YaoGun QingNian: May 2010

Saturday, May 29, 2010

T-Shirt Wars

Superfab stop-motion video "T-Shirt War".

Creators Rhett & Link were even hired by McDonald's & Coke to whip up the following video:

Friday, May 28, 2010

Adrien Sauvage - "This is Not a Suit"

Loving these photographs, and how each subject takes the same object (in this case, a suit) and reappropriates it in a way that works with their personalities/lifestyles. Despite the uniformity in attire, the subjects never lose grip on their own sense of identity, which they outwardly express through their individual styles.

Elvis Costello/Fiona Apple - "I Want You"

An anthem for anyone who's ever been cheated on. It's pretty phenomenal how well it captures being hit hard with confusion, heartbreak, anger, jealousy, depression -- yet you still so badly want that person, even if that person was so so wrong for you.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I'm pretty obsessed with Lady Gaga.

I dont really know where to begin, but maybe I'll start with Gaga's 'Telephone' video -- the gayest & greatest music video I've ever seen.

According to Gaga, she's "always trying to convolute the idea of what a pop music video should be." For the 'Telephone' video, she wanted to take "the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology and turn it into something that was more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are."

Twitter-blue & multi-dimensional, I interpret this headpiece as part of her commentary on Twitter-head society, in which (thanks to communications technology that keeps permeating & evolving across numerous spaces) we're constantly responding to & being controlled by our Telephones.

The Let's-Make-A-Sandwich scene? I may be going out on a (completely biased) limb here, but I take it as a stab at Taylor Swift, and a direct Oh-Snap! at the American music industry. In my (fanatic) opinion, Taylor Swift should NOT have won the Grammy for Best Album of the Year. When it comes to music, it is painful to watch someone as creative & mind-boggling as Gaga lose out to someone as conservative & safe as Taylor Swift. TSwift, the manufactured/ easily-digestible WonderBread of the American music industry, champions the wholesome & backwards ideal of the the 1950's American housewife. I know: ew. But since Wonderbread looks nice & tastes good & gets good ratings, the Man gives Wonderbread a gold star so that they can keep producing more poisonous crap, which everyone chokes & dies on, because obviously that's what happens when you willingly gorge yourself on white-bread, and everyone knows that white-bread has zero substance and you cannot LIVE without substance. And since we're America, cah-ching! typically happens amidst the destruction of mindless-yet-voracious consumption, and you always have to celebrate the dollah dollah$ with a DANCE PARTY!!

I also love 'Telephone' because, like Gaga, it is so gay. Gaga, herself bisexual (I mean, if you want to put a label on it), has always catered more to the male gay audience, but never has she so blatantly glorified the entire gay community -- gay men, butch women, trannies, and every other so-called "freak".

In case you can't tell, that is Gaga making out with a woman. Back to what I love about Gaga: she creates a space within pop/mainstream culture in which freaks & weirdos are accepted. I personally think everyone's a huge weirdo -- it's just whether or not people choose to express their inner-freak, or succumb to the pressures of societal norms. By celebrating the freak, Gaga is changing what is considered & accepted as "pop". And this is what society needs. More than any other politician, I think that Gaga can help society (or at least the younger generations) move beyond just tolerating, to fully accepting the gay community. Similar to the way my generation is horrified by the absurdity of slavery & other laws that separated black people from the white socio-economy, I hope that in 10, 15, 20 years, future generations can look back at today's homophobia, laws against gay marriage, and other forms of bigotry and think: WTF?!? I don't expect racism, sexism, or homophobia to completely disappear, but I do admire prominent figures like Lady Gaga for helping society progress.

And I haven't even touched on the topic of Gaga & product placement...I am utterly infatuated with Lady Gaga. Here is her amazing video:

Beyonce - "Why Don't You Love Me?"

I'm not always the biggest fan of Beyonce, but gotta hand it to her on this one. The visuals & the clothes are great, and the video makes me laugh & makes me want to dance. Seems that Gaga may me rubbing off on her? Whatever it is, I like it!