about 2faced1.com

2FACED1.com shows one persons two different faces in photos;

Persona 1:
WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
CONSIDERED AS

Persona 2:
WHAT YOU FEAR TO BE
CONSIDERED AS

This leads to a discussion about stereotypes and inner fears of getting misunderstood by the surroundings. Thoughts that every thinking modern day person does reflect upon. We're asking every day people from an innercity context where old categories as ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality and class are reassessed, why they choose to look like they do. We’re diggin' deep, peeling off garments, codes and attributes. We’re searching for transnational identities - is the conclusion that we choose whoever we want to be today?!

 

A 2FACED1 STATE OF MIND

A 2FACED1 is highly aware of existing stereotypes related to your own ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality and class. You’re trying to avoid them but sometimes also play with them to make people think twice about who you are. Two faced doesn’t mean anything negative here, it explains the double folded view you have on identity if you’re not the existing norm. It means you have the feet in different worlds, can move between them but feel rather at home in that space in between. You've stepped out of your comfort zone and have become one of the new identities where ol' categories are mashed up and rootlessness and non-given identity just means major possibilities.

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THE 2FACED1 NETWORK

2FACED1 is a state of mind, 2FACED1.com is a display-window for this mindset and the network of 2FACED1 includes all of you progressive non-stereotypes with a double perspective on identity .

 

2FACED1.com:

Decida -  Editor, Founder, Creative Director
Oscar Stenberg - Web, Photography
Linn Marcusson - Writer, Style Assistant (Gypsie's Mega Trip)
Spoek Mathambo - (the Zombo Blog)
Alex Dabo - ( the Do The Dabo Blog)

 

Follow 2FACED1 on Facebook

 

2FACED1s:

Under Construction

THIS SITE LET YOU SEE THE WORLD
TROUGH A 2FACED1'S PERSPECTIVE!

 
contact: info@2faced1.com

Too Cool for School

05-12-2011 Words: Linn Marcusson

He’s born In(to) The 90’s like an R Kelly album and belongs to the generation that had a Twitter account before they even learned to talk. Alex Dabo is a teenager in a world where it’s synonymous with criminal in granny’s cross-word, but nowadays the young generation can at least wear Adidas pants without using round kicks on regular basis. The story about Alex goes, however, far beyond saggy pants and soggy biscuits. The quota of predetermined High School drama’s were filled long time before American Pie #103 - and a 2FACED1 like this 15 year old is, wouldn’t take that easy role as a stereotype anyway.

Alex Dabo is born in Sweden, but seems rather to have grown up in a World (Wide Web) without national- and cultural limits. Having a laptop instead of a cuddly toy have luckily not made all kids neither Anders Behring Breivik clones nor victims of evil child grooming pedophiles. Some of them have instead used Internet to find other versions of reality compared to the one

their school books teach. By taking part in the interactive popcultural moshpit, they have instead created their own (hi)story. Well, the Pope in Rome might have heart attacks every other day because it’s so easy for young people to find porn nowadays. But everyone who read porn magazines in the woods back in the day knows that prohibition and hiding doesn’t work in the end anyway. 

Kids will always find out what’s going on in the (adult) society sooner or later, something Alex seems to agree with: 

– I think young people who have grown up with online communities actually are the one’s that are the most aware of how the Internet works. Of course there's bad stuff and strange people,  just like in the real world. But there’s also a lot to see and

 

Shades - Vintage
Shirt - Our Legacy
Vest - Liz Claiborne Sports (Vintage 1994)
Watch - Swatch
Ring - Garter Tokyo
Shorts - HAN / CaliRoots
Shoes - Timberland (Noreen)

FACE 1

What Alex want to be considered as:

Some preppiness for the intellectual
side of young Mr Dabo, add some
individuality and stir up with
creative playfulness. 

“And I’m an proud African too,
who love old school Hiphop".

The vintage vest from Liz Claiborne
Sports Collection 1994 together with 
a “diamond” ring that could be worn 
by Alex’s favorite artist Kanye West 
makes the style complete.

learn. It’s hard to not get a bigger perspective. Something that hopefully can make even the worst narrow-minded person do a bit of re-thinking.

The age of fifteen isn’t just about being too young to go out clubbing but old enough to fuck legally. It’s also about being stuck in the Headquarter Of Stereotyping a. k. a. High School. Pretty much a big fat orgy in society’s reproduction of hierarchical dichotomies - identifying what you are by identifying what you’re not, black or white, boy or girl, straight or gay. No room for the

“Just because you’re a kid it doesn’t mean you’re not able to think”

ones in between or the ones that are neither this or that. And that is also the reason why Internet has come to have such a big importance by actually providing a platform that goes beyond school yards and normative identities. When listening to Alex description, it seems like the physical High School is pretty much the same crap as it's always been:

– It’s about looking fly and getting respect. Bad attitude, Adidas pants and too much hair gel and then no one dares to mess around with you.

This description which also fits the guy called “tuggare” in Alex world, a character who also became the foundation for Alex’s 2FACED1 Persona 2. Translate it to an American young thug in a mixture with English Chavs, soccer attributes topped with the latest hi-tech gear. When I ask him to describe a “tuggare” he smiles and says:

– Ok no offense to my boys, but “tuggare” are almost like retarded hipsters haha... they’re always doing everything too much and too late!!! And there is a strange connection going on between “stekare” (rich kids) and “tuggare”. An example, the rich kids can start out wearing something cause it’s expensive rather then edgy, soon also

Beanie - Models own
Sweater - Dickies/CaliRoots
Fake pearl - Punkt shop
Pants - Adidas Clima 365
Socks - Barcelona FC
Slippers - Adidas Originals Jeremy Scott (Wings Adilette)

FACE 2

What Alex fears to be considered as:

"Adidas pants with slim fit is one of the obligatory basics in the wardrobe of a “tuggare”. The beanie far back on the head is number two. An elastic topknob on the back of a “normal” beanie made it stick to the position back of the head." 

Today it’s possible to order special made beanies on Internet with a sewn in elastics instead. A "must have" according to Alex.

 

 

Alex wears a white crew neck sweater from Dickies / Cali Roots and Jeremy Scott O by O slippers from Adidas, and mix it up with a cross necklace and the typical “tuggar” pearl in the left ear. Black pearls are an evolution of the diamond looking ones from some years ago, and pearls with a magnet, if your dad won’t let you pierce your ear, are also available nowadays!

“tuggarna” wears the “Fjällräven” jackets, just because it's then a jacket linked to “exclusiveness”. But they’re not copying the whole brat look, they rather make it their own, one must say!

In other words, suburbia rascals running around in outdoor hunting clothes aimed for wealthy middle aged men?
– It doesn’t matter what it is, they steal attributes from everywhere. The only thing that is important is that everyone knows that the brand is expensive! That goes for many brats too!

But the reason why Alex doesn’t want to be seen upon as a “tuggare”  has nothing to do

with the actual style, rather the reception of it.

– Most people who don’t know me, don't see me as half Swedish and half Gambian. They see me as an African and probably think that I’ll be like their stereotype of a dark skinned boy from the suburbs. And I guess that’s why style always has been so important to me. A chance to show who I am instead of becoming that simple stereotype people might see me as because of skin color. Some call it respect but I wouldn’t want anyone to be scared of me. That’s not the way I want to be respected. I want to be taken seriously and not as a messy, cocky and young rascal. I'd rather be seen as an individual and not as a part of a group.

And that’s also why reppin’ his own style has become an important statement to stand up for himself and the things he believes in. When Alex bought his first pair of skinny jeans they were only available at the girl’s department. At this time ”tuggarna” used rubber topknots on their regular jeans to make a slim fit over the ankle.

– The first time I wore them and walked into the school dining hall, everyone stopped eating, just to stare!

And while Alex mom wondered why he insisted on buying ”Mom-Come-And-Help-Me”-jeans as she calls them, one of his brother’s “tuggar friends” wondered where

he had hidden the elastics;

– He thought I’d found transparent elastics’ cause he couldn’t see them. Like some kinda new invention for the “tuggar style”! But it was just the first pair of skinny jeans he’d ever seen, hehe!

Alex says that having friends from the different groupings in school has made things easier. None of them expects him to fit in and be anything else than Alex. But standing up for oneself will never be uncomplicated.

– Sure, it happened some dudes call me gay, just because I like clothes and style. But I mean, if being gay was about caring about how you look, some should take a look at themselves... It's not like I even put in half of the time they do in my appearance. 

They want to look like Ronaldo and fix their hair at least three hours per day. But they would never be called gay just because they’re into a typical dude thing,like soccer. Nobody then think about how metrosexual their look actually is.

And sometimes it may seem like high school is like a world of its own, but the issues Alex describes can’t be seen as something with a certain age limit. As Alex says, being a kid doesn’t mean you’re not to able to think and can’t see things in a bigger perspective. He might be fifteen, but the only thing that makes one aware that he’s a kid is the love for Harry Potter. But that’s, on the other hand, something many so called adults is down with too. So when Alex says people should take kids more seriously, it’s time to do it.

So what does this Alex Dabo want to do when he grows up and can make his own choices? We’ve already decided he’s way too cool for school and just want him to finish that shit and take over the world instead. And it seems like Alex already has a pretty explicit plan:

– I want to go to London and study fashion and design. To continue being creative and reppin’ 2faced1 of course! Claim space cause people will not just give it to you, that's what I've learned during my short life of 15 years, hahaha!

 

-----

Editor / Styling: Decida
Photos: Oscar Stenberg

Sun 15 Apr 2012 10:58 PM
Mats
Hot!
Wed 22 Feb 2012 9:41 AM
Anonymous
Love this kid!
Thu 26 Jan 2012 5:05 PM
Anonymous
I'm 32and live in the States but has pretty much everything in common with this smart kid!
Tue 17 Jan 2012 2:59 AM
DECIDA
Alex is the Beztezt!

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