#YOLO:

#YOLO (15 MB)

Mysterious, rebellious, indulgent, stylish, sophisticated, sensual—for many individuals the aesthetic appeal of smoking is too seductive to resist. Pop culture often renders a romanticized and nearly fetishistic portrait of the smoker, an image that has burned itself into our minds and proven more enduring and magnetic than the most graphic of anti-smoking campaigns could ever be. The imagery in this piece is appropriated from recent music videos on YouTube. I assembled all of the scenes I found that showed a recognizable, iconic woman smoking. The clips reference a variety of stylized narrative contexts in which tobacco use might be seen as an emotional crutch, an edgy fashion accessory, a symbol of power and eroticism, or used as a bonding activity. By translating the act of smoking into visually striking imagery on a screen, less pleasant sensory elements like scent are removed, making the image even more enticing. My intention is to create the effect of running a highlighter across a broad surface of seemingly innocuous and commonplace imagery, drawing attention to the sheer abundance of smoking as a visual motif in contemporary media.

Pop music functions as an escape, an emotional outlet, and a sensory landscape where we can frolic without consequence. We look to pop icons to see our inner desires come to life, searching for glimpses of ourselves in their shiny reflective surfaces. If we look too closely, the illusion falls away, revealing a rather complex and grotesque beast that speaks of our current cultural values in contradictory rhymes and riddles. Pop culture doesn’t want to be analyzed. Pop stars don’t like to be scrutinized as role models. As I write this, Rihanna tweets, “#UNAPOLOGETIC” above a glamorous photo of her face, her finger hooked on her lip, white ribbons of smoke billowing out of her mouth. Whether she views herself as a role model or not, she is sending a very public message that millions of young fans will absorb as they actively assemble their own self-image; self-destruction is sexy. YOLO.