Blog 1
Lectures and Understanding Better Lives
When I first saw the themes of better lives and its link with fashion, I struggled to understand why or how this would be relevant to myself as a hair, makeup and prosthetic student. I don’t always have the control to make final decisions about who I work on or what they wear.
However, the more lectures I watched on different themes, the more I understood that as a designer and hair and makeup artist I should take these into consideration.
I watched the lecture on Representation and Diversity with Telecia Kirkland she delved deep into the history of representation in media. It was made clear that representation or lack thereof is a big issue, and even though it is slowly getting better, it is still not enough yet. The lack of diversity in media in the past and even today, has let the only representation be negative and racist, putting dark skin down and making white European skin more desirable.
Telecia explained ‘Monoculturalist Western ideal’ – a term I had never heard before, it basically means the idea of a Eurocentric look being the ‘right’ way to look. As a person from a European decent, it is sometimes difficult to understand the feeling of not being represented, because I always have been, the problem comes when not everyone feels this way. She talked more about how this Eurocentric look was not only plastered everywhere in media, but non-Eurocentric looks where villainized, sometimes in subtle ways but mostly in racist ways, creating a falsified idea of danger.
Cultural Appropriation is something I had seen on social media a lot, and there have been arguments between appropriation and appreciation. Both of which Telecia broke down, explaining the difference which I gathered to be, in simpler terms, if your using someone else’s culture or part of the culture for personal or public gain, without educating yourself and acknowledging where it has come from, that benefits them as well, you are appropriating their culture, and that is not okay. Those who hold power take and use whatever they want without acknowledging the source – this is where appropriation usually happens.
Another lecture I really engaged with was, the lecture on Social Responsibility with Clair Swift, the work that she did with prisoners is really eye opening and moving, I think the main point I took away was giving a voice to people who wouldn’t normally have one, and by doing so seeing the confidence that comes with it. This is something we can take forward into our own practices, realising that there is a wider greater meaning than just yourself. She also spoke about ways her students had used recycled materials to create their products and designs, this is something I feel could easily be done by everyone, even if it is done in small amounts. As a designer I need to consider sustainability and if we can reuse clothing instead of buying new it will have a great impact on the world.