MM Personal

As my online serial 'Mrs Brown's Diary' draws closer to it's final post this coming Sunday, it seems fitting that I have just finshed reading the book which inspired my project in the first place.

I first became aware of the existance of the book, 'MM Personal' when I read an article in Vanity Fair called 'The Things She Left behind'. The article covered the hidden cache of treasures left behind by Marilyn Monroe which had previously been unseen.

I found flicking throught the beautiful photos of everyday items like reciepts, perfume bottles and jewellery fascinating and I began to formulate the idea of basing an art work around belongings that told a story. I started by looking into female ephemera; the hub or altar of artifice, the dressing table. Readers sent in photos of their own dressing tables for me to display in the 'Dressing Table Gallery' and from there I went on to try and decypher the meanings and stories each photo hinted towards.

The gallery was excellent research for my collaborative project with Stoke Potteries Museum and Art Gallery where I was invited to give my response to the Decorative Arts collection housed in the museum. I knew straight away I wanted to create a 'room' with objects which told a story. What better room for gorgeous belongings and hidden meanings than a dressing room? The subsequent display has been on show at the museum since March and also finishes this coming Sunday, 11th September.

The objects took the lead in telling the story which is now transcribed in 'Mrs Brown's Diary', Mrs Brown being the fictitious owner of the dressing room, revealing it's secrets through her private musings.

I found MM Personal a wonderful insight into Marilyn's life, but also from an artists point of view found it creates an illustration of Marilyn without Marilyn, she is obviously absent but strangely present. Her choices, likes, dislikes and actions are in every document and item. 

It is my hope that the dressing room at Stoke's museum has a simlar atmosphere, and that Mrs Brown's Diary completes an evocative picture of an individual and a time inspired by objects.

Image by Mark Anderson www.markandersonphoto.com

 

Marilyn has once again been an inspirartion, this time not just because of her sex appeal or her acting work, but literally because of the things she left behind. Her half used Chanel No5 photographed so lovingly shows how the idea of a person could be transferred so eloquently onto objects. How a story can be contructed through clues left within belongings.

No sh*t Sherlock!

I really enjoyed the updated series of Sherlock Holmes recently shown on the BBC. While reading an article about it in the Gay Times of all places I was intigued by this description of the set for Holmes' flat

'The kitchen has been deployed as a lab, with the table covered in jars and stuff the production team has found on eBay, authentic things. This probably explains the authentically old smell. There’s a silver box with test tubes and a syringe. We’re on set for the crime-fighting duo’s first encounter so it’s explained that ‘there aren’t bullet holes in the wall yet’. Blimey. If you’re wondering whether that familiar tobacco pipe will be putting in an appearance, we spotted a box of NicoBud patches scattered with the piles of gun magazines and unanswered correspondence with a knife in it. '

This is exactly the kind of thing I am now looking at for my 'set' which I am planning to be displayed at Stoke Pottery Museum and Art Gallery for our collborative project. Well, when I say exactly, syringes and test tubes aren't really my thing, but, I am really interested in how items are put together to create a character or back story. I like the fact Sherlock's inquisitive nature is illustrated through his weird collection of belongings and his short temper is explained through nicotine patches and a stabbed message!

Upon my last visit to the museum I was able to view and photograph some of the many interesting historical items from the decorative arts store (see Treasures of the past ) which I am going to use to construct a dressing table/room. Not only do I want to display these beautiful objects but I want to show them in a way that will illustrate a story. I am using 'artifice' as my main theme, as I want to explore not just the moment of transformation a woman undergoes in her boudoir but also the true character behind the public facade.

In my last post about Stoke I mentioned how a room can be read like a crime scene. So with that in mind I decided to look a little further into crime scene investigation and I found an interesting paper with the snappy title, 'Crime scene and physical evidence awarness for non-forensic personnel'.

'Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as silent evidence against him... This evidence does not forget, it is not confused with excitiment of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong. Only it's interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it study it and understand it can diminish its value'

Kirk Paul
Crime Investigation
John Wiley and Sons, Cananda Limited 1953

So how do you interpret physical evidence?

'Typically the recognition of physical evidence starts by observing the scene. Based on initial observations and taking into consideration the context of the case, possilbe scenarios, the nature of the incident, as well of characteristics of surface that may bear potential evidence'

I think it would be interesting to apply this information to one of my favourite photos from the Dressing Table Gallery focusing on the evidence and possible scenarios that could make up the individual's personality and circumstances.

How would Sherlock begin?. The most important thing Holmes does is to focus acutely on every detail and turn something commonplace and anonymous into something singular and significant. He then combines this with social and moral assumptions to produce his deduction. There is a great article called Sherlock Holmes ~ Modernist though, modernist cities & the solving intellect where you can read him doing just this.

So here goes:

I'd say this was a female aged between 23-30, who lives in a shared house. She is creative and inqusitive, and leads a busy lifestyle. She always has more than one project on the go and likes to keep busy. Family is very important to her as are friends. She is gregarious and slightly sentimental, but also can be scatty brained and forgetful.

Here's how I came to that conclusion:

The perfume featuring the cute character is aimed at young women in a 20-30 age bracket .
The amount of objects crammed into one area suggests space is an issue, which leads me to think given social assumptions, that she must live in a house with other people, so she only has one room.
I think she must be a busy person due to the haphazard way her belongings are placed down, suggesting she is always on the go. Someone who spent more time at home would have more time to display and maintain their belongings. Also someone who is active most of the time and has such a range of items stuffed together may be forgetful and easily loose things.
The ornamental figurines don't particularly fit with the other objects, so make me think they must be a gift or inherited from an older person, so family is important to her.
I think she likes to try out different looks and styles and enjoys sewing because she has a good supply of perfume and beauty products and there is a tape measure on the bed post.
Some items such as the fabric bee and frog ornament lead me to believe she may be setimental and these represent different moments in her life.

This has been a good challenge for me and this line of thought will definately feed into my work with Stoke Museum. I'd love to know how accurate I've been so I'm going to to try and find out from the person who took this photo....If anyone has a different analysis please let me know!

The art of dressing up...part 2

For those of you with a good memory, you may recall a while back I announced an upcoming collaboration with the Stoke Pottery Museum and Art Gallery based on my ideas around dressing tables, female artifice and narrative through feminine belongings:

I did a run of posts called the Dressing Table Gallery where, you, the lovely readers of this blog sent in photos of your dressing tables to be showcased every week and used as research into my ideas;

Harriet Cooper's dressing table

I also looked into the theatrical side of dressing up by visiting the amazing Wigs Up North shop in Manchester, where I discovered the importance of appearance means more than just looking good, it covers gender, identity and comfort...

...and I also studied vintage dressing tables and Hollywood glamour of the past and present...

Dita Von Teese makes some last minute adjustments

...as well as looking into how other artists have tackled the idea of feminine belongings and their meanings;

'Chanel' Audrey Flack 1974

My research took on a poignant note as I looked into the narritive of feminine belongings. I was inspired by the collection of supposed belongings Marilyn Monroe left after her death, which really gave a deeper empathy with the person behind the public veneer.

Image by Mark Anderson www.markanderson.com

And when my lovely Nan passed away earlier this year I was compelled to celebrate her life through talking about the objects she left behind.

This coming Monday I am visiting Stoke Pottery Museum and Art Gallery for the first viewing of their costume and decorative art collection! We are to collaborate on a project that should give the collection a new lease of life and a fresh appeal for the public.

I'm also going to be able to have access to the collection for my work and I hope to encompass all my research and ideas into some fabulous new art work!

I'll be posting about my visit next week, so see you then...

Audrey Flack

'Marilyn' by Audrey Flack 1977

I've been thinking a lot about how to narrate a story through objects, specifically feminine belongings hence my research into dressing tables and the dressing table gallery. The other week I remembered a fabulous artist by the name of Audrey Flack.

Flack is a pioneer of photorealism painting and a talented sculptor to boot. But it is her 1970's work called 'Vanitas' which always stuck in my head and ties in so well with my own current interests.

'Chanel' Audrey Flack 1974

Full of personal memorabilia these paintings related to her experiences as a woman, and expressed her own ideals of femininty; mixing rich fabrics, luscious lipsticks and delectable fruit with photos of family and celebrities.

'Queen' by Audrey Flack 1975-6

This clever yet simple idea perfectly encapsualtes one individual's passion for life and femininity and give the viewer an eyecatching interesting self portrait. The bright paintings where achieved by projecting a still life photo onto a canvas, then painstakingly painting and air brushing over the image to create an immacualte representation with a photo finish. The canvases are suprisingly large giving them a slightly filmic/advertisment quality.

I think these images are perfect in allowing the viewer to carefully 'read' each item displayed and piece together an idea of personal history whilst the subject stays frustratingly elusive!

Dressing table gallery

Back again, this week's dressing table is from Alison Jayne Caddick from Manchester and I think it's a beauty!

This is one of those dressing tables a girl can't help but stare at because of all the lovely stuff piled onto it. A product junkie is how I'd describe Alison, with an extravert flair judging by the feathers and flamingoes. I think it creates a lovely personal portrait. Alison says of her dressing table;

'I only bought it in January when I moved into my first place. Wanted something really girly and big enough to make a mess on. Love the whole ritual of getting ready and felt this was adding to the fun'

Dressing table gallery

It's a family affair this week, with photos from my Nan, sister and myself. Me and my sister took our own photos and I took my Nan's, you can see part of her reflection in the left hand mirror of her dressing table. As an experiment I'd like you to view each picture as a portrait, and see if you get a flavour of our individual personalities. If you do, please let me know what you think :)

Thea

Gemma

Winifred

Halfway review

I've been having a think and I've decided to review the dressing table gallery. I have been so pleased with the response I've had from readers of this blog and friends on the web, so thank you so much if you have participated!

The reasoning behind this online interactive project is as follows:

-I've been thinking about creating a new series of work for a while based on illustrating a story through a character's belongings, and I especially want to focus on female and feminine apparel.

-I am also extremely interested in female transformation and artifice, and my work usually takes on a theatrical showman like element, but in this instance I wanted to narrow it down and examine the moment of transformation many women undergo on an everyday basis by focusing on the dressing table.

I've found that combining these two strands of thought into an interactive online gallery has been really helpful in opening up new ideas to me and it has worked on many levels:

-We get a voyeristic snapshot into someone's private world, and lets face it who doesn't enjoy having a good old nosey at other womens belongings! I find it fascinating.

-I intended each photo to act as portrait of each woman's femininty. This would would have happened if some of the dressing tables were used just for make up etc as in the old school vintage photos I posted last week.

-Instead of being strictly feminine, I've found the photo's give a fuller description of each woman's life including the messy and illogical bits! I've found that a bit distracting, but I'm making it work to my advantage by reading further into the images and disecting the story behind them. It's made me think differently about the way modern women face the world in the morning and how complicated our lives are.

Vicki Morris' dressing table; 'My picture is of the nearest thing I have to a dressing table. I actually apply a bit of make-up while I'm sitting on the Tube from a small make-up bag. But this chest of drawers is where I put the things I use to spruce myself up before I leave the house!'

In all so far, the gallery has been really interesting by throwing up unexpected insights, and I've loved getting to know everyone through my favourite girly ritual! Make -up forever!

Dressing Table Gallery

Two sneaky peeks into the private world of some lovely ladies today, and in this case both snaps have been taken by UK burlesque performers!

Firstly we have Heather Sweet, a unique and curvacious performer with a wonderful sense of humour. You can see her myspace page HERE

I like this busy photo, the girly colours and styles that contrast with the monster picture on the wall behind, I also like the hint of the room reflected in the mirror. Her dressing table is very sweet, just like her name, with glass accessories and a white tiered basket. for nick nacks. You can also see a sewing machine in the corner, the tell tale sign that the burlesque life isn't always full of glamour, a girl needs to adjust and sew her own costumes sometimes too!

The second photo was taken by Jubilee Swoon. When she's not appearing as a rampaging viking or a glamorous butterfly, this burlesque performer, obviously likes to spend a good amount of time by her dressing table

It seems like a normal photo to begin with, but on closer inspection we can glean a lot about Jubilee; aside from the usual make up and hair products we see, organised chaos! neat piles of objects, ordered in boxes and files. Every space is used for storage, I doubt she ever sits on that stool!

I'm sure she applies the same effort of organistion in her contrastingly flamboyant acts!
You can see see more of Jubilee on her myspace page, HERE
Or read her burlesque blog HERE

Dressing Table Gallery

This Monday's photo comes from Helen Davies, who lives just forty minutes up the road from me apparently! Helen has a photostream on Flickr, which explores her inspirations and day to day observations.

Helen says, 'This is my 'dressing table'. Actually I don't own a dressing table. I have the tops of drawers on which to balance precariously all manner of trinkets, books, 'things I'm in the middle of sorting out' and in amongst them somewhere my toiletries.'

I really enjoyed the fact that this photo appeared as part of her photo project 365, a photo for every day of the year, and she has carefully labeled each object giving you just a little more insight into her life. You can see her brilliant collection of photos HERE

Envy!

Is it possible to have dressing table envy? The answer is YES! Just look at this beauty belonging to none other than the modern day queen of bump and grind, Dita Von Teese!

Now here is a woman dedicated to her art; it's vintage all the way, with a staggering collection of hats on display and gorgeousness from every angle. I have to admit I would be happy to just sit in this room and stare at everything for hours on end, what a temple devoted to female artifice. Dita, I knew you wouldn't dissappoint.

The art of dressing up! part 1

I've decided to give the Dressing Table Gallery it's own post each week as I think it was getting a bit lost under the other postings about my other art projects. So keep an eye out each Monday as I post up dressing table photos and project info!

This week I have exciting news! I was recently contacted by The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery based in Stoke. It turns out they are planning a project based around the concept of getting ready to go out perhaps with a burlesque element, and wondered if I would like to get involved as my art work uses burlesque themes and I am currently focusung on dressing tables, and the art of getting dressed up!

Today the Collections Officer for Arts and the Documentation Assisitant came to my studio for a chat and we have planned for me to visit the Museum in early May to view the Decorative Arts and Costume collections! I am so excited! In time we hope to collaborate on an art project using pieces from the collection. We have already discussed ideas, but we all think seeing the space and the actual pieces will bring things together and we should then be able to set things in motion.

I can't wait to see the collection which features costumes dating from the 15th Century to the present day and the Bagot Collection; jewellery, accessories and clothes all belonging to Lord and Lady Bagot between the 1940's and 1970's. The Museum has also kindly offered to help me collect more photos of people's dressing tables for my project! Stay tuned to find out how things progress...

This weeks Dressing table photos come from Zoe James a jewellery artist from the Manchester area UK

Zoe says of her dressing table,

'its a bit messy as I like to have a lot of the objects I collect around in my personal space. Some are gifts from friends like the flowery compact and cake stand others i have just amassed from car boot sales and charity shops. The photos on the wall are all family pictures, I like to have them up as I don't get to see my family as much as I'd like. The flowery images on the wall are old cards given to me by a friend. I am very sentimental!'

To take part in one of Zoe's fab jewellery making classes based in the North West visit her website www.magpieartsworkshops.com
Or take a look at her range of jewellery and metal work at www.zoejamesjewellery.com

The thing I like about these photos is that they immediatley make me think they belong to a story, at first glance the dressing table looks very vintage covered in antique style artifacts; a mirror set, powder pot and what looks like an old style medicine bottle, I can't help imagining the Victorian lady who might own it who has a secret laudanum habit!
But on closer inspection, you see oddities which don't add up; a cake stand doubling as a jewellery stand, and some sort of tool which only makes sense when you realise what Zoe's occupation is.

They are great photos to help towards my research about belongings and narrative!

If you would like to get involved and send in your dressing table photos please contact me: gemma-parker@hotmail.co.uk

Heiner Meyer

'Gambling' 2007 Shellac and photo on canvas Heiner Meyer

I have been recently looking at work by the German artist Heiner Meyer. I got a calander featuring his art work as a present and it made me want to know more about him and his practice. Meyer began his artisitic career as assistant to Salvador Dali after studying Fine Arts at the college of Branschweig. He went on to define his own style combining painting with photography and it is this layered decorative quality which caught my imagination. He uses found images of famous glamorous icons from the 1950's through to contemporary stars, then modifies them with other representations of pop culture building up the layers of colour and shape.

I especially like the way he combines text with image and decoration giving the found photo a completely new meaning and understanding, while keeping it beautiful and enjoyable to look at. As I am currently painting a portrait of Noel Toy (see last post) I decided I'd like to employ some of Meyer's layered effect to the painting. I began by adding text to the image; which I have applied silver leaf to to add texture and lusciousness. I intend this painting to be in black and white in keeping with Noel's vintage status, so I'm still figuring out how I'll layer up the paint to reflect something of Meyer's tecnique. I'll fill you in as I go.

Silver leaf applied to my portrait of Noel Toy

Dressing Table Gallery

This week happens to be my favourite photo so far! This lovely snap was sent in my Eva Elliott from the UK.

Eva says, 'The pic at the top is of my mum and dad in the 70s, I found it a few months ago and I love it. I think it might be my favourite pic ever!'

I really like this simple photo as it captures the essence of someone whose life seems quite busy and full as seen by the amount of stuff she crams onto her dressing table. Yet the photo itself feels quiet and unassuming. It's a lovely contrast. I like the green drawers too, they give the photo it's unique quality.

You can see beautiful jewellery crafted by Eva on her Etsy page HERE

If you would like to get involved with the Dressing Table Gallery please send your photos to : gemma-parker@hotmail.co.uk

Noel Toy

Inspired by my look at vintage burlesque stars from the golden heyday a few weeks back, I started to look up burlesque performances from the 40's and 50's on youtube.
I discovered a gorgeous exotic performer called Noel Toy, the U.S.A's most successful Chinese-American burlesque dancer working in the early Forties.

I began to research into Noel's history and was delighted to discover she was a revolutionary in her own way, setting out to liberalize women, Chinese women especially, from demure and submissive stereotypes!
I was so taken with Miss Toy that I decided to paint a portrait of her while I put together ideas for my other work based around dressing tables (see below).

Noel Toy was born Ngun Yee in San Francisco to émigré parents from Canton, China. She was close to graduating from her jounalism degree at the University of California Berkeley, when she accepted an offer to perform in a Chinese village show at the World's Fair on Treasure Island in 1939. The gig involved not much more than standing around in a Chinese dress looking pretty. This led on to other more risque work when later the same year Charlie Low asked her to work at his popular Forbidden City, the first and only Chinese nightclub at the time.

She changed her name to Noel Toy after her love of the Christmas season and began to wow audiences with her graceful dances. She was even labelled the Chinese Sally Rand as she became famous for her fan dances, and using a giant bubble while on stage.

Due to her popularity business tripled at Forbidden City within three months and Noel was soon off dancing at other clubs in San Francisco, a year later she was invited to perform in New York City where she was a huge hit. In 1942 Noel appeared in a Broadway revue Wine Women and Song but her stint was short lived after the show was shut down due to obscenity. A witness at the trial said that Noel Toy "was nude except for her shoes and one other piece of clothing, and pretended to dance but didn't move her feet" (Associated Press, December 1, 1942)

In 1945 Noel met and married Carlton Young, a soldier who saw one of her shows and was love struck declaring there and then, 'I'm going to marry you!'. Upon his request she gave up performing and turned to film and TV work. She appeared alongside Clark Gable and Susan Hayward (in "Soldier of Fortune") and Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney (in "The Left Hand of God"). But Noel soon became disillusioned by Hollywood as she was always cast as the 'Ornamental Oriental'. In 1954 she gave up acting and started a career in real estate.

She remained a rebel to the end of her life, often visiting the town where she lived in L.A wearing short skirts and high heels even while in her old age.
Noel died fittingly, on Christmas Eve of 2003 leaving behind her a legacy of scandal and revolution.

The first stage of my portrait of Noel Toy

Dressing Table Gallery

Each week I am showcasing photos sent in of readers dressing tables. This is a chance to interact with other people from the web but also goes towards a bigger project I am working on involved with narrative and belongings. Each photo gives the viewer a snapshot into a stranger's personal make up station and a portrait of their femininity!

This week the photos are from Layla Garner. Layla lives and works in Manchester in the UK and as I know her I can testify she is a very creative and individual lady! I especially like the use of candle sticks, again giving this dressing table a sacred appeal, almost like an altar.

If you would like to get involved and send in a photo of your dressing table please get in touch: gemma-parker@hotmail.co.uk

My favourite time of day?.... time to get ready

Today I can share with you the first of what I'm aptly calling, The Dressing Table Gallery! This is an interactive project between myself and the ladies of the web, where participants send in snapshots of their dressing tables, and in turn reveal intimate portraits of their femininity.

This week it's Liz Parker (no relation, but who knows?) Liz is from Stockport in the UK and is also an artist. You can see Liz's blog Elizabeth Parker Illustration HERE

The thing I really love about these photos is that you can see an eclectic mix of items positioned around the mirror like a shrine. I also like the way Liz has added images of female icons including Barbarella and Jackie Kennedy. Is Liz like these women in any way? Does she use them as inspiration whilst getting ready in the morning? I love the mixture of keepsakes and bric a brac from obviously important moments of Liz's life, these photos definatley tell a story about a creative lady!

If you would like to send in a photo of your dressing table please email me at: gemma-parker@hotmail.co.uk