Frida Kahlo, Lady Gaga and Personal Trauma
In this version of my dissertation, I have simplified the language and removed the academic in-text references to make the essay accessible to a broader range of readers. Because of the difficulties around understanding matrixial language, this version is missing some depth when using academic elements of feminist theory to contextualise my argument. You can access the full version here if you would like to read into this work through a matrixial lens.
'Henry Ford Hospital' (1932) By Frida Kahlo.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga.
Introduction
Frida Kahlo's ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ and Lady Gaga's ‘911’ are both intimate and thought-provoking depictions of their personal lives. Lady Gaga has referred to her work as “poetry of pain” while critic Carlos Fuentes said Frida Kahlo “translated pain into art”. It's clear that both women have experienced profound personal trauma, and their artwork reflects the lasting effects of their pain.
Frida Kahlo's husband Diego encouraged her to paint ‘Henry Ford Hospital’ after she had a miscarriage in 1932. Using oil paint on metal, Frida created a painting that captures her emotional and physical pain in a tangible way. Lady Gaga's music video ‘911’ from her 2020 album ‘Chromatica’ explores her experience of trauma through the use of aesthetics and sound. Gaga creates a "poetry of pain" by narrating an abstract representation of taking anti-psychotic medication to cope with PTSD and trauma.
You might be asking yourself: Why talk about Frida Kahlo and Lady Gaga together? After all, they are artists practicing almost a century apart. But despite this difference, they share many similarities - one of which is their international success. They are both iconic females who share a similar level of global influence, which makes them culturally relevant. I would also argue that their works are ground-breaking because they both use unique approaches to making art in their respective eras. Additionally, both artists have experienced gendered pain and chronic pain, which makes them interesting subjects to compare and analyze.
As you read about both artists, it's important to consider examining the artworks from a feminist perspective. This is not just because the artists are both female (although I will discuss this point in more detail later), but because the experiences and contexts they explore cannot be universally understood without considering the role of gender.
Making Gendered Trauma Public
Both Kahlo and Gaga's art suggest that their pain is affected by their gender. Kahlo's work directly portrays her traumatic miscarriage, while Gaga's work is more subtly affected by patriarchal influences. In this chapter, I am exploring how the artists' approaches to sharing their experiences provide a unique perspective on their gendered traumas.
According to artist Judy Chicago, Frida Kahlo was the first artist in history to make public the taboo subject of miscarriage in her iconic painting ‘Henry Ford Hospital’. Art critic John Berger believes that Kahlo's decision to make her pain public was an important step in “refinding dignity and hope”.
Kahlo's honest and bold approach during the post-revolutionary 1930s in Mexico can be seen as representative of a new era following the turn of the century. Her approach drew attention to gender inequalities and was radical for a few reasons. Firstly, Kahlo was brave to openly disclose her personal struggles. In Mexico's conservative environment, women who were unable to conceive were stigmatized and considered as failures. This is because, from a male-centric perspective, women's value is often based on their biological functions, especially their ability to reproduce. Kahlo's contemporaries were uncomfortable with the topic of miscarriage for this reason. But today, Kahlo's honest and painful portrayal of her infertility serves as a source of hope for other women experiencing similar difficulties. It has become a symbol of strength and resilience for women who have been alienated by society due to their fertility problems.
Secondly, Kahlo expressed her personal experiences through art. At the time, most women artists were untrained and often excluded from Mexico's art scene, which was dominated by three male muralists known as the ‘great three’, which included Kahlo's husband Diego Rivera. Kahlo challenged this male-dominated structure by asserting herself as an artist in her own right, striving to be seen as an equal. Thirdly, the visceral nature of Kahlo's art portrays the raw honesty of the human condition, which was considered inappropriate by Mexican society at the time. For example, the blood-soaked bedsheets in her painting break societal boundaries and evoke feelings of disgust and repulsion.
'Henry Ford Hospital' (1932) By Frida Kahlo. Close up of Kahlo on her hospital bed.
The way Kahlo portrays the body as "leaky" blurs the line between the inside and outside of the body, which can be unsettling. From a conservative perspective, these soiled sheets could also represent Kahlo’s tainted purity. In a process of what should represent life, the blood now represents death. By depicting the female body in this state, Kahlo's art was seen as obscene by viewers at the time. But for Kahlo, this blood holds a different meaning - rather than being impure or improper, it is a symbol of the heartbreaking loss of her child.
Kahlo's approach reflects a combination of phallocentric disgust, institutionalized prejudice, and courageous femininity. Although she was the first artist to address the stigmas surrounding infertility, her work only gained global recognition during the second-wave feminist movement. Her life and art have had a tremendous impact on the public, which critics have dubbed as "Frida-mania." This is why she is an artist who is both relevant and appropriate to compare to Lady Gaga.
Gaga's approach to trauma is motivated to fight against patriarchal pain and demands change. Her narrative resonates on a global scale and intelligently challenges gender inequalities. There are two main differences between Gaga's approach when compared with Kahlo's: Firstly, Gaga’s work is not explicitly gendered at first glance. Instead, her film is a by-product of trauma, which subtly highlights societal gender inequalities.
Psychologists Klonoff, Landrine and Campbell suggest that women experience more depressive and anxious bodily symptoms than men due to “gender specific stressors”. Lady Gaga was raped at 19, and suffers from bodily symptoms associated with the chronic condition Fibromyalgia. This has severely impacted Gaga’s physical and mental health, to the point where she experienced a psychotic break. To cope with the trauma of her sexual assault, Gaga relies on medication, which she refers to as “911[s]” - these are also glamourised in her music video as “dolls inside diamond boxes” - a nod to Susann's 1966 novel ‘Valley of the Dolls’.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video Still with subtitles depicting a doll inside a diamond box.
I believe that Gaga's work is groundbreaking because it addresses the global mental health crisis and challenges the sexist belief that women and madness are inextricably linked. Historically, people have associated madness with women due to the misdiagnosis of women's trauma as hysteria. ‘Hysteria’ is a term that comes from the Greek word for ‘womb’ and has been used as a derogatory term for madness, suggesting that women's madness is related to their reproductive organs. Lady Gaga uses her work as metaphor to reclaim the womb from a feminist perspective, and challenge the idea that madness is a trait that is specifically associated with women.
Lady Gaga and Frida Kahlo differ in how they publicize their work. Gaga uses social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, which didn't exist during Kahlo's time. Gaga's approach is significant because she glamourises her medication, which is politically appropriate. In pop culture and the music industry, prescription drugs are increasingly being mentioned by musicians in their works. However, unlike other artists who use drug references casually, Gaga uses them intentionally to break down and challenge the negative connotations around taking medicine to cope with trauma.
Lady Gaga's decision to share her pain on social media could be a reflection of how deeply she feels the need to reveal her true self to her fans in order to inspire progress in the world. It’s also a way that her fans can deeply connect with her and her community, and social media platforms allow for this type of open dialogue. By using this participatory approach on social media, Gaga's art becomes more than just an object; it becomes a subject - a political movement striving for global change.
Symbolism and Reflection of the Self
Both Frida and Gaga choose to be the central subject in their works in the form of self-portraits. This way, they can gain control of their own personal narrative, so that they can physically and symbolically navigate their individual position in relation to their traumas. It is this web of symbolism in which we can see why the artist is hurting, and where they position themselves amongst their pain.
'Henry Ford Hospital' (1932) By Frida Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo's traumatic experiences are depicted in a unique way through a visual mind map that resembles a body map. Body mapping is a technique often used in art therapy to help patients express their emotions symbolically by representing where and why they feel pain. Kahlo's body map, however, differs from the conventional approach because the abstract symbols are not directly associated with specific body parts. Instead, they are connected by umbilical-like ribbons and displayed in the palm of Kahlo’s hand, which rests on her abdomen. This suggests that the source of her pain is connected to her womb: the place where she lost her unborn child. Although the pain originates from her womb, a symbol of femininity, the pain is represented in a global sense throughout the map. This highlights the universal nature of her pain, which is emphasized by the exaggerated tear falling down Kahlo’s face.
In Kahlo's body map, the pain originates from her womb, but the symbols of femininity are intertwined throughout the six illustrations that make up the stems of the map. These symbols represent Kahlo's fragmented memories. The top left symbol shows a clinical model of a female abdomen, which represents a healthy reproductive system. The ribbon that connects this symbol to Kahlo's body is the longest, creating distance between herself and the symbol. This could suggest the disconnection Kahlo feels from her body due to her flawed reproductive system and the intangible nature of having a healthy pregnancy.
Contrastingly, the autoclave below symbolises Kahlo's permanent sterility. This underlies the perfect model of a female torso, revealing her fertility problems, reinforcing the idea that Kahlo was haunted by her inadequacy in meeting the demands of 1930s Mexican society. The clinical tool also highlights the impersonal nature of the trauma that the painting's title alludes to.
The male foetus which floats prominently above Kahlo’s bed is symbolic of both life and death. Ejected from Kahlo’s body, it is bloodied and in a transitory state. Kahlo chooses to illustrate the separation of the foetus from her body in order to identify with her child, as this identification is necessary in order for Kahlo to grieve. Determining this relationship between herself and her unborn child must have been of importance to Kahlo in order for her to understand her pain: But is this trauma based on loss or based on longing?
According to traditional psychoanalysis, trauma is a result of separation and loss. In Kahlo's painting, the fetus floating in the sky could represent her loss and the passing of her child to heaven. However, feminist psychoanalysis offers a different perspective, suggesting that trauma also reveals a yearning for connectivity. From this viewpoint, the fetus could represent Kahlo's hope for the ‘Dieguito’ she always longed for, whom she tried to conceive several times. The symbolism of the fetus is particularly poignant because it highlights Kahlo's attempts to conform to societal expectations of women at the time (becoming a mother). Despite her efforts, Kahlo's multiple miscarriages prevented her from conforming to these norms. By documenting and publicizing her experience, Kahlo sealed her fate and further alienated herself from traditional expectations of a Mexican woman in the 1930s.
In Kahlo's body map, the Orchid illustration represents her sensitivity around her infertility issues. Although Orchids are commonly associated with fertility, sexuality, and virility, the wilting of the Orchid in Kahlo's painting might suggest a decay of these qualities, symbolising her flawed uterus. The limp-like petals could also reflect the phallocentric imposed notions of her supposed flawed femininity. Kahlo's perception of herself is affected by her ‘broken’ body, not just physically but also emotionally. This is also reinforced through the symbolism of the snail, encompassing Kahlo's emotional frailty and the painful scars she endured from her miscarriage operation. This emphasises Kahlo's archival emotions of sensitivity and ethereality, which contribute to the motif of decay in the painting. The pelvic bone in the bottom right corner of the painting is another significant symbol, which will be explored further in the next chapter.
It is interesting to question why Kahlo chose to respond to her pain through this symbolic entanglement of affective strings. Perhaps she hoped that by dissecting her problems and emotions into fragments, the painting would reveal a cure for her infertility. This may also explain why she decided to make her work public - in the hope that a medical practitioner would give her a formal diagnosis. In 2012, Dr Fernando Antelo claimed to have diagnosed Kahlo's problems as Asherman's syndrome (intrauterine scarring) through research into her paintings and medical history. This diagnosis was made through the lens of Kahlo's painting, suggesting that the body mapping work of Henry Ford Hospital is no longer just a method, but a methodology. By placing herself as a subject of that methodology, Kahlo reveals that the source of her pain symbolically originates from her womb.
Gaga's traumatic experience is portrayed in a short film that blurs the lines between reality and hallucination. Directed by Tarsem Singh, the film draws heavily on Armenian cultural symbolism, particularly from Parajanov's 1969 Soviet film 'The Colour of Pomegranates'. The film takes us through a series of scenes depicting Gaga's psychotic episode, starting with her lying alone in the middle of a desert. The scene is staged to resemble the aftermath of an accident, with a crumpled bike and scattered pomegranates by her feet. Pomegranates, often used to represent fundamental dualities such as life and death, fertility and barrenness, and growth and decay, are a recurring symbol throughout the film. This duality is also reflected in the film's construction, with a constant push and pull between the real and the non-real. The film concludes with the revelation that Gaga was involved in a road accident caused by her misuse of anti-psychotic medication.
‘911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of the opening scene (the non-real) (0:28).
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of the end scene (the real) (4:12).
Whilst Kahlo’s painting expresses an explicit depiction of blood, in Gaga's hallucination, blood takes on a different form - a beautiful anklet. This anklet symbolically represents one of Gaga's injuries from the accident. Despite its glamorised appearance, the anklet forms a metaphorical ball and chain, highlighting restraint and restriction. Alternatively, the anklet could symbolise corruption, with Gaga placing herself at the mercy of death. This symbol remains present throughout the video, as the anklet is fixed on Gaga's ankle even as she undergoes several costume changes. By using this powerful symbol from the beginning of the video, Gaga underscores the weight and burden of her trauma, leaving a lasting impression on viewers.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of Gaga being pulled back down to reality, with the Red Anklet (the non-real) (2:07).
Gaga's ascension into heaven in ‘911’ draws a comparison to Kahlo's work, as both artists use a decaying flower as a symbol. However, while Kahlo uses an orchid to represent her fertility problems, Gaga uses a white rose to personify paradise. As Gaga holds the white rose, her body elevates towards the direction of heaven. As writer Sara Ahmed suggests that objects can ‘take us in a certain direction’, this rose symbolically pulls Gaga towards her death. However, her ascension is interrupted by a paramedic who throws a rope around her ankle, which is where the anklet symbol comes back into play, evoking a sense of corruption. As a result, the white rose wilts, pulling Gaga back down to her psychotic episode. The symbols of the white rose and the red anklet reflect the conflicting parallels between life and death, real and non-real.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of Gaga Ascending to heaven with the wilted White Rose (the non-real) (2:10).
Gaga’s use of symbolism slightly differs to that of Kahlo’s, because some of Gaga’s traces of pain form relationships between the heroes (emergency staff), the archaic subject (Gaga) and subjects (other victims). The beat of the track kicks in, synchronised with a man who repeatedly slams his head against a tasseled pillow. This man is a secondary subject of Gaga's trauma - the driver of the car she swerved in front of. Gaga's memories of the event are ineffable and abstracted, playing back repeatedly in her mind. This repetition is a compulsive behavior that reflects the inevitability of her mental and physical self-destruction due to the absence of her medication.
The victim's perspective is disorienting, with the camera angle shifting from horizontal to vertical repeatedly while Gaga remains still and fixated. This repeated habitual action shapes a psychotic entity that is chaotic and queer, indicating that Gaga's trauma is overwhelming and haunting, or in other words, a cyclic form of suffering. These symbols underscore the complex and multifaceted nature of trauma, revealing the interplay between different subjects and the cyclical nature of traumatic experiences.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of a man repeatedly banging his head against a pillow (the non-real) (0:52).
Gaga’s ‘mood’s shifting to manic places’ whilst a woman holds a mummified body, symbolising the unfortunate death of a subject. This juxtaposition of life cradling death emphasizes the severity of Gaga's pain, as her mental and physical disruption creates a life or death situation. This reinforces the parallel between the ‘real’ and ‘non-real’ aspects of the accident. Another subject stirs the pot - a provocative action perhaps foreshadowing that a bad situation is occurring. This is exemplified by Gaga’s hand gesture, a reoccurring motif in which she places her hand over her mouth to pop her pills. As the video progresses, the subjects evolve into a greater signifier of pain, specifically Gaga's self-destructive behavior. By showcasing how her pain affects not only herself but also secondary subjects, Gaga emphasises the importance of creating a strong support system to manage this type of psychological trauma, and the need work together to provide mental health support.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of Woman cradling her son, man stirring a pot, and Gaga popping her pills. (the non-real) (1:10).
Another aesthetic trace of the ‘real’ is denoted towards the end of the hallucination in the form of a tapestry. This tapestry forms a similar painting style to that of Kahlo’s work in the way it forms the site of the traumatic event. The video flashes close-ups of the accident in an epileptic fashion, instilling the compulsion and repetition of trauma.. I think that Gaga chooses to include this aesthetic illustration in order to reinforce the bonds between the ‘real’ and ‘non-real’, and further underpin notions of the repetition of trauma. However, I don’t think that this tapestry was a necessary part of the video, as I think the parallels made between the characters in opposing realms was successful enough without this addition. Gaga's message about the interconnectedness of reality and dreams forming heroes within and around us is vital and poignant.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga.Video still of tapestry. (the non-real) (2:45).
A Haunted Pathology of Chronic Pain
Both artists have experienced severe chronic pain in their lives. Whilst Frida has suffered from a haunted pathology of neuropathic pain from her streetcar accident, Lady Gaga suffers from Fibromyalgia. These types of chronic pain are debilitating and isolating, and residues of this immobilised pain are present in their works.
In Frida Kahlo's painting ‘Henry Ford Hospital’, there is a symbol that represents the chronic pain she endured after her traumatic streetcar accident at 17 years old: the pelvic bone. This bone is tied to Kahlo's infertility issues, as it serves as a structural frame that protects and contains the process of fertility. However, after the accident, it was forever impaired, linking her chronic pain to her reproductive system. This symbol, according to Wolfrey, carries a chronic hauntology, invoking ghosts that are symbolically corporeal because Kahlo narrates her trauma through aesthetics. The return of this symbol in other works, such as ‘The Broken Column’, suggests that Kahlo's pain was a lifelong and constant subconscious preoccupation, further supporting Fuentes' statement that Kahlo was "eternally metamorphosed by both sickness and art”.
'The Broken Column' (1944) By Frida Kahlo.
In ‘Henry Ford Hospital’, residues of chronic pain are not just present through the symbolism of the pelvic bone, but also through the symbolic construction and composition of the setting. The unanchored bed, floating in an alien landscape, underscores Kahlo’s sense of displacement and isolation. The distant Detroit landscape in the background, the place where Kahlo suffered a miscarriage, adds to the painting's emotional weight. Kahlo's presence in the foreground creates a tension between the real and surreal, suggesting her need for space to process her pain. An aura of strangeness is created by the dislocation of scenery, as Kahlo is completely alienated from her reality. Kahlo might feel the same sort of abandonment by her husband as well as her child, as the Detroit landscape could be symptomatic of Diego.
Taking all of this into consideration, it is not just Kahlo’s loneliness that’s underlying in the painting, but it’s also a host of other painful feelings, including isolation, hopelessness, abandonment, and longing. Kahlo's chronic pain is shown through bodily and structural symbolism, depicting a physical detriment which subsequently creates emotional harm.
Since the event of Gaga’s sexual assault (which I mentioned in the first chapter) Gaga has suffered from chronic condition Fibromyalgia. She describes the effects of this trauma as a cyclone of anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, and panic disorder, which in turn, leads to chronic nerve pain. Although Gaga describes this pain as ‘global’ in her documentary Five Foot Two (2017), she links her pain back to two traumatic experiences, her assault in 2009 and a hip injury she sustained on tour back in 2012. This would suggest that elements of both Kahlo and Gaga’s chronic pain anatomically derive from the same place: the hip. Whilst Kahlo directly refers to this corporeality through the pelvis illustration in her painting, Gaga’s hip pain isn’t directly referred to in her music video. However, there are indications of residual effects of this pain in the opening scene of 911.
'911' (Short Film) (2020) By Lady Gaga. Video still of opening scene, Lady Gaga lying in the desert. (the non-real) (0:20).
Lady Gaga in pain in documentary 'Five Foot Two' (2017)
Gaga, like Kahlo, also uses the setting to portray the isolating effects of chronic pain. In 911's opening scene, an unconscious Gaga is stranded in a desert, separated from the rest of the world by vast mounds of sand. The elevated camera shot gives a sense of a dystopian or post-apocalyptic environment, suggesting that Gaga has experienced significant suffering and distress. However, in an interview with Zane Lowe, Gaga clarifies that Chromatica is not dystopian or utopian, but rather "just how I make sense of things." Perhaps Gaga has transformed the traces of her chronic pain into an abstract representation that mirrors Kahlo's themes of isolation, hopelessness, abandonment, and longing.
In my opinion, the abstract qualities present in the works of both Kahlo and Gaga reflect the principles of surrealism. Surrealism, as defined by Breton, involves a free-flowing stream of thought without any control exercised by reason or preoccupation with aesthetics or morals. The desert, which appears in both Kahlo's and Gaga's works, is not a landscape that can be explained or controlled by reason. Instead, it serves as a symbol for the place where they confront their pain and its aftermath. By encompassing their chronic pain in their art, Kahlo and Gaga create a sense of isolation that sets them apart from those who have not experienced such pain.
The effects of Gaga’s fibromyalgia are also present in her disadvantaged position, where she is lying flat on her back unconscious in ‘911’. This is a similar body gesture pictured above, where Gaga is filmed in excruciating pain in Five Foot Two (2017). The physical and mental effects of body spasms can be debilitating for Gaga, to the extent that she requires professional help to function. This immobilisation of Gaga’s fibromyalgia is emitted, trans-mitted and redistributed in an abstraction of the self through Gaga’s posture. This transformation of pain also applies to Kahlo’s painting, where she Is depicted (like Gaga) lying on her back, but haemorrhaging blood on her bed.
Conclusion
I think that analysing Frida Kahlo and Lady Gaga’s works through a feminist lens was a necessary methodology to understand their works. Through this approach, I have been able to empathise with their traumas on a deeper level, whereas without this viewpoint, I would have only been able to surface-analyse, and therefore sympathise with their works.
At first glance, Kahlo and Gaga’s experience of chronic pain is illustrated similarly. However, upon closer inspection, I can see that they both utilise composition so that we encounter their pain through their posture, coupled with the desolation of the landscape. Whilst Kahlo literally paints a metaphorical extension of the actual traumatic event, Gaga figurates an abstraction of her perception of the world: a fabricated situation which symbolically aids the translation of Gaga’s pain. So whilst Kahlo’s pain originates from the womb (as I concluded on page 12), it is clear that Gaga’s pain originates in the psyche: its conflicting state of ‘real’ and ‘non- real’, forming compulsive behaviours which are self-harming. They both place themselves at the centre of their work of their traumas, encompassing a sense of global pain.
In terms of approaches; Whilst I would describe Frida’s approach to making as ‘radical’, I would rather describe Gaga’s as ‘pioneering’. This is because whilst Frida’s approach disobeyed all cultural conventions of 1930’s Mexico, Gaga’s approach strives for future change by publicly activating discussion through her audience. However, I believe that in both cases, the artists used the most successful tools they had available to them in order to narrate their personal experiences of gendered trauma.
Illustrations
Figure 1: Kahlo, F. (1932) Henry Ford Hospital [oil on metal] w385 x h310 mm
https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp#prettyPhoto [Accessed 26 October 2020]
Figure 2: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 3: Kahlo, F. (1932) Henry Ford Hospital (Close up of Kahlo on her Hospital bed) [oil on metal] Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico.
https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp#prettyPhoto [Accessed 26 October 2020]
Figure 4: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Still with subtitles depicting a doll inside a diamond box (the non-real)(1:43)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 5: Kahlo, F. (1932) Henry Ford Hospital [oil on metal] w385 x h310 mm
https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp#prettyPhoto [Accessed 26 October 2020]
Figure 6: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video still of the opening scene (the non-real)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 7: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video still of the end scene (the real) (4:12)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 8: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video still of Gaga being pulled down to reality, with the red anklet (the non-real)(2:07) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 9: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video Still of Gaga’s ascension into heaven with wilted rose (the non-real) (2:10)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 10: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video still of man repeatedly banging his head against a pillow (the non-real)) (0:52)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 11: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video Still of Woman cradling her son, man stirring a pot, and Gaga popping her pills) (the non-real)(1:10)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 12: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video Still of Tapestry (the non-real)) (2:45)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 13: Khalo, F. (1944) The Broken Column [oil on maisonite] w30.6 x 39.8 cm. Museo Dolores Olmedi, Mexico. Image Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the- broken-column/EgGMbMFBQrAe3Q?hl=en- GB&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A8.98059198039198%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A2.9202447453918605%2C%22height%22 %3A1.2375000000000014%7D%7D [Accessed 4 January 20201]
Figure 14: Gaga, L. (2020) ‘911’ Short Film (Video still of opening scene, Lady Gaga lying in the desert (the non-real) (0:20)) [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58hoktsqk_Q [Accessed 28 September 2020]
Figure 15: Gaga, L. (2017) Lady Gaga in pain in documentary ‘Five Foot Two’. Image Available at: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-lady-gaga- documentary-five-foot-two-20170920-story.html [Accessed 8 January 2021]
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