BEGINNING THE SHORT & LONG HISTORY OF ART BÉBÉ
An arts magazine
Art Bébé as character began with the idea of creating an arts magazine. As a founding principal, the magazine would promote the non established artist, those in the field of either the written, the visual, or the aural arts, still to make a name for themselves. The magazine needed a name. It would be good to have art in the title. So the thought started there. But Art what? And if art was kept in the title, what would distinguish the magazine as an arts magazine from the countless others on the market with art in there title?
What’s in a name?
Why not front an arts magazine with a femme fatale? An avatar made of this femme fatale figure who would act as editor-in-chief.
A femme fatale is traditionally defined as enticing, seductive, and dangerous, why not define her as these things, but yet also caring and protective when need be, in this case, specifically when concerned with the arts. In short, a female warrior, a defender of the arts, or cultural warrior.
So a name was found. Art Babe. It worked, because babe fitted the femme fatale stereotype – woman as babe, but also, if one took the argument in another direction, art as a creative process that creates product, and product often referred to amongst artists as a birthing process, then we have baby, or babe.
Art Babe was first registered as a business name, ART BABE MAGAZINE on 7th of February 1996.
First business card (above) Art Bébé as Art Babe. This card also shows Bébé with what was to become her weapon of choice, the whip, and with its use, the suitably uttered catchphrase, ‘Lash it!’
But the name soon ran into trouble. Talented comic creator, Jessica Abel, based in Chicago, was to create a comic book character under the same name. It could be argued about who came up with what first, but Jessica Abel’s long standing and deserving reputation had to take precedence. Art Babe was changed to Art Bébé, carrying the same meaning in at least two major languages, French, as Bébé, and German, as Bebe.
First character design
Our femme fatale needed a look. Circa 2000, this was to fall to the extraordinary skill of gifted digital artist Tariq Raheem. A specialist in erotic fantasy art, Tariq was to design Art Bebe as a cyborg battle babe.
A specialist in erotic fantasy art, Tariq’s love of the idealized female form was clearly evident in his portfolio. He needn’t be briefed in seductive allure, only for a head profile, that the facial features be Anglo Saxon with a hint of Asian, and that as a warrior, her primary weapon of choice should be a whip. From this brief, Tariq was to design Art Bébé as a cyborg battle babe.
Online to nowhere
Nothing was to become of an arts magazine. A printed magazine was never viable, not as a independent concern, self-funded, and lacking any means of effective distribution. The internet was an option, but in those early days during of the medium during the 1990’s where belief in a soon to be had egalitarian voice for expression in all things, and in Bébé’s case, an arts magazine, soon proved as false a hope as that of the meek inheriting the earth. Very soon, plans for a magazine, and any role of as Art Bébé as editor-in-chief, soon evaporated. But perhaps not Bébé as a cultural warrior?
Internet beginnings
While the idea of a printed arts magazine, or alternatively, an online one, Art Bébé running either as a cyborg battle babe editor-in-chief had clearly been naïve, Art Bébé’s continuing role as a cultural warrior did sound viable. In this form, could she be defined as an arts patron? And if so defined, how could she serve as such? What about a simple website from which Art Bébé could champion selected artists, supporting and patronizing their work?
BowieNet to the rescue
How does this sound?
For a subscribed fee, exclusive access to David Bowie content such as live video feeds from his studio. A fully customizable home page, davidbowie.com e-mail address, news groups, chat rooms, online shareware, mulit-player gaming, and 5MB of space to create web pages. Welcome to BowieNet, David Bowie as internet service provider. Art Bébé took residence. This was the late 1990’s, 1998, in fact, when BowieNet began. And Art Bébé was to make her home there in the early 2000’s, soon after Tariq Raheem’s visualization of her as cyborg battle babe, the 5MB of web space allowing her to list and champion a selected field of artists in her chosen fields of the written, the visual, and the aural.
BowieNet was not a failure. It just lacked dedication on the part of Art Bébé. Not enough time was given over to it. And it came to champion only 1 artist, The Australian fine artist Guy Browning. The other problem for Art Bébé was web sight design. It is to be remembered that this period in internet history was considered early, the internet was still finding its feet, as much as the people choosing to make homes there.
And in Art Bébé history, BowieNet hosting came to be its first web presence, or first generation website. It lasted only through its first subscription.
The Howard Florey Institute
Holding a proud history in scientific, physiological & medical research, it could well be asked how the institute came to be host to the second generation Art Bébé website.
Art Bébé’s current identity was defined as cyborg battle babe. Taking the definition of a cyborg as a being with biological and technological components, the challenge in making a successful cyborg is with the body machine interface. Medical science makes this possible. Bébé was at home.
Was this Art Bébé a superhero? If the answer to this question is yes, then Art Bébé needed an origin story. What made her a superhero? And what made her into a specific type of superhero?
Tariq Raheem had defined Bébé as a battle babe, claiming her as one of his earliest explorations of this concept and character. He was to go on and explore may more, one outstanding example titled Battle Angel:
The wilderness years (from cultural warrior to superhero) – 2005 to 2007
Nothing was really working out. This had to be put down to Art Bébé’s lack of a clearly defined goal. Helping to define this goal, two key questions needed to be answered:
Who was she really?
What was her story arc?
To go somewhat towards answering these questions a powerful new redefinition was explored. What were the possibilities for Art Bébé within a superhero role.
An image was crafted. Perhaps the most iconic superhero image of all? The superhero perched on the edge of a rooftop watching over the city. It was crude, involving simply the planting of Bébé on a ledge jutting out from an urban tower. But significantly, the image was accompanied with an explainer that would identify her as a very different type of superhero from the familiar figure of crime fighter and justice seeker. Bébé, as much as fighting for truth and justice, would fight for cultural change, for the existence of a more thoughtful, more ethical, more altruistic humanity, brought about by a higher appreciation of the arts and sciences. The words read:
In the year 2099, in American City, if you don’t know Stella from your Rembrandt, you’re going to know about Art Bébé.
Was this Art Bébé? A superhero? If the answer to this question is yes, then Art Bébé needed an origin story. What made her a superhero? And what made her into a specific type of superhero?
Tariq Raheem had defined Bébé as a battle babe, claiming her as one of his earliest explorations of this concept and character. He was to go on and explore may more, one outstanding example titled Battle Angel:
This stunning image came to be seen as a definitive marker for Art Bébé, she in an advanced form of evolution as a cyborg, decked in a form of armor that Tariq was to label bioarmor. This understanding of Bébé was to help bring her out of the wilderness, an active period of research begun on the science behind the enhanced human.
Back on line – circa 2011
More confident that an image had been found for Art Bébé, it was time to reintroduce her into the public domain. Social media came along just in time. Art Bébé joined facebook on the 25th of February 2011. She found identity in the real world. She gathered friends. She posted about her life.
Art Bébé redesign – late 2013 to early 2012
It was time to reconnect with Tariq Raheem. At the time of Tariq’s first commission, Tariq’s home was in Melbourne, Australia. He was now to be found in Los Angeles. His talents had found him employment in the video gaming industry. Was he interested in resigning Art Bébé? He was. Tariq delivered a super-charged design, literally. His artistic interest remained with erotic fantasy, and in Bébé’s case, certainly the cybernetic & bio-enhance human. Bébé became more battle babe than ever.
Comic plans 2013 – up, up and away with Art Bébé
Plans for an Art Bébé story had been formulating for a long time. A graphic novel seemed the natural choice. Tariq Raheem was approached with the belief that the latest design of Art Bébé would surely deliver a powerful story. Tariq was to decline for reasons too complex to explain, leaving the position open for another artist. This is where the modern era of Art Bébé begins. Welcome on board Ed Rocha.
The Art Bébé Project 