Just a dancer doing stuff. Living life, making art. Like you do.
Barf as art? Millie Brown makes her living as a “vomit artist” by regurgitating colored milk onto canvases — something I’d normally be willing to let slide because, let’s be honest, that’s nowhere near as gross as the lady who paints with her own menstrual blood or the woman who uses her pectoral pineapples as paintbrushes. But last weekend Brown made headlines for turning her work into performance art when she went on stage with Lady Gaga at SXSW. (For my mom and anyone else who is firing up ye old search engine: South by Southwest is an arts and music festival in Austin, Texas that used to be considered indie but now that Lady Gaga is there is basically the I Heart Radio festival but with cooler souvenirs.) During Gaga’s song “Swine”, Brown joined her on stage, swallowed some green glittery liquid, stuck her fingers down her throat and puked all over Gaga. No security guards rushed the stage because Brown wasn’t just a Little Monster gone rogue, she was part of the act.
That’s right, Lady Gaga, who in the past has spoken openly about her struggles with bulimia, used self-induced purging as an art prop in one of her shows. For the woman who wore a dress made out of real meat and once pretended to have real horn implants, this may seem passé but I was not amused and neither were many other former and current eating disorder sufferers. Critics called it “bulimia chic” and compared it to the “Auschwitz chic” movement of several years ago that sought to glamorize anorexia.
Brown justified it, tweeting, “I believe in absolute freedom of expression. Challenging perceptions of art & beauty. If art is your communication it should not be censored.” She added that her “art” does not affect her health or diet in any way — a statement which I’m not sure is even possible. Even if her puking isn’t emotionally or mentally damaging, it is still certainly taking a toll on her body. Here are just a few of the physical consequences of repeated vomiting: Tooth decay, electrolyte imbalances, inflammation & rupture of the esophagus, heart failure, erosion of dental enamel from vomiting, chronic sore throat, indigestion, heartburn and reflux. Seems like a pretty big sacrifice for “art.”
Another celeb famous for bulimia and self-harm, Demi Lovato struck back in her own series of tweets, writing, “Putting the word ART in it isn’t a free card to do whatever you want without consequences.” The singer added, “Sad… As if we didn’t have enough people glamorizing eat disorders already. Bottom line, it’s not “cool” or “artsy” at all.”
I gotta say I agree with Lovato all the way on this one. I’ve seen a lot of eating disorder-driven art (I think art therapy is a part of nearly every ED treatment I’ve ever come across) and I don’t think it’s sacrosanct when it comes to public scrutiny or commentary if you put it in a public venue. BUT. Gaga and Brown’s performance added nothing to the discussion of a problem that, as Gaga herself pointed out, afflicts so many people. Except maybe to encourage them to glam up their gastric geysers with glitter?
Like I do with most artists, I wanted to give Gaga the benefit of the doubt, so I read through the lyrics for “Swine” hoping to find some kind of insight or connection. Nope. I don’t think the song is at all referencing eating disorders although honestly I don’t know because it read like word soup. Cooked by the Swedish Chef. While high. (And I’m not talking runners’ highs this time.) In the end, I don’t think this was even Gaga trying to “make art.” I think this is her desperate to stay in the public eye and she’s running out of ways to shock. Unfortunately the only thing that shocks me about this is how out-of-touch she is with her fan base.
I’m sure this makes me sound old. Whatever. Get off my lawn.
But if you want to see art that celebrates the diversity of the human experience, done right, then check out Humans of New York. A friend introduced me to this site – part street fashion, part documentary, part flash interview – awhile ago and sometimes it makes me smile, other times it makes me teary, occasionally angry but always, always it makes me think. I feel like a better person for having seen it. I feel more connected to other people. I feel like maybe I understand their struggles a little bit better. And THAT is what human art should do.
Here are a few of my recent faves:
“The Universe gave him to me.”
“What’s his name?”
“Black Mamba.” (source)
“If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?”
“In every situation, choose love.”
“When is it most difficult to choose love?”
“When it involves someone close to you.” (source)
“Where I grew up, everyone wanted to be the hardest thug. I just want to be an Average Joe. My goal is to get to a place where I can wake up knowing that I’ll be fine if I don’t make any money today.” (source)
“People have problems at home and they take it out on other people. That’s why things are bad. And it just goes on and on.” (source)
I asked what he wanted to be when he grew up.
He screamed: “A benny!”
“What’s a benny?” I asked.
“That’s his name,” said his mom. (source)
“All you need is love.”
Okay, so that last one isn’t strictly human but COME ON. Don’t you feel better now?
This picture is from the MAGNIFICENT site Dancers Among Us that captures professional dancers doing “every day” things. Warning: You will get sucked into this site for hours.
Now, I’m not saying there’s no room for provocation or controversy or ugliness in art but it needs to be done in a meaningful way. If the artist is thoughtless in the execution then they can’t blame the rest of us for not wanting to waste our time thinking about it. And I don’t want to think about Lady Gaga turning bulimia into a trick. It lacks authenticity. So If you’ll excuse me I’ll be off looking up more pictures of real moments.
What do you think of Lady Gaga’s barf art? Do you have a favorite example or site that uses human beings as art to inspire you or help you understand people?
“To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people cannot eat it.” Leo Tolstoy
Another, perhaps even more to the point: “Good painters imitate nature, but bad ones spew it up.” Miguel de Cervantes
My own thoughts are that when shock value is one’s main artistic thrust then self-destruction or jail will follow, because pursuing such goals at any cost quickly passes the point of being healthy or legal.
There is always a cost.
In another aspect I also found it telling that Halley Berry said in early interviews that she would never take off her clothes, and that she agreed with Julia Roberts that when you get naked it shifts from being a movie to a documentary.
Then she gave in and the movie moguls who wanted a DVD of her naked rewarded her with an Oscar.
And now more than ever young ladies think acting technique involves nothing more than filling out a sweater, then taking it off.
And now also so many movies require nudity to “move the story forward”.
The reality is when they are paused, they are just centerfold pictures.
Not great acting.
Ok Brown. You are not being censored. The goverent is not telling you to stop or threatening to imprison you. And really, that’s all freedom of speech entails-freedom from government retaliation and prosecution if you say something the government doesn’t like. What you’re experiencing is CRITICISM, something every artist experiences (also known as the free market). Criticism is part of life, but let’s not inflate it to censorship just to make yourself feel better.
Sigh. Sorry, pet peeve. I get irritated when people hyperbolically dismiss any criticism as “censorship!!!!!!!!!!” Without listening to whether there’s anything to it.
Thank you for this!
I’d also like to add to your comment:
Criticism is not automatically bullying.
That’s a huge peeve of mine. Someone doesn’t like someone’s art/craft/whatever and says so (in a non-violent/cruel way) and all the sudden the critic is a “bully”.
No. Just because someone said something about you that you didn’t want to hear does not mean they are bullying you.
Yes! Yes, yes, yes, to all of the above!
I lived in NYC at the tail end of the 80’s, the heyday of performance art. And there was a whole lotta crud being called “art.”
I like to see art that males me think and feel. The feelings and thoughts don’t have to be pleasant. I like being challenged by art, whether it’s visual or performed. I like discussing it, and hearing others’ opinions on it. But that means the artist has to put some thought into it, beyond “How can I shock people.” Shock us, but have a REASON for it! An artist speaks through her/his work. Say something!
I agree, and agree, and agree.
And Azusmom, as you lived in NYC at the tail end of the eighties, I must say you were
precociously aware for someone so young.
🙂
I was in college.
And a theater major, so I was COMPLETELY unbearable!
I’m too lazy to research it myself: I’m wondering if the press is going overboard in describing the performance as “regurgitation”, and maybe she’s just holding the stuff in her mouth and spitting it out? Seems like a big difference to me.
Anyway, I like the other pics much better. Now I’m off to check out “Dancers Among Us.”
I’m pretty sure it was actual regurgitation. In the short clip I saw on the news, you actually see the woman sticking her fingers in her wide-open mouth to induce vomiting. I’m with you, though. Don’t bother researching the disgusting… focus on Humans of New York and Dancers.
((WAVES CAN, SHOUTS GET OFF MY LAWN WITH YOU, COMMENCES ROCKING IN HER WOODEN CHAIR))
It sounds pretty gross to me… the whole being barfed on thing. I just chalk it up to crazy Lady Gaga. I like her as a person though. From what I can tell by the interviews I’ve seen she is a very kind, thoughtful gal. Has she spoken out about her intent for this?
First, I should say I’ve not watched the clip – CANNOT stomach (he he) watching someone vomit. Even as a mother, I choose not to deal with vomiting.
As others have written/said/thought more eloquently than me, the act of being provocative in itself does not make it art. Would I advocate censoring her? No. Does allowing yourself to be vomited on make you a gifted performance artist? Also, no.
Who’d of thought I would prefer Shia LeBeouf over ANYONE, ever? Nice work Gaga.
Wow. Um. I don’t get the “menstruation” person or the ‘bulimia chic” person, but the boob painter is innnnteresting. More specifically, it didn’t make me cringe/feel like I’m going to throw up. Haha. Maybe I just don’t get art?
The humans of new york thing is AWESOME, though. The Benny kid! Squee!
If I had paid money to watch that I would demand a refund. Seeing others vomit makes me join them. Art should be a reflection of talent, even when we do not understand it.
I hadn’t heard about this, but it’s really sad to see someone who lots and lots of people look up to using an eating disorder to create art. There are lots of ways she could have gone about it if she was set on it, promoting awareness, helping young girls, but glamorising it by adding glitter just isn’t the way forward.
Health is super important, and everything from your confidence to your immune system is affected when you’ve got an eating disorder. Beta Glucan however, is completely natural and helps to regulate and boost your immune system, reducing the chance of sickness. You can find out more at http://www.natureandlife.com if you’re interested.
Hope that you have a lovely weekend, Best wishes x