Webspinna Artist Statement

            As we considered this project, we found it difficult to come up with a topic for our Webspinna battle. It wasn’t until we discussed different personas in class that we arrived at a solution. We realized that we would be more effective if we focused our theme on our personas and not vice versa. Through this focus, we were able to discover and play with the question of why personas are created and maintained.

            Our personas for the Webspinna battle were Richard Simmons and Robin Sparkles. We found this particularly applicable as both are technically created personas themselves; Richard Simmons was originally named Milton and Robin Sparkles is the stage name of a fictional character in the television series How I Met Your Mother. We also wanted personas that were very different from our normal selves. With these personas in mind, we began choosing our clips and links.

            We chose links that were iconic of our personas. We wanted our personas to shine through and not necessarily our song or clip choices.

            Much like DJ Spooky’s Rhythm Text we didn’t want our performance to be dictated and controlled by the order of our pieces. Rather, we chose a beginning and an end, and let the rest happen spontaneously. This created some confusion and discord, but the project seemed to call for it. This contrasted with our personas, people who meticulously controlled their public appearance and identity.

            The performer Lady Gaga is a master of creating a persona. Her stage name is based on the Queen song “Radio Gaga” which Brian May wrote to illustrate the “messagelessness” of their songs. In much the same way, Lady Gaga has created a persona which mocks fame and the purpose that we tend to put behind music and art in general. Although our personas did not go this far, we did mock the idea of personas with our over-the-top outfits, which were so different from our normal selves.

            Through this, we discovered at least partially why personas are created. Through our taking on the personas of Richard Simmons and Robin Sparkles, we were able to be people, do things, and wear clothing that we normally wouldn’t.

            In conclusion, although we both were fairly hesitant to begin with when we read the description of this project, we were able to discover at least to some extent why and how people create personas for themselves. We also were able to develop personas and use this to perform in ways we wouldn’t if we were acting as ourselves.