The Leather Diaries: the Rise and Fall of Rocket Queen
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories THE LEATHER DIARIES: THE RISE AND FALL OF ROCKET QUEEN By Erin Tysowski BFA University of Calgary, 1999 B.Ed. University of Calgary, 1999 A THESIS SUPPORT PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN APPLIED ARTS in Visual Arts EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY OF ART + DESIGN 2016 ©Erin Tysowski, 2016 ABSTRACT In the midst of doing my Master’s degree, I created an alternate persona for myself. She belongs to a tribe of edgy women, and explores various aspects of self in relation to past and present narratives of fandom. Fandom is a subculture of fans that share a common interest, in this case heavy metal. Since 2014, I’ve framed my alternate identity in the art world. For this paper and my art and graduate work she is Rocket Queen [ET]. Her desire to relive becoming Youth Gone Wild1 is a desperate attempt to escape the inevitable: mortality. Rocket Queen and Rocket Queen [ET]- my persona name- is a fantasy character acting in a type of large social drama or my own rock drama where we can witness the rise and fall of rebellious women. Rocket Queen [ET] takes her adventures through a series of art making in the form of rock posters stapled up around the city of Calgary, Alberta as interventions, installations using concert lights and leather reconfigured to appear in the tradition of objects/wall paintings. My aim is to understand and disrupt gender expectations and to signify homologous and heterogeneous characteristics, while aestheticizing and fetishizing the coded material of heavy metal culture. Leather remains a powerful masculine signifier in heavy metal and is prominent in my artwork. It carries with it a history of objectification and sex along with other meanings and histories. In my thesis project I explore the predominately male subculture as “other” and from the perspective of a female, a fan, someone engaging the genre not in London but in the Canadian prairies, and as an artist. My media comprise paintings, mock paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, theatrical lights, paper posters, civic interventions and gallery installations. I am identifying with this subculture and its feelings of empowerment and freedom, while simultaneously being isolated from its core as a player. 1 Skid Row, Youth Gone Wild, 1989. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ 5 DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ 6 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Music..................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 The Mosh Pit ....................................................................................................................... 11 2 THE RISE OF ROCKET QUEEN ............................................................................................ 12 2.1 The Origin ........................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Fandom and the Middle Age Groupie ................................................................................ 17 2.3 Fetish Culture and Sex in Heavy Metal .............................................................................. 21 3 ADVENTURES OF ROCKET QUEEN ................................................................................... 22 3.1 Leather Tableaux / The Leather Diaries ............................................................................. 22 3.2 Interpretations and Narratives ............................................................................................. 37 4 THE FALL OF ROCKET QUEEN ........................................................................................... 38 4.1 Reflections on the Masters Graduate Exhibition ................................................................ 39 4.2 Epilogue .............................................................................................................................. 41 APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................................ 43 APPENDIX 2 ................................................................................................................................ 45 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 46 DISCOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 47 FILMOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 47 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. Erin Tysowski, Back in Black, 2013.................................................................................. 12 Fig. 2. Erin Tysowski, Metal, 2014. ............................................................................................. 12 Fig. 3. Erin Tysowski, Head Bangers, 2014. ................................................................................ 13 Fig. 4. Erin Tysowski, Heavy Metal Timeline, 2016. ................................................................... 14 Fig. 5. Erin Tysowski, Rocket Queen poster installation, 2015. ................................................... 16 Fig. 6. Erin Tysowski, Rocket Queen, 2015. ................................................................................ 19 Fig. 7. Erin Tysowski, Not with the Band, 2015. .......................................................................... 20 Fig. 8. Erin Tysowski, Poster Poles, 2014. .................................................................................. 23 Fig. 9. Erin Tysowski, Head banging, On a Wall in My House, 2015. ........................................ 23 Fig. 10. Erin Tysowski, Switch, 2015. .......................................................................................... 24 Fig. 11. Erin Tysowski, Rocket Queen, 2015. .............................................................................. 25 Fig. 12. Erin Tysowski, Uniform, 2015. ....................................................................................... 26 Fig. 13. Erin Tysowski, Plan for Unisex, pinned to studio wall, 2015. ........................................ 28 Fig. 14. Erin Tysowski, Unisex, 2015. .......................................................................................... 29 Fig. 15. Erin Tysowski, Imposter, 2016........................................................................................ 30 Fig. 16. Erin Tysowski, Open Up and Say AHH (after Poison, 1988), 2016. .............................. 31 Fig. 17. Nancy Grossman (b.1940), Bride, 1966. ......................................................................... 32 Fig. 18. Colleen Heslin, Tabby Cat, 2015..................................................................................... 33 Fig. 19. Erin Tysowski, Red Skirt and Zipper, 2016..................................................................... 34 Fig. 20. Erin Tysowski, Red Leather Wall, 2016.......................................................................... 35 Fig. 21. Erin Tysowski, Fetish and Fashion (after Steele), 2016. ................................................ 35 Fig. 22. Erin Tysowski, detail of Red Skirt, 2016. ........................................................................ 36 Fig. 23. Erin Tysowski, Leather Pin-Up, 2016............................................................................. 40 Fig. 24. Erin Tysowski, Black Widow, 2015................................................................................. 41 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I thank my Joseph, Anna and Evelyn. Thanks to my supervisor Landon Mackenzie and my fellow graduates, faculty and staff of Emily Carr University of Art and Design and I extend a special note of thanks to Kimberly Phillips, Kathleen Ritter, M. Simon Levin, Aaron Peck, John Cussans, Bruce Grenville, Mimi Gellman, Mark Neufeld and Chris Jones. Lastly, thanks to Zab, Janice, Judy, Jamie, Ro and Michelle – Rocket Queens Forever. DEDICATION To All the Rocket Queens 6 She lays out her leather pants carefully on the bed, with just enough room to place the black Metallica shirt above the waist. She walks over to the stereo to turn up Motley Crue as loud as possible, but not so loud the landlord will bang on the floor. She leans into the mirror and holds her breath as she drags a solid black line along her eyelid. She grabs her hot pink lipstick and purses her lips into a kiss. Dancing back to the bedroom to coolly slide into her leather pants. “She’s got looks to kill,” she growls, as she leans back, sticking her tongue out, making devil horns with her fingers. Rocket Queen [ET], 1999 (Composed in a basement suite on 16th Avenue in Calgary) 1 INTRODUCTION Cultural theorist Dick Hebdige, in his cult classic “Subculture: The meaning of style”, writes that music offers an “escape–from