SUPERSWEET : PANDEMONIA ON THE LOOSE

PANDEMONIA ON THE LOOSE

Introducing London's Party Crashing Debutante

Meet Pandemonia in the epicentre of this thing!

What is Pandemonia? Rather, who is Pandemonia? We’d say, Pandemonia is a classy sort of uninvited guests, a live cartoonish character, a party crasher but without the negativity the term “party crashing” portends. Be it at Vinyl Street Galleries, the Vogue Ball, or Tracy Emin’s Private View at the White Cube, Pandemonia has graced their red carpets.

As the Pandemonia cult is getting bigger and bigger, Pandemonia has snatched everyone’s attention eclipsing events. Her appearance at the Fashion and Textile Museum last summer caused the Independent journalist to drop the review about the Museum’s fashion show and instead write about this mysterious doll. More recently, Pandemonia upstaged artist Younes Baba-Ali at his VDO Opening at Sketch where party guests approached Pandemonia, instead of the poor artist, to show their warm welcome. Still, nobody has a clue about who or what it is, or even how this creature secures an invite.

During an interrogation with SUPERSWEET, Pandemonia emphasizes, "My visual appearance tells you all there is to know - everything is clearly displayed on the outside."

Talking about Pandemonia’s appearance, this lady, if we are to assume her true sex as a female from the glossy exterior, is modelesque, sashays and poses like a pro. She is about 7ft tall, covered from head to toe in latex, always with her ultra high heels, inflatable hair and accessories. She’s in for bold colours, too. Red, yellow, green, black and white stripes, you name it!

Most likely, Pandemonia would remind you of Roy Lichtenstein’s blond girls carrying Jeff Koons’ inflatable toys. But, with the unique construction of the outfits, the big hair that well contrasts the crisp, sophisticated silhouette of the latex dresses, and the seamless latex skin that fits like a glove, surely Pandemonia must be a famous designer, an icon!

Though Pandemonia is best remembered for being a dizzy blonde strutting down the catwalk at London Fashion Week with toilet paper sticking out of her heels, she is, very interestingly, not racially fixed. She is a blonde, a ginger, and on one occasion her hair is entirely made of green inflatable serpents. Sometimes she is white. Sometimes she is black.

As the ultimate chameleon, Pandemonia undermines the fetishism of female ideals, the aesthetics of beauty and race. Yet, there is a contradiction. Pandemonia embodies male sex fantasy of the unreal beauty, a cross between a kinky latex fetish and a blown-up doll. Yet, looking at her again in a Marlboro cigarette inspired dress, she might be just a part of big label-promotion.

In this respect, Pandemonia does not represent one stereotype but multiples. She utilizes exhaustive images we encounter everyday, in life and on television. Each and every one of them are exploited, conjoined, molded into the signature “larger than life” look that, as she promises SUPERSWEET, will never clash with anybody else’s wardrobe.

Therefore, when it comes to artistic classification, the significance of Pandemonia isn’t to be restricted by the term “Pop Art.” “This is live Art,” Pandemonia clarifies her position, “When Pandemonia attends an event, she is interacting with people and the media. She is about branding, self-image and lifestyle. She is tapping into the collective unconsciousness. Pandemonia goes beyond pop art.”

Along with her mysterious presence comes the paradox of fame and anonymity. Is Pandemonia, or is she not against the celebrity culture? On the one hand, being chased by photographers, Pandemonia is fame personified, a cartoon character living the high life everybody wishes for. Hence, we are thrilled by her, wants to interact with her, and have access to her stories. On the other hand, Pandemonia is a void figure, the cult of anonymity, a celebrity about whom we seem to hear so much but actually know nothing. She is real and at the same time unreal, a blank canvas that we the interpreters give life to.

This is enough to define Pandemonia not as a performance artist but an artwork. So, who is behind all this? SUPERSWEET can insist on playing CSI and go for all sorts of speculations for you. First, is Pandemonia a fashion designer in disguise? Or, does she just have a extraordinary designer to take care of the funky wardrobe for her? Then, is Pandemonia a man or a woman? If her inflatable hair and her stilettos were taken away, how tall would this person be? Peeking closely at some of Pandemonium images, will you spot her eye and skin colours that the latex bodysuit fails to cover? Would it help if SUPERSWEET tells you Pandemonia likes soda drinks and spaghetti; that she goes to sauna to stay in great shape; and that she refuses to comment when SUPERSWEET pressures her with the boyfriend question?

That, alone, won’t tell you who Pandemonia really is. There may or may not be a correlation between the person who wears the Pandemonia outfits and the artist who creates her. All that matters is, to quote our beautiful, gargantuan party crasher, “Pandemonia does as Pandemonia does” and we are just intrigued and much look forward to seeing what she’ll come up with next!

Meet Pandemonia in person (virtually) here.

Word: Poonperm Paitayawat
Photographer: Bobett

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