Lot's Wife Edition 8 2013

MUSIC
was quite incredible.”
Gaga’s growing fondness for depicting art in music videos, which
was already apparent in the use of Botticelli’s Venus in ‘Judas’, is even
more pronounced in her latest video ‘Applause.’ Directed by Inez and Vinoodh,
the video includes references to the aforementioned Venus, Warhol’s
depiction of Marilyn Monroe, the black swan, and John Galliano’s
2009 fashion show. Gaga has also injected her music and presence into
the world of films, appearing in Robert Rodriguez’s 2013 film Machete
Kills. A trailer for the film utilises a new Gaga song, ‘Aura’ that infuses
Spanish instruments into EDM production by ‘Clarity’ DJ Zedd.
Slated for an 8 November release, ARTPOP could very well have a
revolutionary impact on the way art is viewed and shared in the modern
world. Through mass appeal, Lady Gaga is uniting fashion (meat dress),
art, music, technology (social media) and performance into one globally
shared experience. The inspiration of Andy Warhol is well noted in the
lyrics “pop culture was in art, now art’s in pop culture in me.” With the
veneration of art as her ultimate goal, ARTPOP looks likely to fortify the
legacy of Lady Gaga as a true artist.
THE MISTIQUE OF THE ARTIST:
Lorde
Fabrice Wilmann
Recently dubbed ‘The New Queen of Alternative’, 16 year-old New
Zealand native Lorde revealed in an interview with Billboard Magazine
her desire to remain an enigma to the world. With the release of her
debut album Pure Heroine, and the mounting success of singles ‘Royals’,
‘Tennis Court’, and now ‘Team’ across the world, Lorde is positioning
herself as the antithesis of the modern archetypal pop star.
In her cover feature with the magazine, she disclosed that “in a
perfect world, I would never do any interviews… and probably there
would be one photo out there of me, and that would be it.” Lorde,
real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor, prefers the impression of mystique,
believing that “mystery is more interesting.” This aspiration has never
been more pronounced than in this day and age, where over-sharing on
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook has left little to the imagination. Lorde
astutely recognises that “people respond to something that intrigues
them instead of something that gives them all the information —
particularly in pop, which is like the genre for knowing way too much
about everyone and everything.”
In this way, Lorde can be seen as the anti-Miley Cyrus. The latter
has established herself as a constant presence in the media spotlight
since her provocative and poorly executed mash-up performance of ‘We
Can’t Stop’ and ‘Blurred Lines’ with Robin Thicke at the 2013 Video
Music Awards. This has been followed expeditiously by a disturbing
music video whereby she rides naked on a wrecking ball and seduces
a sledgehammer, a series of highly sexualised photo shoots with famed
photographer Terry Richardson, an apparent break-up between former
fiancé Liam Hemsworth, a bevy of interviews and music performances
and a recent – completely unprovoked – attack on celebrity victims of
mental illness (Amanda Bynes and Sinead O’Connor) that resulted
in all-out warfare with pop icon O’Connor. Many people see Cyrus’
behaviour as an attempt to annihilate the association with her eternal
good-girl alter ego Hannah Montana, whilst others just view it as a
cry for attention and a marketing ploy to bolster sales. It seems clear
however that all this inflammatory behaviour is simply a way to hide the
fact that Miley Cyrus has no real lasting talent.
In the comparatively small number of interviews that she has
done, Lorde has revealed only morsels of information that provide us
with a snapshot image of who she truly is; an obsession with reading as a
child, how writing short stories since the age of ten has helped with her
song writing, and her love of electronic, pop and hip-hop music. “You
can step into Kanye’s world and it’s like you being there,” Lorde muses,
admitting that she wants to make a “sweet, really cool rap song” in the
future. The singer also proclaimed her love of Nicki Minaj and Miley
Cyrus’ current hit ‘Wrecking Ball.’
Lorde’s live performances also display her rapport with simplicity.
Performing her song ‘Royals’ (a #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard charts) on
Good Morning America, the singer simply stands and delivers her lyrics
with conviction. Dressed in simple, one might say ‘old-lady clothes’,
the only movements are that of her hands, which seem to flow and
bounce eerily to the beat of her music. This performance underlines
Lorde’s immense talent, not only as a singer-songwriter, but also as a
true performer and captivating entertainer. These two attributes are not
always so easily intertwined, something that was made all too obvious
through Lana Del Rey’s largely criticised performance of ‘Video Games’
on Saturday Night Live.
Having shattered the record for longest weeks on the alternatives
song chart (a record previously held by Alanis Morisette’s 1995 classic
‘You Oughta Know’), Lorde has immersed herself in a torrent of
worldwide success and critical acclaim. However, it seems as though the
talented singer has managed to preserve her down-to-earth Kiwi persona
and not fall victim to the hazards of the music industry. Lorde has
remained true to her introverted self, presenting only a glimpse into the
brilliantly complex passages of her mind and of her young life.
LOT’S WIFE EDITION 8 • 2013
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