Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

After review yesterday, I had to look up Klaus Nomi on YouTube. Here’s what I found …

Simple Man:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gFaZyHxQGYQ

I love the idea of a man wearing crazy outfits, in full face makeup, and singing in such a high register saying that he’s “a simple man.” It’s a really fun way of calling into question the definition of what a man can be.

Nomi Song:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uKYpepxGkyY

What’s interesting here to me is the way “know me” becomes synonymous with his name (Nomi). Wikipedia says that Klaus Nomi was not the name he was born with, so I wonder if this was intentional when choosing the name Nomi. It’s particularly interesting when thinking about the Foucaultian definition of knowledge. What does it mean to him for us to know him?

You Don’t Own Me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDfawihUkQA

I’m pretty sure this isn’t any sort of official video. I like the change of meaning of some of the lyrics just by having them sung by a man: “You don’t own me. Don’t say I can’t play with other boys.” (Note the emphasis on "boys" in Nomi’s phrasing). Also, Nomi changes some of the “you don’t own me” lines to “you don’t know me” …

Falling In Love Again:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=k2Nn5JhKQyU

Some really interesting images at the end with the ice cream and the built male torso and arms.

Total Eclipse:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuSrsGzhD9U

I don’t have any particular thoughts on this one right now, but I like it.

Julia was talking in class yesterday about the interesting questions that arise out of a voice coming out of what seems to be the wrong body. This made me think about vocoders, which alter the voice to make it sound less “natural” and more technological. I think the vocoder raises similar questions as Nomi’s high register singing.