Beauty is subjective because it depends on an individual’s perception of what beauty is. However, beauty is also a social and cultural construction, often projected in visual imagery to form a popular consensus on what beauty is. So the quote “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” in theory should work, however our perception of beauty is often shaped by our social and cultural surrounding, mainly the mass media that decides what is and isn’t beautiful.
The media shapes our perception, and the corporations control the media. Everything is labeled for consumerism and every image is selling a product. To be beautiful we have to put on multiple layers of different masks, and we no longer represent who we are but what others want us to be. Therefore, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder but in the hands of the media since it constructs the notion of beauty.
We know that the media’s representation of beauty is false, however we continue to accept the images anyways. “Things will not change until we change them.” The Dove campaign for real beauty and many video artists like Orlan, are trying to spread awareness to the masses to accept reality for what it is instead of what we want to believe it is since beauty should be our own construction. However, try as they may they will not succeed in a world dominated by consumerism.
Every image goes through multiple transformations before it is finally projected to an audience. Therefore, most images we see are a part of a distorted reality that we choose to believe. Lev Manovich’s essay “The Paradoxes of Digital Photography,” helped me develop a better understanding of the digital image and its deceive qualities. The perception of reality in media is a representation of reality because what we see is not the actuality of something but a depiction of that thing.
Digital Photo: The Looking Glass – People usually judge a book by its cover, and it’s no different with appearances. In this project I took a closer look at the face and tried to manipulate my appearance until it no longer reflected me. I overexposed the images so my skin color and any scars and defects could be hidden. Even though the image hardly represents me in any way, I prefer them to the originals. Why?
Digital Video: What I See Before Me – Every product is selling an image and these images influence and affect the audience in many ways. Either you accept the images and become like them or become an outcast. I took mini clips from commercials directed towards women and edited them together. By overlaying an audio from a different source I wanted to express what these images made girls feel. For many people these images created insecurities, which led to conformity. Why?
Performative Action: Mirror Mirror – Most people wear masks. In this performative piece I wanted to express that idea by layering my face with multiple layers of paint until I looked like a completely different person. I wanted to become beautiful, but in order to do that I had to mask my original appearance until it wasn’t me I saw in the mirror but a reflection of what I wanted others to see. Why?
Another Digital Video: Ugly Beauty – Although we may not say it out load, we are most likely thinking it. For this video I searched for a lot of vlogs that stated their opinions about ugly people and combined it with a banned commercial to create a non-spoken dialogue that usually occurs within ourselves. We, as a society, are constantly judging someone, even though it is not right. Why?
Our perception of beauty is distorted and nothing will change until we change it.
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14 years ago