CU-Boulder alumna Suzanne Heintz enjoys the University Memorial Center this fall with her mannequin "family," which is a bit less expressive than she is. Photo: Suzanne Heintz.
She is crazy enough to spend 14 years making social commentary with her art, which highlights the pressures women face to marry and have children
Suzanne Heintz spends her workdays in the broadcast industry. In her off hours, she broadcasts her art, which might strike some as odd. For the last 14 years, she’s appeared in a host of family photographs with a “husband” and “daughter,” who happen to be mannequins.
Though this may seem madness, yet there is method in it.
The “Life Once Removed” photo project critiques social pressure to conform, specifically for women to marry and have children. She’s also working on “Playing House,” a series of films and a book. Heintz, a 1987 graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, says she wants people to embrace their lives, “with or without the Mrs., Ph.D. or Esq. attached to your name.”
Heintz spoke about about her work in October on campus in an event is hosted by the Literary Buffs and ARTBuffs and is sponsored by the English Department, the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Media, Communication and Information, and the Women and Gender Studies Program.
After posing with her “family” on the CU-Boulder campus recently, she fielded questions from Clint Talbott and Kim Elzinga, from the College of Arts and Sciences and English Department, respectively:
How did your experience here at the university (as a student) helped shape your perspective and your expression throughout the years?
I earned a bachelor of arts at CU. I studied three things here. English, fine art and communication. All three went into shaping how I observe, process, make sense of and find meaning in the human experience. From that training, I am able to reshape those observations and understandings into a new expression, specific to my experience. My interpretation of life is what makes me of unique value to the world.
Wait. Huh? Liberal arts did what?
Well, think about it like this…
Suzanne Heintz shares a piece of cake with Chauncey, the mannequin "husband." Photo: Suzanne Heintz
Studying the humanities, taught me about language. Language can take different shapes. Chemistry, mathematics, physics, they are all a language, a system of sharing an understanding of the forces that shape our universe.
Yet, when you study English, you don’t just study the language, you study literature and actually study what makes us human: desire, love, power, pain, identity. You learn how to harness the human experience and package it to share with others. The same is true for visual language or art. In studying communication, I learned how to express and interpret language to understand, and be able to motivate others. All of these studies are intertwined and have given me the understanding and tools to now be equipped to change public opinion, and have an impact. There is no way I could be where I am now if I hadn’t laid the foundation with these disciplines.
Do you think your art and humanities degree gave you an advantage in the “real” world? If so, how?
Yes, in the workplace, I do feel a special advantage over those who receive solely technical training. I think of it as the difference between a special-effects movie, like “X-Men,” and a movie like “Schindler’s List.” You can display all the technique in the world, and it still won’t move people without meaning behind it.
What was and still is my advantage over my competition is that as a result of my studies, I have a unique combination of heart and mind. Technical skill is cheap, but passion is priceless.
Oh, come on. Are you saying only arts majors have passion?
No, you can be born with it, but you have to know what to do with it. You need people to help you shape it. My study of the arts is what developed my ability to make non-linear connections, where others could only see the cliché or the logical deduction. This is where I learned out-of-the-box thinking. This is also where I learned creative logic. Now I’m able to use reason and intuition together.
My studies helped me code and decode. Elegantly imply, as well as interpret, meaning in both visual and verbal ways. They’ve helped me develop my creative instincts. This is where I learned to take verbal ideas and translate them into visual metaphors that go beyond words to emotions.
My studies helped me understand what moves people. Without that, you are unable to influence people, and make them see what their eyes are closed to. I must persuade and sell ideas both at the office, and as a social satirist. How could I do that if I’d stopped at a technical skill set?
Suzanne Heintz appears pensive in Paris. Photo: Suzanne Heintz
What projects do you have in the works that might take “Life Once Removed” to the next level?
My photography work has now expanded to a feature length documentary film plus a series of film shorts, by the name of “Playing House,” as well as a book.
I’m now at work cutting the second short called “Playing House: The Vows.” It’s based on a performance art event I hosted this summer that was part photo event, a film shoot and an actual wedding ceremony of sorts. I used the platform of a staged vow renewal with my mannequin “husband” character to discuss commitment as the penultimate act in giving life meaning. It’s also an examination of how the Process of Matrimony has come to be driven not only by tradition, but also by commerce, as a means of financeable fantasy fulfillment.
Then this coming winter we’ll be starting work on the third in the trilogy of shorts, called “Playing House: The Next Generation.”
Can you describe your Next Gen project and what you expect to achieve?
“The Next Generation” explores cultural programming and youth. The foundation of the film is set upon the child mannequin character, “Mary Margaret,” as if she were attending school. It will be structured as a photo shoot in a classroom setting, concluding with interviews with her classmates. I’m hoping to shine a light on how our cultural norms, coupled with the effect of social media, are shaping the freshest of perspectives on life expectations.
I am extending a special invitation to the CU-Boulder student body to sign up to participate in the interview process. You can sign up at playinghouseproject.com
How do you respond to people who view you as “that crazy lady”? What would you like everyone to remember about you and your art?
I say I’ve done something outrageous, not crazy. Crazy implies I’m out of control, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
There is a point to all this. Change. I want my work to change the misperceptions and feelings that trap us in feeling insufficient or dissatisfied with the state of our lives, and desperately grasping for things out of our reach to fix it. I want to be remembered for starting a paradigm shift reaching across cultural boundaries. Is that so crazy?
What's a family summer without Sparklers? Photo: Suzanne Heintz.
You’ve talked about your “Life Once Removed” series as being inspired, in part, by your mother and many others asking when you would get married. How pervasive do you believe this pressure is?
We are herd animals. No matter how much we want to feel we are individualists, we need and feel most comfortable being part of a tribe. Being part of a tribe, there are cultural traditions and the pressure to conform. Yet, as each generation replaces the last, there are evolutions and breaks from the past. In my mother’s generation, mixed marriages were extremely rare, and now they are commonplace. Yet even in this day and age, it seems that no matter how far we stretch tradition, it is reluctant to let up on the expectation that a woman should be at least a mother (if not both a wife and mother) if she is going to be a fully realized human being. From the direct international feedback I’ve received, this seems to be a universal pressure. Though in many places, say, for instance, in Norway, it's now common not to get married, yet there are still expectations of finding a partner to have children with.
Regardless, no matter what direction you take in life, you face chronic criticism that you made the wrong choice or haven’t done enough. Say you did have kids. You get questioned, “Where are they going to school?” Or say you’ve got a great job as a writer for a publication. Then you get questioned, “When are you going to write your own book?” Say you did write a book. Then you get “Who’s the publisher?” … You just have to be secure enough to know that you are enough, no matter what other people’s judgments are. That’s not an easy thing to do when you are young.
What do you do in your 9-to-5 work, and what drives you to fit your labor-intensive artistic pursuits around the edges?
I am an art director for Starz Networks. I conceptualize and execute advertisements or promotions for the networks offerings.
What drives me to do my own work is that I need to do work that goes beyond commercial interests to speak to the human experience. I want to take what I love and use it to actually try to make a dent in how people think. Why bother? I want there to have been a good reason I was alive. I want my life to have meaning and an impact. Doesn’t everyone?
You’ve said that you’re not driven to make a living with “Life Once Removed,” but rather to make an impact. Have you had experiences in which you feel you’ve made an impact?
I thank God for the Internet. Because without it, I’d never have known how something I did could change people’s lives. I am so lucky that my work went viral, and literally, millions of people all over the world have read about what I’m doing. Since it did, I’ve been able to reach so many people who, at the click of a button, are actually able to write and tell me how my work changed their opinion of themselves, and how they want to live their lives. I’ve had scores of people write, from places as far away as Argentina, Brazil, Sweden, Europe, China, and more, and tell me that they now feel empowered to stop defining their success by what others think, and be truthful to themselves. They said if I could do it, then they could too. For example, on two separate occasions, I’ve been told that my work gave someone the courage to come out of the closet, and live peacefully with who they are. I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels knowing that you have had a direct impact on how people view their lives. I don’t think it gets any better.
At the end of another day... Photo: Suzanne Heintz.
You’ve said that traveling with your mannequin “family” can be disarming to observers, who might then be more open to your message. Do you ever get the opposite (negative) reaction?
Actually, I’ve never had a negative reaction in public, only on-line. The bulk of the negative responses don’t seem to be based on a rejection of my point. It seems to stem from a misinterpretation of the concept. That is why I’ve chosen to shoot my photos in public. It gives me a chance to explain and ask questions too.
When people are introduced to the project online, it seems so easy for viewers to gloss over the copy, just look at the images, and then just take me for the Freak of the Week, and then get snarky from the safe cover of their own laptop. Sometimes the misunderstanding stems from the press. Many publications have sensationalized the story and misrepresented it as “Crazy Lady Lives with Mannequins!” Then there are those people who think I’m anti-marriage or anti-family, which is also incorrect. I’m the opposite.
People hear what they want to hear. They judge quickly without enough information to pass true judgment. Ironically, judgment is what I’m fighting against.
Why do you think humor is an effective means of helping people absorb a message with which they might not agree?
Laughing automatically puts people at ease and opens them up. In debate, it disables your opponent, making him look ridiculous if he gets uptight. This makes it the most efficient tool of all. I’ve found that using humor is the only way to change minds. You can’t come directly at people with a billy club. It changes nothing, and just makes them dig their heels in more. How many people do you know who have actually come to Jesus by listening to a street-corner preacher thump his Bible?
You left your “husband” in Paris because of the expense of flying him home. After the “divorce,” you got a duplicate Chauncey back in the United States; will the second marriage endure?
No. My commitment to my work will last, but my commitment to this particular project and its mannequins will end when I feel it will do no more good to carry on. So, Chauncey has a limited shelf life. Yet until that day, we have a lot of ground to cover and passport pages to fill. When it’s all over, I’d like to throw him off of the Brooklyn Bridge, for the sense of catharsis, though I’m sure I’d see some trouble from the authorities.
"PLAYING HOUSE" - TRAILER from Suzanne Heintz on Vimeo.
You’ve said that growing up in New York was more influential than any of your education, and you’ve discussed pressures to conform in areas besides marriage and traditional gender roles. Do you see similar kinds of pressure for young people to go to college or to take particular courses of study in college?
Yes, I have. Personally, I remember my mother asking me, “Why don’t you study something you know you can get a job in?” I hollered back, “Because I don’t want to be miserable 40 hours a week!” Ultimately, because I enjoyed what I chose to study, I hung in there until I did find a job.
I also see it in my friends’ children’s experience. Over and over, I hear how parents want their kids to study practical things, like engineering. All they hear is how their kids will have to compete in the marketplace, and they worry. Yet, if their children don’t enjoy and feel strongly connected to what they’re studying, they ultimately won’t be able to compete in that field anyway.
If a university student asked you for advice about what to do with her life, how would you respond?
Find a way to use your brain in the way you like to, and is in your nature to use it that way. Do something that makes you proud of the person it makes you. There’s nothing worse than getting decades into a career only to wish you hadn’t copped out, but it’s too late to turn around. It eats you up inside when you ignore your gift for the sake of being sensible. You must do something to honor it, or you will get lost finding cheap substitutions for what you really wanted.
Sometimes even a chosen career does not give you everything you need to feel satisfied. It does not always make use of your best talents. Yet be patient, and realize that you are working towards an ultimate long-term outcome with your work. Even if you have to do it on your own, do work that gets you closer and closer towards the talents you want to see realized in your lifetime. Education, and on-the-job experience only get you started, the rest is determined by your desire, work ethic, and willingness to take risks to do what you love.
Visit suzanneheintz.com to see the photo work, and playinghouseproject.com to keep up with the film. Ask questions by writing her at suzanne@suzanneheintz.com. Or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter: facebook.com/LifeOnceRemoved and @SuzanneHeintz
Oct. 2, 2014