No Lye

2012 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

8:48 minutes

Danielle Dean


No Lye by Danielle Dean documents a group of five women, including Dean herself, confined to a small, cramped bathroom, communicating only by using slogans culled from beauty advertisements (“beauty is skin deep”, “naturalise, it’s in our nature to be strong and balanced”) and quotes from political speeches (“we must protect our borders”, “we are fighting for our way of life and our ability to fight for freedom”). The result is a fragmented conversation that defies legibility. As sounds of a possible conflict rise from outside, the characters work together producing what looks like explosives from soap, towels, and an unmarked blue liquid. As the women implicate their own bodies into the narrative, the inherent gendered power in the vocabulary they are using is compounded. The rhetoric of beauty and politics become porous and interchangeable: both are attempting to control women’s bodies. The lye in the title references hair-relaxing chemicals primarily used by black women to straighten their hair, but also the duplicitous language in the film. A homophone of the word lie, it again points to the misleading propaganda we willingly submit to.


Danielle Dean creates videos that use appropriated language from archives of advertisements, political speeches, newscasts, and pop culture to create dialogues to investigate capitalism, post-colonialism, and patriarchy. Her work focuses on how subjectivity is constructed in relation to mass-marketed products, and how our behavior is molded by advertising. She also explores the dimensionality of materials and functions of technology through the lens of her own multinational background, and how they can be used as tools of oppression.


Colors:



Related works of genres: » california institute of the arts alumni  
» see more

Radical Hospitality
© » KADIST

Andrea Bowers

2015

Bowers’ Radical Hospitality (2015) is a sculptural contradiction: its red and blue neon letters proclaim the words of the title, signaling openness and generosity, while the barbed wires that encircle the words give another message entirely...

Study from May Day March, Los Angeles 2010 (Immigration Reform Now) and We Are Immigrants Not Terrorists
© » KADIST

Andrea Bowers

2010

The small drawings that comprise Study from May Day March, Los Angeles 2010 (Immigration Reform Now) and We Are Immigrants Not Terrorists are based on photographs taken at a political rally in downtown Los Angeles in which thousands of individuals demonstrated for immigrants’ rights...

Untitled (Wheelchair drawing)
© » KADIST

Edgar Arceneaux

2006

Untitled (Wheelchair Drawing) is a ten-foot photo transfer of the image of a wheelchair with burning embers in its seat...

The Bedroom
© » KADIST

Barbara Bloom

1997

In the 1980’s, while browsing Parisian fleamarkets, Barbara Bloom stumbled into an anonymous watercolor (dating to around 1960) in one of Paris’ fleamarkets, probably a study made by an interior designer for a bedroom...

Other related works, blended automatically  
» see more

True Red
© » KADIST

Danielle Dean

2016

In 2003, Nike released a pair of red and black sneakers (the Dunk Low Pro SB ) that were marketed as “vampire” sneakers...

Related works sharing similar palette  
» see more

“It Shouldn’t Be Exclusive”: Russell Tovey’s Guide to Art Collecting - via AnOtherÂ
© » LARRY'S LIST

“It Shouldn’t Be Exclusive”: Russell Tovey’s Guide to Art Collecting | AnOther The actor and self-confessed “art geek” is partnering with Sotheby’s next month for a special Contemporary Curated auction...

Zuza Golińska at KIN
© » CONTEMPORARYARTDAILY

Documentation of Zuza Golińska at KIN, Brussels is featured on Contemporary Art Daily....

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The artist who wants the Rafflesia; Thai colourful culture
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: The artist who wants the Rafflesia; Thai colourful culture | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar John Clewley October 1, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...

Over There
© » KADIST

Bontaro Dokuyama

2015

In Over There, Bontaro Dokuyama conducted a series of workshops with various people who had been forced to relocate in temporary housing after the Fukushima accident...

Other works by: » Danielle Dean  
» see more

True Red
© » KADIST

Danielle Dean

2016

In 2003, Nike released a pair of red and black sneakers (the Dunk Low Pro SB ) that were marketed as “vampire” sneakers...

True Red Ruin (Elmina Castle)
© » KADIST

Danielle Dean

2017

In True Red Ruin (Elmina Castle) , Danielle Dean uses archival documents to re-imagine colonial history from the 1400s, while also referencing her own personal history...

Hexfluorosilicic
© » KADIST

Danielle Dean

2015

Hexafluorosilicic acid is a type of sodium fluoride waste product that can be found in a large amount of widely available products such as cleaning fluids, toothpaste, rat poison, and drinking water...

Related works found in the same semantic group  
» see more

The Syphilis of Sisyphus
© » KADIST

Mary Reid Kelley

2011

In the video The Syphilis of Sisyphus (2011), Reid Kelley transported her heroine to the French demimonde...

Holiday Magic Is Made By Women. And It's Killing Us.
© » HUFFINGTON POST

The emotional labor women do this time of year threatens our mental health....

New Series on Les Wexner, Former Victoria’s Secret CEO and Noted Art Collector, Examines Ties to Jeffrey Epstein - via ARTnews
© » LARRY'S LIST

Epstein exploited his relationship with Victoria Secret to gain access to young women, the series alleges....

Untitled (Women)
© » KADIST

Matt Lipps

2011

Untitled (Women) (2011) presents a startlingly succinct history of violently romanticized femininity...