Become Someone Else | Tameka Norris | The Art Assignment

Love this idea!

I've already had a similar idea to this in the works for my channel. I suppose I could tweak it and have it be an extended portion of this assignment.
Whoo hoo a good excuse to take a selfie! I read this thing on Tumblr awhile ago that if artists of by gone times lived today they would fully embrace selfie culture. I think that is probably true. Not in a narcissistic way, but for the sake of art.

I find this interesting, for about 5 years I was LARPing. Where for two weekends a month i spent them as a different part of myself. Now larping allows for a great degree of pretend along with this, where the person i was pretending to be had magical powers, but those were more decoration. Who she really was underneath the mechanics of the game was a different version of me. One who in many ways I wished i could be. She was stronger, braver, willing to stand up for herself in ways I am not.  She was Crazy, but that was ok. 
It is not something i am doing at the moment, but it was a great way to explore different parts of me. Which I feel connects to this Assignment. Looking forward for a chance to explore this. 

I love the idea of exploring how clothes can emotionally limit or liberate certain aspects of a person's personality. It also made me think about how clothes can be sort of physically limiting. In elementary school, my uniform was a jumper. I wanted to climb upside down on the jungle gym, but worried about my dress flipping up. But the moment I got home, I'd change into shorts to run outside and play however I wanted.

I really like this one. I think im just going to put make up on, its the reason i dont use it. I dont feel like myself with make up.

So excited for this one!

I'm reminded of works by Suzy Lake - who is sort of similar to Cindy Sherman but also focuses more on the performance aspect. For instance she would superimpose features of other people onto her own face (in the dark room, since many of those works were done pre-photoshop). Or she would put on really dramatic theater make up and have the process of putting on the make up filmed. It's amazing how little things we wear on our faces can impact so much of our identity.

As someone who works in a grocery store as a part time job, I feel like I have to become another person every time I go to work. Instead of being the person that almost never smiles and usually avoid talking to strangers, I am forced to smile and talk nicely to all customers. I even put a hairpin in my hair, which I never usually do.

I find this amazing, but to me personally (at the least in this time of my life), it feels like something I could never ever do, because I'm way too afraid of what other people might think of me.  

today I decided to try wearing pink nail varnish, and noticed I was a bit more feminine in some of my gestures. A few hours later, this video happened.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

While watching this I thought about sharing a picture of me pre and post transition (I'm ftm transgender) but I wasn't sure if that counts because I wasn't me back then and now I am myself so it's backwards ... ?

I love Tameka's sweater. Mario FTW!

Even in private, changing your appearance has a noticeable effect on how you feel…Going out into the world makes it that much more powerful!

I'm reminded of the transgender musician/actress Isabella "Bunny" Bennett, who plays a singing robot in the band Steam Powered Giraffe…what was really cool is that when she started transitioning, her character also began her own transition. Better yet has been the amazing amount of love and support the fans have given.

Ooh, this looks like it will be fun. I often feel like a bit of a slave to my appearance, because my "aesthetic" is so closely tied to the way I behave.... Surroundings are similarly important to me, which is inconvenient because if I'm in a place that feels unfamiliar and doesn't reinforce my sense of identity, I sometimes find that I'm unable to be even moderately productive or to act like a person. Wearing clothes that don't work for me has a similar effect. I don't like being such a materialistic person but I haven't yet found a way around this. Experimenting with more drastic (but reversible) changes sounds interesting though. And I love the idea that other people are also participating. I mean, it's unlikely that I'm going to run into anyone doing this art assignment, but you don't ever know when you see a stranger whether that is what they normally look like or the way they normally behave. The idea of looking at every person you pass on the street and thinking that maybe that day is an experiment for them is just kind of a cool thought.

I'm a cis woman, yet I think the hardest performance I've ever had to play is "femininity." Every time I have to wear a dress or make-up or anything "pretty but impractical" I feel like I'm doing this performance of someone that isn't me. If I do this assignment, it would be portraying a feminine woman. It's the hardest thing for me to pull off.

I'm going no makeup to a full face...

This is fascinating. I definitely wear a range of styles or stereotypes and I always think about "the kind of person who would have on that outfit" when I change styles significantly. Definitely gonna be even more intentional about this now.

"How do you perform your new self that you're becoming?"
A quote for thought - one that really stood out to me and made me stop for a minute. 

I liked this a lot even before the mention of trans people.  Changing my appearance does really seem to affect how I behave in terms of expectation.  It really brings up questions like "Are there super manly childish looking boys" etc.  Because there is this clear dynamic to me between a woman who is "cute" and a woman who is "sexy".

this seems (to me) one of the most difficult art assignments so far. it deals in identity with all the complexities of it. what is my own identity? something that has to be somewhat understood before becoming a separate identity. the choose an identity and its nuances: walking, talking, dressing, how do they think through something? would they care about appearance, how does this new "person" choose to present themselves to others? does everyone else see what i'm presenting to them?

these are the same questions i've asked myself about my own identity. this assignment brings it all up again as a gentle reminder to not forget to consider who i am and who i want to be. because what if the new identity i make up has a little quirk i'd like to bring into my own life? or not? and why?

i love how art can so easily blow me away with something beautiful and simultaneously cause a small crisis in my life as i'm express the events. thanks again!

This reminds me of the acting I did last year. I starred in a short film and a musical sketch and I played an exaggerated version of myself. I took away my seriousness and turned up my silliness and spontaneity. It was a lot of fun. I didn't mark it with a physical difference, though my costume for the movie was a purposely over the top sweet lolita ensemble. Then I did badass karate in it.

I think this'll be the first art assignment I do... and hopefully I'll go back to some older ones too.

As a trans teen i have to say I love this art assignment, I feel like I do this art assignment everyday, when I'm at home I have to play down my masculinity, but when I go out with my friends I'll change my clothes, put on a button up shirt or a coat and my brown herringbone cap and I feel so different. I also especially love how this assignment plays with gender expression a little bit and I'd love to see cis people try to pass as the other gender, I personally feel like you can't ever really notice all the little visual clues we give out to the world until you try to play with them and be perceived in the way you intend.

That reminded me of the times I was out in public in costume...
Like grocery shopping after a carnivals parade in a cat costume, getting Pizza with my theatre friends before the show when we were already all in make up (just minus the wigs) or when we dressed up for our last day of school and I walked to school in my pompous princess dress - more than one child looked at me dreamily :D

Mythic Being? Someone get ***** in on this!

I recently knitted myself a scarf, striped in the colours of the rainbow pride flag. It's wide enough that I fold it in half when I wear it, and because of the way it's knitted on one side the stripes have distinct edges (like a pride flag) and on the other side they blur into each other (like a natural rainbow). Whenever I wear it I get to choose whether to fold it "spectrums on the outside, pride on the inside" or "pride on the outside, spectrums on the inside". Even though it's pretty unlikely that a non-queer stranger will notice the rainbow stripes and deduce (probably inaccurate) things about me, it still feels like a big decision.
Either way, that scarf means a lot to me.

Note: don't take a selfie while driving! Anyway, I can't wait to see what people come up with.

I work in a Catholic hospital.  The first two transitional items that occurred to me were essentially announcing a job other than the one I have.  I can't do this at work of course, but wearing a white coat might get a reaction.  I think a greater transition might be wearing a clerical collar.  What would it be like for me to walk around the campus of a Catholic university as a priest?  

I already did this: few weeks ago, for art class, we went to a ballet. We had to be dressed in a fancy way, so I got fancy clothes (which I never wear) and made an exception for this evening, I noticed I walked more up straight, spend more time on my appearance and tried to look as perfect as possible.

I love this assignment!  I think this may be the first one I actually do.  I've thought about a lot of the other ones but have never actually gone through with a plan.

That's basically what I do by default - I have very diverse clothing styles etc (across subcultures, social/economic status, and gender lines etc). For me it is always interesting to see how people on the street and in stores etc approach me in such diverse manners depending on such a simple thing as: what I am wearing. It keeps you grounded (wearing run down clothes takes away all safety/status that nice brand clothes perhaps provide - you're "on your own" - how does that make you feel when you are stripped from all these social economic markers? Or sometimes I am wearing quasi-corporate clothes in a group of "alternative" people - just to see how I am able to hold myself up - it is easy to blend in and be accepted when you dress alike, but how are these people responding to me when I deviate (violate?) this much? Or corporate clothes and large green rain boots, while taking the subway. I really like to play with that. Although it doesn't necessarily make me feel comfortable - but it's all about broadening your comfort zone and confronting yourself. 

I'm cutting my hair tomorrow and donating it, and I've never had short hair before. Well, when I was a baby obviously... But you know what I mean. I guess that's a bit more permanent than the assignment is meant for, but I still think it's going to be interesting.

I feel like I'm playing a role when I wear a dress or a bathing suit, or when I put on makeup (which I almost never do). In each of those instances, I become hyperaware of my posture, how I walk, how I move my hands, and how I talk. This is a really interesting Art Assignment.

I think this assignment reminds me most of how I feel when I cosplay. You put on a costume, and suddenly you are that character, and do things you wouldn't otherwise do.

I have had super pin straight hair my entire life, so when I curl my hair I feel like this different self who gets compliments and is kinda of popular and the type of girl who should care about her image and what others think. This is almost opposite of who my "regular self" is. The most interesting thing that I have found out about this curly haired persona is that after 2 or 3 days of it, i am extremely tired of it. It makes me realize that I love the person that I currently am.

Red lipstick is interesting, and i'm really curious now to know what it makes every wearer feel. For me, it makes me feel lively and brave.

I rllly want to go out and do this one

I typically wear just a t-shirt and jeans and feel really uncomfortable in anything else. SO... for this'n I dressed sorta fancy-like in a flowy grey sweater thing.
I noticed a lot of people commented on it and I had opportunities to explain about The Art Assignment. Hopefully I spread the word. ;)

This year I've been traveling abroad doing mission work and I feel like, in doing so, I've created two different worlds. Two versions of myself. (At least two different wardrobes) When I'm in the mission field, I dress as simply as possible. Mostly a plain loose shirt, shirt, and a cloth to tie my hair back. At home I feel the pressure to dress in style. Lots of layers and lace and jewelry and skinny jeans. For this art assignment, I'm going to take a day to wear my utilitarian clothing and see if I feel more like my true self by not focusing on myself at all.

I just really love this show. So much.

the fact that sara and john switched places is making me very uncomfortable

I'm late

i liked the last part she talked about, because it shows cis people what trans people are constantly thinking. how do we conform to stereotypes about our agab? or stereotypes about our actual gender? what of our features are more like our agab's? how do we react to these? do we change them even when we don't have to and are we overthinking how other people see us, as singular humans, not as trans people?

Apropos book recommendation: Robert Heinlein's "Double Star"