Semiotics of Grace's Artist Studio - with Intrusion of Koala Boop

Collaborative project by Koala Yip and Grace Sullivan @2011

We created a video performance piece based on Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen released in 1975. The video is a feminist parody video suggested a performative critique of the stereotyped domestic role injected to a woman in modern society.

Grace and I wanted to appropriate this video performance structure into our own version. We still interested in commenting the issue of femininity, particularly the feminine image portrayed in mass media. We arranged two roles in the performance. Grace played the role of Grace herself, as a female artist. I played the role of performance artist portrayed in the image of American cartoon character Betty Boop. Betty is a fictional character appeared on Television since 1930s. She represented an ultimate on-screen feminine role imposed by the mass media as the sexy, cute, innocent female figure. The image of Betty Boop was shared by both of us in our childhood as a signifier of feminine object projected on TV screen.

The context of our video performance is about me, performing sexiest cartoon character of Betty Boop visiting Grace's art studio. My character appeared in seductive classic red dress and high-heels. Grace did some drawings on my face exaggerated Betty Boop's signature facial feature: downward eyebrows, over-sized round eyes and tiny red lips. I employ this artificial female concept in a physical body intervening the physical space. This gives a surreal effect of the performance demonstrating the duality of real and surreal, as well as the physical presence and the mental occurrence. Grace performed the character of herself, also dramatized in very feminine style. She wears a brown color imitated fur coat with black low-cut dress underneath and black high-heels. She maintains a cool and clam look throughout the performance, appropriating the original performance style of Martha Rosler.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Martha Rosler
• Semiotics of the Kitchen
• feminist
• feminism
• video
• performance
• Betty Boop
• Artist
• studio
• Film
• video appropriation