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For my final A-level art project I focused on the ideas behind gender politics, after previous experience with special effects in the exam I tried doing something slightly less body related and more paper based. We had a set of questions to choose from - I chose the one about political events and took it from there. Being at college allows you to see and interact with a variety of people- many of which do not follow societies typical male and female stereotypes. Having friends who deal with gender politics everyday and can speak about how it affects people first hand pushed me down the path of investigating gender politics for my final exam.
I completed many works before my final piece, including a black and white photo shoot about how women are perceived in today's society for how they dress and act. I did a few abstract portraits in oil and acrylic paint before transferring it to body art and digital editing. Looking at artists such as Liora K and Kwangho Shin, I then wanted to incorporate more body art and sfx. I started by making a link between changing the appearance of someone using abstract and Drag, this lead me to create a Drag piece which was successful. I then wanted to bring in a 3D aspect; so I looked at the art of Brno Del Zou, I started merging together previous works and putting them onto boxes.
Then it was time i started my final piece, an interactive installation that allowed the audience to change how the person looked, giving them a more female or male appearance. The catch, however, is that every componant that is typically male i.e. beard was on a female model, and vice versa.
The components consists of -
Female - with a beard, with a shaved head, in army gear, overly muscular, hairy feet, with men's shoes on, in boxers, in shirt and tie with sleeves of tattoos.
Male - with long hair, in drag, in a bra, in a crop top, shaved legs with a skirt, in ripped jeans with fish net tights underneath, bare feet with painted nail, and in heels.
Overall, the exam went well, my piece was completed with very little hiccups and was to high standards, with fully working spinning mechanisms. All though the 15 hour exam seemed a little excessive and strict; a successful final piece was a good way to end a 2 year course. However being an Art Rep means I don't have to say good bye to the art department just yet.
