A lot of my research has been focussed on finding fan comments on certain musical artists’ instagram accounts. I have taken quotes from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Tinashe, Jesse Rutherford, and Halsey’s accounts. All of these quotes and more will be collaged together in my research paper. The comments have also been separated into categories depending on content in order to organize them better. The purpose of using other people’s comments is to show the influence of the persona, and how they are always judged by people they barely know. These people could love someone who is completely fake and never know it because of the barrier social media creates. Speaking of this, I did find an article that explains how a well-liked media persona committed suicide and how people were shocked because they thought he was perfectly okay. The key to this article is that they really had no idea who this man was, they had only met and worked with him through media:

https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/social-media-pretend-friends-and-the-lie-of-false-intimacy/

I also came across a video that had gone viral in 2015. A 18 year old instagram influencer and youtube named Essena O’Neill had a public breakdown, listing the ways that social media had ruined her life and how things were not as they seemed:

All of these above sources would be considered primary as they come directly from the people who are experiencing them.

I have also being doing research about personas. One website even shows a checklist questions a person may ask themselves when creating a brand as a musician (for example:

• • If I do not write or perform political songs, what divisive political causes would I be willing to discuss online?

• • How comfortable am I with my body? Are there any parts of it that are off limits to the internet?

• • If I have struggled with a tough past, how open am I to broadcasting the details of that?)

3 Easy Steps To Establishing Your Musician Persona (Worksheet Included!)

I have found other websites as well that talk about musical personas such as : https://thewritepractice.com/lady-gaga-and-the-creation-of-a-persona/

Also, Britannica gives a very good definition of a persona in terms of literature which is helpful in creating my studio project: https://www.britannica.com/art/persona-literature

For my final product I created nipple covers and a top that goes. over it using the pieces of an old earring. I wanted to keep the glitzy aesthetic of the earring alive in the new product as well. The gems on the stars (minus a few) are from the original earring and clasp on the bandeau was made using the wire from the earring. I added organza material, sticky material, and crystals.

List:

1. Crystal beads
2. gold Cylindrical mechanism
3. gold hook

Original Item (Earring):

Drawings:

10 Interesting Things

1. Can go through the body
2. sparkles
3. limbs are not even
4. flexible
5. rigid base and spontaneously flamboyant body
6. multiple limbs
7. heavy
8. accentuates length of neck when worn
9. draws attention to itself
10. looks expensive but is cheap

Location: Outside of Lennox Hill Hospital (7th ave and 13th Street)

TEEN SKATERS

Characteristics:

1. Clothes (baggy clothes, beanies, tie dye, backwards hats)
2. Activity –> skateboarding/words associated, craft
3. Appearance –> unkept, tattoos, piercings, long hair, etc.)
4. Instruments –> skateboards, types of decks, patterns
5. Mindset –> relaxed, simple minded
6. Brand association –> vans, peace tea, Arizona, stussy
7. like to visit abandoned spaces to skate
8. very young to late teens
9. graffiti
10. thrifting

Reference Images

Skateboarders enjoy the Venice Beach skate park at sunset on May 31, 2018 in Los Angeles. – Known as the one of the birthplace of modern skateboarding, Venice was the stomping ground for skating legends during the 1970s skateboarding revolution and is still regarded as one the best spots by skateboarders around the world. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

2 Broken Items

Collage

For my Bridge 3 collage I wanted to showcase photos of artists,  taken by their respective tour photographers, in which they are portraying likability. Within the collage are pictures of artists getting their nails painted, making a champagne toast, working in the studio or in rehearsals, and just having fun doing what they love. These acts portray certain things that contribute to an artist’s likability including being relatable, having fun, and working hard. These are things I want to explore in my research and in my final project.

 Sketches

Questions

1. In response to my research so far I want to create some sort of false persona to show how easy it is to make someone look likable through media. I don’t see this as neither a good or bad thing I just feel that perspective is an interesting concept considering so many people make their living off of one persona.
2. My proposed project somewhat builds on my Bridge 1 project. In Bridge 1 I created this “rich girl” persona which I skewed to make her come across as scary and destructive. In this project I would like to alter the reality and create a different persona that seems likable through a limited media source.