© Eric Lafforgue

I’ve been following Eric Lafforgue and his ingenious eye on flickr since I joined. This portrait is part of his latest trip’s effort. I can’t stop looking at her black-painted fingers, almost resembling negative space gloves, the kohl-lined eyes, mismatched powder and layered veils. The warm glow behind her, presumably candles and something light green just out of frame almost create a familiarity but her outbound gaze signals otherwise.More no less impressive images beyond the jump.

The Internet does bear strange fruit. While trying to find some of my favorite works by Otto Dix for you, I came across a fake Otto Dix diary. Presented as a work of fiction by the author, it begins with a disclaimer which is immediately followed by a note from a fictional translator, intended to immerse the reader. I was curious but as I read uncertainty set in.

“Mother. Star Trek. Father. Star Wars. Kino. The Illuminatus Trilogy. James Joyce. Lovecraft. 1001 Arabian Nights. UFO sightings. Getting switched at birth. Encyclopedias. Synagogue. Catholicism. Mexican Shamanism. Carl Sagan. Praise Bob! Jazz music. Horrible Whining Bob and his Brooding Band. Latter-day Saints. Harrowsmith Magazine. Dead Can Dance. Being the only deaf Anglo person in a French community. Folklore/ghost tales. Gericault’s ‘Raft of the Medusa.’ Nothing at all. Being a virtual bubble boy due to illness. Gangsters, search Boadicea & haunted houses. Living with artists. Being the only kid in elementary school to dress up as a Ford Prefect for Halloween. David Bowie in Labyrinth. Lord of the Rings. Joy Division, Finnegan’s Wake (no, I didn’t get a lot out of that when reading it at 14 but it did secure a good grade in english for me) and Gitanes. ABBA. Deep-sea crustaceans. Astrid Lingren. USA Networks Nightflight. Museums my parents took me to…” – From comments on “What Made You Weird?”

Back in July, the American “underground/alternative” mall chain Hot Topic announced that it was rebranding, abandoning The Dark Path for a brighter, more inclusive ambiance. CNN Money covered a consumer conference where Hot Topic CEO James McGinty had the following to say:

“Based on feedback from our customers and changes in the [apparel] industry, we’re changing the look of our stores… people were telling us that the stores were too dark, gothic and intimidating to the average customer.”

The big question is this: what is this a sign of? Should we mourn the old, dark Hot Topic or piss on its grave?

“They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. ” – Exactitudes Website

These pictures go a long way to remind me that no matter how individualistic people think they are with their clothes and makeup, in the end we are all divided into relatively homogeneous tribes. These dress codes, both on the street and on MySpace, make it easy to find new friends – or at least they used to. When I was younger, if I saw green-haired girl with weird jewelry on the train, I could easily strike up a conversation on basis of common interests. I’ve met a lot of friends that way. These days, that’s not the case. I’ve met freaky-looking people who had nothing in common with me, and I’ve met people dress completely “normal” who turned to be some of the most unique individuals I’ve ever known. People dress a certain way in order to send social cues to each other about common interests, but now with the Avril Lavigne generation, “alternative” cues that used to mean a lot don’t mean nearly quite as much.

It’s still possible to meet new friends in cities while simply walking down the street, but it’s a lot more tricky than it was when I was 15. Either I’ve changed, or social norms have changed, or both. Now, I pay attention more to what people are holding in their hands, what type of facial expression they have, what they’re reading, rather than their hair color or makeup. How do you find friends in the crowd?

You’ve probably heard of Molly Crabapple – this statuesque damsel is a muse, cheeky illustrator, and mastermind behind the Doctor Sketchy’s cabaret life drawing phenomenon. After conquering audiences with her wit, drive and various artistic endeavors in addition to her Rainy Day Coloring book, Miss Molly has spawned another creation! A brave mercenary ever-expanding her field of practice, she’s ventured into the webcomics realm with author and co-conspirator John Leavitt. Behold, Backstage – the adventures of gossip-mongers/failed vaudevillians, Johnny Panama And Elizabeth Delancy. As reporters for the yellow tabloid “Backstage” Johnny and Elizabeth report on Anarchist dance hall numbers, debauched uptown parties, and where to find the cheapest liquor in town..I’m looking forward to watching the story unfold on Act-i-vate, especially since it’s promised to “romp through sex, drugs, and murder”. With Molly’s drawing style and filthy humor on board, it’s sure to be fantastic. Let the seedy fun begin!

Dame Shirely Bassey of James Bond music theme fame recently put out an ubergoth video to promote her cover of Pink’s “Get the Party Started.” I showed this to an extremely talented musician friend who shall remain nameless, prompting a hilarious knee-jerk reaction that I did not expect. There were some choice words for this, let me tell you. My friend was like, “it’s the cheese knob being cranked to 11! Combined with out-of-her-prime show tune hag in bad frame composites and uber tacky goth trappings! It’s phantom of the opera meets a Calvin Klein perfume ad! Meets Liza Minelli’s fat ass! Terrible, sterile video and the insincere bellowing of a woman who forgot to take her menopause meds.”

Oh man, harsh! I don’t have my friend’s fine-tuned ear for music, so the horror of the singing did not penetrate me quite the same way. Also, I have bad taste. I’ll be the first to admit this. I kinda like the pretty goth dresses! However, even I’ll concede that the masks are kind of questionable. However, I can watch this video again and again. I now share this bad taste with all of you. Video and stills, behind the jump. Enjoy!

Since the beginning of time, humans have appointed self-important and often hilarious ritual to the disposal of human remains (mummies anyone?). In an interesting and controversial addition to this extravaganza, artist Nadine Jarvis designs a bird-feeder made from bird food and human ash.

Yes, you too can be bird shit.

Clearly, maggots are not high enough on the food chain to touch us. It’s time we put a stop to this. Harsh as it sounds, it is a far more ethical and a vastly less ridiculous measure than the perverse, half-arsed preservation that traditional Western burial offers.

So far, no complaints from the avian demographic, although we’re still awaiting comment from the vulture community.

Thaw by Caryn Drexl

Later it is the air she will remember. The sharpness of it as she inhaled: crisp like paper. She could have been breathing paper. There was a rush of sound, like a train passing, or maybe like she was the train. Thick colors swirled and time became molasses as her legs slowly tumbled around behind her and then over her head… She was the blob of paint spreading thinly every which way, spindling in all directions, pulled flat, slow and hard. That was how she tumbled and then time caught up with itself and she dropped. – Bridge suicide scene from Amanda Davis’ “Circling the Drain”

Being a human can be pretty scary when you become too aware of your flesh. This is especially true if you’re a woman. Photographer Caryn Drexl knows it, and isn’t afraid to show that in the most visceral way.

To me, many of these images are about profound loss; loss of the feeling that you were once normal and whole, a feeling that we had as children and gradually traded for the good and the bad that comes with the desire to reshape yourself to fit certain beauty ideals. I suggest going through Drexl’s entire portfolio in one sitting and paying attention to the image titles. It’s like taking a journey through some gnarled dark woods, with Drexl’s sense of humor shining through like sunlight through the branches. Drexl has a remarkable power to use motifs that I’d thought had lost all their magic, such as dolls, broken glass and tears, to provoke a real reaction. With all the misuse of such themes in alt photography, I never thought that seeing them would impact me again – but it has. Drexl comes from a pure place and it seems to me like she never uses an object in a photo unless there’s a compelling personal reason.

Drexl uses herself as a model in many of the pictures, and writes in her bio, “I consider myself an artist the internet made.”

• Caryn Drexl Portfolio Site
• Caryn Drexl Prints at Etsy
• Caryn Drexl on Flickr

More of my favorite images, after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Megumi!

I’m lucky to have not one but two Russian grandmas. Every so often I crawl out of my home, cursing and half-blinded by unwelcome sunlight, shedding the paint-stained jumpsuit in exchange for something nice to pay a visit. Ever since the first drop of dye touched my hair maybe 13 years ago, I’ve been given the business. This, I imagine, is something many of us share, the nagging question, the hovering “When”. When will you go back to your natural hair color? When will you take out that lip ring? When will that ink wash off your skin? WHEN WHEN WHEN. I’ve tried asking myself too but the answer always comes back the same – quite possibly never.

Age is slowly decreasing in importance even now. Research, life extension, better cosmetic surgery – our options are evolving. I’m not inspired by the plastic buffoons of Hollywood, instead I look to people I’ve actually met – take inventor, writer and wearer of many hats Tom Jennings for instance; a brilliant ageless creature, tattooed, pierced and stylish, striped socks and all. And what about Marchesa Luisa Cassati or Betsey Johnson or other people who overflow with creativity and, sequentially, vitality and remain outside the tired norm despite their age?

So how do we explain “never” and “there’s no reason to”? I can hardly explain the Internet, in fact most of my life is led in what seems to them like another plane of existence. Not a new question by any means, but how do we explain an entire culture, developed and thriving entirely outside of the elderly’s frame of reference? As a possible solution, I’m entertaining an idea of a full presentation with a laptop and a projector. A crash course on alternative culture. Will grandmas approve?