Sunday, April 20, 2014

Relational Art: Curls with a Flat Iron

Nicolas Bourriaud continues to hold this idea that, essentially, anything is relational art. At least that is how it seems to me. He proposes that it is this new, unconventional idea that has never been proposed before and that is because human relation is the base for the artwork, and that has never been an art venue in the past. Thus, relational art does not have to contain a source of human interaction. As long as it is unconventional, ephemeral, and the viewer/participator comes away from it with a slightly new viewpoint or idea... it is relational art.
So. For my next project I will present the art of curling one's hair with a flat iron. To do this, I will utilize a flat iron, heat protectant, and perhaps a mirror so that I do not burn my head. To many, and even to me to a certain extent, this would not be considered artwork. However, according to Bourriaud it would be. It is a demonstration. An ephemeral artwork. And those who view this demonstration will walk away with knowledge that they may not have had beforehand.
Many "beauty gurus" from YouTube seem to already be participating in this relational art according to Bourriaud. They create numerous tutorials on fashion and beauty ranging from how to contour the face, create certain hair-dos, and dress appropriately for different occasions.
Here are some prime examples:

Lana Del Rey Makeup Tutorial by Maya Mia


Heatless Curls Hair Tutorial by Luxy Hair

So I guess you could say that my relational art demonstration will be similar to theirs. Expect for the fact that I am doing it in the name of art.

After viewing the raw footage of my "how-to" video, I realized just how goofy it was. I jumbled my words, and just really did not explain the process very well overall. So I decided to go where the project was heading and edit my video in a way that enhanced the goofiness and it turned out as a mockery. In a good way. I want people to watch it and understand that I am making fun of myself and not taking myself seriously.

Enjoy.

3 comments:

  1. jadeApril 21, 2014 at 2:00 PM

    I enjoyed your presentation. I actually have tried this before with poor results myself, haha. I had fun being the model. I think your presentation personified something different because it used something (the flat iron--which usually is used to straighten hair) and used it to curl hair. Something that relational aesthetics definitely focuses on.

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  2. UnknownApril 23, 2014 at 2:34 PM

    Looking at it from the perspective of anything is art, this is definitely not hard to grasp. But also, even if you were going with something so welcoming as "anything is art," curling your hair with an artificial object like technology's flat iron is somewhat of an artistic statement in itself on how we have incorporated technologies into our natural appearance; it has an influence on how we choose to portray ourselves as individuals.

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  3. LauraApril 26, 2014 at 5:47 PM

    I like that you were able to mock your own video, since your original intention was to make a sincere video and not a satirical one. I especially like the "clamp clamp" text. Do you think watching yourself demonstrate a beauty tutorial has changed the way you perceive others and their connection to art?

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