Friday, April 3, 2009
Cream Exactitudes: You're So Different, Just Like Everybody Else
Posted by Tracy Moore on Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 2:08 PM
I've long been fascinated by fashion because it is both the ultimate armor and the ultimate vulnerability. It is the fabric that hides our naked selves, yet also the framework that exposes everything from our social standing to our tastes and ambitions and most deeply felt notions of ourselves.
This blog gets a lot of heat from people who feel what a band or an audience is wearing is of little consequence to the music being played, or perhaps that it should be of little consequence to our coverage of it. But for most folks, diving into the world of musical obsession often occurs alongside aesthetic experimentation. Getting into punk often simultaneously means shedding one's notions of what civilized attire means. The hipster may mock preppiness and groupthink by adopting a tattered version of it; the rapper may exude swagger through the literal amount of space his or her clothing occupies with its very largeness. The rave kid's bold colors can amount to a sartorial neon shout.
But what has always fascinated me about these types of expression is that they are driven by a feeling of differentness that ironically yields sameness. The Goth chick's smeared black eyeliner and lace gloves are as much a uniform as the Catholic school girl's plaid skirt and knee socks. By trying to be different, you often end up looking just like everyone else like you.
That's been wonderfully illustrated by photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek in their series Exactitudes. It's a hybrid word born out of exact and attitude, and their mission is as follows:
By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people's attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.
The static background and astonishing sameness of the subjects is a lot like Misshapes, but interestingly, their photographs are taken in cities all over the world over the last decade. The shot above is a group they call "Relirockers,"--what we'd call metalheads--and other shots in the series take on "Geeks," the "Cassettes Gang," "Rockers," the "French Touch," and "Mohawks."
(Thanks to Nikki at Bites for the tip.)
Comments (10)
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Would this be similar to the backwards jet black hair phenomenon displayed by Adam on American Idol this season?
It's so different. It doesn't look anything like Pete Wentz, David Cook, Aiden, or that chick from AFI, who ironically all suck.
I'm sorry. They are all such amazingly talented artists with different styles. Just like these:
National Emo Kid Beatdown
Enough with this shitty haircut.
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from one of the greatest minds in and maybe out of rock and roll, frank zappa, "everyone is wearing a uniform, don't kid yourself".
nice insights, tracy, and a very interesting photography project.
While the people sporting the looks you linked to are certainly conforming to a certain aesthetic, there is still a uniqueness and individuality to their fashions; many of the components to the generic "look" reflect the individual's unique selection and combination of those elements. I'm thinking especially of the "Cassettes Gang" . . . each person's look is their own, though they fall into a larger, complimentary set.
It's inspiring to see people wearing outfits they see as expressive of who they want to be, even though they may not be completely unique in their fashion sense. To me, an attempt to be something is better than a resignation (or even a determination) to express nothing.
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