Someone asked me on facebook whether I feel I could use comedy for every subject, or if some things were taboo. After some reflection, I realized this question is worth a post of its own. Thanks Esther :-)

What is a taboo?! I could have asked that question back too, because taboos are individual and connect with our own values and boundaries. It’s a very intrigueing question. And I realized that indeed there are boundaries which I hold on to. In short my taboos are sex and death!

Tits of Steel and A*ses of Marble- Comicbook title-page made in 2005

Sex: I have an issue with nudity (oh I see raised eyebrows and “really?”)… well yes, I make jokes about sex and there is an amount of cleavage and the occasional butt-cheek, but I do have an issue with nudity, as I do respect my characters privacy and my readers sensibilities. I would not depict sex in a comic that could be considered pornographic and I don’t think I could make fun of child abuse as I think this is the most horrible thing ever.

Death: Again, I made jokes about our society’s tendency to be in denial about death. But then I doubt I could make jokes about actual tragedies, accidents and deaths. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t let a character die (in a funny way, maybe?), but that’s fictional for me. Although I remember when I wanted to kill off Simon a friend reminded me “I don’t know, life imitates art,…” and so I didn’t kill him. So I am careful with that too.

I also realize that if people make fun of those taboos, I do feel offended. So taboos for me are very much linked with what we feel is offensive. And as someone once asked me “Do you reflect on what people might think when they read your comics?”. I do actually. In the end I try to make comedy for a purpose. So even when I am consciously offensive, I am offending the system and the structures we created collectively (so it’s a shared offense). But my aim is not to offend any reader. when I scratch on topics that could be considered taboos (homosexuality, racial stereotypes, gender stereotypes), it is from a systemic perspective. I try to reflect what I observe in our society.

Which ultimately leads me to my question: Is there anything you, my fellow readers, find “crossing a line” in my comics? It would be interesting to explore that. As I always believe, if we find something that offends us personally, it holds valuable information about ourselves. And THAT is the interesting bit.

Please, feel free to comment and tell me your views!

Artist Corner

Why have you started with Working Beauty?

The simple answer: Well, I had to. The more complex answer is: I don’t know exactly why. I guess, at some point in my career I just missed doing comics and I missed the characters I used to create when I was still in school and university. It wasn’t just comics it was about creating an alternate reality where me and my friends could find ourselves in and do anything and cope with anything.

What do you mean with coping?

Well, as an example, at university some of my friends and I, we just dated those horrible guys, who either dumped us, or cheated on us… I can’t really remember all of it. And so I created short comic strips where we would kill them in the most horrific ways (think Piranha 3D meets Killer Germs or something)! My friends could contribute their ideas and I would draw it… It was a blast! It helped us deal with the resentment and move on, and laugh about it! And those were my first black and white and red comics. The red was for the blood! Those were very gruesome deaths, I tell you!

Can we see them?

Maybe one day… I recently looked through my back catalogue, and I think some comics could still be a fun read for fans of Working Beauty, if you can overlook the shabby drawings. I used to work much quicker but also less defined in those times. Well if anyone’s interested in reading them, let me know, I am really happy to put some work in them and make them available online! My personal favourite is still “T*ts of Steel and A*ses of Marble” a take on Greek Mythology… It’s like “300″ or “Immortals” just mainly with women!

So you’re saying that the characters in the comics are people you know?

Not really. The company for example is purely fictional and most characters are pure fiction too. But of course I would be lying if I denied that I base SOME characters on my own personality traits and also personality traits I observed in others. But even if I modeled a character on someone I know, the figure usually takes a life of its own and develops in ways that has nothing to do with the person. Or the other way around,  the comic character stagnates. I have a friend who broke her foot fallling off a horse and had a cast years ago, that went into my idea to give Sólrun a cast and a horse. Now my friend is long out of her cast (which was not heel-shaped by the way) and doesn’t use a wheelchair… So yes, life imitates art, and sometimes art imitates life, it’s all connected. But it’s not the same!

So are you still coping with something when you do Working Beauty?

Yes, the human female condition! That’s that! I have a certain perspective on our current corporate culture and the organizational systems we have created, and I think some of that is detrimental to the human condition. I can’t change it, but it’s my way to deal with it, by trying to make some of the inconsistencies visible and let our comic heroines struggle with it. I also deliberately said “female” condition in the beginning, because my point of view and my “suffering” is a female one.

What is the “female suffering”?

I think it has so many aspects that we are not even aware of it all. I think it boils down to the expectations we have. I’m going to out myself AGAIN as a big fan of RuPaul. In the most recent episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” called “Countdown to the Crown” RuPaul was playing the female news anchor and when the advertisement break was coming up she took out a cake from underneath the table and started icing it. In the next segment after announcing the next break she got out a juicer and started shoving carrots into it, smirking sexily to the camera. I thought that was so brilliant and so funny… A woman can’t be JUST a great news anchor, in our minds she also (STILL) has to be a great housewife… and those scenes just again showed how ridiculous that is! If anything, that’s exactly what I would love Working Beauty to be! Confrontational in a very funny way… but having people go “mmmh… “…

Do you think Working Beauty is achieving its intent?

I don’t know. The comments I get from readers are positive and there were a couple of episodes where I thought I really hit the mark (eg. the HR episode in the very first season where I got quite a big response). But it’s difficult to say. I also realize that my purpose has only recently started to really take shape, and I am starting to become more focused. I realize Working Beauty always had that “social commentary” thing going on, but maybe I used Working Beauty a bit to deal with my own resentment at the beginning, and now I am actually moving into something more purposeful, if that makes sense? Some of the ideas (even for the artist corner) come to me in dreams, and sometimes I wake up and think “this is what I have to do”. But saying that, I also wanted to give up on Working Beauty many times… There were many moments when I thought “oh there’s no point, just go and find yourself a day job again”… But I haven’t given up yet, because in those dark times, there’s always a person who comments or mails something really nice and supportive… and I go like “oh it’s still worth it”. And there’s always a voice in me that says it is important, and that I should continue. I still think that voice is wrong and wonder whether I should ask my doctor to give me some pills to shut it up… but… for the time being I am motivated to continue… so…

So how is Working Beauty going forward?

I never know… that’s the honest truth. Right now I needed to bring some really silly parodies into the world and we’re still going to see a take on “Titanic”, “Planet of the Apes” and “Lord of the Rings”. But at some point I will start on the new Season which will include a big surprise, and certainly go into a new direction than the previous one.

Is Molly coming back?

I don’t know how the story evolves, I certainly haven’t planned it for the beginning of the fourth Season! She is in Greenland now, she is happy. That’s all I know. But as with everything, I’d say “never say never”!

Thanks for reading this Q&A. If you are interested to ask something yourself, please provide questions in the comments, on facebook or via e-mail and we’ll add them to a next session!

Artist Corner

You might feel like “Why does Working Beauty make a parody of Showgirls? Isn’t Working Beauty promoting strong female characters? While Showgirls is just a bunch of misogynist crap?”

Untitled, watercolor at age 16, half-destroyed by flood-water

Well, I agree AND it is also a very camp interpretation of femininity and thus a commentary on women’s social standing. So while women are shown as uber-stereotypes and they are exploited out of their wits (which is a reflection of how society treats women), the movie itself is still celebrating uber-feminine characters.

I tell you why, Showgirls has become a cult classic in the gay and drag-community. Exactly because of it’s presentation of women! Most gay men love femininity (look at Almodovar’s movies for example)! And drag is not just about men putting on women’s clothes, it’s an art that often portrays the ultra-female, and often with that reflecting on how society sees women.

But then gay men don’t treat femininity as if it’s something bad, they celebrate it! … Is that the same in our corporate culture? My experience is the opposite. I am not impressed with men who go all rational on us nor with women who are afraid to be themselves. Because it’s bad to be emotional, to be a dramatic diva, to be a b*tch, to be “sexy”, to wear make-up… So in the corporate environment all becomes a big blob of “male characteristics” because that is STILL considered more appropriate when it comes to career and leadership.

We often think femininity is just the outside package. No it’s about being a woman, the estrogen, the mood swings, our different way of problem-solving, the hole she-bang (pun intended). My view is that the power actually lies in the feminine and how we actually are different from men! … And the challenge is to find the balance between becoming what society expects to be feminine (that more often than not is focused on the appearance) and yet not to deny our feminine side to become one of the men!

And so Showgirls is still one of those movies, that fascinates me for it’s uber-feminine characters. And so if the gay can love it, so can Working Beauty! And so the parody will come up on Sunday!

What do you think are the best female qualities?
What are things/characteristics you feel like hiding in your job?
Which of those would you consider particularly female?

Just some questions to think or comment about, both for men and women…

PS: If you are looking for some tips on great everyday business make-up to underline your femininity, go to Sonia’s blog and read “The Power of Make-Up” and it’s interesting, how she also has to “justify” herself sometimes for picking up such a girlie hobby like cosmetics… Again, proves my point a bit!

Hugs
Aldona

Artist Corner

Dear readers and Working Beauties…

There are not only cheerful moments in the life of an artist. It wasn’t just a coincidence I chose to publish the “Wizard of Oz” Parody last week. I am not going through a good time at this moment. Probably one of the worst of my life. My mother is very ill and had to go to hospital so I travelled back all the way from Australia to Switzerland for a while to be with her.

Drawing from “Return To Oz” watercolour-pens at the age of about 15

At the beginning I thought I will not be able to keep up Working Beauty, but once the situation calmed down and I moved out of the shock state, I returned to what I know best with full force: funny cartoons. People say that most creativity comes from depression, sadness and despair …  hmmm that might be so and in my case I’d like to think that within that my art keeps me sane and actually cheerful.

My brain works overtime to think of those fantasy stories rather than spending too much time on the reality at hand. I know it is an escape too, but it’s helping. And I draw what I find funny (hoping that others do too). So basically I am cheering myself up by creating new funny stories.

I come to believe I am a very selfish individual…

That being said, I am even happier if you guys like what I put out! My heart beats faster with every comment I read from you! After all, if I can create more positive energy in my life, maybe a little of that ends up at your end too. That would be great.

So please keep on reading, enjoying. And do let me know what is your favorite escape plan from reality when you need it?

Cheers and hugs

Aldona

Artist Corner

Dear readers and Working Beauties…

A lot of people ask me where I get some of my ideas from. And I could come up with a simple answer like: “My brain just functions in a really weird way”…

But that’s not the truth really. I can have sparks of ideas and develop story-lines, characters… but those sparks are nothing without inspiration. And inspiration or that “breath of life” doeasn’t come from within me, it comes from things that people say, stories they tell me, or actually ideas that we create together… A lot of my former comics (hopefully at some point available online as well) came out of really inspiring conversations with close friends.

I still vividly remember some of those conversation. And one of them, I just had this week. And yes, it was about Season 3 of Working Beauty!

You see, I have some ideas, and some key happenings that will go down in the next Season. How will I get to all those happenings, I don’t know yet… but it was good to throw around some ideas with Sytske (who you might remember from the 1st Season book is also quite a bit responsible for helping me brainstorm the title of Working Beauty) who probably prevented me again from going some really unlogical places with the story.

She later wrote to me “Thanks for letting me into the Working Beauty secrets”.

It is no secret… It is friendship, and friendships are inspiration.
At least that’s what I believe! So go… get inspired!

Cheers and hugs

Aldona

Artist Corner

Dear readers and Working Beauties…

Two things to talk to you about this week, w hich I am very excited about as an artist… First of all the release of Tinka, the Tram-driver for the public transport company in Zürich, Switzerland! I love Tinka and she’s a hard-working lovely girl… our corporate beauties could learn some things from her. Tinka is driving her Tram in German so far, so I hope you can still read it.

Check out her strips here (in the meantime only on facebook, but you can access and view without having an account):

VBZjobs on Facebook

Also please find an interview with myself here about Tinka (and a little about Working Beauty too):

Buckmanngewinnt Blog

I am very excited and hope you are too!
What do you think of Tinka? Let me know…

Cheers and hugs

Aldona

Artist Corner

Dear Readers

I thought I would start an Artist Corner here too! To ramble about Working Beauty, life, purpose and … maybe make-up?

I’ve just recently stopped working for an organization and I am now basically unemployed. Except for the fact that I feel like an employee of Working Beauty. But seeing I’m the artist, what does that make me? A bit of an artistic housewife really, in yet another organization (albeit fictional)… I just jokingly said to a friend “let’s get together and do a desperate housewives evening!” My friend was working for 30 years and decided last year to quit and devote more time for her daughter! And she loves it!

So maybe in the end Working Beauty is more of a child then and I just want to devote more time to that!

Ahh, it’s all about purpose, otherwise I’d might just become desperate…

Cheers and hugs,
Aldona

Artist Corner