Conceal Reveal Morph

CONCEAL REVEAL MORPH the Vision

Anusha Balasubramanian

‘Archetypes in Stereotypes’ Photography: Anusha Balasubramanian Model: Anushikha Rentala

FEATURES Vision Schizo Persona Polaist Facades Archetypes in Stereotypes Techno Schizophrenia Dichotomous Delusions Polytheism Who Am I? Blurring Borders Cyclical Charades Delusional Diary

VISION This famous quotation by William Shakespeare, always puzzled me. This propelled me into questioning the true meaning of identity in today’s world of pretense and fallacy.

With the advent of technology, blurring cultural, political and gender lines; there is a change in the way individuals think and portray themselves in society. An individual is no longer a single entity but represents aspects from a myriad of influences. The

‘We know what we are, but not what we may be.’

world ‘indi’ from individual has become ‘dual’ or even more than two. Fragmented identities is a result of this: people are morphing into facades and illusions that they create of themselves, leaving behind inherent values like authenticity.

William Shakespeare Bi or multipolarity, dichotomy of identities are results of this shift in society. Experts have been researching the change in human identities for a while now and this mega trend can impact the future of human race in a big way.

By definition schizophrenia refers to a mental disorder that makes it hard to tell the difference between what is real and not real; think clearly; have real emotional responses; act normally in social situations. However, each of these symptoms are part of our lives in one situation or the other. Each day there are at least one or two instances where we morph into someone we are not, be it in thoughts, reactions or perceptions.

So are we all schizophrenic?

Delusions, illusions and hallucinations are a part and parcel of our everyday life. I may react differently to different people and situations, not one of them reflecting what I truly believe or what my personal opinion is. The masks one wears in various avenues of life is similar to any individual suffering from schizophrenia. A delirium, a dream, a fallacy.

Oscar Wilde has rightly quoted, ‘Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.’ As I write this manifesto, I observe the shift in my personal identities while multi tasking: a serious professional self on linked-in, a free spirit on pinterest and an overtly social facebooker. But which of these online extensions of myself is truly representative of my character?

In the fast paced life of today, individuals have to be multi-faceted to keep up with all the new social mandatory trends. Even professions today can be seen having a major dose of schizophrenia. For example, the lines between a true artist and a person who is a makeshift one is blurring. Any one who records himself singing or playing an instrument and digitally masks his voice to make it better, is termed a musician. One twists a few discs and voila, he is a DJ. Is this not a transition or a metamorphosis?

Right: Gulp Exhibit by Erwin Wurm at the Lehmann Maupin gallery (NY), 2010. Depicting the existensial insecurity about the boundaries of oneself.

SCHIZO PERSONA The psychology of humans is such that we want for another. Multiple personalities can exist at the to escape the mundane life into a surrealist realm. same situation, while we multi task. This morphing The hardships faced, the trying economic scenario of identities and faces will end in a schizophrenic of today, the uncertainty of the so called impend- societal illusionary world of tomorrow. ing doom all pushes us to seek shelter in a reality which is constructed of fragments of our identity, delusions and a fiction of our imagination. If this is not termed schizophrenia, then what is?

Alter-egos which we portray when faced with different scenarios are facets of our personality which we either disclose or want to reveal.

Nowadays everyone is Clark Kent by day, Superman by night! In fact there is no restriction as to when one personality has to shut off to make way

Left: Body Talk for Robyn Album Covers, 2010. Photography by Lucy McRae

Polarist Facades

We move through life wearing someone else’s clothes. We produce someone else’s art. We make someone else’s music. We write someone else’s words. We replay someone else’s arguments. We don’t have

‘We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without

the courage and the conviction to stand on our own and speak our own thoughts and craft our own work.

removing some of our own skin.’

We don’t have the courage to say “I don’t know” and to make it up as we go. We are wearing a mask.

- Andre Berthiaume

The multi-polarity of masks facilitates the personality fluctuations, the veils and facades that we attempt to portray. Our life is a mime where we all are clones in one way or the other: memes.

The idea of borrowed thoughts and ideas has manifested itself in the absolute extreme, with everyone borrowing or stealing identities. When can we claim something is originally ours when the whole world claims it theirs? It will be impossible to patent each and every idea, with such extreme plagiarism on the prowl. We are behaving in accordance with, or responding against, someone else’s expectations. We are not creating out of a sense of identity, we are creating in order to please or defy someone else. We are wearing masks because we’re not so certain that who we are will be received. We reactively hide so as not to be found out. It will soon become critical that we have time to create for ourselves and no one else in which we can take on projects that fuel us, find the one identity that gives us life and the opportunity to explore new means of expression.

When will we discover ourselves and our unique “voice”?

Becoming Transnatural, 2011. Photography by Lucy McRae

Am I a Mystery, Am I a Shadow?

Who Am I? I want to know....

‘Archetypes in Stereotypes’ Photography: Anusha Balasubramanian Model: Anushikha Rentala

Techno Schizophrenia When we talk of schizophrenic societies, how can the online social network is seen as a great tool to we avoid the virus that has crept through society state out what we have to say. today: the internet. The internet, our second life is an extension of us humans today. A constant need We multi task through a variety of sites, but this to update and stay updated has pushed each one of multi tasking leads to multiple existence. My twitus to join multiple social networking sites. Through ter, Facebook and linked-in profiles may just show our online profiles, we give out signs which is how totally different aspects of me, and they may not we wish to portray ourselves.

even bear even an inkling of resemblance as to what my thoughts are in reality. What used to be

In a face-to-face context, signals given off by ac- a conscious effort, has now become unconscious. cident, perhaps through body language, a fleeting The switch between these personalities is as easy expression, or an unbidden change in intonation, as wearing another outfit. provide a great deal of information about other people. However, we as online users are able to

Perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity with-

control our self- representation. This makes it

out becoming what you pretend to be.

more possible to present oneself more selective than it is face- to- face, as some of us feel rejected in our real lives.

Some of us find it difficult to express ourselves or voice out our feelings in the real world. Hence, Left: QR code, 2012. Photography by Alexander Khokhlov

Dichotomous Delusions To a schizophrenic, the world is a game with levels to explore. The real dimension: appropriation is the life around us. The second dimension is the facades: exaggeration. The third would be the extended surreality which is submersion followed by the fourth which is the effect: sublimation.

Analogic by Ben Sandler for Amusement Magazine 12th Issue

The fifth dimension which is the world of the schizophrenic mind is abstraction: where the conscious becomes the unconscious and abstract illusion is the hyper reality. All the senses are heightened and it is the realm of breaking free with no wrong and right. The fifth dimension is all about innovation.

Our individuality is held back in the first four dimensions whilst the fifth dimension contains all four and is the mind of the individual: The Microcosm.

Polytheism

Polarity of personality is also observed: the existence of good and evil within the

Religion and mythology also showcase a myriad

same being: Goddess Kaali from Hindu

of connotations which re-instate the idea that

mythology is a perfect example. The

fragmented dualities in identities existed. Dichot-

exis ence of man and woman is seen

omy in names is common: same Gods but with

is Shivshakti from the Hindu Gods too.

different names according to culture worshipped

Other concepts like many religious Gods

in. Aphrodite, Zeus in Greek mythology are con-

from different cultures under a sin-

sidered to be Venus, Jupiter in Roman mythology

gle pantheon, citations to one supreme

respectively. It is ultimately a single figure with

power from which the numerous other

multiple names and identities.

Gods are derived also support the idea of multiple identities.

Mythology has also mentions of the portrayal of shape shifters like Loki in Norse mythology or Rakshasas i.e. Demons in Hindu mythology.

Shape shifters are like tricksters, master of disguises and moving through the fables deceiving others with their many facades. Fragmentation exists however with polarity, where one does not exist without the other.

Nine Circles of Heaven, 2012. By Terrible Twins (Ruta Pu & Urte Janus)

Who Am I? Photography: Anusha Balasubramanian Model: Anushikha Rentala

Blurring Borders Nowadays, our identities have become modified or invented versions of our physical selves. Our personality as a culture is fast becoming a vast morass of unmediated information. Maybe our singularity as a society is eroding because we are unclear about the survival of our cultural legacy. Our identity is formed not only by looking at where we’ve come from, the memories of our past, but also through having a vision for the future.

This raises the question of identity, specifically cultural identity, in a world of increasing globalization where people and cultures are converging more than ever before. The question ‘who are you?’ is becoming increasingly difficult for some of us to answer. Cultures are meeting, morphing and exchanging.

The idea of a fixed identity is becoming redundant. We have to be able to play with representations in order to show a more accurate picture of who we are culturally. Glocalization, super diversity, multiple identities and trans nationalism are children of this phenomena.

Right: Identity by BlanQ for 24 Xiao Editorial, 2010.

Fault lines of deep conservatism still exist in our globalizing world. Even those who condemn the modernizing influences of the Internet and the Western cultures, with which it is, perhaps increasingly less appropriately, identified, use it when it meets their needs. Both of these conditions: the loosening and tightening of different types of community bonds, present problems that are believed could be mitigated by the forming of new identities through the Internet. Who we are, our identity is intimately tied with whom we relate to, and our newfound ability to create communities across cultures and nationalities, contributing our local knowledge to global communities, has the potential to dissolve regional and ethnic tensions.

Digital technologies can become deception technologies, in which people play with their identity and self-representations. People articulate this cultural ideal within their own experience and command of digital technologies. Therefore, the antagonism of truth- deception, secrecy- openness and privacy- public life have always been at their core. The Internet is unsurpassed as a bridge across

Cyclical Charades

the miles, but can it be a bridge across the years?

How will we define our identity as a culture?

The potential outcomes for our identities in the information age can be both positive and negative. The Internet can make us more global in our view of ourselves, overcoming fundamentalisms of religion or ethnicity or ideology, but, ironically, it can also be used to support narrow-mindedness.

Left: Behavioral Urbanism by y Megan Magraw, Nathaniel Rather, David Saunders London and New York based international design practice Kokkugia, 2010

On a lighter note, a hypothetical excerpt that could belong to the thoughts of any one of us today.

Delusional Diary of A Masked Persona I walk this dream where I don’t know what is real and what is not. On one side there is chaos and the other is serene beauty. The chaos chases me and drives me into the of bounty, where I am devoted to distraction. I spend my time day dreaming about everything and anything.

My dreams are a cauldron of creativity and an arena for rehearsing my social skills. But are they my dreams or is it my reality? I fail to tell the difference. I always am consumed with the feeling of being in multiple channels and unable to understand which is true. The feeling that there is a loss of my originality is constantly nagging me, but I embrace the many people living within me: my friends, my compatriots: an extension of my reality. I play with my friends in a land where nothing can dampen my exhilarated spirit, a land where I escape from reality. But one question still looms over me....

WHAT IS MY REALITY?

CONCEAL REVEAL MORPH the Research

Anusha Balasubramanian

‘Light’, 2009. Photographed by Levi Van Veluw

MAIN FEATURES An Observation Beyond The Body Pushing Boundaries in an Era Without Any Are People Today Living a Dream?

Different Strokes for 12 Different Folks Where are the Original Thoughts?

Coming Apart: Trauma and the Fragmentation of the Self Herschel Walker’s alter personalities CONCEAL, REVEAL, MORPH

An Observation The trend of fragmented, schizophrenic personalities talks about the relation between individual and identities in today’s socio-economic scenario where the terms are not defined due to the availability of options.

Statisticians have seen a considerable rise in the percentage of schizophrenics from 0.2 percent in 2006 to 7 percent in 2012. In every 29 people, 11 had dissociative identity disorder, 10 were people who were highly prone to fantasy i.e. border line schizophrenics and 8 people were not very prone Walking down the streets, one notice clones walk- to fantasy, as a control: as reported by Medical ing alongside oneself. Each person is a mask of daily on July 02, 2012. the other, no individuality be it in thoughts, clothing or behavior: the real personality is a shadow The lines between real and unreal are already of the past and will be a ghost in the future. blurring, what with the need to escape into a new realm due to the apocalyptic scenario. New Today, individuals from all strata of society are dimensions, augmented reality and other such posed with equal opportunities and options. For inventions are indicative of the polarization of example, while a celebrity can clothe herself in the concept of reality, thus affecting identity.The Prada, the mass can ape her ways with cheaper context is what connects authenticity and fake. imitations of luxury. One can wear masks of anybody and morph into a new being.

Schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder and other such psychological problems that were The resources to shift identity were probably termed abnormal are going to be an integral part available in the past, however the awareness of people. Switching facades and shifting identiand acceptance of the availability of resources ties is a game all of will be expertly playing tois growing at such a radical pace that the fu- morrow. The day is not far when we will have a ture poses the luxury of abundance. Identities remote to fluctuate between our many identities are undergoing major changes too with the social like channels on a television. networking platforms and other digital mediums swarming our lives. Online and offline extensions of today will manifest itself into extreme fragmentation in the future.

Left: Jil Sander SS’2012 Ad Campaign

Beautifully sculptural and built up like a motion picture,

understand his body, spirit and many identities. Therefore,

Alejandro focuses on the understanding of the body, leav- with this photograph series I intend to show an artist fighting

“MULTI FACET IS THE ONLY FACET TODAY”

ing each frame as a simple vision of not-quite-dry concrete to get to know and shape himself and turn into a better hufloating against a basic white backdrop.

“Julián is a good friend who I deeply respect; he is a multidisciplinary and complete artist. He is, at the same time, film director, sculptor, painter, photographer and writer: multi faceted personality. He suggested time ago the idea of doing

Alejandro Maestre Gasteazi’s JULIÁN

man being”, said Alejandro Maestre.

a portrait of him that could describe his constant search to

Interview by Katarina Tan , 10 OCT 2012

Beyond the Body A perception of appearance and identity Imme Van Der Haak

“ My work focuses on alter-

that intrigues, astonishes or

ing the human form by af-

sometimes even disturbs.

fecting its figure with just My work is playful, yet subone

simple

intervention. tle in its approach. I con-

Photos of the human body

stantly strive to question

are printed onto translucent and challenge our perception silk which will create the of what is ‘normal’, focuspossibility of physically lay-

ing on the everyday, which

ering different bodies, ages, we might take for granted.” generations and identities.

In a dance performance, the moving body manipulates the fabric so the body and the silk become one, distorting our perception or revealing a completely new physical form. The movement then brings this to life.

Beyond the Body brings into being an ambiguous image

An wxcerpt from an interview with Imme Van Der Haak for Dezeen.

Self Portrait Series by Delaney Allen, October 2012

Delaney Allen‘s self portraits are intriguing, never showing his subjects’ faces entirely. His photographs are not so much traditional portraits but evocations of his journeys, mindset, interests, and experiments.

Revealing through concealing, delineating through obscuring, faces are masked, bodies camouflaged, and romantic landscapes blurred through car windows. The resulting visions are innately personal yet, at the same time, reverberate with an elementary spirit. Loneliness, emptiness, confusion, and longing- Allen’s days unfold like scrawls from a hidden notebook. While we never see his face, we are handed a foundation, and through his palette of de-saturated colors and hazy lighting, the feelings of a single man emerge.

‘WE TEND TO IDENTIFY OURSELVES THROUGH OTHERS- I AM HER SON, THEIR FRIEND, HIS GIRLFRIEND. BUT HOW DO WE FIND OURSELVES WHEN WE ARE ALONE?’ Delaney Allen as interview by Cyril Foiret, 19 OCT 2012

‘Mysteries and Identities’, 2012.

Photography by Alexander Khokhlov

Pushing Boundaries in an Era Without Any

By CATHY HORYN, January 12, 2011

THREE times this week I’ve heard someone refer to “a parallel world.” The first was on Sunday, when the wife of a college friend said that she did not pay much attention to the celebrity-media culture. “I feel like I’m living in a parallel world,” she said.

On another morning, on the MSNBC program “Morning Joe,” I heard Mike Barnicle make a similar comment, although in the context of the Tucson shootings. The next day, I happened to be speaking to Barbara Vinken, a professor of French literature at the University of Munich and the author of “Fashion Zeitgeist,” when she referred to the Internet not merely as a parallel universe of self-created identities and opportunities, but as “a dark continent,” a place where people “more and more live rather than in the real world.”

This is not a coincidence. Feeling that you are on multiple channels, and not understanding anything clearly, seems to be a condition of modern life, and each of us deals with it differently.

Body Talk for Robyn Album Covers, 2010. Photography by Lucy McRae

”This is a chronicle progression of

“This project relates to the concept

a woman. A woman who morphs

of the digital identity, as a philosoph-

from innocence to struggles, and

ical dialogue between the human

back to innocence. From a state of

form and the immaterial represen-

purity, when there is no good and

tation of our digital selves. Metallic

bad, to sophistication, which comes

installations serve as metaphors of

with seduction, greed, debauchery

representations in the digital realm:

amongst all other evils that dominate

enveloping and changing our identi-

the world. On the verge of decadence

ties, emanating as an material aura.”

she struggles, for individuality, for virtue, for her own soul. In the end amidst all chaos, she unites with peace of mind, living with a sober fact that she is just one of them, and she can’t hide. That is her IDENTITY, whether she likes it or not.”

Identity by BlanQ for 24 Xiao Editorial, 2010.

Analogic by Ben Sandler for Amusement Magazine 12th Issue

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.”

Chuck Palahniuk

Alexandra Moura, Fall Winter 2006

Top Left: The Miracles of the Space Age by Hellen Van Rees, 2012. Depicts Dimensions and Illusions Top Right: Ecstatic Spaces by Tara Keens Douglas, 2012.

‘My self-portrait is a still life.

I disappear into the background. There is no search for identity in my work. I know that identity doesn’t exist. There are only infinite layers of me. If I peel them back, like the skin of an onion, there will be nothing underneath.’

Kimiko Yoshida

LED hats by Moritz Waldemeyer for Philip Treacy, 2012.

Depicts dissappearing identities and individuals.

Self Portraits by Kimiko Yoshida, 2008.

Are People Today Living a Dream?

Published on March 20, 2009 by Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. in Beautiful Minds

“Kolonihavehus” Outdoor sculpture by Tom Fruin

Let’s just consider dreaming and creativity. Glausiusz quotes Yale Psychologist Jerry Singer in saying “There seems to be continuity between day-dreaming and night-dreaming.” Could it be that there is a lot more of this continuity in people with schizophrenia? In a normal default network, there is a dividing line between internally generated thoughts, sensations, emotions and external perceptions of reality. Therefore, when most people wake up, the prefrontal cortex wakes up from standby mode, it needs the sleep because it works so hard during the day controlling things, re-connects itself to the rest of the default network, and installs the boundary between internal perceptions and external perceptions.

But for people with schizophrenia, the boundaries between imagination and reality become disrupted. Abnormal default network connectivity in people with schizophrenia is related to the ability to perform a task that requires concentration on the external environment as well as auditory hallucinations, paranoid and bizarre delusions, and disorganized speech, some of the most common “positive” symptoms of schizophrenia. The common theme here is “altered perceptions of reality”.

But all of this has me thinking. Many times I have awoken from a vivid dream with surprisingly at least surprising to my conscious self creative connections and the intense emotional drive to write it all down. But many times I simply cannot write it down because it all goes away too fast too soon. If there is more continuity between night-dreams and day-dreams for people with schizophrenia, I wonder if instead of giving medications to people with schizophrenia that shuts off their overactive default network, we should focus more on techniques both with medicine andpsychotherapy to increase their ability to re-connect the reality centers of their brains with the fantasy regions. I honestly fear that we may be unintentionally squandering a lot of creativity by conceptualizing such thinking as “aberrant”.

Previous Spread: Left: Model Morphosis by Grey Kessler, 2012.

Right: Iconatomy (Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Portman) by George Chamoun,2011.

Adjacent Page: Beauty Treatment with Gauze Mask by Irving Penn, December 1997.

Different Strokes for 12 Different Folks safe to say that they all have their own preferences and ways of expressing themselves.’

Above Left: Karen: This alter ego paints similar abstract images in different hues.

Above Right: Bonny: Kim Noble’s maternal personality painted the colourful Freeze ‘People by Night’.

‘Over the years different doctors have diagnosed me as having schizophrenia, anorexia, depression.

In many ways some of them were right. One of my personalities is anorexic so they weren’t totally wrong. But it wasn’t getting the whole problem.’

A talented artist suffering from a rare personality disorder produces 12 different kinds of paintings depending on which personality is ‘in control’.

Kim Noble, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, DID, uses painting as a coping strategy to deal with some of her different personalities.

In 1995 a psychotherapist was finally able to explain her problems were caused by DID. She said: ‘He did a lot of memory tests and told me he had never met a DID sufferer with so such strong divisions between the personalities. He found no memories existed between some of them. Some of the personalities do not know we are sufferBut she discovered that 12 of her inner characters pro- ing from DID and some know but won’t accept it. duce different artwork that is stunning in its own way. A few of them don’t even know that others exist.’

Some of the personalities paint dark images in the small hours of the morning. Others paint ‘Painting is a way that some of the personalicolourful scenes, abstract images and one pre- ties can come together so it has really helped fers to sculpt. The darkest are painted by Ria, me. It is something many of them have in comand depict scenes of her childhood abuse. mon and a way for them to bond,’ she said.

The 47-year-old said: ‘Each personality has its own style. Some tend to be more abstract and some like using different colours. It can be very strange because I don’t always remember what I have done when another personality has been in control. So it can be hard to explain which personality prefers doing what. But I think it’s

Above Left: MJ: This personality, an elective mute, paints abstract images. Above Centre: Kenny: ‘Petals of colour’, by one of Kim Noble’s depressed alter egos who favours using canvas and oils. Above Right: Dawn: This alter ego seems to show a traumatic scene in earthy hues and is searching for her child.

Above Left: Anon: Her latest, unknown alter ego who prefers to paint dark scenes in the small hours. Above Centre: Judy: The painting, called ‘Eating Disorder’, is by a teenage alter who suffers from anorexia and bulimia, and does not believe in DID. Above Right: Suzie: ‘Pure’ is by a personality who always paints a kneeling mother.

As reported by Daily Mail Reporter.

August 7, 2009

Adjacent Page: Different faces: Kim Noble has dissociative identity disorder and each of her personalities has a different style Above Left: Abi: ‘Women in Black’ is in the style of a fashion illustration. Above Centre: Patricia: ‘Untitled Purple’ by a personality called Patricia who sometimes holds fort. She uses different colours to paint desert scenes. Above Right: Ria: ‘Weeping Clown’ is by a new personality. The dark oil painting shows blindfolded naked children and one wearing a creepy clown’s face

Top Left: Sewn as a Site by Danica Pistekova, 2012. Duvet which morphs between fashion and architecture, small and big, private and public, intuitive and logical.

Top Right: Morphing Furnitures by Noiz Architects, 2010. Their morphing table and chairs are derived from iconic pieces of modern designed furniture. The forms morph from one typology of a chair or table into another in one continuous form.

Adjacent Page: Mirrormasque by Lilia Yip, Fall 2012-13.

Where are the Original Thoughts?

An excerpt from an interview with musician Goodiepal, Scenario Magazine, January 2012

“Most people just quote others, and say nothing that is their own. “ - Goodiepal Born, as we have been, in the right place on earth in the best of all times, we have never had more surplus but never have there been so few original thoughts as today. This is not just a paradox: it is also a problem. At least, if we believe that in the future we will have to make our livings from our intellectual abilities. Goodiepal is right in saying what he does, and not just because he like the rest of us, has freedom of speech. He also has the moral rights that accompany anyone who actually acts on his words. Goodiepal doesn’t just make inspirational talks. He dares do things. He invests himself and his life in a project that has every opportunity for failure and which is so difficult for most people to grasp that he can’t even tune into the support and understanding of his contemporaries. Only a few people will be able to follow what he’s up to. For most people, he is just strange.

Outré. But Goodiepal is also original in the best sense of the word he is the opposite of a copy. He is unique.

As quoted by Thomas Merton, “There can be an intense egoism in following everybody else. People are in a hurry to magnify themselves by imitating what is popular and too lazy to think of anything better. Hurry ruins saints as well as artists. They want quick success and they are in such a haste to get it that they cannot take time to be true to themselves. And when the madness is upon them they argue that their very haste is a species of integrity.”

2001 Vinyl Record released by Goodiepal

“ This is the age when we should really go wild. And there are lots of things to question. But the intellectual system has ground to a halt.

There’s no will any more. People quote other people, and say nothing that is their own.”

- Goodiepal Image Courtesy: Corbis

Blooming Senses by Atelier Fraser Ross A collection of organisms as an interactive research. Each organism performs a morphing effect through interaction with living senses.

The senses and their operations are based on theoretical studies by a variety of perceptions. Each sense is the physiological capacities within these organisms that provide inputs for perception. The inbuilt nervous system of each organism has a specific organ, dedicated to each sense, the mechanisms and capabilities are reflected in different organisms. Organisms are formed through the development of new skin materials linked with shape morphing technologies, using plant resins and naturally occurring composite materials to allow organic dimensions and movement. Exhibited at the philadelphia museum of art & crafts fair, end of 2011. Blooming senses is a take on the morphing seen in humans and their identities by donning other skins.

Adaptation of René Magritte’s Son of Man by Ron English The Son of Man, or Le fils de l’homme by Rene Magritte depicts just one man in a bowler hat and suit, face obscured by a green apple and tackles the notion of conflict between what is visible, and what is concealed. The allegory here is that the aspects of a person we would like to see are often hidden from us by what is actually visible to our eyes.

Ron English seems to have expanded this concept to reveal “what is hidden” as being the truth of our inner structure, the physical foundation of our existence and the metaphysical, spiritual truth of death and decay, and the fact that through time everything changes.

Coming Apart: Trauma and the Fragmentation of the Self

Excerpt from Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence of New Communities

By David Spiegel, M.D., January 31, 2010

By Christina Goulding, Avi Shankar and Richard Elliott

The controversial diagnosis of dissociative identity dis-

as “punishment” for another “personality” state, such

With regard to the individual, those who adopt

order: DID has replaced what once was called “multiple as the patient who carved “I hate Mary,” another of

the nihilistic view suggest that the

personality disorder.”

her identities, into her forearm with a knife. Mary was

postmodern condition is characterised by iden-

frightened and mystified about the injury. Such memory

tity confusion: Kellner 1995 and the fragmenta-

People diagnosed with DID have trouble integrating their loss is often asymmetrical, one identity may be aware

tion of “self”: Jameson 1990; Gabriel and Lang

memories, sense of identity, and aspects of conscious- when another is prominent, but not vice versa.

1995; Strauss 1997.

ness into a unified whole. New research supports the The problem is not that there are “multiple personalities” diagnosis and sheds light on what may have gone wrong

existing in one body, as the old name of the disorder im-

On the one hand, those who have been stripped

in patients’ brains, suggests David Spiegel. M.D. Spiegel,

plied, but rather that the brain fails to integrate our dif-

of role and identity constitute Cushman’s 1990

who chaired the professional working group that recom- ferent personae. We normally act like “different people”

“empty self”; on the other, individuals whose

mended the change of name in psychiatry’s principle

lives have become crowded by the pressures of

at work and at a party hopefully, but we have continuity

diagnostic manual, notes that the disorder likely stems of memory and identity across the differences.

work and invaded by new technologies such as

from trauma and can be considered a severe form of

mobile phones, e-mail and faxes, are suffering

post-traumatic stress disorder. Among the biological Patients with DID do not. In fact, the problem is not that

what Gergen 1991 describes as personal satura-

markers he describes are a smaller hippocampus and they have more than one personality, but rather that

tion.

certain neurotransmitters. A better understanding of the they have less than one: a fragmentation of self rather importance of specific regions of the brain to memory than a proliferation of selves. But this is the case with

The human being that emerges is confronted

and emotion may help push research forward.

the people of today. Their alter egos are manifesting

with endless choices which in turn leads to con-

themselves unconsciously.

fusion over multiple roles and responsibilities,

One “identity” may inflict physical damage on their body

or what Gergen 1991 refers to as “multiphrenia”.

Image Courtesy: Corbis

Above: Left: Vintage Mixed Media Collage by Sammy Slabbinck, Right: Eduardo Recifes’s Collage Adjacent Page: Illustration by Ignasi Monreal for V Magazine, Spain

Delusional Dimensions: Photography Collages by Rachel Richards

Art by Levi Van Veluw Automata, 2011 Automata are mechanical objects endowed with life by ingenious means. They morph and encapsulate thoughts, ideas and fragments of identities.

(Images 1-3)

Family: The origin of the beginning, 2012 At first glance everyone is sitting peacefully at the table, the

Top: Different names in different cultures for the same deity: Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Roman), Indra (Hindu)

picture of a perfect family unit. Yet this group of figures is

Bottom: Dualities in a single God: Shiva-Shakti (Hindu)

positioned in an abstract environment, unrecognisable and therefore far removed from reality.

(Image 4)

Veneer, 2009 In most cases it is the artist’s head that is the carrier of these transformations and combinations. The expressionless, and almost universal face, allows the viewer to project himself onto the work.

(Image 5)

Tricksters and Shape Shifters have existed in mythology.

Zeus in Greek mythology, Odin and Loki in Norse and Vishnu in Hindu myths are examples of Gods who changed their identities at various junctures.

Top: Headgear by Mary Designs from Minas Gerais Adjacent Page: New Nudes: New Identities by Caroline Beneche, 2009.

The Old “Switcheroo� By Hana Pesut Hana Pesut‘s idea of taking images of people in their own clothing and then switching the outfits with that of their partners was interesting and important. This work addresses our ideas of gender identity and challenges traditional stereotypes. Consistent questioning of .who we are, why we think we are that, who is doing the initial labeling and why by artists like Pesut , is imperative for our personal understanding and growth as human beings and the relationships we choose to nurture and at the same time judge. Living in such a polarized society where separation and duality have been ingrained in us since we were born, perhaps it is time to put those ideas to rest and take a different approach,reviving the idea of unity. We are, after all, living in the time when the veil of illusion is slowly fading, the disintegration of belief systems previously held is crumbling and a new way of thinking and living is at our doorstep. We feel it in our economic system, in our political system and here we have some great imagery making the case that change does not have to be scary, but exciting, necessary and neutral. It is what we put into this energy which makes it positive or negative.

Malleable Identities: Crushed Car Exhibit by John Chamberlain

Left: Still from The Face of Another (1966), based on Kobe Abe’s novel and directed by Hiroshi Teshigara, about a man who is forced to wear a mask and thus loses his identity.

Herschel Walker’s alter personalities

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta Chief Medical Correspondent for The Chart, april 15th 2008.

When I first heard that former football great Herschel Walker had multiple personality disorder, I was pretty stunned. Even though, I am a doctor, I had to admit that I knew very little about this particular psychiatric disorder. For starters, it is called DID, or dissociative identity disorder, instead of multiple personality disorder. I learned is neither Sybil nor Walker actually has multiple personalities, but rather the lack of one cohesive personality. In Walker’s case, he has 12 - yes 12 - alter per-

‘You’re not the only lonely man. Being free always involves being lonely. Just there is a mask you can peel off and another you can not.’

From the movie, The Face of Another

sonalities, which are all better described as fragments of one.

Sitting down with Walker, I met an extremely charismatic and likeable man who certainly didn’t overtly flip from one alter to the next. It became clear, though, throughout our conversation that these alters were just under the surface. From stories of playing Russian roulette while still an extremely successful football star to rapidly switching from one alter to the next with absolutely no recollection, it was mind boggling, confusing, and a little

“Isolated, she managed somehow to feel free, albeit with a freedom that made her want to smash a hole in the very center of the universe.”

From Flora Rheta Schreiber’s Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities

bizarre. Again, unlike uncontrolled rage or depression, Walker really could not remember from one alter to the next. He even had names for his alters. The one that showed up on the football field was the General, and he was a competitive killer.

Everyone has various facets that make up his or her personality -- assertive, angry, comforting. But, experts explain, in DID, these various parts -- known as alters -- don’t come together as one

Right: Sybil is the unbelievable yet true story of Sybil Dorsett, a survivor of terrible childhood abuse who as an adult was a victim of sudden and mysterious blackouts. What happened during those blackouts has made Sybil’s experience one of the most famous psychological cases in the world.

cohesive single personality. Instead, one or the other part of the identity takes over and determines one’s behavior.

Irving Penn’s Football Face, November 2002.

Exactitudes is a photograph series, a book, and a “contraction of exact and attitude”. Coined by photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek.

“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.”

CONCEAL, REVEAL, MORPH Fragmentation and pixelation of the individuals with each pixel representative of a different character.

Multi polarity and a mix of ideas, less clarity yet a concise complete identity.

‘The mind is the workshop, but you never know if it is the child or devil at work.’ Color Me Crazy Character fragmentation brings with it a certain amount of chaos. The colors represent an array of palettes from neutrals to brights to extreme dark shades depending on the mood of the schizophrenic mind. There are limitless combinations and no boundaries, which each alter-ego looking at life from a different perspective.

Material Mash The materials have a broader range from textured wood, glass to fabrics and paper with dimensions.

The multi facets add an extra 3D texture to surfaces. Repeats in the prints, camouflages and skewed prints play with the twist in personality. Distortion, layering and texturing by mixing materials is of key importance. The materials can be used in architecture, lifestyle products or fashion.

Adjacent and Following Spreads: Images courtesy Corbis, Textures: Elisa Strozyk, Irving Harper and Kokkugia

Alumroot

Antique Sienna

Cordovan Bean

Marsh Cadmium

Cerulean Indigo

Deep Space

Sandstill

Spearmint

Mandarin

Buttercup

Honeysuckle

Bluebell

BayLeaf

Echo

Rustic Void

Indicolite

Tourmaline Alexandrite

Carnelian

Citrine

Sabbath

Passion

Greed

Limbo

Gluttony

Tranquil

Scream

Solace

Serene

Silence

Adjacent Page: Illustration by Ignasi Monreal for V Magazine, Spain

CONCEAL REVEAL MORPH Trend application

Anusha Balasubramanian

FEATURES Marc Jacobs: The Brand Marc Jacobs: Then and Now The Marc Behind Marc Jacobs The MJ Woman The Marc Jacobs Identity The Marc Jacobs Experience Remarking Marc Jacobs Man in the Mirror Marc’s Mark in the Future Forespeak

Marc Jacobs: The Brand People may know a certain Marc Jacobs as a name fashion and design since he was a teenager. His synonymous with American fashion and innovative company has expanded immensely in recent years branding; one may know him as the creative direc- and continues to branch out with new products, such tor of Louis Vuitton; or one may know him as that as affordable body-splash fragrances and additional guy who wore a sheer lace dress to the Met Gala. clothing lines. His designs are offered by a numEither way, Marc Jacobs is definitely a designer ber of his brands, including Marc by Marc Jacobs, worth knowing about.

The Marc Jacobs Collection, and Little Marc, which is a children’s clothing line. Marc Jacobs the brand

Looking back at Marc Jacobs’s runway shows, it’s has attributes like being showman centric, bold and not hard to see how much he enjoys taking risks and edgy, nature inspired, all about beauty adorning the changing things up. No two collections are ever the body, recreating classics with nouveau mode, cesame and whether it’s through the use of exagger- lebrity appeal, a thunderous yet understated sensuated layers, futuristic shapes, nostalgic undertones, ous characteristic. Marc by Marc Jacobs hold true or feminine silhouettes, he always delivers an ar- to the parent label but has a more youth appeal with ray of fresh, covetable pieces. One can trace Marc vibrance, bold prints and fun elements.

Jacobs’s chameleon tendencies with just a glance at his two-plus decades worth of design, high-profile Today he is both a celebrity and a fashion designer accolades, and side projects like Louis Vuitton. It’s a who is well known and highly regarded in variwonder this man ever sleeps.

ous celebrity circles. Everyone from Sofia Coppola, Winona Ryder, and Kim Gordon are on his fan and

It is hard to miss the influence of contemporary friendship roster. designer Marc Jacobs, who has been involved with

Left: Marc Jacobs Ad Campaign with Victoria Beckham from Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998-2009

by Juergen Teller.

Marc Jacobs: Then and Now Within the last twenty years of his career, he’s impacted the fashion industry in countless ways.

Here is revealing Marc Jacobs.

- Marc Jacobs was born in New York City 1963. His father died when MJ was only 3. When he was 13 he applied for a job at Charivari, a trendy New York clothing boutique. This is what I call ambitious!

- 1981 Jacobs graduated from the High School of Art and Design.

- 1984 he made his spring 1985 debut for Sketchbook with a collection of “sportswear with a bit of Mozart and Prince’s trashy sex appeal” he said.

- MJ showed first collection under the Marc Jacobs label in 1986.

- 1988 Jacobs became the youngest designer ever to receive the CFDA’s Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

- Jacobs first collection for Perry Ellis was presented in 1989.

- 1998 Jacobs’s first collection for Louis Vuitton hits the runway.

- A diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, debuted in 2001 with clothes for both women and men.

- 2005 MJ launched a line of childrenswear called Little Marc.

- In 2010 Jacobs was on Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world compiled by Time.

- Present: A successful merchandiser-designer with dynamic sensibilities.

Right: Marc Jacobs Ad Campaign with Daisy Lowe from Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998-2009

by Juergen Teller.

The Marc Behind Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs is a mercurial designer who fascinates the fashion world with his enchanting, enigmatic and robust designs. His quick and changeable temperament makes him volatile and unpredictable. Marc Jacobs is an enigma: a master jester entertaining his audience. He portrays the character of his collection with ĂŠlan: imbibes the essence and morphs into a new being with each season. A myriad of influences are encompassed in his collections ranging from grunge, street, classics to playful simplicity: ethereal beauty.

Prada, Missoni, YSL are his inspirations while Rodarte and Alexander Wang are held in great regard among the contemporary breed of designers. The face of his brand has always been someone exuding grace and sublime beauty yet showcasing fortitude and and undercurrent of mystery.

Marc Jacobs is multi polar. He cannot be classified as a particular archetype as he constantly strives to break the moulds of convention. A shape shifter and a master of disguise, Marc Jacobs does not cease to surprise. The core archetype is the Joker with Mercury, Chameleon and the Jester playing his alter egos.

JOKER Motto: You only live once Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world Greatest fear: being bored or boring others Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny Weakness: frivolity, wasting time Talent: joy

Mercury Like Mercury from Roman mythology, Marc Jacobs uses his eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness and thievish mischief to enamor his audience. Crafty ideas and his ever changing temperament make him unstable and volatile.

Chameleon Like a chameleon, Marc Jacobs adapts to his surroundings with constant camouflage and masks to portray different facets according to the need of the hour.

Jester: Mockingbird Marc Jacobs is always on the look out to please the masses with his whimsical side: joking and entertaining like olden days where the King’s jester used to amuse the royal court.

His multi faceted personality seeps into his brand which boasts of a collection for every woman and an answer to every question.

The Master of Disguise

The M.J. Woman The Marc Jacob’s woman is like the designer himself, multi faceted. The woman is not limited to just girls, divas or fashionistas. Marc Jacobs caters to the Artifice, the decorated diva. To the Pixie, the princess in the fables.

To the Trailblazer, the sophisticated, shrewd and independent. To the Demure Purist, the childlike ethereal angel.

The future face of Marc Jacobs must embody all the existing facets of the clientele but also provide the direction for the future: multipolar to bipolar: The Fairy Enchantress to the Fanatic. There is an alluring sweet, demure quality yet Below (Left to Right): Trailblazer, Pixie, Demure Purist Left: Clemense Poesy: The Future Face of MArc Jacobs

has the destructive mind of a predator. A Parisian beauty with New York appeal: a Marc Jacobs must.

The Marc Jacobs Identity Marc Jacobs is synonymous to being a brand where every woman can find something that is a part of her.

Going back five to ten years, one could call Marc Jacobs a Project brand as the designer defined the brand.

Chic grunge and Classic retro elements were synonymous with the brand though there was constant metamorphosis.

But of late, Marc Jacobs can be categorized as a Euphoria brand. With the morphing of Jacobs from a designer to a pure merchandiser, the vision of the brand has become cross-sell to up-sell. The brand is customer driven, reinventing looks as per the need of the hour. Gimmicks and ideas are introduced in-order to toy with the identity of the brand.

Top: Marc Jacobs SS’11 collection inspired by Missoni 1971 Left: Marc Jacobs scarf 2008 replica of a 1950 Swedish Artist’s work

Brand Perspective: A Different Marc for everyone Brand Strategy: Easy accessible fashion: One brand many styles Brand Values: Covering maximum market, re-invent the best of fashion and make it his own, feasibility, revamp classics, surprise the viewer each season with a radically new collection Identifiers: Nature always overpowers culture in Marc Jacobs. Think Daisy, Oh Lola. The scenario overpowers the wearer. Nature is the main ornament endowing the individual. The fashion takes precedence and sets the mood. The lighting used in his Ad campaigns are reminiscent of Sofia Coppola movies.

Adjacent Page: Marc Jacobs 2007 inspired by Anna Sui 1992

The Marc Jacobs Experience Style, Inspirations and Schizophrenic Non Coherence

Marc Jacobs found inspiration in Blondie, Iggy Pop fluences are seen with constant reminders of 60s, and Sonic Youth. Later his taste broadened from 70s and 80s culture in his fashion. Nature and prints Serge Gainsbourgh to White Stripe’s Meg White. are of key importance. The masks of dynamism in One can see an influence from coarse, anti fashion his collection range from combining diametrically

Marc Jacobs has always been about reinvention.

movement exploded in early nineties in the Pacific opposite concepts to reveal a coherent new vision.

He is best known for his twists on classic and

Northwest. He responded very intensely to the dis- For example: Luxurious grunge, Peppy yet sophisti-

retro designs, with bold, innovative looks that re-

sonant chords of grunge.

cated glamour.

shape and enhance retro styles, cuts, and colors.

Nature is another major inspiration with over pow-

His styles blend trends from the 1940’s and 50’s

He was and is continually inspired by Art and Music. ering florals dominating the model. However the co-

with modern fashions, and they often include

Collaborations with the likes of Steven Sprouse, Julie herence over the last few years has been diminish-

classic clichés, which he loves to utilize in all

Verhoeven, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince ing to such an extent that it has left room for nothing

facets of his designs. Chic, vintage accessories

helped create highly coveted cult pieces. Retro in- but chaos.

are also a mainstay among his collections, as are quirky, off-the-wall accessories matched with traditional designs and clean cut silhouettes.

It is this genuine desire for unconventional beauty and his love for vintage style that has made Marc Jacobs a household name in the fashion industry.

Above: Inspirations in Blondie and Iggy Pop Next Page: Marc Jacobs Grunge collection, Marc Jacobs Oh Lola and FW ‘12 (Nature overpowers Culture)

Need for a new Marc Jacobs The many facets of the Marc Jacobs personality has left no room for an individual, original persona. Him being a mercurial persona lends instability and lack of coherence to the brand image. The volatile nature of his collects could explode and backfire on him. Also imitating existing designers does not define his brand status as without the label one will not be able to tell his designs apart from the other designers.

Also today, as an Euphoria brand, Marc Jacobs is not taken seriously due to its gimmicky status. This can demean the status as a designer label thus diminishing brand value and exclusivity.

Non Coherence in Designs and Styles over Seasons (Feb 2002, Feb 2003, Sept 2005, Feb 2011, Feb 2012)

Remarking Marc Jacobs

The Fairy Enchantress and The Fanatic

Brand Strategy The image of Marc Jacobs is that of a fairy and the unpredictable tricks of the maverick: a multipolar showman. There fanatic will lend the brand direction and is a need to narrow and polish his image give Jacobs enough room to unleash his thereby creating a niche identity. This will creativity. help him maintain his clientele though increase the exclusivity of his brand image. Analyzing his inspirations, silhouettes and Playing with dichotomy will be the key to moods for each season, the need to simclean up his fazed image. Flamboyant yet plify the diversity in terms of styling is chic: Dichotomy. Reduce the multi polar- also in order. Maintaining the integrity and ity to bi polarity: thus fixing his niche yet essence of old to make way for the new. maintaining the enigma of his character.

The brand was at its peak with the grunge collection and constant reference to the

The two polar opposites: the A-side and past. The future holds the need to revisit the B-side: the fairy enchantress and the the past. Nature will still play an integral fanatic will be the perfect archetypes to role in defining his collections. play with. The pure playfulness of the

ONE MARC FOR ALL

Marc and his Muse: The Fairy Enchantress and The Fanatic The bipolarity while maintaining the two key inspirations of classics and nature will give Marc Jacobs a lot of room to play with elements yet stick to a framework without losing the essence of the brand.

Man in the Mirror This is a Mirror, you are a Written Sentence The future of Marc Jacobs is in redefining the identity. Schizophrenia redefined is the road that the brand should take. The mood is duality with extreme sophistication crossed with extreme shock value.

Man in the Mirror will talk about the surprise one faces when looking into the mirror.

The smart diva looking into the mirror to see a whimsical portrayal of herself.

Keeping the basic frame-work same, Jacobs can incorporate values like classics revisited or other inspirations, thus revamping the look in future collections.

Left: Shu Eumura Make-up Advertisement Upcoming Spread: Image Courtesy: Alexander Kohlov, Yayoi Kusama, Terrible Twins, Corbis

Marc’s Mark in the Future Taking the mood of the new concept of a bipolar personality, the styles can be manifested through different interpretations.

Silhouettes and Adornments Whimsical creations with the garment taking over the form. Anyone wearing the garment should feel glamorous and transported into an extreme fantasy of subtle craft. One cut of the garment can be manipulated to reveal a whole new side to the personality keeping it playful. Multi-style garments will be the perfect concept keeping in mind Jacobs diverse clientele and also the trend of multiple identities in one person.

Upcoming Spreads: Image Courtesy: Ignasi Monreal, Rachel Richards, Piers Atkinson, Delaney Allen, Lucy McRae

Colors, Materials and Prints The palette in each season needs to be polar opposites. For example, a mellow childish pastel in contrast for a dark romance or black and white. The prints can be abstract designs with a sharp contrast with solids and a strong reference to nature.Prints and stripes or new combinations of distorted prints. Dichotomy in textures. Two tone, reversible and double faced materials will be ideal to reiterate the new direction of the brand yet giving room for difference. Combination of polar opposite fabrics like wool and silk will add to the edgy nouveau look.

Upcoming Spreads: Image Courtesy: Metamorphosis by Maven, Elisa Strozyk, Terrible Twins and Kokkugia

Forespeak The Marc Jacobs signature is at a cross-roads at present. The legacy will diminish or continue to grow depending on the future direction the brand chooses. The path to further commercialize in a excessive fashion may make the label obsolete. Giving the brand a dimension and a narrower identity will propel the brand image in the positive direction. The success and failure of Jacobs are two sides of the same coin and depends on which side one focusses on.