Lynn Hershman-Leeson is a contemporary artist who created an alter ego persona, Roberta Breitmore, in order to explore themes of "gender, identity politics, and selfhood."
"From 1974 until 1978, the artist conceived of, constructed and ‘developed’ a fictional persona and alter ego: that of Roberta Breitmore. The creation of Roberta Breitmore consisted not only of a physical self-transformation through make-up, clothing, and wigs which enabled the occasional role-playing, but a fully-fledged, ‘complete’ personality who existed over an extended period of time and whose existence could be proven in the world through physical evidence: from a driver’s license and credit card to letters from her psychiatrist."
The artist didn't just imagine an alter-ego, but actualized this person through small details such as dental records, credit cards, an apartment, and a drivers license. She wrote an ad seeking a roommate, and all of the people who responded became a part of the actualizing of this figure. In that way, she reminds us that we become who we are only because of and through others.
She also created a diagram of body language to assist herself, and document her artistry, which reminds me of how Tom Ripley used body language as his method of identity enactment.
The entire project is described here: http://www.lynnhershman.com/files/lynnhershman-robertabreitmore.pdf
"From 1974 until 1978, the artist conceived of, constructed and ‘developed’ a fictional persona and alter ego: that of Roberta Breitmore. The creation of Roberta Breitmore consisted not only of a physical self-transformation through make-up, clothing, and wigs which enabled the occasional role-playing, but a fully-fledged, ‘complete’ personality who existed over an extended period of time and whose existence could be proven in the world through physical evidence: from a driver’s license and credit card to letters from her psychiatrist."
The artist didn't just imagine an alter-ego, but actualized this person through small details such as dental records, credit cards, an apartment, and a drivers license. She wrote an ad seeking a roommate, and all of the people who responded became a part of the actualizing of this figure. In that way, she reminds us that we become who we are only because of and through others.
She also created a diagram of body language to assist herself, and document her artistry, which reminds me of how Tom Ripley used body language as his method of identity enactment.
The entire project is described here: http://www.lynnhershman.com/files/lynnhershman-robertabreitmore.pdf
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