the touch, the feel

don't you love when your knowledge of popular culture is so vast and geeky that it allows you to connect the dots in respect to a particular artist's work? spotting the style and wit of others as appropriated in the capable hands of a new visionary is the ultimate reward for the consumers of popular culture as i am proud to be. i recently noticed an odd theme running through the works of david bowie, rei kawakubo, and francois ozon: hands on the body. who inspired whom is up for debate but i find their inclusion of one of my favorite body parts really surreal and beautiful.

as evident by my todd rundgren homage from last night, i watched an infomercial for the dvd collection of wolfman jack's iconic late night show "the midnight special". there were so many delicious sights to gaze upon (gladys knight in full afro dueting with ray charles, the albino rock star edgar winter, the elaborate space age bondage costumes of labelle), but aside from mr. rundgren, the sight of david bowie in his waning ziggy stardust phase was something to behold. it's been said, but i will reiterate that he looked like some polysexual alien witch dotcor. the cherry red hair, the glam makeup, the exploration of gender, art, and the future in his performance had me in awe. his costume in particular was the most arresting part of his performance with those sparkly golden hands clasping to his alien bosom. what an interesting addition i thought to myself, but mr. bowie isn't the only one who recognizes the odd power of 3D hands attached to clothing. rei kawakubo of comme des garcons for her fall collection accented her pale, girlish dresses and shirts with hands that appeared to bulge from beneath where they might be tickling the eastern european models lithe little bodies. it also made me think of that incredibly erotic scene on the bed in francois ozon's "under the sand" starring sex goddess charlotte rampling. her character fantasizes for a brief moment of gentle hands stroking her laid out and clothed body. it's so hot that it prompts her to masturbate. genius.

take a look:

"jean genie"
david bowie
the midnight special
1973

looks from comme des garcons by rei kawakubu
fall 2007


"under the sand"
dir., francois ozon
2000

what do you think it all means?