Loneliness, Dirtiness, Hopelessness?

Beauty can be as subjective as you want it to be. Whether it’s internal or external, it is always a topic to be discussed because everyone’s interpretation differs greatly. However, it can be abused and it can be something that strikes several emotions for which surprises are around the corner. Liz Kotz and Ed and Nancy Keinholz created impactful art pieces that strike these emotions and question beauty on different levels, taking beauty outside the box and portraying it as a multi dimensional concept while exploring its extremes. Exploring these extremes allows us to question the lonely, dirty and the hopeless.

How would you react to a simple compliment from a total stranger? Most people would answer one way, others in another. It is a social experiment of sorts, gauging people’s instant reactions and capturing it at the perfect moment. Liz Kotz’s piece captures these genuine reactions when taking photographs of people at the moment they react to the statement: “You have a beautiful face”. Isn’t that such a random, positive compliment to give somebody? Doesn’t it have such a different connotation compared to “You’re pretty” or “You are good looking”? Telling someone they have a beautiful face is such a specific compliment and without a doubt will throw many people off guard. In the midst of being thrown off guard, people will reveal a genuine reaction to their perception of beauty. Whether it’s revealing their various levels of self esteem or strengthening their ego, something will happen. Most of the photographs show smiling faces with a positive reaction yet a couple weren’t so great. Perhaps the negative ones thought they were being insulted because they perceive themselves as not beautiful? Why would someone almost begin weeping when told they have a beautiful face? This is a very psychological art piece that really takes beauty to a different level and shows that some people cannot perceive themselves as beautiful even when told directly.

Boys will be boys, but it’s interesting to see how society molds their perception of beauty and women. Ed and Nancy Keinholz were genius in creating a ridiculous “game” that would lure any curious boy into playing and undoubtedly misguiding their perception of female sexuality and beauty. Reconstructing a Playboy pinball machine, impressionable young boys are welcomed by a pair of sexy female legs protruding from the front, all setup like a bed. Transforming something sexual to overtly sexual totally blurs the ideals of beauty due to the objectification of the human body. The game itself involves sexual body language and various innuendos and does nothing but promote abuse. Witnessing and helping construct this art piece with Ed and Nancy, I learned about how Ed was at an arcade watching young boys get into this game and I heard of how he needed to ask various girls at a bar to model for the legs. Is this beauty? Does beauty have to be so sexual and should it be exposed to impressionable young boys? Beauty doesn’t need to be sexual yet its subjectivity may allow it to be sexual. You can call it dirty and it may assist the lonely with something shallow.

Fortunately, boys are too young to be hopeless and society cannot function without its demons because how would people determine what is clean and good? It just teaches us things and gives us a wider perspective on the concept of beauty. Whether it’s a self perception of a beautiful face or an abuse of the female body in a sexual game, the different dimensions of beauty are portrayed in a genius matter by Kotz and the Keinholz’.