Fecal Matter

The more society seems to copy itself in an outburst of conformity — that probably has its roots in a feeling of widespread fear —, the more some people seem to feel a strong need to alienate themselves from it. “The alien aesthetic has historically been most popular during extremely conservative periods,” said Daniel L. Bernardi, a documentary filmmaker and a professor of cultural studies at San Francisco State University. “It reflects and addresses the tensions of a divided society.”

And so, aliens, demons and other shady creatures at some point have flooded social media, and being co-opted by the world of style — see Balenciaga. Creatures like Salvia, Forbidden Knowledge, Genesisfawn, or Fecal Matter, aka Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, turned to prosthetics, extreme makeup, props, bodysuits and digital effects to mask or make hash of commonly held notions of what it means to be human.

Hannah and Steven, from Montreal, Canada, met in the name of their uneasiness felt about ordinary, and started to make paint splattered and corseted clubland clothes, pretty intense music, and surreal photoshoots serving otherworldly looks.

“We want to challenge our viewers to expand their minds,” they said. “We hope to show that you don’t have to live by society’s rules, you can create your own lifestyle, and be free. Growing up, we were never exposed to anything like this, so we simply did not know such a life could exist. Hopefully, we can inspire people to create their own freedom.”

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