Women in Art/Women in Film

The art of morphing has come a long way since the day of screensavers on our families’ first computers, and for Philip Scott Johnson, an artist out of St. Louis, the same technology was the perfect medium to cycle through 500 years of art and cinema in his pieces Women in Art and Women in Film. The first video features 90 paintings (a full list can be found here); the second runs the gambit of 75 women in 80 years of film, from Mary Pickford to Halle Berry. And I thought morphing a dollar bill into a tiger was impressive!

After watching Women in Art, I expected the comparison to Women in Film to reveal how standards of beauty have changed, that today’s women would come off as false or plastic, but surprisingly I found little difference. Either a beautiful face has aged shockingly well over 500 years, or the two videos show us there is something more to beauty than the eye of the beholder. Certainly they shed new light on studies which link ‘attractiveness’ to symmetry in the face -– a biological instinct we can’t escape that Johnson captures in fewer than six minutes.

The discussion sparked by Johnson’s work continues even 10 months later. The videos are posted on countless blogs and web sites, including those such as Erectile Dysfunction and Female Masturbation Tips. The only controversy amongst the praise centers on the women Johnson left out rather than those he included. After Women in Film hit inboxes, many were disappointed to find only white women, and some wondered if Johnson wasn’t glorifying his own standard of beauty. Johnson posted a second version of Film, claiming the first got out prematurely and that he had always intended to included actress of color.

The strangest phenomena arising from the videos could be the division of viewers: those who feel an immeasurable sense of guilt from discovering Johnson’s works so late vs. the insufferable superiority worn by the videos’ earliest fans. With most viral content, the former group can respond, “Sorry, I have a life.” But now the content is high art, and a “too cool for school” attitude comes off as ignorant. America hasn’t felt this cultured since Ferris Bueller walked us through the Art Institute of Chicago.

Before we get too proud of ourselves, however, note that the No. 1 related video for both pieces on YouTube is entitled Orgy. Perhaps, in 500 years, our descendants will treasure the simple beauty of two girls and one guy drunk on a bed.