In regards to my blogpost ‘How will my life be observed in25 thousand years time?’, I would like to note that the photograph of HRH Lady
Diana as featured may not be as some of us remember her. I found the picture of
the wax model of HRH Lady Diana quite alarming, stark and synthetic despite
attempts to the contrary (see picture). I would add that whilst it was made to look ‘real
life’ (in wax), I thought that it was far from ‘real life’. I suppose that
poses the obvious question: Can some real life pictures/sculptures/ photographs
be more authentic than other attempts at real life? Does it matter? Is it more
of a public thing, more of a stimulus – a memory prompting mission to engineer
or awaken our sense of fiction, a belief and foster a strong sense of
identification. Personification is the key, - a mechanism in placing mental
connections, social and political hooks, and intimate histories, significant to
those it concerns. Or mere titillation, - entertainment found in the corridors
of Madame Tussauds in London where you will find HRH Lady
Diana as wax model.
The power of the image (not just physical) and the
associations it provides foster a psychological in-road as to who we are and whom
we identify with of course. It provides meaning, however real or unreal,
fleeting, passing… We are movements caught in memories. They are stored and
they return – ebb and flow, re-weave themselves into our lives that ultimately
make us tick. We shape our moments, our approaches by the signs they signify,
that impress, that formulate from our sublime to our ridiculous. We are what we
believe. It’s what matters.
So returning to the artificial, the ‘real life’ wax version
of HRH Lady Diana scenario, does the reaction that I find the picture of her in
Madame Tussauds as synthetic really matter? Is she any less authentic as a wax
model (or photograph for that matter) that in itself is nonetheless void of any
real/accurate physical resemblance other than a prompt at our memory? Many will
automatically take it as given that this is indeed the lady that was
(physically). Indeed, the fact that we need to recreate a life-like appearance
is curious in itself. It qualifies as skill, ingenuity and hi-tech which we
marvel at perhaps. These days (in 2017) many people find the magic in
smartphones and tablets. They are sophisticated, seductive, and clever (for the
time-being anyway). I think I’ll go and have a series of portraits done or
commission another life size, life-like wax model of HRH lady Diana copied from
the picture I have. Or have a 3D model print out done. Let’s see what happens…
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