FMP Evaluation

This final major project has taught me quite a lot, it taught me the consequences of what will happen when I don’t manage my time properly, it taught me how to work under pressure (even when you know it was the kind of pressure you could have avoided by just being more focused at the start), it taught me how to create my own project from scratch; as I had to write my own brief and give myself my own topic, this was a good way to sort of understand how it feels to be on the other side of the brief. I was not only the creator but the expectant.

I believe that my final outcomes were successful in delivering a message which would make the viewer think, this was my aim all along, not only to create an awareness, but to ask people questions and throw statements around that would make them question themselves, their surrounding and their beliefs.

I found that I was drowning in research, although at the start I said I would only dedicate a maximum of 2 weeks on research, I ended up doing what I said not to do, get caught up in it. It started to become difficult to move away from it because it almost becomes your comfort zone after a while, and you find that you forgot how to even experiment with your own ideas.

My final outcome linked to the subject I started off with, but somehow developed towards something a bit more different, but this all happened unintentionally. My original idea was based on the portrayal of women in the media and how they were being sexualised, I was also looking at how beauty was this fixed idea and how only certain people would fit the criteria- these people did not even exist, they were also a product of software alterations. My final outcomes were more of a product of the second topic, beauty. I took this idea and somehow found myself going down the consumerist route rather than just a feminist one. But what I liked so much about this change was the fact that it was effortless, it was not forced, it just happened. I all of a sudden found myself in another place within the project. I was not far from where I started off, but I was definitely in a different place.

I found that I quite like to go about expressing my feelings, issues and so on through symbols, and riddle like words, statements and questions. I discovered more ways to use my strength in writing and apply it to whatever point I am trying to get across.

Overall, I would say that this project has helped enhance my general graphics abilities, in fact, with the minimum use of software. Throughout my project I have been doing almost everything by hand, I suppose it is my comfort zone, and also, my work turns out stronger when I take it as far as I possibly can by hand, before turning to software. As a whole, within this pathway I can honestly say that I have learnt to play freely with my ideas, and I have learnt to accept every idea as a potential outcome. I now see that no idea is “silly” as every outrageous and random idea could be the core of a successful result. 

FMP Final Outcomes

Fig. 1 Lines Define Us- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 2 This Is Us- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 3 What Are You Buying?- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 4 Lies Sold Through Lines- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

These are my four final pieces. Figure 1 and 2 are two-layered posters, the original printed versions have an acetate layer on the top, therefore have a different effect. Especially with Figure 2, you cannot read the writing through it clearly on screen as I tried to lower the opacity of the top layer, but it obviously needed to be lowered a little bit more in order to make it legible.

Continuing with the lines and bar code theme, I have created these four posters.

Figure 1 has a simple statement, 'lines define us'. By this, I am simply pointing out that we allowed bar codes to be our definition. We have become consumerists, we buy to become "beautiful", we buy to alter ourselves, therefore the definition of who we are, are those lines we scan.

Figure 2 is a long riddle-like statement, it says, 'we follow lines, to scan lines, to buy products, that help get rid of lines. This is the guideline to beauty... The lines are blurred. This is me. This is you. This is us.' To translate, what I am trying to explain here is, that we follow crowds  and queue up in order to scan lines (bar codes) to spend money on products that supposedly help us get rid of lines (wrinkles) and this is the guideline to what beauty is. This is the idea of beauty that is sold to us by the media, but these lines are blurred, we don't see them as a pattern that links, not consciously anyway, of course people are aware, but not many stop to consider, they just continue with their lives because it just seems natural to do so. Therefore since we all do it, This is ME. This is YOU. This is US.

Figure 3 is probably the most simplest poster, yet I think the most visually effective. It's a simple question, there is no riddle to it, and it is presented in a very simple way. The question is, 'are you buying what you are or what you want to be?'. It's a bit like saying, 'you are what you eat' except, in this case, 'you are what you buy', but the question is, are you? Or are you trying to be what you believe you should actually be?

Figure 4 is the last poster. This poster, although it may not seem like it, took a very long time to produce as I had to cut the bar codes into the shape of the letters one by one. 'Lies sold through lines', again, a very simple statement, I am basically pointing out that these products that we buy or that are being advertised are mainly lies, and they are sold through these lines that we willingly scan and spend money over. Funny, right? It's not that the consumer is at all 'stupid', no, in fact we are all very aware of what we do, we just act oblivious to it! And maybe, just maybe, we need posters like this to wake us up once in a while, then we could always go back to the dream... or is it difficult to return once we've awaken? 

FMP Four Slogans

I have finally come up with four slogans that I will be using to create my final posters, they are the following:

1. 'LINES DEFINE US.'
2. 'WE FOLLOW LINES, TO SCAN LINES, TO BUY PRODUCTS, THAT HELP GET RID OF LINES. THIS IS THE GUIDELINE TO BEAUTY... THE LINES ARE BLURRED. THIS IS ME. THIS IS YOU. THIS IS US.'
3. 'ARE YOU BUYING WHAT YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU WANT TO BE?'
4. 'LIES SOLD THROUGH LINES.'

FMP Poster Scamps

Fig. 1 Poster Scamps I (author's own) 

Fig. 2 Poster Scamps II (author's own)

Fig. 3 Poster Scamps III (author's own)

Fig. 4 Poster Scamps IV (author's own)

Fig. 5 Poster Scamps V (author's own)

Fig. 6 Poster Scamps VI (author's own)

Fig. 7 Poster Scamps VII (author's own)

Fourteen pages of idea planning and poster tryouts. This is one of the most enjoyable ways (for me) to come up with as many ideas as I can, as fast as I can. It is a good way to see all your ideas combined, working small, effectively and fast. This leads to playfulness, as it leaves room for it.

I played around with many many statements and poster ideas, until I finally managed to narrow it down to four statements.

FMP Research: Barbara Kruger

Fig. 1 Money Can Buy You Love- Barbara Kruger (www.dayoftheartist.com)

Barbara Kruger is a conceptual artist who generally uses photography from existing sources and places aggressive text over them. I particularly wanted to focus on this piece of hers, 'Money can by you love'. She seems to have a sarcastic approach to her work, she takes already known phrases and switches them around, using irony and witty humour, she gets the viewers to think outside the box. She has achieved what I would also like to achieve in my work. 

Fig. 2 Newspaper Rip outs (author's own)

I took Kruger's text approach and played around with the words I have ripped out from the newspaper. I created sentences like, 'less is losing more'- playing on the original expression 'less is more'. I created a more straight forward statement, 'Starved to death for beauty', what's so great about creating these simple statements with newspaper is the fact that you sort of pick out on words and accidentally form a message that you would be less likely to form if you were not limited to the few you ripped out. I particularly liked the one, 'what's harmful is powder-perfect complexion', because this complexion seizes to exist in reality without Photoshop or make up, therefore making it harmful for those who believe it can be achieved. 

FMP Research: Pick Me Up

Pick Me Up was a fun exhibition to be at, it was filled with colour and excitement. A print based exhibition. What stood out for me most was the layout of the work, they seemed like a good guideline to go by when hanging up my own work at the final exhibition.
I enjoyed being at the exhibition because of the environment it had, it was energetic and full of life, this was more because of the people working at the exhibition, they even had a DJ! It was a fun experience in that sense that you got the chance to communicate with people, although they had a lot of amazing work, the environment is what sold it to me.

FMP Research: Comics Unmasked

At the Comics Unmasked exhibition, I found a section based on how women were portrayed in comics, there were examples of how domestic abuse was considered a subject for light humour. A character named 'Andy Capp' which was a pun on 'handicap' was a working class chauvinist, in 1957 he appeared in single-panel cartoons, then soon became a newspaper strip and was syndicated worldwide. Such a character became even more popular, this was a little worrying.

I personally do not have much interest in comics, and it isn't my way of expressing a topic/issue/situation. But it is intriguing to see how people use this method/form of art, to create humour, awareness, and just simply make a point. The exhibition itself did not excite me so much but it opened my eyes to a brand new path of expression which I have almost always dismissed. The illustrations were astonishingly accurate, and the messages witty, there's still some similarity in how I like to present my work, getting the viewer to think and feel something is always what matters to me, and I suppose comics do just that.

FMP Bar-code Photoshop

Fig. 1 Original With Little Brainstorm (author's own)

Fig. 2 Bar code I (author's own)

Fig. 3 Bar code II (author's own)

Fig. 4 Bar code III (author's own)

Fig. 5 Bar code IV (author's own)

Fig. 6 Bar code V (author's own)

My project is slowly developing into a consumerist project, it is now more about the lengths we go to in order to become what we are sold, so again, it's based on beauty and the effects of the media, but in a more broader sense. The bar code text above developed through a small brainstorm, I tried to create links between words, just like the following; 

Lines → bar codes → beauty products → buying "beauty" → self altering → fitting in → defined by looks → question of worth → what makes you? → advertisement → messages → hidden messages → blurred lines → unconscious effects → the MIND

I created a bar code type, which I then altered the brightness/contrast of on Photoshop. I wanted to see the different effects lighting has on capturing the viewer's eye. I particularly like Figures 5 and 6, the less contract the writing has with the background, the more effective it has become, it seems like it should be the other way around instead.

FMP Bar-code Experimentations

Fig. 1 Bar code Collection (author's own)

Fig. 2 Bar code Ink (author's own)

Fig. 3 Bar code Acetate (author's own)

Fig. 4 Bar code Tracing Paper (author's own)

Fig. 5 Bar code Masking Tape (author's own)

I decided to go with the 'spend money, scan lines' concept, so I started to collect bar codes from around the college. I then photocopied them and printed it on acetate creating a blurred affect (Figure 3) layering it with text and more colour. I created a whole double page of bar codes (Figure 1) because the layering and combination of colours and along with the contrasting direction of lines create a beautiful visual effect. 

I used ink, pen, pencil, tracing paper, acetate, masking tape, etc. different ways to imitate bar codes and lines. I personally like Figure 2 and 5 because they are so simple, and usually the work you tend to do quickly tends to be more effective because the process is just based on doing rather than thinking, and sometimes that is all that's needed. More practical, less theory. 

FMP Some Experimentation

Fig. 1 Read Between The Lines (author's own)

Fig. 2 Beauty Outlined Wired (author's own)

A few experimentations on the 'line' topic. Playing with the meaning of words, I wrote 'Read between the lines' on lined paper, where you have to literally read between the lines. I also took the spiral wire from a notebook and shaped it into the words, 'Beauty outlines' as the style of writing looks like a joint handwriting style. Taking the words and making them physical. 

FMP Beauty In Lines...

Fig. 1 Beauty In Lines (author's own)

The turning point of my project. Lines! Lines are the way forward, the word fits in so many times in so many ways through so many meanings. This is what I found:

• The outline of beauty
• A guideline for beauty
• Get rid of all lines
• Following lines
• All over underground lines
• Spend money, scan lines
• Blurred lines

Here are the explanations behind each sentence:

• 'The outline of beauty' is about the way the media shows us what beauty is meant to look like, the actual image of "perfection", what beauty is supposed to be.
• 'A guideline for beauty' is again about the media's effect and how it gives us a guideline on how to become the impossible perfection, promotes products and methods on how to get there.
•  We go through the struggles to 'get rid of all lines', these lines are wrinkles! Because the nature of growing old is seen as wrong. Women in magazines don't have even have one line on their faces, and this isn't even because they actually do not have any wrinkles or blemishes, it is because they have been touched up by software, because even the "most beautiful" woman isn't beautiful enough. 
• We are 'following lines' because we follow queues of people in shops, lines of people in society. We have become sheep. What is the aim, to look the same?
• Advertisements are 'all over underground lines', we are unable to avoid them, they are everywhere we go, the underground is just one example of where they are seen.
• We 'spend money, scan lines', these lines are bar codes.
• Last but not least- these lines are 'blurred', we do all of this, but we don't think it through much, we say we know why we buy what we buy, but we do not realise insecurities cause by what we see around us could play a big part in what we buy and do! Yes, the lines are blurred indeed.  

FMP The Outline of Beauty? II

Fig. 1 Double Outline (author's own)

Fig. 2 Makeup Outline (author's own)

Fig. 3 Outlines Overlapped (author's own)

Sticking to the outline idea, I experimented with overlaying them, flipping them and even attempted colouring one in with makeup, (Figure 2). I started to introduce some text into my work, using phrases I created, 'DISTORTION OF REALITY', 'WHAT IS BEAUTY?', 'THE BIRTH OF INSECURITY', 'IS PERFECTION BEAUTY?'.

Throwing around statements and questions that will make the person reading them think, and I think I have decided to make this my aim, getting the viewer to think deeply. 

FMP The Outline of Beauty? I

Fig. 1 Beauty Outlined (author's own)

I have now started to experiment with ideas, the topic I am working on is very broad, so I had to narrow it down. I had to main topics within my subjects that I was working around;

1. The sexualisation of women within the media
2. The idea of beauty within the media

I have decided to go with the second topic. I want to look at how women are made to look impossibly beautiful, and the lengths we go to just to try and reach this impossibility.

I started off with tracing images of women in magazines in the most simplest form (as seen in Figure 1) and while doing this I used the phrase "The Outline of beauty", I started to question whether this was the outline of beauty, because beauty is measured by physical aspects rather than what's within.

I created two layers on top of the images, one layer has sections such as the hair, eyes etc. blocked in with one colour, whilst the top layer is just a simple outline of the original image. This is just the start of my experimentation, let's see where it's going to take me.

FMP Questionnaire + Results

I have conducted a questionnaire and given them out to 60 people, 34 females and 26 males. The questionnaires were just slightly altered to fit both genders. I wanted to find out people's views on the topic of beauty and the media, I wanted to see how affected people felt by what they were exposed to on their day to day lives.

FEMALES:

Question: 'Would you say, the way women are portrayed within the media has an effect on the way you view yourself?'

YES- 67.6%
NO- 32.4%

Some of the reasons given for why the media has an effect:

• "Women are stereotyped to look a certain way, be a certain size etc. through advertisement. I want to be an ideal size."
• "The media lowers confidence sometimes, you tend to measure your attractiveness against the women there."
• "I constantly look for parts of my body or face or hair or whatever which aren't perfect like the airbrushed models+celebs in the media."
• "The media surrounds us of women looking flawless. Men then have this idea of women and expect this of us!"
• "Sometimes I compare my body weight."
• "If adverts are good, you don't think they're affecting you."
• "I feel unfashionable, my make up isn't good enough- men wont like me. I'm never happy in myself."

Question: 'Do you wear make up?'

YES- 85.3%

NO- 14.7%

Some of the reasons given for wearing make up:

• "I am less self conscious with make up."
• "I look unwell without make up."
• "Competition."
• "To hide my hideous skin."
• "I prefer the way I look with make up."
• "Habit."
• "Confidence."
• "It's fun and I feel prettier."
• "To feel more feminine."
• "To express myself."

Question: 'Would you ever consider plastic surgery?'

YES- 33%

NO- 67%

MALES:

Question: 'Would you say, the way women are portrayed within the media effect the way you view women?'

YES- 61.5%

NO- 38.5%

Some of the reasons given for why the media has an effect:

• "Stereotypes."
• "The media idealises "perfect woman" in the media"
• "Made to think the way women in the media are viewed is acceptable."

Question: 'Would you ever consider plastic surgery?'

YES- 4%

NO- 96% 

Through this questionnaire I have found that the media, especially advertising plays a big part on how the younger generation is made to feel about themselves and about each other. They are aware, it is not just unconsciously happening, we all register what we see up on billboards and in magazines and purposely strive to be it, eliminating true happiness from our lives as we will never feel good enough by sticking by the idea of just being ourselves.  

FMP Collaboration Week: Final Outcome

We finally brought together our idea and created a film out of it. Unfortunately, due to time limitations and technical difficulties, our outcome did not turn out to be perfect, but it is the ideas behind it that count so I am pretty pleased with what we have achieved.
This project has helped me develop my team working skills immensely, listening out to what other group members have to suggest, and taking that on board, considering everyone's ideas and not seeing any idea to be absurd, as no idea could be deemed too crazy and/or impossible.
There are some things that we discussed that we would of liked to do more differently as a group, one of the things was the length of the film, it was a little bit too long therefore could cause the viewer to lose concentration. Another thing that we would change is the lighting, so the viewer can make a clearer connection between the female voices and the bottles themselves. Thirdly, we would have altered the text, instead of having a line for each sentence, we had the lyrics written in a two line form, making it more difficult to read.
We eventually managed to make the topic fit all members of the group's personal projects, the sports channel branding project also took the collaboration project as an inspiration for his channel to be appealing to all genders, not just men, as most sport related brands and products tend to be.
This short project has made me eager to question reasons why some people (not only women) do what they do, for example, dress up when going out, wear makeup, etc. I may create a questionnaire on this particular topic and analyse my results.
Working with lens based media students pushed me out of the whole graphics mentality and forced me to think even more openly than before. I don't usually play around with cameras and think of film ideas, this was a great opportunity to do so.

Here is a link to our short film:  http://youtu.be/mataVKArP18

FMP Collaboration Week: Creating

Fig. 1 Oppression Box I (author's own)

Fig. 2 Oppression Box II (author's own)

Fig. 3 Oppression Box III (author's own)

Fig. 4 Oppression Box IV (author's own)

We started to put the items together. I wrapped a box with newspaper and made specific words stand out, such as, 'darkness', 'sense', 'feel it', 'pain', 'strike', 'price', 'guilty', 'threat', etc. This was the initial idea for the final piece, but then remembering that one group member's topic is music, we decided to look up rap lyrics which are quite misogynistic, but not the type that refer to women as sexual objects, but the type that in someway tell women to "shut up and sit down", lyrics that create a hierarchy.

The plan is to wrap the box up with plain white paper and project these harsh lyrics on to it. The mouth of the bottles are taped with red strips of paper in order to symbolise mouths, the flaps of the box are spray painted red for the same reason. All the red sections are representations of female lips.

Here are a few examples of some of the rap lyrics we have selected for projection:

• "Slut, you think I won't choke no whore, 'til the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more."
• "Beat your bitch in her mouth just for talkin' shit"
• "Bitch I'ma kill you, you ain't got the balls to beef!"
• "Take them mothafuckin' panties off, you ain't no nun."

We have decided to create a short film, we created a melody and then 4 other melodies to harmonise with the original one. The idea is to create a sound per bottle. We recorded our voices (female voices only), when each bottle is recorded being placed into the box (by a female hand), a voice will enter, and this will continue happening for each bottle. The bottles symbolise the women and each voice is the representation of her sound. After a while, a male hand (to illustrate the behaviour some men show to women in society) will come in and stuff a sock into the bottles one by one. As he does that, each voice will fade away until you hit silence, and this is when the rap lyrics would be projected onto the box. The voices will fade to show that the male is silencing the females. This whole film is based around physical symbolism, and I really enjoy coming up with ideas on how to make it work.

 It has become a bit of a feminist project which works perfectly for my topic. The idea of using random items rather than direct messages seems like a rather interesting way to go about exploring a topic. I may adapt this approach within my personal project and see where it takes me. Maybe not with items but a play on words. words that do not relate directly to my subject matter.

FMP Collaboration Week: Combining Ideas

We were put into small groups with lens based media students for a collaboration project for the week. We were each asked to bring in the following items:

• A sock
• A torch
• String
• 2 different buttons
• A sponge
• Blutack
• Rubber bands
• A book
• Paper clips
• A map
• Masking tape
• A ball
• A plastic bottle
• A box

We started to play around with the materials whilst discussing our separate projects with each other, my project is on women in advertising, one group member's project is on oppression. whilst another's is on dreams, the other's is on music, and the other on sports channel branding.

While we were playing with the items, we found that we started to stuff the bottles with the socks we have brought, this .immediately lead to the expression, "put a sock in it". We were quite amused by this, we then thought of the expression, "bottle it up", then after placing the bottle in a box, we said "boxed in" All of these are expressions that we physically symbolised through using items.

So we managed to make this project suit 3 of our separate projects, but how are we going to make it fit in with the other members' projects?

FMP Research: Design Museum- Paul Smith

Fig. 1 Paul Smith Ring (author's own) 

Fig. 2 Paul Smith Work (author's own)

Fig. 3 Inside Paul's Head (author's own)

Paul Smith is a fashion designer who gets inspiration through everything around him, there is a room in the exhibition where you hear his voice repeating over and over tips and techniques about how he does what he does, he says, "Absorb when you look at things". Paul Smith's work may not be a direct inspiration to me, but his approach to how he does his work, his ways of creating, inspiring and being inspired teaches me. He says, "ideas can come from anywhere" and to not spend too much time looking at what other people do, because we shouldn't "go following what already exists." Saying that, at the exhibition, there was a whole hall, of which the walls on either side were filled with other people's work or random photographs, things people have sent him, etc. you can see this in Figure 3. Paul Smith takes inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, but I guess what he's trying to say is whilst registering what's around you, don't get caught up in what has been done, just take from it and move on.

His quotes inspired me more than his work, but I particularly like how he created a brand for himself, specific colours that you will see and you will know that it's him, that he was involved in that project. He is a truly inspiring man, who isn't afraid to thank his wife for being his teacher and his guidance along the way. An honest and skillful designer.  

FMP Research: The Berlin Wall

Fig. 1 Berlin Wall Design I (author's own)

Fig. 2 Berlin Wall- 'Get Human' (author's own)

Fig. 3 Berlin Wall- 'Dawn of Peace' (author's own)

Fig. 4 Berlin Wall- Breaking Down Wall (author's own)

Fig. 5 Berlin Wall Design II (author's own)

Fig. 6 Berlin Wall- Faces (author's own)

Graffiti, to me is a form of protest, a form of expression, expression of politics, issues, views, emotions, personality, music, etc. Just an expression of life itself, and probably one of the most natural ways to voice it visually, through passion and aggression. Graffiti is a very strong art form, it is full of meaning and controversy, what you see you feel, and what you feel is never subtle.

The Berlin Wall is filled with messages either expressed through patterns, drawings or writing, and almost each and every one of them are a cry for freedom and peace, they are all fighting for some sort of change. My project is based on change and awareness, creating awareness about the portrayal of women in advertising, or in other words, highlighting what we are actually aware of.

With graffiti, it's usually either the colours used, or the size of the image that first gets your attention. Figure 1 and 5 are good examples of bright colours being used, whereas Figure 3 is an example of how a simple message can stand out by just using a contrast of two colours, even a simple white on blue works.

Figure 6 is an image of a beautiful section of the Berlin Wall, what I see is society being brought together but not in peace, but being forced to have a single mind. Being forced to follow rules and large groups of people without your views and feelings being cared for. I see sheep being herded in this image, towards the same path, through the same gates and with people that are made to be the same. People in society are different, and this is beautiful, what's even more beautiful is accepting those differences and living in harmony, what's important isn't having a single mind, but having a single heart as a society.  

FMP Research: Helmut Newton

Fig. 1 Helmut Newton Sketchbook I (author's own)

Fig. 2 Helmut Newton Sketchbook II (author's own)

Helmut Newton's exhibition in Berlin was a collection of great photography work. I particularly enjoyed the fact that each image had a scenario rather than just a person/people posing, however, I couldn't help but notice that almost every photograph was an image of a very "perfect" woman. Other than the fact that they were mostly nudes, a lot of them were quite dominant images of women, at the same time, some seemed pretty vulnerable too.

The media seems to eliminate a whole group within society and only focuses on a certain minority, and to be honest, even the minority that we may see as "perfect" in reality would not be perfect enough to earn a place on billboards and in magazines without being altered. It seems like only a certain way of looking is acceptable, this unreachable level of perfection that we still strive to reach seems unfair. It seems unfair that a lot of us feel the need to have to look and be a certain way just to be considered "beautiful"; whatever beautiful is anyway.

I spotted a quote written up on one of the walls at the exhibition, it may not directly relate to my topic but it still stood out to me, "I love vulgarity, I am very attracted by bad taste- it is a lot more exciting than that supposed good taste which is nothing more than a standardised way of looking at things."- Helmut Newton, Press Conference, Austria 1994.

FMP Research: Berlinische Galerie- Dorothy Iannone

Fig. 1 Dorothy Iannone Room I (author's own)

Fig. 2 Dorothy Iannone Room II (author's own)

Fig. 3 Dorothy Iannone Room III (author's own)

Fig. 4 Dorothy Iannone Room IV (author's own)

Dorothy Iannone seems to have given women an empowering role within her work, this exhibition provided us with a close examination of Iannone's work, which reveals an instinctive celebration of life, love and art. Her work involves the idea of non-thinking but merely acting and feeling. Her work is a celebration of union. She expresses that each interaction is filled with tenderness and passion at the same time, no experience is underestimated.

It is quite easy to look at her work and see it as porn, or maybe even a feminist act, but all of these assumptions are just distractions from the work itself. Her work is about unity, equality, love and expression, maybe it's just a symbolic expression, but either way, her work gets you to think.

I like how most of her pieces seem like a switch in roles compared to what we're used to seeing in the media, women are usually given the submissive roles, vulnerability is seen as attractive in females, where as men are given strong, empowering roles where they are seen as the alpha. Iannone creates equality, and sometimes even dominance on the behalf of the female.