Just released, Lala Drona’s newest art video “The Beard,” makes waves amongst the digital masses (video below). The newest instalment in her video series La Minute Ladrona (the stolen minute) has fans deliberating the true meaning behind the video.
Lala Drona with Jamika Ajalon
The artist covers topics in beard history, possibly linking beard trends to the different waves of women’s liberation. She unpacks the contemporary and metaphorical beard in a playful and enigmatic way.
The video stays true to Lala Drona’s iconic style. Moving video interacts with static digital image, while she whispers poetry over a black backdrop. However, this piece takes a documentary-style spin, diving into the beard as historical artefact, and looking into its influence on society as a whole. For the first time in the video series, Lala Drona incorporates audio from other authors/vocalists: one cameo by performance artist Jamika Ajalon, recorded specifically for this project.
Video still from “The Beard”
A series first, Lala Drona also collaborated with someone else during the performance part of the video project. “What makes this video groundbreaking [within the series] is that Lala Drona shares the screen with someone else! Drone No.1 from the Lala’s created universe has crossed over into the La Minute Ladrona Series! Long live Drone No. 1!!!!” (digitalfire58, Dronauniverse Forum).
Drone No.1, a favourite in the Lala Drona Universe, has caused fans to come out of the woodwork, reminiscing on the Drone No.1 saga, and praising his return in the form of internet memes.
Not surprisingly, the appearance of Drone No.1 has inspired conspiracy theories that Lala Drona will soon return to her work on the Lala Laboratory, after a long pause due to her European Art Tour. Others speculate on how this video came about, pointing to the easter eggs left in social media posts from Lala Drona’s European travels.
Either way, we are impressed with the trailblazing evolution of her work. This video marks a stylistic shift. “The Beard” art video is a must-see. Below, a link to the video. We also suggest seeing all of the “La Minute Ladrona” video series found here.
Prospective Drones everywhere lined up on the warm-lit cobble-stone streets of Paris, for the premier of The Drones Video Project 2016. Sporting their sunglasses, the crowd chanted Drone Code, in hopes of meeting the artist and enlisting in her Army of Drones. Frequently at these events, one can find recruitment booths manned by the official Drones buzzing words like “transcendence,” “higher purpose,” and “transformation” into prospective recruits’ ears. However, this time, there were no booths, no official Drones gathering the masses.
A Lala-shaped roar formed from the people’s mouths when Lala Drona and her 35 official Drones came out from the doors of the Opera Garnier, where the Drone Video Project had just premiered. Cameras flashed onto the black mass that consisted of the Drones and Lala. They made their way down the red carpeted stairs, each step followed the crowd’s chanting: “Drones will be loyal to Drones, Drones will be loyal to Lala.”
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lala Drona lifted her hand to silence the public. She looked to Drone Ember, standing on her right. Drone Ember stepped forward and looked at the hundreds of warm bodies standing in front of her, her head still slightly tilted towards the floor. She stared the public down through her black industrial glasses.
“On behalf of Lala Drona and the Drones, I would like to thank all of you for coming out, and supporting our mission to reach creative potential.” The Drones behind Ember were a black stone wall, a fortress sandwiching their art queen, Lala. Cameras continued to flash and click. “However, it is to my greatest regret to inform you that Drone Recruitment has been closed.” Drone Ember raised her voice, speaking over the mob’s gasps and whispers. “We currently do not know when Drone Recruitment will reopen, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.”
The disgruntled crowd shouted and booed as Drone Ember returned to Lala’s side. The art authorities forged a path through the crowd, and Drone #1 took Lala’s arm, leading her and the other Drones down the human-made aisle. The 35 official Drones surged through like blackened blood through a vein, and in an instant, Lala and her Drones vanished somewhere on the other side of the crowd.
Lala makes a speech as people come from all walks of life to sign up to be a Drone. Photo by Kamilia Amber.
Just nine months after her last exhibition at Düo Gallery in Paris, Lala has launched another showing of her work in the exhibition “Je suis…” Her Muses, Drones, and Motivation Monster representatives showed their support, as collectors, gallerists and fans stood in line to exchange words with the artist.
Drone #1 back at Lala’s side?
Shockingly, even Drone #1 attended the event, stating he was there for the artist’s protection. Days before the opening, Lala released a statement admitting that she has secretly been keeping Drone #1 in the laboratory since his breach in Drone Code. “Nine months ago, I decided to launch a rehabilitation program for Drones. Drone #1 has been the first participant in this program.” In this boot camp, participants experience reconditioning aimed to eradicate the undesirable personality traits of insurgent Drones.
Lala also admits that Drone #1’s leaked video from last April was filmed during his rehabilitation program in the Lala Laboratory. “It’s a difficult process, and rejection is the natural first step towards completion of the program.”
Drone #1 isn’t the only Drone fighting to be at Lala’s side. Due to a successful exhibition opening, she has created masses of new Drones. After the art opening, she rushed back to the Lala Laboratory in order to help her newborn Drones into the world. Video documentation below.
Three months after his death, Drone #1’s cell phone has been discovered. It was found in the middle of a construction site outside the 13th district of Paris, buried deep in the rubble and it’s memory wiped. However, the authorities were able to recover some of the lost data. Among questionable images and messages stored in the phone, was a video of Drone #1 warning his fellow Drones against an alleged evil plot.
The Art Guild intends to question Lala and her Drones in the coming week. Could Lala really be turning against her Drones and those around her? Or perhaps Drone #1 is misrepresenting Lala…an act of revenge before his banishment from The Lala World?
Based on a Fact
Hailey Manning, 27, Journalist for Art Eclectic Webzine
Muse (the band) new album cover…allegedly calling out to Lala’s Muses and Drones.
Lala Drona has stolen inspiration from artists time and time again. However, with The Lala World catching wind, artists from around the world are starting to put her in the muse seat.
Sebastian Errazuriz
Lala has been documented saying that she is a “big fan” of artist/designer Sebastian Errazuriz. However, some of his pieces reveal that Lala Drona could have been more than just a “fan” of Sebastian’s. In his series of shoe designs “12 shoes for 12 lovers,” Sebastian Errazuriz creates 12 high-heeled shoes, each inspired by a lover. Next to each shoe, he writes an anecdote revealing a bit about each relationship.
Comparing image of Lala with text from Sebastian Errazuriz’s “12 shoes for 12 ex-lovers” series.
Shoe #4, Laura “Heartbreaker” has set off Lala alarms everywhere. Errazuriz has designed a red shoe inspired by an ex-lover with one real breast, and the other breast, an implant. In the Breast Series, Lala Drona exposed her chest consisting of both a natural breast and a breast implant. But perhaps, Lala Drona was not the only artist inspired by her unconventional bust. This begs the question, were Lala Drona and Sebastian Errazuriz more than just art world compatriots? Perhaps they knew each other a bit better than they have led on. Or perhaps this art world encounter is just an incredible coincidence, and Sebastian’s “Laura” is not “Lala” at all…
Muse (the band)
Even the highly successful band Muse is jumping onto the Lala World bandwagon, as the cover of their new album Drones (to be released in June 2015) seems to be inspired by the Lala World. The image contains both Muses and Drones, the two great pillars of Lala’s artistic community. Lala’s loyal army of Drones assists her in art experiments, researching Muse-inspiration extraction methods. Muses serve to inspire Lala, but due to her controversial artistic process, some Muses have left the Lala Laboratory with accusations of Muse Abuse and Torture. Those accusations may be true, but this album cover seems to label the Muses as an entity above the Drones.
Lala’s latest experiment where she feeds a Drone to a Muse has caused many to question the once assumed hierarchy between Drones and Muses.
Fans leave message on Subway advertisement for Lala.
For some, claims that the band Muse could be reaching out to The Lala World might seem far-fetched. However, other Lala World fans have caught on to the reference, adding special messages to Lala on subway advertisements.
Based on a Fact
A special thanks to Drone Vibe and Drone Santiago, who acquired these pieces of inspiration.
Drone X, one of Lala’s most beloved and loyal Drones, has left Paris. She came to know Lala in a chance encounter in the streets of Paris. Drone X was about to end her life, until she heard something strange, something that would change her life forever, from under the bridge:
Translation: It all started a year ago. I was in a dark place at that time. I wanted to end my days. That evening, it was cold, like today. I walked to one of the many bridges spanning the Seine. I went through over the parapet, I turned around by setting the darkness that stood before me, and I closed my eyes. I breathed deeply. I was listening to the whisperings of the sleeping city … Suddenly, a sound took me out of my stupor … it was the “pppppfffffssshhhhh * clack clack * * * pppppfffffssshhhhh clack” of spray paint. I opened my eyes, I looked for the person which made the sound I had heard off the bridge, and I saw … Lala Drona. She was tagging one of the pillars of the bridge accessible from the shore. The world stopped spinning. It wasn’t possible anymore to jump, not possible to descend. Two. Three. Ten minutes … time no longer existed. Again, a noise made me jump, this time it was a police siren. Lala was quick to complete her work and began to run … in my direction! When she saw me, she threw me a bag full of paint screaming “Catch it!” I do not know why, but I ran behind her. I was hypnotized. Since then, I am a Drone. She may be a thief, but she saved my life. DroneX https://www.facebook.com/groups/1536698666575473/
Drone X is said to be relocating to the United States in order to begin a special ops project. She will reinfiltrate the Americas and recruit more Drones. The project is said to begin in California and stretches throughout the continental United States and Canada.
However, after Drone #1’s banishment, the media questions the true incentives behind Drone X’s relocation. Drones are dropping like flies, so BOAF asked Drone X herself what she thought about the Drone #1 banishment/punishment:
BOAF: What is your reaction to the Drone #1 event?
DX: It was delicious.
BOAF: Wait, “delicious”? I thought it was the Muses that ate Drone #1…
DX: Yes, Lala fed him to the Muses to see what kind of inspiration she could extract. But Lala shared the rest ofor him with the Drones, so we could honor his memory. Now, he lives in all of us.”
(From BOAF phone interview with Drone X, February 1st, 2015)
According to Drone X, Drone #1’s death sentence was not vindictive. It was a spiritual ritual to save his Drone essence. Since breaking Drone Code is a deadly crime in the Lala World, the “punishment” carried out was the most humane and dignified that Lala could have ordered.
If you would like to read more Drone Origin stories, check out (and participate in) the Drones Facebook page.
For those of you who desire a bit of consolidation of last year’s news: The Lala World Recap 2014.
The city of lights has not been kind to Lala. Arrested for spray painting the city walls and landing in urgent care are just a few of Lala Drona’s mishaps since her arrival.
Lala Drona in urgent care.
Lady Paris seems to have made Lala Drona harder, and the struggle has awakened her darker tendencies. The year 2014 marks the year of transition, when Lala assumes her title of “art villain.”
On various occasions, Lala has compared her artistic process to theft. “I steal others ideas because I don’t have my own” (2014 Art Prison Interview, L.D. Times Magazine). However, Lala pushed her artistic process an inch too far at an annual Paris “Perve Grandma Convention,” where she attempted to steal a Fred Le Chevalier piece from his oldest fan.
And Lala did not stop there. Later on that year, she allegedly stole thousands of dollars from desperate YouTube insomniacs who had fallen victim to her fake sleep hypnosis video. Although the media seemed to focus on Lala’s dark side, BOAF attempted to show the human behind the artist as well.
On April 24th, Lala traveled back to her home town Denver, Colorado in order to finalize preparations for a long-awaited hand transplant. Comments filled message boards questioning the authenticity (and humanity) behind the art pieces created since Lala’s mechanical hand acquisition.
Lala caught on the streets of Paris wearing a splint.
How would the prosthetic affect her paintings and would it cramp her hand dancing style? Before leaving Denver, Lala put on a spontaneous showing of her “Pre-Lala” work in an exclusive at-home art garage sale.
Along with the art garage sale last year, Lala committed other acts that were difficult to understand. In 2014, Lala’s face appeared twice in the subway station. The first was in Paris. She appeared holding an apple in a
Translation: The #1 extramarital dating site made by women./ Dare. Bite. Taste.
Geeden advertisement for adulterous online-dating (Lala later painted this experience). Next the artist appeared in a Berlin subway station, pants down in public. While the Geeden advertisement left fans wondering if Lala had sold out, the no-pants Berlin display just left them confused.
Other stunts this year were much easier to understand. To prove she isn’t all bad, Lala showed her support in adopting mutant bees in Paris. Her videos went viral in France when she took to the streets and battled against censorship with her “Don’t Retouch This” campaign. The artist “pulled a Banksy” when she sold originals of her artwork cheaply on the streets of Paris at the same time as galleries sold her work for thousands at the FIAC. She even had a little fun as she was seen shopping and drinking champagne at Paris’ 2014 Vogue Fashion Night Out.
However, it wasn’t all fun and games last year. In 2014, Lala launched the construction of her Warholian dream: The Lala Laboratory. During the construction, tensions in art politics were at a high. Muses were on strike and Lala’s unorthodox muse practices were thrown into the light.
Journalists infiltrated what is thought to be the Lala Laboratory and discovered a Muse Sweatshop. In an attempt to evade the Art Guild (the authorities), Lala invited journalists to a fake Lala Laboratory tour. The police were called, and Lala Drona was arrested on the spot for trespassing.
The board members of the Art Guild found Lala guilty of Muse Abuse and Torture in the first degree and she was sentenced to spend one month in Paris Art Prison. In prison, Lala Drona gave an interview, revealing for the first time ever, the method behind her madness. Upon her release, a masked man broke into the prison mail room and stole Lala’s prison letters written to Shutupi. The unknown man published the letters, revealing perhaps more than Lala would have liked regarding her feelings towards the Art Guild.
Out of jail and straight to work, the artist began preparations for her anticipated exhibition. After one small exhibition in May 2013 on arrival in Paris, one year later, Lala landed a place on the walls of Düo Gallery. The exhibition titled From the Bed to the Lab presented a retrospective look on her paintings created in Paris, all connected by the theme of the bed.
Photography and text by Richard Beban from Paris Play.
The three series exhibited were the Breast Series: a confrontation with a difficult past/ the bed a place of healing. The Sexe Sans Sex Series: a series of wanderings, and an analysis of her outside world/ the bed a place of experimentation. The Lala World Series: Lala’s new series, where she commits to painting the Lala World (the fictionalized articles found on Based on a Fact) in order to move freely between the virtual and the real, and create her own world/ the bed a place of dreams–and her dream: The Lala Lab.
Following a successful exhibition of her world, Lala plans to continue following her dark path. She’s back to her old methods of abuse and torture in order to extract inspiration from her muses and has marked the beginning of 2015 with the banishment of her beloved Drone #1. Only time will tell what’s to come of Lala and her Drones, Muses and Laboratory…
Contrary to belief that the Lala Laboratory had been shut down, Lala releases photographs of her latest art experiment: What happens when we feed a Drone to a Muse?
The Lala laboratory is where Lala Drona collaborates with other Drones and conducts controversial research on Muse inspiration extraction. Lala’s controversial methods have always included Muse abuse, but why has she now decided to turn on her Drones?
Last month, Lala Drona banished Drone #1 from The Lala World due to a breach of contract:
Drone Code #1: Drones will be loyal to Drones, Drone will be loyal to Lala.
Lala has since filmed herself ceremonially burning Drone #1’s name tag: a symbol of his expulsion from The Lala World.
When Drone #1 abandoned the project, Lala said she would, “feed Drone #1 to the Muses.” However, in a statement released yesterday morning, Lala stated, “I originally said it as a joke, but then I thought of the possibilities. What kind of inspiration could be produced if a Muse ate a Drone? …Drone #1’s banishment would not be in vain.”
Lala is still waiting for conclusive results from the Drone-Muse experiment, but says that results produced so far have both “amazed and shocked” her. Journalists everywhere are keeping an eye on Drone web forums in hopes of finding reactions to Lala’s new experiment. Have they accepted the brutal removal of their Drone comrade? Or has Lala gone too far this time? Stay tuned as we uncover more secrets from within the Lala Laboratory.
“Geeden” by Lala Drona. Inspired by blog article found here.
After the completion of “The Breast Series” and the series “Sexe Sans Sex,” Lala presents her upcoming series The Lala World. This series is inspired by the fan blog “Based on a Fact” where fans and journalists release fictionalized updates on the artist’s adventures. Each article on the blog is written with a bit of truth mixed with lies. Lala has decided to begin painting this world to create a mirror effect, reality reflecting the virtual and visa-versa. The artist has decided to unite all forms of her artistic expression (painting, creative writing, photography and video) and is committing artistically to this new universe.
Critiques question if this is simply proof of the artist’s extreme self-involvement. The first two paintings depict the artist almost religiously: In the piece titled Beecoming Lala she is depicted as queen bee, and in both of the new pieces, there is a halo around Lala’s head.
On the other hand, some critics ask if this new series is a grand gesture of selflessness…an attempt to create an alternate world in which other creative-types can co-exist. “If the world’s rules don’t fit you, create your own world,” Lala stated during an exhibition interview with L.D. Times.
“Beecoming Lala” by Lala Drona. Inspired by the image found on the blog website background.
Whether this is an act of egomania or altruism, Drones and Muses everywhere stand strong, awaiting the artist’s upcoming projects. What’s to become of Lala Drona this year? Keep following as she spreads her wings and continues to recruit Drones and Muses from all around the world.
Straight out of jail and back to her old tricks. Lala Drona was caught stealing donations with a fake sleep hypnosis video. The full video has been flagged and removed from Youtube, but you can still find a clip of it below. Since the video had been up for over a week, there’s no telling how much money Lala has stolen from innocent insomniacs everywhere.
Prospective Drones everywhere lined up on the warm-lit cobble-stone streets of Paris, for the premier of The Drones Video Project 2016. Sporting their sunglasses, the crowd chanted Drone Code, in hopes of meeting the artist and enlisting in her Army of Drones. Frequently at these events, one can find recruitment booths manned by the official Drones buzzing words like “transcendence,” “higher purpose,” and “transformation” into prospective recruits’ ears. However, this time, there were no booths, no official Drones gathering the masses. 
Based On A Fact 
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