As I was cutting out the shape of Idgie, the helper at the model shop asked if that was a fox or a dog, to which I replied she’s a dog that looks like a fox. A foxy dog. Or maybe just a dog that was once a fox in another life. Which got me thinking of different distinctions. Someone once asked me if my work is fine art or illustration? My ambiguous response, “My work is illustrative with a story-telling element to it, and I want it to be one of a kind. I’ve done work for galleries and Wal-Mart, so I can’t really say.” I went home in a daze, this question still haunting me today. And then there’s Katherine Wang, who blurs these labels so well. She’s written for a magazine as an editor, designed web pages for her parent’s furniture store, works in marketing for electrical cars, and wants to pursue a PHD in English. Oh, and then she makes these really awesome vintage headbands, that are both glam and accessible. Let’s all feel inadequate now.
It’s true, labels help us market our work, define the people in our lives, and give us sense to this chaotic world. But can’t we be multiple things without realizing the term for it, say a fine artist and commercial designer, an academic and a fashionista? Should work have to be so specialized? Does life have to be categorized? Maybe Meredith Brooks said it best in the 90s; maybe we are both a bitch and a lover, all rolled into one.
For your classification, Idgie is a Shiba Inu breed. Get your foxy dog large, small or as a magnet.
This is the pet of my friend Tien, also a multi-tasker. She is a lawyer and writes about happenings in Los Angeles on Metroblog. Visit her award winning fan site of Jane Lynch!
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