Monday, January 23, 2012

Optical Scentsibilities: When Perfume Becomes... Foundation

Homage or "clopyright"? [This is a pun from the Greek, from "κλοπή/clopy" -pronounced clo-PEE- which means...theft]. You be the judge, what do you think?



6 comments:

  1. I think EVERYONE is doing the whole "inspiration/stealing" thing right now....it's sad (I'm sure it has been going on for decades, but with the advent of the internet and YouTube, it is so much easier to see where current "artists" are getting their inspiration from - if only they would give credit where credit is due....)

    If you have time, check out this TOTAL steal by Beyonce. (I teach dance for a living in the States and this video had the dance world up in arms over the blatant stealing of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's brilliant modern dance "Rosa Rosa". Everything from costumes, sets and movement were taken from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's work and used in Beyonce's video!) Let me know what you think....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDT0m514TMw

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recall your being in the dancing profession and let me tell you: that video is a total rip-off. Not only of Keersmaeker's dance routine (down to the windows in the dance class room!) but it also references a hundred cinematic/fashion "images" with no attempt to appear an homage: from Thomas Crown Affair styling to Funny Face bviously to Mary Quant.

    Hepburn in particular has become a steal-thon, really. Didn't the Gap do this?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNesa12IL-o

    Homage is one thing. There's a sense of respect or humour about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No doubt, it's disparaging.

    We were so moved by the obviousness of Beyonce's "lifted" ideas, movement and stylizations that we decided, as a Dance Department, that we would approach the issue "head-on". In addition to the numerous conversations we've had with our classes, the Director of this year's student concert has asked the student choreographers to work with the ideas of Homage, Tribute, Recreation and Inspiration for our dance concert in May....that way we could keep the issue "current" (instead of allowing the seriousness to dissipate and become the "norm"....it's important for them to learn that there is a BIG difference between what Beyonce did and what Andy Warhol did when he manipulated the idea and the image of the Campbell's Soup Can), and we could also work with the student choreographers individually so they understood the difference.

    Hopefully (fingers crossed), they will "get it".

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wasn't there a perfume named Pavlova? I seem to remember the bottle, but maybe there was never a tester. I always bought whatever I loved. So it could have been a great one, but I never got a chance to find out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Speaking of Pavlova, just found a wonderful video on YouTube of pictures of here with wonderful music. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsmBSn8Zh6A

    ReplyDelete
  6. Indeed there was! I think it was specifically licensed and therefore not "stealing".

    Thanks for the video link!! Great!!

    ReplyDelete

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