Anne Friedberg’s The Virtual Window is a look at what windows have come to mean to humanity over time. Originally windows were a means of bringing light and ventilation into a dwelling but then with the development of glass, windows became more of a status symbol. Glass was expensive and made it possible to bring in light and a view of the world outside without also bringing in the weather. Glass windows to the wealthy became like paintings or photos, growing in size and quantity, and offering a panoramic view of the world to the viewer. And just like art, not everyone was lucky enough, or wealthy enough, to possess one.
Film created a new sort of window, a window that showed a different view of the world. Film had the ability to show not only “reality” as the filmmaker sees it, but film could also show fiction, an aspect of human life that had not yet been viewed in such a “realistic” sense. And then after film there was television, a window that brought the entire world as well as entire worlds of thought right into everyone’s living room. Television was so pervasive and so adept at bringing the world home, it was hard to imagine another device that could bring more “real life” inside. The computer screen, though, is a window that has a much greater ability then the television to bring “reality” home. You can view films and television shows through your computer, any image or piece of art, and just about any piece of information or misinformation. But the computer has also created a major shift in our view of reality through the onset of “virtual worlds” and “virtual reality.” Anne Friedberg comments on how the window, or the virtual window, seems to be growing increasingly transparent. The distance between the viewing public and the reality shown to them is becoming increasingly short. As Anne Friedberg says, “Virtual images radically transformed the twentieth-century understanding of reality, and yet most virtual images were seen in frames and through frames. Which technologies will break through the frame and have us climb through the metaphoric window?” (Friedberg, page 348) This passage seems to ask the key question. When will windows come full circle? Windows began without glass and it seems that soon we will be able to go through them again. Windows are close to coming full circle, from something to let the world in (glassless widows), to something though which we see the world (glass windows), to something through which we view an individual’s idea of the world (film, TV), to something through which we see a virtual reality (computer screen). All of these types of windows have frames, but only one of them allows you to go through it into the world it shows. But when will this virtual reality we see through our computers become yet another “real” world that we can walk around in. Already there are people who seem to completely live in these virtual worlds as they often seem more real that the world outside our glass windows. When will the frame be taken away? Its only a matter of time before we will be able to step through this virtual window and into the new reality. “Is the ‘age of windows’ – and by extension, the age of screens – reaching…its end?” (Friedberg, 349)
This blog posting originally appeared on dumbangelmag.blogspot.com last year in August of '06. Its still a piece of writing that Im proud of and thought I would throw it on here.
As most of us know, 1964 was a pretty big year for music. The English youth scene was just taking off and the British Invasion had just begun to take over America, even as American pop music was coming into its own. The Beach Boys were rocking out, having huge hits all across the country, spreading their sun-bleached love to teenage girls everywhere. James Brown & his Famous Flames were creating a stir, and Motown was starting to make it big with the Supremes, Marvin Gaye and the Tempations all happening at the same time. Lesley Gore, who was born in Brooklyn, New York had her first pop hit, "It's My Party" in April 1963 and her star kept rising throughout the next few years.
In October 1964, The TAMI Show was shot in front of a live audience of screaming teenagers at The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Southern California. The biggest names in music of the day were there, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Miracles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, the Rolling Stones (the latter three representing for the Brits), Provincetown, Massachusetts' own garage godz the Barbarians and then, Lesley Gore, with hosts Jan & Dean. The TAMI Show was a huge concert that captured the excitement over everything that was happening in music at the time, and everything was new.
The theme from The TAMI Show, sung by Jan & Dean, written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, told of all the amazing acts that were going to be performing ("here they come, from all over the world") and wrote in "the representative from New York City is Lesley Gore, now, she sure looks pretty." And Lesley did look pretty, with her gorgeous smile and her signature flipped hair. It's quite possible that because she was so young and so pretty, she left a strong impression on the Beach Boys, who she hung out with at the taping of The TAMI Show.
The next summer, the Beach Boys came out with their great album Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) that featured the song "The Girl From New York City". Connection? Probably. Lesley Gore wasn't someone who was easy to forget. She had a very distinctive voice, deeper than was usually normal for pop stars, and almost raspy in some songs like "Hey Now." She was very pretty, and very energetic, two things which probably helped her become a star.
While Lesley did sing many songs like "If That's The Way You Want It" (Tell me that you aren't ready to settle down with one / Want to keep me on a string while your having fun / If that's the way you want it / So be it, my love) she also went out on a limb with songs like "You Don't Own Me" ("You don't own me / I'm not just one of your many toys / You don't own me / Don't say I can't go with other boys / And don't tell me what to do / and don't tell me what to say / and please when I go out with you, don't put me on display"), which she recorded in '63, and she was rewarded with a number 2 hit.
While Lesley is known and remembered for her voice and her catchy pop hits, I am a fan of hers for an entirely different reason. I love her hair. Lesley Gore is my undisputed hair idol.
I have the greatest hits collection, It's My Party; The Mercury Anthology and the photo that was used on the cover really is something else. I would have to imagine that it's one of the first publicity photos of Lesley Gore because she looks very young, and her hair is done up into this magnificently tall, gravity-defying bouffant with these saucy bangs.
I remember seeing this picture of Lesley Gore amongst my mother's extensive CD collection when I was growing up, before I ever listened to it, and was always amazed by the pretty girl's hair. Lesley's hair almost seems like it's so tall that it continues outside of the frame for at least another foot.
Lesley Gore seems to have managed to have the perfect hair for every era of hair fashion during the '60s, if her publicity photos are anything to go by. She had a short, bobbed flip for most of her early career, but she also had a long flip kept in place with headband, and various bouffant hairstyles (some better than others); I have even seen an amazing photo of her that was probably taken in the late '60s with this large bouffant compiled of large soft waves with white beads strung throughout.
I have been trying to imitate Lesley Gore's different '60s hairstyles for a while now, but can only pull off a half hearted flip. I probably just need to use more AquaNet hairspray, lots more.
Late this last winter my mother found out that Lesley Gore was going to be speaking live in front of an audience at the 92nd St. "Y" and immediately bought tickets. I was thrilled, I couldn't wait to see her, have her sign my much listened to Mercury Anthology, and inspect her hair. When Lesley walked out on stage I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, just knowing that the woman standing in front of me was Lesley Gore, my hair idol. But after a few minutes of a boring interview, the shock wore off, and I looked, really looked at Lesley's hair.
While I suppose her current style is a good, modern choice for someone her age, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Her hair was bleached blond, straight, and cut into a choppy, short look. Compared to her hair from her youth, it was pretty boring. I kept picturing her stylized hair that curled up around her cheeks, drawing your eyes to her smile, bouncing as she walked, and her current hair that just fell flat around her face couldn't compare.
In the middle of her interview Lesley broke into song, getting a roaring ovation from the crowd who was thrilled to be hearing the songs they love her for, but again, she disappointed. Instead of giving the crowd what they wanted she sang a short medley of her hits and then sang a song off of her new album to scattered applause.
After the interview, Lesley sat in front of the auditorium to sign her albums, old and new. I approached her with my old CD and tentatively said, "I'm a big fan of yours." Lesley didn't look up, but silently signed my CD and pushed it back to me.
I mustered up all the courage I had and said, "Lesley you're my hair idol." She didn't look up; she was busy signing another CD. I'm sure she just didn't hear me.
