Questioning Our Images: The Female Frame

Examination of the image becomes vital in a period of history marked by the smartphone and its accessibility to image and video creation.  Lala Drona inspires others to question the origins of our daily images through her research into topics concerning le regard (the gaze).

Female Frame, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 20cm x 20cm

During her appearance at the Bienvenu Art Fair at the Cité des Arts in Paris, journalist and video editor Mathieu Mieleszko followed Lala Drona to document the release of her painting “Female Frame.”  In this video, Mieleszko delves into the artist’s intention behind the painting, and provides a link between her artistic universe and its real-world applications.  His cinematographic style in this video is influenced by concepts behind the piece, mimicking le regard which follows behind the artist during the exhibition.  The style critiques the traditional objectification of women depicted through the male gaze, as women in the video are not simply objects to be seen, but instead look back (appearances by: video artist Jamika Ajalon, and stained glass artist Alison Koehler).   

Lala states that her present work on the female gaze examines “issues in the lack of diversity in the transmission of images and stories throughout history.  Our images predominantly come from creators of the same profile (male, white, heterosexual).  It’s not to say that these stories are not important, it’s to say that it’s time to share the stage.  We want different stories, a broader understanding of the diverse human condition.  And it’s time to bring commonly silenced voices to the forefront.”

Video still from Mieleszko’s film

 Her painting “Female Frame” not only inspires others to question the profile of the person behind our images, but also the corporate and political entities.  “We are bombarded with too many images today, in the form of Instagram, and other social networks.  Advertisers and political campaigns are able to post images at the same level of importance as the images from our friends and community.  The infinite scroll feature facilitates the mindless consumption of these images, and we are only beginning to see the negative effects of this.” 

            Lala Drona intends to create three paintings under the concept of “the female frame.” 

Video editing by Mathieu Mieleszko:
https://vimeo.com/user20455396
Music in video by Sim Hutchins:
https://soundcloud.com/simhutchins
https://simhutchins.bandcamp.com/

The Beard: Lala’s newest video gets hairy

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.