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Marianna Hane Wiles agreed to go under the clippers in the name of art and frugality as part of PICA's presentation of Mammalian Diving Reflex's Haircuts by Children.
Here's her story in her own words:
For several weeks now I've been gleefully telling my friends, "I'm getting my hair cut by a twelve-year-old!" At best I received skeptical looks, while most gave me dire warnings about the possible results. I figured that no matter what happened I could deflect all comments on the cut by explaining the age of the stylist, though I neglected to realize that this did not sufficiently explain my desire to let a fourth-grader near my head with a pair of scissors. It just seemed too ridiculous an opportunity to pass up.
On Saturday, with a photographer friend and camera in tow, I headed up to Rudy's Barbershop for my 1 pm appointment. Haircuts by Children was already well underway, with four stylists' stations devoted to young barbers and numerous onlookers snapping photos with cameras or cell phones. Three of the haircuts seemed to be going well: some tentative snips, but no major mishaps. The fourth subject, however, was on the receiving end of one hell of a haircut. A thirty-something man with relatively short hair to begin with, I can only imagine that he had asked for a simple trim. Cutting perfectly straight horizontal lines, the confident stylist cropped his hair at three different levels, creating a cut that resembled a ziggurat or maybe a stepped waterfall. It was really indescribable, and left me a bit wary. Luckily, the recipient of the haircut seemed unperturbed and happily posed for pictures with his beaming stylist afterwards.
Then it was my turn: after signing a release form, I was introduced to my ten-year-old stylist, Jaime. Unlike some of the other youngsters who seemed quite chatty and excited to be cutting adults' hair, Jaime acted a bit bored with the whole idea. I asked him how he'd ended up giving haircuts and he told me in a monotone that his teacher had signed him up for it.
After witnessing what happened to the last short-haired person who asked for a trim, I asked for a minimal clip along the nape of my neck, leaving the top and front untouched. Jaime finished in less than twenty minutes with little conversation—a real pro. He seemed glad to be released from his duty and allowed to return to drink lemonade and hang out with all the other on-deck barbers (of a dozen kids working on Saturday, only four were giving haircuts at any one time).
I walked away from the experience a bit disappointed that I had not had the guts to request a more adventuresome cut, but quite glad to have seen the spectacle for myself.
--Marianna Hane Wiles
Photos by Leah Yanoff.
WWeek 2015