[ad_1]
Try this: Ask someone you know their definition of “cute.” It is not allowed to give examples of things that are simply cute, so it is prohibited to sing songs about babies or cute rabbits being brave. They should try and give a definition of the adjective itself. How long before words give way to gestures (hands clenching, arms clenching tightly around an invisible teddy bear-sized object) and indistinct noises (anguished cries of joy, high-pitched vowels)? Let’s see what it takes. See how long it takes them to wince at pain-like symptoms.
It’s not just that the term is difficult to define, but that there’s often a perplexing gap between the smallness and seeming irrelevance of a cute object and the intensity and range of emotions it evokes. is. It seems like words alone can’t convey it.
Cuteness, its properties, uses and increasingly dominant position in culture is the subject of a dazzling new exhibition in London called simply ‘Cute’, running at Somerset House until April 14th . It’s not exactly a history of aesthetics, and it’s not exactly that, but as well as a collection of particularly cute products, this show explores the unsettling power of the seemingly powerless, and the illusions that cuteness can and creates. It opens your eyes and makes you think about how and why cuteness came to permeate our world.
why do Does everything have to be so cute now? What does it mean that we have so eagerly allowed ourselves to be manipulated by an aesthetic that prioritizes infants, young children, and bitch eyes? Why when I saw a can of Hello Kitty brand motor oil in one of the first rooms of the show, I wanted to pick it up and hug it so tightly while exclaiming, “Ah, ah!” . Why are you trying to buy on eBay now? I don’t even have a car.
If these questions give off a strong seminar room smell, don’t dismiss them. There are so many fun and really adorable ones out there. Just ask the group of girls who were spinning around taking selfies in the Hello Kitty disco room the morning I visited. (In fact, the show is sponsored by Sanrio, the Japanese company that created Hello Kitty, and is planned to coincide with her 50th birthday this year. She’s 50! According to the show’s signage She was born in London on November 1st, dreams of becoming a poet, and is five apples tall! She has no mouth!)
But the brilliance of this exhibition is that it walks the line between a highly Instagrammable celebration of cuteness and an engrossing exploration of its morally ambiguous nature, as cultural theorist Sian Ngai puts it. However, the goal is to reveal an “astonishing range of emotions, from kindness to aggression.” , the feelings we have toward ostensibly subordinate and nonthreatening goods. ”
Naturally, it starts with kittens. Before entering, visitors walk past her 18 AI-generated kittens, who often wear tiny hats with little pom-poms or poke their heads out from behind tiny books. They all have the characteristics of infants: large heads, large eyes, round faces, and adorable little mouths. Animal behavior researcher Konrad Lorenz noticed that it triggers a “perception of cuteness” in parents, triggering a nurturing response. But the more you look at them, the less cute they become, and you realize that there’s something off about the lights shining in their eyes, and some of them have the wrong number of legs. The creepiest kitten had crocodile-like pupils and elongated, terrifying fur that reached down to her waist.
There are more kittens inside. Of course, there’s the famous 50-year-old kitten, and there’s also a truly amazing array of objects that her image has inspired people to buy. Besides Hello Kitty engine oil, we also have Hello Kitty computers, Hello Kitty staplers, Hello Kitty Good2Grow Juicy Waters (I have no idea what’s going on), every kind of Hello Kitty doll you can think of, and Hello Kitty weddings. dress. Elsewhere, there were Victorian-era greeting cards showing cats perched impatiently on tricycle seats or posed as if they were having a tea party. These were so popular that photographer Harry Poynter was known to frequently complain that they overshadowed his more serious work.
With cat photos, you can do just that.
Beyond cats, there’s also a room devoted to kawaii, Japan’s culture of cuteness, and how advances in mass production technology have brought huge profits from cuteness’ extraordinary ability to touch our emotions. is shown. Let’s take Kewpie dolls as an example. They were made from fragile unglazed porcelain until the invention of celluloid changed the future. Porcelain dolls broke, were expensive to make, and had pointy and hard fingers. Plastic dolls were easy and cheap to manufacture, and little girls could hug them to death without any ill effects. (In Tagalog from the Philippines, there is a word “gigil” that expresses the feeling of wanting to hold on to something cute until it explodes.)).
The consumer-product relationship also defines five thematic clusters of objects and images (“cute categories” according to the exhibition catalog). The exhibit, called “Cry Baby,” features manifestations of weakness and helplessness, including a doll with big sad eyes, a rainbow with colorful tears, and a painting by Margaret Keene of a crying girl hugging a cat. , looks at how they make consumers feel like they’re doing something for them. Buy cute objects. ‘Sugar-Coated Pill’ includes an OxyContin plush toy and a photo of Adolf Hitler bending down to feed a baby deer, allowing cuteness to be used to soften or hide ugliness We are considering methods. Another exhibit, “Play Together,” focuses on the sense of community that cuteness creates in the digital age. It also begs the question, what kind of escape does playing Animal Crossing for hours or building a strong My Little Pony collection actually provide us?
Most of the second floor gallery is given over to a lovely display of contemporary art. These include Mike Kelley’s photo of a dirty, untouched stuffed animal, Cosima von Bonin’s bizarrely striking sculpture of an orca slamming into a stuffed rhinoceros, and Stop. A motion animation video by Chris Zhongtian Yuan depicting the artist’s memories of growing up in 1990s China. During my visit, the same group of girls who had settled in Hello Kitty’s Disco had invaded a “slumber room” overseen by multidisciplinary artist Hannah Diamond. The pair huddled on beanbags in an enveloping pink light, mouthing words to the tune of Katy Perry. The two of them discussed what it means for Hello Kitty to be a Scorpio.
After the show, I was momentarily trapped in a shaking elevator. The elevator’s walls were lined with shimmering pastel fur. The door wouldn’t open, and for a while the only sounds were me, my milky white hair, and the panicked sound of the “open door” button being pressed repeatedly to no avail. Perhaps the label is asking an exploratory question, “How long do you think it will be before you go hysterical if you’re trapped here?”, but it feels very much like it could be part of the exhibition. Ta. Or, “What would go through your head if you had to look at this forever?” When the door finally opened, I sat there, avoiding the alligator-eyed cat’s gaze. I hurried out of the set house.
I posted a photo of Furry Lift on Instagram. “Where’s that disgusting elevator?” one of my friends asked. “I hate it. I feel sick,” another said. “I love you,” said a third. “I want to live there forever.”
cute
At Somerset House, London until April 14th. Somersethouse.org.uk.
[ad_2]
Source link
