Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Response to the Response on my Manifesto

I had already decided I wanted to move my new idea for a movie in a different direction than what my original essay provided. I feel that there are some aspects about my manifesto that I would like to change, but I think overall, it encompasses my style. While some people's proposed styles seemed to apply very strictly to reality while others explored humorous and ironic elements of reality, I think my style convincingly craves the attention of the bizarre, the strikingly strange side of things.
I was interested in exploring the comments made on being "fake." I think this idea has been lost to me all along, waiting to be discovered. My mind always resorts to the idea of the "character" involving the actions of a person putting on a costume and playing someone they really are not. If someone were to watch a clown at a circus, the monumentality of the character is lost when the life of the person beneath the clothes and makeup is considered. He could be a creepy man that smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day and lives with five cats, or he could be a genuinely boring old man that loves to be and clown and still lives with his mom. But as I write this, I realize that these hidden identities DO actually make the character more interesting. We are processed to accept characters wearing costumes as being unreal. We "play along." We understand it is this man's JOB to do silly things and make us laugh. But this idea of a split life plays on the original idea of being fake. What if we DID live in an all fake world where we accept people's characters as their true self. Imagine the conversations that would be held, the sexual relationships that would be shared. The world of disguises would be such a bizarre place.
Also commented on from my manifesto, the idea of selective invitation. Me saying "oh you're not allowed to come." Relating this exclusiveness back to the costumes, it reminds me of themed party where if you don't come in costume, you're not allowed in. You've got the people at the party that are all about the costume. They look completely authentic and even enjoy playing the part in which they portray. And then there's the others who don't find amusement being someone they're not. They come to the party in their regular clothes and try to get in anyway. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? Don't they get tired of dressing like themselves everyday? Am I the only one who enjoys trying to see how much like someone else I can make myself look?
I remember in middle school after being given a hooded wrestling sweatshirt from my first boyfriend, I tried to dress up like a boy wearing that sweatshirt. I concealed all the woman attributes as best I could, tied a bandanna around my hair, and put on a sideways cap. And by golly, I was a HOT guy! And I even tried to walk around and act like a guy, which was extremely fun for me. Since then, I've continued to collect interesting costumes, masks, and any bizarre props which would aid in my generation of multiple characters for multiple moods.
Since I came to art school, I've always seemed to resort into this idea of "characters." If it is something i've been coming back to for so long, I suppose it must be important. I never seem to be bored with it and there are always so many aspects to explore. In my art, I've always been drawn to the figure but it seems to stop there. The idea of the figure as a different character intrigues me. There are so many characters out there to be explored and their visual appearance along with their tasks and personas create very interesting concepts.

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