to widen and plumb the depths of its cultural scale:: which may or may not be deep and/or shallow: but it does have a trajectory. regardless.
Initially I wanted black on black in black – the background, the outfit, and Grace – with just that touch of white in the cigarette. I then changed the background colour to beige. I gave Grace’s lips a shade of dark brown or prune and dusted her cheekbones and torso with blue pigment to bring out the volume. The cigarette was all about colour and composition. I subsequently used it in other images, too, on her eye and below her nose. Of course, it also suggests something rebellious.
People thought she looked outrageous, alien even. But it wasn’t just for show. I wanted this character to have great dignity. I wanted it to be a slap in the face to all the entertainment of the day, the Diana Rosses and other stars, all made up like stolen cars, with windswept hair. This was pure rigour, a girl being perfectly serious.
Jean-Paul Goude
Tavia Nyong’o, a cultural critic and performance studies professor at New York University call[ed] her work the “performance art of the nightclub.” Jones is often relegated to the status of performer rather than artist, which is a shame. Viewing her work under the lens of art thus becomes an act of historical correction. She is, as Nyong’o explains, concerned with “the art not just of the body but of the flesh,” confronting “not the ease, but the ardor, of being yourself.”
Living My Life
Cuss me
Cuss me
Cuss me for living
Cuss me for living my life
Leave me
Leave me
Leave me for living
Leave me for living my life
Choke me
Choke me
Choke me for living
Choke me for living my life
I’m living my life
Living my life
Living my life
Just living in my life
As hard as I can
As long as I can
As much as I can
As black as I am
I’m living my life
Living my life
Living my life
Just living in my life
Boss me
Boss me
Ya boss me for living
Boss me for living my life
Ya hate me
Hate me
Hate me for living
Hate me for living my life
Ya hate me for livin my life
mmmmmmmm
Kill me
Kill me
Ya kill me for living
Kill me for living my life
Living my life
Living my life
Living my life
Living my life
Brainwash me
Brainwash me
Brainwash me for living
Brainwash me for living my life
mmmmmmmmmm
You can’t stop me
You can’t stop me
You can’t stop me
[jones and bowie should have been cast together in something…]
a notebook of epic reflections by mark bartlett 