How far would you go?
Written and photos taken by Aakanksha Vasudeva and Peng Youxin
Extreme Beauty showcases the pieces of nine selected artists, aimed to question our current perceptions of beauty. The exhibit showcases thought-provoking illustrations that show beauty in an exaggerated form. Here’s an overview of what you can expect at the show:
Beauty Pressure by Debra Raymond
One of the photos on display was titled ‘Beauty Pressure’ which was a satire on how people are forced to conform to norms created by the fashion industry. The illustrations were designed to look like cover pages of famous fashion magazines, but the names were modified to show the irony of these fashion magazines. These were an attack on how the media prescribes our behavior today, and how we are made to believe things like being thin is beautiful.
The Offering
Another illustration titled ‘The Offering’ was aimed at showing the lengths to which people are willing to go to fit into society. The illustration showed people dressed in clothes made of real lamb’s meat, holding skulls of animals. This shows how humans are willing to objectify themselves and other people. Humans consider other people merely as pieces of meat, without feelings, and want to use them for their own benefit. We are ready to pounce on people, just as animals pounce on other animals, for our own motives. The image here shows a lady offering her heart, which emphasizes the extent to which people are willing to sacrifice themselves for material motives.
Label Prominence by Fadli Rahman & Randha Raily
The painting featured a mixed media photograph on archival canvas with 18 carat gold nails stuck on top. One of the artists was kind enough to explain to us what the art piece meant. Basically, it tells us how women or even men crave for labels and branded material needs these days. The nails on the Louis Vuitton logo were trying to represent the amount of sacrifice these people go through just to get these material possessions.
I believe the art piece is trying to get us to think if all these things are worth the time we waste just to get them. By using nails to represent the sacrifice, leaves a very strong impact in the human mind.
Biggerer, Fasterer, Thinnerer by Clifford Loh
The art piece was photography on archival canvas suspended in an acrylic box. The artist deliberately made the art piece look really pristine and innocent. He had the model to look extremely doll-like and she looks as if she were a puppet living in her own ignorant world.
What I thought was that this was the piece in which I could relate most to. I strongly believe that whatever we do, how we dress or what we eat is influenced by the media. The media determines what is ‘hip’ and sort of controls us. This makes us into puppets like the model in the art piece. We are in our ignorant little world clouded by the effects of the media.
Extreme Beauty Art Exhibition Information
Location: Vue Privée Gallery, 63 Spottiswoode Park Road
Dates: 30 March to 13 April
Opening Hours: 12 – 6pm Daily
