Undressed: Keaton Fox

Keaton Fox, a sophomore art video major, knows how to raid thrift stores and has a thing for eyes. A Miami native, she hates pants but can be spotted in a huge Salvation Army fur coat during the winter.

By Sarah Schuster | Photo by Sarah Kinslow

JM: Your necklace has poof balls on it.

KF: I got this during winter break in north Florida for $15. It was on sale from $50. I didn't have anything like it.

You’re an art video major. How does that differ from regular video?

It’s very bizarre. It’s very, very small; only about 8 or 10 students are majoring in it. We learn about art, performance art, and documentary; but it’s art video just because everything we do could be in a museum. I’m not sure if that’s the path I want to take. I’m really into documentary and music videos.

How does the concept of art video connect with your style?

When you have an artistic major, you have a certain eye for things. I have a lot of friends who get really nice clothes, and they look good all the time. But mine work because while they’re not exactly nice clothes, I know how to put them together. With art video you work a lot with color correcting and doing all these things to make it look nice.You apply that idea to fashion, and it all works out. Adding tints of color, mixing them, and putting patterns together that you wouldn’t think would normally work.

I heard you’re into anthropology.

The second semester of freshman year I didn’t know what I was doing. But my mom minored in anthropology here and told me to take a class and see how I felt about it. I took cultural anthropology, and it was really cool. We would look at everything from these different cultures, and the way they presented themselves stood out to me. I want to travel so much.That’s all I want to do. But that’s all anyone really wants to do, so it’s not original at all.

How does that play into style?

Even looking at third world countries, the way they design clothing out of their possesions is really cool.The other day in class we were watching a movie called Enjoy Poverty. These workers, whose shirts were ripped up, were wondering how tattered clothes became fashionable in America. I think its interesting to look into different fashion in different cultures.

You wake up. What’s the first thing you consider when you get dressed in the morning?

The weather, obviously. I usually go for what’s comfiest. I have an eye-patterned shirt that I wear every day; it’s so worn down, it has holes in it now. I’m really into eyes. I’m thinking about getting a tattoo of one.

Why eyes?

The other day in one of my classes we were learning about Derrida, who’s a philosopher, and he said the eyes are the only part of the body that do not change as you grow older. All my art video work is about childhood and loss of innocence, so I really like that concept.