince him to let me shot his images on this blog. Stay tuned.
Lately I have been letting ideas develop on how I want to take my investigation of relationships further. I would like to do an experiment with an outside party. Maybe someone can come in and do a photo journalistic report on us. Maybe I can live with a couple and record them. It would be like reality tv, minus the tv.

His and Hers

Relate/relationship

Roles are inevitable in life.  Some you choose, some are inherited. Some develop after years of give and take in a relationship. The person I have become is so different from what I was 8 years ago. Part of that person compliments the other. Part of her is the antithesis.

His and Hers, continued

Facial Expressions

Scratching the 7 Year Itch

In a long term relationship, it seems like so much is at stake. The time and effort invested has shaped both individuals,  both visibly and psychologically. I often refer to myself as "we," reinforcing the idea that I am, in fact, a unit and not an individual. But then there is the urge to rebel. It's such a silly urge that goes against the very core of a union.  Perhaps it is a little leftover teenage cockiness, or maybe just a bad reaction to something you ate, but sometimes a need for independence creeps in, challenging the stability of that union. The urge to control, or micromanage seems not to be exclusive to managers and executives. The need to keep one another happy can be overwhelming sometimes, while the importance of the individual becomes less of a priority.
This is what my new work examines.

Labels

What does it mean when someone is tied to another someone? How does that change over time? Why does it seem scary to think about how much you change as part of a partnership?

His and Hers

His and Hers, this is why we fight

Thinking about relationships, I am reminded of the care, the effort needed to maintain one. For some reason, there is a lot of cleaning involved. As we go through life, we leave messes for each other...little piles of life-evidence, tell tale signs of productiveness, or laziness. I am working on documenting the differences between his and hers: the piles that can be labeled as such, and the cleaned up version that we both aspire to.

searching for validation

 

Recently my work has switched gears. I am thinking about who I am in terms of the "other half" in a relationship. This piece references the need for validation of my own sexuality, as I am often waiting for this to be justified for me. "I wore my new dress and he didn't even notice." or "Don't you notice anything different about me?" 

I am interested in how this develops. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Tell me how!

Some new thoughts

Happy Labor Day everyone!
Since graduation I have been spending a lot of time working (for the man), making back some of the funds I lost while not working in school. I have been asking myself the obvious questions: What now? What will I work on next? How will I cope with the "out there on your own" factor?

A new idea I want to explore with my work is my relationship to other people, especially people I am close with. The saying goes "you can never see yourself through someone's eyes." Since I like to approach seemingly unanswerable questions, I thought this would be a good place to start. I also really want to put underwear on the nude statues at my local museum. Pictures to follow soon, I hope.

8.29.12

Visit my page! Participate in my project!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Choose-My-Underwear/304909322903817

8.18.12

8.17.12

8.16.12

8.14.12

8.13.12 continued