dickens

My life has been very frustrating of late. My job is an infinite source of stress and to make matters worse, I've been dealing with a back injury so I have not been able to work out like I used to. On the bright side of things I am getting better. However, without my usual way to vent these pressures I've been drinking way too much, listening to angry girl music and dreaming about taking up boxing again. I have become downright obsessed about getting back into boxing - so much so that I'm doing push ups and sit ups every day again. In this mindset I saw the video for P!nk's U+UR Hand for the first time. (Remember the angry girl music?) Instantly I fell in love with - well all of the characters she portrays - but especially the boxer, Hard Candy. I did a little digging into the concept behind the video and found out that she used three characters created by the late (great) artist Marty Emond. She used the personas without permission from the estate. Now, while I completely agree that she should have, out of respect, asked permission, being an art historian, I must argue in her defense as well. There is a big difference between copying and appropriation. She didn't steal his drawings and print them on T-shirts, she made a live action homage to a truly amazing illustrator. So I chose to love them both.