MOVEMENTS OF PASSION
wordys by Dylan Williams (@afrodizyack)
“MY ARTPOP COULD MEAN ANYTHING.”
THIS IS THE CENTRAL DECLARATION OF WHAT I WOULD DEEM LADY GAGA’S MAGNUM OPUS ARTPOP TO BE ABOUT; TWO MIDDLE FINGERS UP AGAINST THE BIG BAD INDUSTRY FOR HER FREEDOM. HER MEANING IS NOT FIXED. HER IDENTITY IS NOT FIXED. NOR COMMODIFIABLE. HER ART IS OPEN, FLUID, AND ENTIRELY SELF-DEFINED. IT CAN BE SHAPED AND RESHAPED, AND REINTERPRETED AT WILL. IT IS LIKE ROSALIA SAYS, “ME CONTRADIGO, YO ME TRANSFORMO” [TRANSLATED: I CONTRADICT MYSELF, I TRANSFORM MYSELF] BUT NOT TOO MUCH ON THE SPANIARD FOR THIS ARTICLE…
GAGA UNVEILING STATUE MADE BY KOONS AT ARTRAVE
I FELL IN LOVE IN ARTPOP BECAUSE I TOO WAS GOING THROUGH A DARK TIME GAGA! YES! LITTLE–NINE–YEAR–OLD ME FOUND SOLACE AND REPRESENTATION IN SWINE AND DOPE. BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? ARTPOP. BECAUSE IF ARTPOP CAN MEAN ANYTHING, THEN IN A SENSE, IT CAN ALSO MEAN NOTHING. OR WORSE, TAKE IT FROM EVERYTHING WITHOUT ANSWERING TO ANYTHING…
#IREMEMBERARTPOP. ARTPOP WAS AN ARTISTIC REBELLION GUIDED BY THREE OF THE MOST POPULAR, AND CONTROVERSIAL, ARTISTS OF THE MID 2010s: JEFF KOONS, MARINA ABRAMOVIC, AND ROBERT WILSON. THE REFERENCES TO ANDY WARHOL IS UNDENIABLE, EITHER; IN REVERSING WARHOL’S MOVEMENT OF POP ART, GAGA WANTED TO PLACE ART INTO POP CULTURE, NOT TAKE FROM IT. OR AS SHE SAYS, TO PUT THE ART OF THE SOUP CAN BACK ON THE SOUP CAN. I WOULD ARGUE THAT THERE IS ANOTHER CONCEPT THAT UNDERLIES ARTPOP AND THAT IS THE SELF SPLITTING IN TWO: THE BODY, WHICH THE PUBLIC CONSUMES, AND THE MIND, WHICH REMAINS UNTOUCHED. AND THEN SHE THROWS IT OUT THE WINDOW IN HER LAST SONG APPLAUSE. WELL, SHE RATHER FINDS A WAY TO BALANCE THE TWO HALVES. THE METAPHORS IN THE SONG FRAMES FAME LIKE A DRUG, AS SOMETHING ADDICTIVE, SOMETHING SHE RELIES ON TO COPE WITH HER PHYSICAL/EMOTIONAL/SPIRITUAL PAIN. THE SAME SYSTEM SHE CLAIMS SHE CAN RISE ABOVE, THE SAME GAZE SHE INSISTS CANNOT TOUCH HER MIND, IS ALSO ESSENTIAL TO HER SENSE OF SELF. AFTER ALL, SHE IS A THEATRE KID (GAGA GOT ACCEPTED INTO JULLIARD AND LATER WENT TO NYU)! BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR ARTPOP…
GAGA AND ABRAMOVIC AT A PERFORMANCE ART EVENT
IF HER IMAGE IS SOMETHING THE PUBLIC CAN CONSUME, BUT ALSO SOMETHING SHE DEPENDS ON TO FEEL WHOLE AGAIN, THEN THE IDEA OF TOTAL CONTROL COMPLETELY FALLS APART. THE BODY IS NOT SEPARATE FROM THE MIND. THE PERFORMANCE IS NOT SEPARATE FROM THE PERSON. THE ART IS NOT SEPARATED FROM THE ARTIST…
WHICH REFRAMES THE ENTIRETY OF THE ARTPOP ERA, IN ONE OF THE MOST META, IRONIC WAYS. THE DETACHMENT SHE CLAIMS, THE ABILITY TO TREAT IDENTITY AND CULTURE AS FLUID, MIGHT NOT JUST BE FREEDOM. BECAUSE IF EVERYTHING BECOMES MATERIAL, EVERYTHING BECOMES UNSTABLE. NOT NECESSARILY OUT OF MALICE, PERHAPS OUT OF SURVIVAL, OUT OF THE NEED TO KEEP PERFORMING, TO KEEP CREATING, TO KEEP BEING SEEN IN THE LIMELIGHT…
DO WHAT U WANT, GAGA BASICALLY TELLS CRITICS: YOU CAN HAVE MY BODY, BUT YOU WON’T USE MY MIND ( THOSE ARE THE ACTUAL LYRICS TOO). A COMPELLING ARGUMENT THAT SURMISES WHAT WAS MENTIONED ABOVE, BUT IT COMPLICATES ITSELF BY THE FACT THAT THE SONG FEATURES R. KELLY. SUDDENLY, THE IDEA OF CONTROL OVER ONE’S IMAGE DOESN’T FEEL SO CLEAN. NOR THE IMAGERY OF GIVING UP ONE’S BODY TO A PEDOPHILE/ABUSER HELP WITH THE MESSAGE… WHY WOULD SHE CHOOSE KELLY FOR THIS SONG? CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION OR PROVOCATIVE PERFORMANCE ART? WHATEVER THE CASE, THE SEPARATION BETWEEN BODY AND CREATIVITY STARTS TO COLLAPSE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED IN SHAPING THAT IMAGE…
SCRAPPED MUSIC VIDEO OF DWUW DIRECTED BY TERRY RICHARDSON
WHICH IS THE MAIN TENSION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE ERA! IN DONATELLA, GAGA STARTS THE SONG BY SAYING, “I’M BLONDE. I’M SKINNY. I’M RICH. AND I’M A LITTLE BIT OF A BITCH.” IT’S CAMP. I GAGGED AND STILL DO. IT’S SATIRE. IT’S ALSO…KIND OF JUST TRUE? LMAOOOO GAGA HOW CAN YOU CRITIQUE THE FASHION INDUSTRY’S OBSESSION WITH A VERY SPECIFIC KIND OF WOMAN, WHILE ALSO EMBODYING IT PERFECTLY (AND WELL AWARE OF THE FACT!) NOW DON’T GET ME WRONG! I’VE SEEN THE COMMENTS OF THIS ENTIRE ERA, EVEN DURING JOANNE, OF GAGA’S WEIGHT. BUT WHEN LOOKING AT THIS ERA SPECIFICALLY, IT’S BOTH A JOKE AND NOT A JOKE, WHICH IS VERY GAGA, BUT ALSO VERY CONVENIENT…
DURING ARTPOP GAGA WAS THE FACE AND MUSE FOR VERSACE
AND THEN THERE’S AURA OR UNRELEASED AS BURQA (THE BETTER VERSION IMO), THE START OF THE ARTPOP ERA! THIS IS WHERE THE TITLE OF THIS ESSAY COMES FROM, “SHE WEAR BURQA FOR FASHION, IT’S NOT A STATEMENT AS MUCH AS A MOVE OF PASSION.” BURQA IS NOT JUST FASHION. IT IS RELIGION, POLITICS, IDENTITY, CONTROVERSY, AND FOR MANY WOMEN, SOMETHING THEY CAN OR NOT TAKE OFF, WILLINGLY OR UNWILLINGLY. (SIDE BAR, IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE START OF THIS PROVOCATIVE ERA BEGAN WITH AN INTEREST IN SWANA) GAGA RECONTEXUALIZES THE BURQA AS AN AESTHETIC CHOICE, SOMETHING EMOTIONAL, SEXUAL, BUT OVERALL AND ALWAYS, TO HER, ARTISTIC VISION. IN 2010 FRANCE MADE IT ILLEGAL TO WEAR ANY FULL-FACE VEILS IN ALL PUBLIC SPACES AND IT IS STILL UP TO THIS DAY IN HER BURQA, GAGA CAN PERFORM IN IT, AND THEN REMOVE IT, WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE. AND SHE IS NOT ALONE IN THIS!!!....
GAGA OPENING THE PHILIP TREACY SHOW AT LONDON FASHION WEEK
THE EARLY 2010s GAVE US A VERY SPECIFIC PHENOMEMON: WHITE WOMEN DISCOVERING HIP-HOP AND RAP. DO YOU STILL REMEMBER IGGY AZALEA? MILEY CYRUS AND HER BANGERZ ERA? FOR WHITE WOMEN, RAP AND HIP-HOP BECAME A MEANS TO BE EDGY, REBELLIOUS, AND JUST “DANGEROUS” ENOUGH TO SHED THEIR OLD DISNEY OR AUSTRALIAN OR THEATRICAL IMAGES. (PICK UR POISON: MILEY CYRUS TWERKING IN JORDANS OR GAGA WEARING DREADS) UNTIL…
THEY DECIDE THEY ARE DONE. MILEY DECIDED SHE WAS DONE AND GAVE US MALIBU AND FLOWERS AND OTHER SHIT. WHICH I LOVE. BUT TO TURN AROUND AND CRITICIZE THE GENRE FOR BEING “OVERLY SEXUAL AND MATERIALISTIC.” GIRL…THAT SAYS LESS ABOUT HIP-HOP AND MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK OF IT. THE CULTURE, BLACK CULTURE!!!, IS USEFUL WHEN IT HELPS AND DISPOSABLE WHEN IT DOESN’T. IYKYK JEWELS N’ DRUGS SITS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MOMENT. GAGA COLLABED WITH TOO $HORT, T.I, AND TWISTA, TO PLAY IN THAT SPACE, AND THEN…MOVED ON. THE PATTERN IS EVER PRESENT: CULTURE BECOMES SOMETHING YOU VISIT, NOT SOMETHING YOU BELONG TO!...
MILEY CYRUS WITH WIZ KALIFA, JUICY J, AND MIKE WILL MADE IT
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS COIN WE HAVE…BEYONCE!
IN THE GIFT AND BLACK IS KING ERA, WHICH HAPPENED OVER THE PANDEMIC, BEYONCE IS NOT DETACHING FROM MEANING BUT RATHER, TRYING TO GATHER AS MUCH OF IT AS POSSIBLE. HER WORK IS UNDENIABLY ROOTED IN ANCESTRY, LINEAGE, AND THE IDEA OF CULTURAL RECOVERY. BUT FOR WHAT GAINS? AND WHY DO WE GIVE HER…THE PASS?
I WOULD SAY THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAGA’S ARTPOP AND BEYONCE’S THE GIFT IS, WELL OBVIOUSLY NOT JUST MESSAGE, BUT INTENTION. BEYONCE IS NOT PLAYING DRESS-UP IN THE SAME WAY THAT GAGA OR MILEY WERE. OR WELL…LMAOOO…BUT IT IS ROOTED IN REAL COLLABORATION WITH AFRICAN ARTISTS, PULLS FROM REAL TRADITIONS, AND FRAMES HER WORK AS A CELEBRATION OF THE BLACK IDENTITY ACROSS THE DIASPORA. BEYONCE IS LITERALLY MOTHER. BUT INTENTION ISN’T EVERYTHING…
BECAUSE WE’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE!!! MADONNA DID SOMETHING SIMILAR IN HER RAY OF LIGHT ERA, IMMERSING HERSELF IN YOGA, THE KABBALAH, AND SOUTH ASIAN SPIRITUALITY UNTIL SHE BECAME SYNONYMOUS WITH THAT LATE-90S, EARLY 2000S WAVE OF WESTERN FASCINATION WITH EASTERN CULTURE. BUT ONE THING WE HAVE TO GIVE HER IS THAT…MADONNA COMMITTED. AND FULLY TOO. AND FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, THAT COMMITMENT MADE IT FEEL LIKE IT WAS AN APPRECIATION RATHER THAN AN OUTRIGHT APPROPRIATION. BUT I HEAR THE ARGUMENTS AND I HEAR THE PEOPLE! “THAT’S NOT MADONNA’S CULTURE, THAT IS BEYONCE’S CULTURE.” WELL…ACTUALLY…
MADONNA PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAVE LACHAPELLE FOR ROLLING STONE 1998
WHAT ACTUAL CHANGE WAS HAPPENING? OR DID IT JUST MAKE IT MORE CONVINCING?
WHAT I MEAN IS THAT A LOT OF BEYONCE’S ARTISTRY, AND THE BRUNT OF MOST OF HER CONTROVERSY, IS THIS NEW METICULOUS WAY OF INTERACTING WITH POLITICS WHILE BEING SO AMBIGIOUS AND DISTANT ABOUT IT! BEYONCE’S IMMERSION IN AFRICAN AESTHETICS IS DEEP, DETAILED, AND VISUALLY STUNNING (WHERE ARE THE VISUALS GISELLE?!?) AND YES, IT IS ALSO VERY GENERALIZED. AFRICA BECOMES A KIND OF SYMBOLIC HOMELAND, A UNIFYING VISUAL LANGUAGE THAT BLENDS COUNTLESS CULTURES OF GRAND AFRICA INTO ONE COHESIVE NARRATIVE…FOR DISNEY+
BEYONCE WEARING A CONTROVERSIAL SHIRT AT THE COWBOY CARTER TOUR
AND IT WORKED. AND IT WAS POWERFUL. AND IT WAS SIMPLIFIED. AFRICA IS NOT ONE THING. AND BY PRESENTING IT AS A SINGULAR, COHESIVE AESTHETIC, EVEN WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS, SOMETHING GETS LOST IN TRANSLATION…AND I SHOULD KNOW, I’M A COMP LIT MAJOR!
THE SCALE OF A BEYONCE PRODUCTION IS MASSIVE! THE ART IS GLOBAL, POLISHED, AND HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY CONSUMABLE. CULTURE IS NOT JUST EXPRESSED, BUT PACKAGED AND DISTRIBUTED AND WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, PART OF A MACHINE. I REMEMBER HOW MANY OF YALL POSTED THAT BLACK SQUARE. AND POSTED UP THE BLACK FIST AND THEN QUICKLY TOOK IT DOWN…
AND YET, WHY ARE WE STILL HESITANT TO CRITICIZE HER IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE DO MILEY, MADONNA, GAGA…
“ERM BECAUSE IT FEELS DIFFERENT…?” AND IT IS BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT. THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HAS BEEN FAR REMOVED FROM THEIR ORIGINS AND CULTURES THAT THEY HAD TO RECREATE, FROM SCRATCH, HERE IN AMERICA! YES, THERE IS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE, BUT ALSO THIS SEEMINGLY LOOMING QUESTION OVER ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS: “WHAT IS MY ACTUAL CULTURE?”
NOW WHETHER THAT QUESTION IS IMPORTANT TO ASK IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT!! WHITE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TO ASK, “OH WHERE ARE YOU TRULY FROM?” IT IS OK FOR A WHITE PERSON TO SAY THAT THEY ARE AMERICAN! BUT FOR AN AFRICAN AMERICAN PERSON, THEY COME UP WITH VARIOUS EXPLANATIONS (PART NATIVE, PART SPANISH, PART WHITE, ETC) OR IT SHOULD BE JUST AS OK TO SAY, I AM AMERICAN. WHICH I MUST ALSO LOOK AT BEYONCE AND ASK…WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE? POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE SOME SEVERED CULTURAL TIE WITH AFRICA AND WE MUST RECLAIM IT? DO AFRICANS CLAIM AFRICAN AMERICANS? THERE ARE SO MANY HARD QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED HERE! AND WE HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THE LINE BETWEEN APPRECIATION AND APPROPRIATION PLUS INTENTION GETS…BLURRY FOR LESS INTELLECTUAL REASONS.
LIKE GWEN STEFANI…
BECAUSE YES, THE L.A.M.B ERA WAS WILDLY INSENSITIVE; FLATTENING A VARIETY OF CULTURES INTO ACCESSORIES. AND SHE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! I CAN NOT THINK OF NOT ONE MINORITY THAT HAS NOT BEEN COSPLAYED BY GWEN STEFANI…
GWEN STEFANI AT THE PREVIEW OF HER HARAJUKU LOVERS APPAREL LINE
BUT…
SHE LOOKED GOOD. SHE LOOKED SO FUCKING GOOD.
AND THAT’S THE PROBLEM! I’M THE PROBLEM!
FASHION IS MADE TO BE PERSAUSIVE. TO MAKE THINGS LOOK DESIRABLE, EVEN WHEN THEY’RE ETHICALLY QUESTIONABLE!!! IT IS MADE TO BLUR JUDGMENTS AND CONVINCES YOU THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE!, THIS IS APPRECIATION. OR AT LEAST ADJACENT TO IT…
PUTTING ALL OF THIS TOGETHER, IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THE QUESTION IS NOT A SIMPLE VERSUS ONE BUT RATHER THAT THE BINARY IS TOO CLEAN FOR SOMETHING THIS MESSY…YES YOU CAN USE THAT IN YOUR GENDER STUDIES CLASS…
GAGA ISN’T ENTIRELY WRONG. BEYONCE ISN’T ENTIRELY RIGHT. AND MAYBE THAT’S THE POINT. THE LINE BETWEEN APPRECIATION AND APPROPRIATION IS NOT FIXED. IT SHIFTS DEPENDING ON THE COCONUT TREE, THE COCONUT TREE BEING: HISTORY, POWER, INTENTION, IMPACT, ETC. IT DEPENDS ON WHO IS BORROWING, WHAT IT IS, AND WHETHER THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO WALK AWAY FROM IT WHEN THEY’RE DONE. DO YOU REMEMBER ARTPOP GAGA? BECAUSE I DO. EVERY SINGLE SECOND IT. DO YOU REMEMBER LEMONADE BEYONCE? BECAUSE I DO! DO YOU REMEMBER BANGERZ? I KNOW EVERY LYRIC ON BANGERZ. AND IN THE END, FASHION IS NEVER JUST FASHION. BECAUSE IT COULD MEAN ANYTHING…
