Maximalist Makeover
July 4, 2011 8:06 AM Subscribe
Dutch video artists Lernert & Sander (previously)see what happens when a woman wears a year's worth of make-up all at once.
"Ingredients: Seven bottles of Foundation S103; two bottles of Creamy Eyes E107 [liquid eyeshadow], three Milky Lips L205 pens [lipgloss], and two bottles of Blush S301 [creme blush]"
"Ingredients: Seven bottles of Foundation S103; two bottles of Creamy Eyes E107 [liquid eyeshadow], three Milky Lips L205 pens [lipgloss], and two bottles of Blush S301 [creme blush]"
They laid their point pretty thick, I would say
posted by growabrain at 8:19 AM on July 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 8:19 AM on July 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yes, I'm not sure what the point of this was, given that the end result of the film was exactly what one would picture, given the premise.
posted by kozad at 8:22 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by kozad at 8:22 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
It's kinda cute as an idea I guess, but the execution doesn't really tell me anything more than the concept does. The piece seems to leave little room for a play of interpretation. "Make-up might look good at first, but you're really covering yourself up and distorting your features". This is hardly a new idea.
posted by howfar at 8:23 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by howfar at 8:23 AM on July 4, 2011
I don't know if it's completely due to being a contented non-wearer of makeup, but this was physically very uncomfortable for me to watch. I could feel her skin suffocating.
It didn't look any more uncomfortable than, say, this or this. I was actually expecting something even more grotesque. Next time, they might try applying all of the foundation first, followed by the eyeshadow, lipgloss and blush.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:24 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
It didn't look any more uncomfortable than, say, this or this. I was actually expecting something even more grotesque. Next time, they might try applying all of the foundation first, followed by the eyeshadow, lipgloss and blush.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:24 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
They do know that women take off their make up every day right?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [7 favorites]
That overwrought music was the worst possible choice. "Take me seriously. Zis is deep, deep art." Ugh.
posted by nosila at 8:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by nosila at 8:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I wear make-up daily (I suffer from dermatillomania, so I have some fairly heavy-duty foundation) and am quite fond of the eye make-up. But even then I found it somewhat uncomfortable. I'm not surprised they didn't go with the mascara; the poor girl wouldn't be able to blink afterward.
posted by mippy at 8:26 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by mippy at 8:26 AM on July 4, 2011
Photoshop > Apply Filter > Craquelure
It was like Photoshop 3.0 though because I had to wait 3 minutes to see the effect.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:29 AM on July 4, 2011 [7 favorites]
It was like Photoshop 3.0 though because I had to wait 3 minutes to see the effect.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:29 AM on July 4, 2011 [7 favorites]
Next, they should have a doctor show what happens when you administer a year's worth of antidepressant or blood pressure medicine or chemotherapy all at once. Because this is a meaningful point and not goddamn retarded at all.
"Make-up might look good at first, but you're really covering yourself up and distorting your features"
If you slather it on with a trowel, sure.
posted by kafziel at 8:32 AM on July 4, 2011 [6 favorites]
"Make-up might look good at first, but you're really covering yourself up and distorting your features"
If you slather it on with a trowel, sure.
posted by kafziel at 8:32 AM on July 4, 2011 [6 favorites]
We tested a 100-layer session a few days before on our intern, who is a man. We wanted to make sure that this amount of makeup wouldn't kill a person. It didn't kill our intern so we trusted everything would be fine on Hannelore.
Har har har
posted by KokuRyu at 8:36 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Har har har
posted by KokuRyu at 8:36 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
They do know that women take off their make up every day right?
Believe it or not, I've known women for whom this isn't true.
posted by Jehan at 8:37 AM on July 4, 2011
Believe it or not, I've known women for whom this isn't true.
posted by Jehan at 8:37 AM on July 4, 2011
On the plus side, you only have to do this for one day.
posted by mazola at 8:45 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by mazola at 8:45 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
I didn't take it off as a teenager, because I thought I could just 'keep it for the next day' and therefore save time and money. I didn't get acne 'til I was 21.
posted by mippy at 8:46 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by mippy at 8:46 AM on July 4, 2011
Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
posted by flarbuse at 8:49 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
posted by flarbuse at 8:49 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Next up - a frowning model has to wear 365 sets of clothes to minimal guitar music. Because, you know, clothes are bad.
posted by iotic at 8:50 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by iotic at 8:50 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I would be complete if she was wearing 365 outfits at once.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
Did not get that memo.
posted by Trochanter at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011
Did not get that memo.
posted by Trochanter at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011
Am I the only one blown away by the quantities here? I wear makeup pretty much daily and I never come even close to 7 bottles of foundation or 2 of liquid blush a year.
posted by mynameisluka at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by mynameisluka at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [9 favorites]
Not sure where you get that from. I've never seen any kind of consensus there, save the usual dullards who say 'why do you want to put that stuff on your face/body, everyone looks better without it and you're wrong' you get in any discussions about appearance modification, anywhere. Lots of people here are in favour of both, many aren't, nobody much cares what everyone else does.
posted by mippy at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mippy at 8:51 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
That overwrought music was the worst possible choice. "Take me seriously. Zis is deep, deep art." Ugh.
Besides the synchronizing of the glockenspiel with initial appliance of eyebrow pencil (which made it feel even more light), it was minimal, slow, and wandering music. Overwrought doesn't mean "I don't like it".
posted by hanoixan at 8:53 AM on July 4, 2011
Besides the synchronizing of the glockenspiel with initial appliance of eyebrow pencil (which made it feel even more light), it was minimal, slow, and wandering music. Overwrought doesn't mean "I don't like it".
posted by hanoixan at 8:53 AM on July 4, 2011
Eww.
posted by chillmost at 8:56 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by chillmost at 8:56 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
If make-up was a lot more of the wacky awesome greens, blues and yellows that you sometimes see on photo shoots, an optional accessory rather than a nigh-mandatory fact of life, I'm sure we as a community would support it more.
If tattoos were more along the lines of "permanent makeup," I'm sure we'd support it a lot less.
posted by explosion at 8:57 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
If make-up was a lot more of the wacky awesome greens, blues and yellows that you sometimes see on photo shoots, an optional accessory rather than a nigh-mandatory fact of life, I'm sure we as a community would support it more.
If tattoos were more along the lines of "permanent makeup," I'm sure we'd support it a lot less.
posted by explosion at 8:57 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Reductio ad absurd.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 9:02 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 9:02 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
That overwrought music was the worst possible choice. "Take me seriously. Zis is deep, deep art." Ugh.
Besides the synchronizing of the glockenspiel with initial appliance of eyebrow pencil (which made it feel even more light), it was minimal, slow, and wandering music. Overwrought doesn't mean "I don't like it".
Huh.
From the site:
Soundtrack: No music on our shoots! Unless we do a music video and the artists need to lip-sync. But we don't like lip-syncing, so that never happens in our videos. Music distracts.
posted by likeso at 9:03 AM on July 4, 2011
Besides the synchronizing of the glockenspiel with initial appliance of eyebrow pencil (which made it feel even more light), it was minimal, slow, and wandering music. Overwrought doesn't mean "I don't like it".
Huh.
From the site:
Soundtrack: No music on our shoots! Unless we do a music video and the artists need to lip-sync. But we don't like lip-syncing, so that never happens in our videos. Music distracts.
posted by likeso at 9:03 AM on July 4, 2011
It's great if you can forgo makeup and look halfway decent to boot. But if you have Rosacea or Lupus (or any other type of skin disorder), foundation with powder is a godsend. Without it, I look like a clown.
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 9:05 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 9:05 AM on July 4, 2011
mynameisluka: "Am I the only one blown away by the quantities here? I wear makeup pretty much daily and I never come even close to 7 bottles of foundation or 2 of liquid blush a year."
Agreed! I think we're doing it wrong. I go though about 7 tubes of mascara a year but only one bottle of foundation. My roseacea means that I've never bought blush.
posted by WowLookStars at 9:06 AM on July 4, 2011
Agreed! I think we're doing it wrong. I go though about 7 tubes of mascara a year but only one bottle of foundation. My roseacea means that I've never bought blush.
posted by WowLookStars at 9:06 AM on July 4, 2011
flarbuse: "Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!"
Bull.
posted by Splunge at 9:07 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!"
Bull.
posted by Splunge at 9:07 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah. I've been using the same bottle of foundation for six months or so and I wear it daily during the week.
I wear wacky yellows and greens a lot (if you're going to 'distort your appearance', you may as well be blatant) but even then it takes a lot of work to use up your average eyeshadow or blusher. Mascara usually gets disposed of because it gets old rather than because it runs out. Of course, we could all just be doing it wrong.
posted by mippy at 9:14 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I wear wacky yellows and greens a lot (if you're going to 'distort your appearance', you may as well be blatant) but even then it takes a lot of work to use up your average eyeshadow or blusher. Mascara usually gets disposed of because it gets old rather than because it runs out. Of course, we could all just be doing it wrong.
posted by mippy at 9:14 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Let's watch someone eat 365 days' worth of food all at once to make a point about obesity, or something.
but let's not link to that Mr. Creosote sketch from Monty Python because that's the first link I thought of, too
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:18 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
but let's not link to that Mr. Creosote sketch from Monty Python because that's the first link I thought of, too
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:18 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one blown away by the quantities here? I wear makeup pretty much daily and I never come even close to 7 bottles of foundation or 2 of liquid blush a year.
I wear tinted foundation with a low SPF and I can't imagine going through more than about a tube and a half in a year, probably no more than one tube. And I use cream blush, which usually dries up or the compact breaks before I finish it off. But I also don't get professionally photographed, which is the sort of makeup treatment she seemed to be getting as a one-day thing.
The face-melt effect at the end was pretty uncanny valley for me. I wanted to hose her face off with a dentists's water-pik and then give her a good scrub because that was what I wanted after seeing it.
posted by immlass at 9:21 AM on July 4, 2011
I wear tinted foundation with a low SPF and I can't imagine going through more than about a tube and a half in a year, probably no more than one tube. And I use cream blush, which usually dries up or the compact breaks before I finish it off. But I also don't get professionally photographed, which is the sort of makeup treatment she seemed to be getting as a one-day thing.
The face-melt effect at the end was pretty uncanny valley for me. I wanted to hose her face off with a dentists's water-pik and then give her a good scrub because that was what I wanted after seeing it.
posted by immlass at 9:21 AM on July 4, 2011
Needs a 'deliberately obtuse' tag.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:27 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by benito.strauss at 9:27 AM on July 4, 2011
How about a years worth of socks in one day?
posted by sammyo at 9:34 AM on July 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 9:34 AM on July 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
an optional accessory rather than a nigh-mandatory fact of life
I find it to be more or less optional. I keep trying to convince my (otherwise very women's lib-ish) mom of the same.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:43 AM on July 4, 2011
I find it to be more or less optional. I keep trying to convince my (otherwise very women's lib-ish) mom of the same.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:43 AM on July 4, 2011
"Make-up might look good at first, but you're really covering yourself up and distorting your features"
If you slather it on with a trowel, sure.
You do understand that I was pointing out that the message was bland and heavy-handed, yes?
posted by howfar at 9:47 AM on July 4, 2011
If you slather it on with a trowel, sure.
You do understand that I was pointing out that the message was bland and heavy-handed, yes?
posted by howfar at 9:47 AM on July 4, 2011
Metafilter: this is a meaningful point and not goddamn retarded at all
posted by mazola at 10:04 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by mazola at 10:04 AM on July 4, 2011
"Take me seriously. Zis is deep, deep art." Ugh.
I know these guys personally and I spoke to them at length about this project as they were working on it. I'm pretty sure the message isn't "make up is bad" and their approach is rarely super-serious (take a look at some of their other stuff). The impression I got was that they were more interested in making something that was funny, grotesque and beautiful at the same time.
posted by skullbee at 10:09 AM on July 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
I know these guys personally and I spoke to them at length about this project as they were working on it. I'm pretty sure the message isn't "make up is bad" and their approach is rarely super-serious (take a look at some of their other stuff). The impression I got was that they were more interested in making something that was funny, grotesque and beautiful at the same time.
posted by skullbee at 10:09 AM on July 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
Metafilter: an optional accessory rather than a nigh-mandatory fact of life
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:25 AM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Why didn't they just pour seven bottles of makeup in a bowl and glop it on all at ounce with a rubber spatula? It looks like that's what they did anyway, and they could have been done before lunchtime.
posted by longsleeves at 10:33 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by longsleeves at 10:33 AM on July 4, 2011
> Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
Nah, they just hate art.
posted by ardgedee at 10:34 AM on July 4, 2011
Nah, they just hate art.
posted by ardgedee at 10:34 AM on July 4, 2011
I rather liked that the single day's worth of makeup was rather minimal and was still grotesque. But then again, my makeup threshold could be off, I live with a drag queen.
posted by munchingzombie at 10:48 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by munchingzombie at 10:48 AM on July 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
This was a little silly.
I sometimes (like, maybe, 40% of the time) wear bright colored eyeshadows, facial powder, a smidge of lipstick, and a little concealer now and then, but I can't remember the last time I wore foundation. The 8th grade school play, maybe? It made me break out back then, and feels icky.
For the record, I have lots of pretty tattoos. They feel like skin.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:50 AM on July 4, 2011
I sometimes (like, maybe, 40% of the time) wear bright colored eyeshadows, facial powder, a smidge of lipstick, and a little concealer now and then, but I can't remember the last time I wore foundation. The 8th grade school play, maybe? It made me break out back then, and feels icky.
For the record, I have lots of pretty tattoos. They feel like skin.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:50 AM on July 4, 2011
I'm pretty surprised by all the negative reactions... I didn't think the message was, "Makeup is bad!", I thought it was a kind of cool-in-a-squicky-way art piece, that's all.
posted by Zephyrial at 11:04 AM on July 4, 2011
posted by Zephyrial at 11:04 AM on July 4, 2011
I worked until recently with a woman in her sixties who told me she got up an hour early every day to put on makeup. She told me she would never allow herself to be seen without it, even by her roomate. It was extreme and always exactly the same: foundation from the neck to the hairline you could have written in with your finger, powder, rouge, bright blue eye shadow up to the browline, bright white concealer below the eyes, scarlet red lipstick which she was always reapplying, the works. All she needed was a clown wig and she could have gone to a hospital children's ward and handed out balloons.
A colleague (who did not sell Avon) once offered her fun free makeover. She became insulted.
posted by longsleeves at 11:55 AM on July 4, 2011
A colleague (who did not sell Avon) once offered her fun free makeover. She became insulted.
posted by longsleeves at 11:55 AM on July 4, 2011
I was expecting a time-lapse photo of 365 individual layers of makeup being applied.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 1:36 PM on July 4, 2011
posted by The Hamms Bear at 1:36 PM on July 4, 2011
Just for kicks, take a look into the increasing use of nanotech applied to cosmetics. Downright scary, keeping in mind that the current trend to deploy nanoparticles in cosmetics means that anyone who isn't very careful is a walking experiment for cosmetic companies.
posted by Vibrissae at 3:53 PM on July 4, 2011
posted by Vibrissae at 3:53 PM on July 4, 2011
"Let's watch someone eat 365 days' worth of food all at once to make a point about obesity, or something. "
Watch the hot dog eating contest today, did you?
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:21 PM on July 4, 2011
Watch the hot dog eating contest today, did you?
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:21 PM on July 4, 2011
kozad: "Yes, I'm not sure what the point of this was, given that the end result of the film was exactly what one would picture, given the premise."
You could say the same thing about the entire modelling industry "it's just one of those women wearing one of those dresses, as if we couldn't predict what that would look like". You could make a similar complaint about any movie that has a script or any music that was written before being performed, but somehow score reading and script reading never really took off as multi million dollar passtimes.
posted by idiopath at 5:42 PM on July 4, 2011
You could say the same thing about the entire modelling industry "it's just one of those women wearing one of those dresses, as if we couldn't predict what that would look like". You could make a similar complaint about any movie that has a script or any music that was written before being performed, but somehow score reading and script reading never really took off as multi million dollar passtimes.
posted by idiopath at 5:42 PM on July 4, 2011
I'm going to make a video in which I wear a year's worth of clothes all at once.
(Who wants to fund me buying a year's worth of clothes?)
posted by madcaptenor at 5:47 PM on July 4, 2011
(Who wants to fund me buying a year's worth of clothes?)
posted by madcaptenor at 5:47 PM on July 4, 2011
I don’t understand how things get this far. I can understand saying "what if we did 365 days worth of makeup all at once" followed by a little laughter, but surely the next sentence out of someone’s mouth would be "no, that would be stupid and pointless". It’s not like you got to the end and thought "oh wow, that’s not what I thought this would be". Actually I just watched the first couple of seconds and another second or two near the end.
posted by bongo_x at 5:47 PM on July 4, 2011
posted by bongo_x at 5:47 PM on July 4, 2011
Metafilter: Decidedly anti-makeup (temporary artificial distortion of one's appearance) and pro-tattoo (permanent artificial distortion of one's appearance).
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
I think the difference here is that some women feel obligated to wear makeup when they'd rather not; I don't think anybody of any gender feels obligated to get tattoos when they'd rather not.
(Is "hipster" a gender?)
posted by madcaptenor at 5:48 PM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
And all without the slightest trace of hypocrisy!
I think the difference here is that some women feel obligated to wear makeup when they'd rather not; I don't think anybody of any gender feels obligated to get tattoos when they'd rather not.
(Is "hipster" a gender?)
posted by madcaptenor at 5:48 PM on July 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was a good video piece. The pacing was interesting: showing the initial applications in great detail, then NOT belaboring each successive layer of makeup yet giving the gradual accretion just enough time to register as such. And of course, the payoff! Good for a simultaneous laugh and cringe. What more does one expect from Art?
posted by gorgor_balabala at 7:02 PM on July 4, 2011
posted by gorgor_balabala at 7:02 PM on July 4, 2011
Next up - a frowning model has to wear 365 sets of clothes to minimal guitar music. Because, you know, clothes are bad.
He's smiling, mostly, and only manages about six months' worth. But it's still a world record.
posted by flabdablet at 8:58 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
He's smiling, mostly, and only manages about six months' worth. But it's still a world record.
posted by flabdablet at 8:58 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
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