BUT IS IT ART? // Mascara Baby

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TATI: OK, Tony, my first question. Why did you tag this illustration as NSFW? I remember ASPHYXIATION and FELLAQUIO and I can see why they wouldn’t be safe to look at if your boss stands behind you. But this?

TONY: Hm. Because of the shape of the baby’s mouth. It’s actually a rather intimate part of the female anatomy that I’ve composited there.

TATI: Oh… really? This blot? Is it a vagina? Are you kidding me?

TONY: Oh, no, I’m not kidding in the slightest. You see, this was based on the disgust I felt after watching a documentary about child beauty pageants. The crass sexualisation of these young souls by their parents was all for the sake of winning… well, what? A cheap trophy? A ribbon? Prestige? What prestige? I was deeply offended that human beings would exploit their own flesh and blood in such a deplorable way.

TATI: Blah-blah-blah… Let’s stick to the topic, Tony. So, is it a baby inside a womb? Or is it just a face with a vagina-shaped mouth?

TONY: Hey! I’m spilling my guts here, lady! Couldn’t you be a wee bit more patient?

TATI: I’m rescuing your reputation, sir. Be grateful.

TONY: Fine. It’s the latter. A face with a vagina-shaped mouth. I was honestly hoping to shock people with the blatant juxtapositioning of these two elements, and get them thinking about why they found it so offensive. In short, I wanted to provoke discussion. As it turned out, no one really picked up on these themes anyway. So, I feel this illustration was a failure.

TATI: Why do you say this?

TONY: Perhaps it wasn’t clear that the baby’s mouth was a vagina. Frankly, visual communication is an ongoing challenge for me. I guess many artists struggle with this… or maybe I’m just not a very good artist. While I may render something a certain way, it doesn’t always mean that the themes I’m trying to convey are necessarily being received and understood as I intend them to be.

TATI: It wasn’t even clear that it’s a face. I guess you needed to put the picture vertical. Then your intent would be more clear. Didn’t you think of this?

TONY: Oh, I see! The egg trying to teach the hen, is that it? Yeah, I have a Bachelor of Visual Arts. And you?

TATI: I have eyes, don’t I? You over intellectualised this illustration.

TONY: Look, you’re probably right. I’m willing to concede that. But what would you have done?

TATI: Firstly, rotate it. And… maybe some details. Streaks of mascara would emphasize two things: crying and makeup. And a pacifier. It would show that the baby is an infant. (You probably like that. A vagina sucking a dummy. Old pervert!)

TONY: What the HELL?! NO! Why on earth would I like that? I think I know who the pervert is here, Tati, and it isn’t ME!

TATI: Just do this, baby. Make the changes. And then we can ask our dear readers who was right.

TONY: Why do I get the feeling we’re going to burn in hell for this?

TATI: Want to bet?

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2017

82 thoughts on “BUT IS IT ART? // Mascara Baby”

  1. The vagina was instantly recognisable, but have to say I didn’t see it as being on an infant head at all. Even reading the text and abhorring the sexualisation of children I didn’t get this message visually; perhaps the vagina too real too visually strong and the face too abstract too what the hell is that? Thing is reading the comments here ‘we’ tend to see your art differently, which is good for art but depends how strongly you want to get YOUR message across … and in this case that can only be STRONGLY. Your work as ever cannot be ignored Tony.

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    • Your comments, as ever, are gentle with me. I can only thank you for that. And, yeah, I think you’re definitely onto something there. Nothing wrong with mixing the abstract with something more real… as long as they’re not poles apart in how they’re represented. 😀

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  2. The mouth looks a little like it’s in the nose spot. That’s what threw me off. I think the face in this direction furthers the message. The baby’s face is not in the correct position for making meaning because children shouldn’t be in pageants.

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  3. We all come to these conclusions based on our own values and life experiences. When I first saw it, it looked like a head with a mutilated mouth, someone who had been silenced. Having read the commentary the picture remains the same except now the silenced mouth belongs to the young people who are forced to take part in these charades. A great platform for debate and discussion.

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    • Thank you, Davy, and of course you’re right. We all bring different eyes and perspectives to these things. No one person will have the same outlook. We’re all unique, and I guess that’s part of what makes art so fun. There’ll always be unintended interpretations that are just as good as what the artist intended to be conveyed in the first place. 😛

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  4. I love the discussion and I totally viewed the painting differently after reading it. It didn’t look like anything before reading but after I see it all. Amazing. Those pageants are an atrocity. Nice work Tony and Tati. 🙂

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  5. I actually like this! Even the way it stands now, I like it! I can see what you are trying to achieve with this piece, even though it’s not 100% on the page, for instance; I wouldn’t have known it was a vagina – I would have thought it was a deformed mouth. But works like this, to me, do create discussion as I did stare and think about it for a while before reading. It has a nice grungy look and the contrast makes it look ‘pretty’, like innocence in grime!

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  6. I saw the vagina at first glance, didn’t make out a face, though. I’ll give you this, it’s eye-catching knowing what your intent from the beginning for it was. Definitely. You’re gonna turn some heads with this one and rightly so.

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  7. Umm, if you’re talking about the pink splotty picture above then to this reader it looks like a pink bandaged mummy’s head unravelling. 🙂 I put my head sideways to see it the right way up as Tati says, but it still looks like a mummy. Can’t say anything looks like any vagina I’ve ever seen (worked in a maternity unit for many years so I’ve seen plenty) but figure you probably are not that experienced with them 😀

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  9. I just see a vagina… Where’s the baby at? The beige blobs? Are the lines supposed to be eyes? Why is the vagina so detailed, while the rest of it looks like… I don’t even know lol. Are the eyes supposed to be on the left? If the vagina is a mouth, why aren’t there other facial features? He could have at least put a penis as the nose and testicles as the chin? Maybe I just can’t comprehend art?

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