The Britney Pieces
These pieces were all inspired by Britney Spears. I feel pretty strongly about her role in our society. Not only do I love the music, but I think she and her experiences say a lot about our culture, the media and, more importantly, what's wrong with it. She, like a select few who have gone before her--Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland to name a couple (also featured with Britney in The Hollywood K.O. and Stars & Stripes)--has been idolized, in essence, and raised by the media to such extreme heights--made a puppet, manipulated and and eventually stripped down before the public. The expectations on these select few to be something--whatever that image is--it's nearly impossible to uphold. The lens under which Britney is watched, with the exception of a few (i.e. Michael Jackson) hasn't really been paralleled since Princess Diana was alive. I find a striking parallel between the two. It would seem that from a cultural and iconographic standpoint, the music aside, Britney Spears is then a sort of American Diana. I think her existence is a beautiful one--tragic, fascinating, controversial and completely unique--the likes of which the world has never really seen before.
