Reflective Statement

Leave a reply

I’ve actually enjoyed all the lectures, but absolutely hated doing the blog! Simply because it is not my way of communicating. I shut down my own wordpress blog because it was too much effort and more complicated than I feel blogging needs to be.

I have generally really liked the lectures, because even when we were discussing something I knew about, such as scanning images or saving documents, it showed me new or better ways of doing it.

The lectures also introduced me to facilities and opportunities that are available at the University that I would either of never discovered or taken a while to find.

This unit is the first time that my dyslexia has proven to cause me real problems. In the past I have always been able to wing my way through education without it causing many issues. The information overload, the note taking, reading and understanding tasks and the written responses have all been massively difficult for me causing me to be slow on producing the work. I used every minute available to do the written work, right up to deadline and still was unable to complete it. Although I may not do particularly well in this unit due to this, it has triggered me to source and accept support for my dyslexia to help me through the rest of my degree.

Visual Analysis was a no go area and an open fail for me. I didn’t understand a word of what was said in the lecture or what was going on, there was too much in the presentation for me to take in all at once. Maybe what was going on in my personal life at the time is a reflection on my struggles in this task. I couldn’t find a specific advert to analyse i tried and failed several times, so I just wrote about a specific type of advertising in general that has recently caused trouble in my own life.

Reflective writing is also a fail for me, because I just could not digest all that text.

I missed one lecture, The copyright one. This made the task a little bit difficult to start with, because although the resources used in the lecture are online, I wasn’t there to ask any questions I had at the time, so what was on blackboard was all I had to refer to. It is a complicated subject aswell, so when I asked class mates for their input they all had different points of views which made it more confusing for me. So again I just had to write from my own personal point of view and what I believed appropriation ment.

Being able to get involved in the lectures, ask questions and have discussions about the subjects, was really great. It is interesting to hear other people’s point of views. The ethics lecture was particularly interesting to me, I really enjoyed it a lot and I liked doing the task for that aswell.

Although there has been a lot of grumbling in the class about some of this unit, I personally have found it to be very beneficial, and everything at some point in one way or another has either started to or will take effect on my own practice. However I am really looking forward to not returning to this blog!

Steal Like an Artist

Leave a reply

Appropriation is everywhere. People love it. They like when they can see something they recognise in something new. Quite often it is used to be witty, to either make a political statement, or to mock something, sometimes even the artist or the work itself.

 The definition of ‘appropriation’ is not actually clearly defined, and can be confusing. So depending on who you are asking or what you are reading it can either be an art form or a crime. Some will say it is ‘borrowing’ or ‘re-using’ images from another artist, some will say it is simply ‘theft’ and breach of copyright law.

Appropriationin the arts is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them.

Wikipedia Definition
I couldn’t narrow it down to three images to discuss as there was a particular Artist and issue I wanted to highlight when it comes to the subject.
My favourite artist for appropriation is Cartrain. This is possibly to do with the fact that I am very anti-Hirst! I also love his rebellion to art, politics and society.
Cartrain is not the first Artist to find himself in a legal battle with an artist over use of another’s work. Especially Damien Hirst. But he is certainly effective with it!
In 2008 Cartrain made a series of collages using a photograph he took of Damien Hirst’s sculpture ‘For The Love of God’.
Hirst ordered the Design and Artists Copyright Society to cease any artworks containing the image. Cartrain handed over the work and the ÂŁ200 he had made from them.
Hirst was quite adamant it was a breach of copyright.
It opened up a discussion as to how much of the original artwork needs to be seen in order for it to be copyright theft. Some of Cartrain’s work was seen as an infringement against copyright because ‘more than 80% of the skull could be seen’. But in a case held AGAINST Hirst for copyright infringement. The House of Lords stated that ‘new work has to be identical to a previous work to be considered copyright infringement’.
Cartrain attacked Hirst’s work once again the following year, by stealing Faber Castell

Cartrain’s false police poster for the missing pencils.

pencils from Damien Hirst’s installation, Pharmacy. He then created police posters informing the pencils had been stolen and asking for information and posted them around London. Cartrain held the pencils at Ransom, claiming Hirst and DACS had one month to return his work to him or the pencils would be sharpened.

I think the boy is a genius and quite ballsy to stand his ground and attack the very same artist again.
I find it interesting that the laws of copyright and ownership can be bent and stretched and quite often to benefit the more powerful (ie richer!) maker. I personally like appropriation.
Art should be as free as speech. I believe as artists if we create and put our work to the public then we should also be open to responses good or bad, and if someone takes our images, ideas or whatever and creates something from that, surely that should be acceptable as their own work. We are all responding to something in one way or another and just communicating our thoughts or reactions to it? Well that’s what I always believed art was about anyway.
Cartrain is not the only artist to use Hirst’s skull in rebellion to the artist. Many have done especially in support of Cartrain.

task 2 – legacy of jackson pollock

Leave a reply

I read the really long review, which had a lot of difficult and strange words which i did not understand. To be perfectly honest, i didn’t really understand the txt that much and found it really hard to review it. This is my i have left this txt till right until the end, kept putting it off.

At first when i found out that the artist was Jackson Pollock, i was quit please. I am a big admirer of pollock’s work, and have used a lot of times in BETEC for research and inspiration for final ideas. I just love the use of colour and the organised random selection he uses. i love using colour in art, and in daily life, when i look his work i feel it really connects to me and my practice. Sorry i couldn’t do the 500 word review.

 

Digital Collector

Leave a reply

I have been really interested in Swans recently. Whilst on my way back to the car after Uni I took this photo of some cygnets. I had never seen cygnets this old before, or that many cygnets survive. The photo is not very good as the flash wouldn’t work because the battery was dying, But I had a feeling the cygnets would not be there when I returned the next week.

Cygnets in Winchester. Photo taken on a digital camera.

Here is an Image I scanned in, I took this in the summer in Newbury. It is a double exposed negative using expired film on a 35mm camera.

Swans in Newbury. Lomography Experiment.

Here is a stock Image I downloaded off the internt for Drawing reference form Deviantart.

Swan stock image from AlzirrSwanheartStock on Deviantart.

Library Skills

Leave a reply

My Library experience was not exactly thrilling, but essential. I had been in the photography workshop, But with Alick knowing what he was talking about was talking to fast for me to understand. So I simply used Webcat to find some books that would explain it better.

Creative Exposure Control by Les Meehan

SBN 1-84340-049-9

 

An easy process for a simple task. I have also been looking at this blog to help with my photography skills.

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photography-fundamentals/mastering-the-art-of-black-and-white-photography/

 

Digital Output

Leave a reply

I am a self-confessed Social Network whore! Promiscuous on many sites. I love it!

A lot of people are sceptical about sites such as facebook and twitter. But when used correctly they can be fantastic tools for career progress and making connections. I can’t remember the last project or commission I was given that didn’t come from a contact made on the internet.

In the last couple of years I have literally made thousands of connections with other artists worldwide, designers, makers and galleries. All of which are now a huge part of my creative process.

Anything I want or need, I can update my status and someone, somewhere will be able to deliver. Whether it is an interim crit or technical advice for a piece I am working on,  help with research or finding inspiration, political debates and conversations to keep our minds working or just simply staying in contact with what is happening in the industry. It’s brilliant.

I have two separate ways of communicating through facebook. I have my friend account where I keep my important contacts to connect with, and my facebook page. The facebook page is brilliant because those that just simply like my work but are not associated with the art world can see what I am doing and working on and connect with me, without me having to be there ‘friend’.

As a creative person I also get to blur the line between my work and personal life as each one has influence on the other. I like that facebook and twitter are more casual forms of networking, so I can post about heartbreaking break ups and struggles as a single parent, and get responses and support from people in similar situations, that just feeds my inspiration for new work.

It is also great for being able to quickly post a message to everybody at once. While facebook and twitter may have their downsides, I cannot find enough faults for me to stop using it. There are far more benefits.

However those that misunderstand the concept are quite likely to end up on Jeremy Kyle! The clue is in the name ‘social networking’.

I gave up on my wordpress blog as it was just far too much effort for me. I like to blog quickly and simply. Only last week did I discover how amazing Pinterest is. I have now began using this as a tool for research and inspiration.

 

Task 8 Analyses

Leave a reply

The Research and Communication module has really helped me with my research skills. I used to obtain my primary contextual information from the Internet. Now the library isn’t an overwhelming mass of books but an organised and easy to navigate system with the help of WebCat. Through this module I have been able to develop my understanding of the university facilities that has enabled me to be more productive which is essential in a course work subject. I was a bit apprehensive about blogging my tasks as I wasn’t sure I was doing them right so I made sure I wasn’t the first to blog! The way we are assessed via the internal blog is a really good way of gently creating a digital visual journal, so we can experience the blogging effect without presenting professionally to the public.

The most useful task was the Library Resources task; it was probably one of the more time consuming tasks but I feel what I got out of the task was extremely valuable. Through this task I learnt how to use the library search engines WebCat and NTnet that gave me a place to start my research than the huge overwhelming mass of books and panic. I was able to search for key words relating to my ‘Opposites Attract’; “Subtle and Bold” theme, which resulted in discovery of new artists and designers that related to my project and in turn have influenced my project. This task has broadened my media resources, which has enabled me to gather more contextual research for my projects.

The task that proved to be most challenging was the Reflective Writing Task. I think it was partly the fact that I was quite rusty having not analysed a piece of text for a while and the nature of the text was very academic and hard to read.  At first I didn’t understand the article however reading, rereading and reading around the article and taking notes helped. Surprisingly by the end of the task I found the article really interesting, as I knew of the prejudice against fashion but have never seen it disused in an article before.

“It may not be possible to define a particular piece of clothing or a specific garment as an item of fashion, but it should be possible to ascertain whether a particular piece of clothing is functioning as fashion. In the same way as a binliner, for example, is not an item of dress until someone wears it, so a garment is not an item of fashion until someone uses it to indicate their actual or ideal place in social structure.”( Malcom 1958: 19) I have remembered this piece of text from the first time I read around the article Fashion, Clothing and Trivia. Fashion can be made out of anything; it is how we as individuals express ourselves. In this quote I love the reference to the ‘binliner’ because in one of our studio practice sessions we were given binliners to create our first t-shirt maquette, this is where fashion begins.

The Visual Research lecture is my most memorable as I found it extremely interesting how every aspect and finer detail was to promote in-depth meanings and reaction to the image. The task I too thoroughly enjoyed, as we were able to choose our own image, advert etc to analyse that gave me more motivation for the task. This task has taught me to be more selective in my own imagery and I now find myself analysing every image in magazines, adverts and posters; it has truly opened my eyes to the in-depth meanings behind advertising.

The Research and Communication module I found challenging but overall I have enjoyed the out comes and feel that perhaps without knowing I have learnt a lot. Through the tasks I have become familiar with resources such as Lynda, blackboard and WebCat which I now use with out thinking so I don’t know where I would be with out them.  The main element that I have notice in my work change, enhance and become easier is my contextual research; I have found new and inspiring designers that I don’t believe I would have discovered before. I now begin my research in the library and use designer specific web sights like ‘pintrest’ to search for designers, artists and thinkers to influence my projects. Relating to my written work I do struggle staying focused, writing relevant information and getting my point across easily but think it is an aspect that I am improving in. I have enjoyed blogging my responses to the tasks and see why you need an online presence to exist and succeed with in the fashion and design industry.

References

Malcolm, Barnard. 1958. Fashion as Communication. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Task 4 Visual Research

Leave a reply

I have chosen to analyse the Cadburys ‘Gorilla’ advert of 2007. It is one of the most unconventional and memorable adverts to date. It was created by Fallon agency and “A Glass and a Glass Half Full” production crew. Promoting “A Glass and a Glass Half Full” dairy milk chocolate collection. I chose this advert, as I believe it is a memorable, original and enjoyable advert.

Bellow is the link to the full advert on youtube.                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAK5d9VO1VU

The deep aesthetically pleasing purple colour of Cadbury is a feel good colour and a statement colour that couldn’t be confused with another brand. You don’t even have to read the slogan, as you know the white font. The slogan “A Glass and a Glass Half Full” relates directly to the glasses of milk featured above the text. Cadbury states that in every 227g of milk chocolate there is 426ml of fresh liquid milk, implying the glasses are full of milk and therefore goodness. A secondary meaning to the slogan is often said by an optimist that a ‘glass should always be half full’ and here Cadbury implies that with their product your glass will be a glass and a half full of goodness.

The advert features a man dressed up in a gorilla suit. The camera angle gives nothing away which increases the viewer’s tension of finding out the unknown as for over half of the advert it is focused only on the gorillas face. Reading facial expressions of concentration and focus while listening to the rhythm and beat of Phil Collins ‘In the Air Tonight’, just music no lyrics. Zooming out slowly at one minute after a lip sneer indication from the gorilla and clear preparation stretches of the shoulders, the whole scene is revealed. The purple and white Cadbury colours are significant on the walls surrounding the chocolate coloured gorilla in the centre of the studio link wrappings. Then suddenly there is an explosion as the camera has zoomed out enough to reveal most of the studio; gorilla energetically starts to play the drums and Phil Collins sings. The size of this advert is one and a half minutes long, structuring a longer build up time, which results in a more tense and excited audience; thirty seconds of the entertainment and result with a few seconds of advertising to finish. It is a mythical sight never imagined or seen before and the concept is overwhelming and opposite to reality; this advert brings a smile to ones face and gives a feeling of wellbeing and happiness which can help release you from reality.

The agency behind this advert is Fallon London who created the Sony ‘Balls’ commercial two years earlier in 2006 which is another unusual but memorable commercial. Thousands of bouncy balls take over Russian Hill in San Francisco; the message being the colours you see here you will see “like no other” on their new BRAVIA LCD and 3LCD TV range.

Link to Sony ‘Balls” commercial:                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bb8P7dfjVw

The Cadburys ‘Gorilla’ advert directed by Juan Cabral won a number of awards the most prestigious of which was the advert of the year at the British Television Advertising awards. Brands such as Cadbury and Sony are so well known and accessible that advertising to get the detail of their products across is not as importantly as promote the company in a positive way. Therefore making unconventional, interesting, unique, fun and memorable adverts is their remit.

The Cadbury ‘Gorilla’ advert promotes good relations with the public. It is a feel good mythical advert designed not to bombard you with the produce but to give you a memorable image that can be related to the brand. I think the structure and sequence of the film holds the viewers attention and keeps them in suspense therefore we subconsciously take note of the advert and remember it. I have yet to understand or discover the connection between the gorilla playing drums, Phil Collins and Cadbury or perhaps there is no obvious connection, which implies that there isn’t necessarily one. The final message below ‘A Glass and a half full of joy’; enjoy their product!

Research Reference

  • SWENEY, Mark. 2008. Cannes: Gorilla bags the top. Avaliable at:  http://www.gyardian.co.uk [accessed 10/12/2012]

 

Task 6 Ethics

Leave a reply

In this assignment I am looking at the ethical issues involved in images. Ethics is about morals. I chose the ‘Wild Things’ photo shoot, featuring the supermodel Naomi Campbell by the French photographer Jean- Paul Goude for the 2009 September Harper’s Bazaar issue. Africa is the inspiration for this photo shoot, combining the natural pattern found on the live animal next to the interpreted printed fashion statement. I was drawn to the movement and motion in the photo, could a woman be as fast as a cheetah? This image certainly implies that Naomi Campbell is portrayed as fearless and invincible.

“Fashion tends to eroticize any culture that isn’t immediately familiar” [1]. This quote suggests that to all cultures which aren’t relative to us or we have little interaction or experience with the form presumptions and therefore broad stereotyping. We therefore see everything simply and can interpret cultural characteristics into sexual and stimulating outcomes. When I think of Africa the jungle, protected animals, dry landscapes, bright vibrant colours and poverty springs to mind. This is what the controversial and ethical disagreement begins. Africa has “skyscrapers and bridges and ‘cosmopolitan madness’ exists every where”[2] like other countries. Every country has good and bad qualities therefore focusing as Jean- Paul Goude does in the photo shoot on Africa’s sensational nature is a good thing! If this is stereotyping then I believe it is a good thing and you can see though the photos the clear African inspiration.

In this Photo shoot Naomi Campbell has ran with a cheetah, controlled a crocodile, sat on an elephant and skipped with monkeys. Creating a fearless, powerful and larger than life figure accepted into the wild. As well as Naomi’s talents being outstanding Jean- Paul Goude photographs show his talent and skills equally.

Naomi’s black skin stereotypes the African Western woman. Its always a touchy area to take photos and impressions, themes, context, subjects that which we don’t fully understand or experience. In this photo shoot Naomi is shown to be dominating and at one with nature and the culture. I can understand how these images have provoked debates. To the locals out siders have come in believing and generalising the characteristics that make up a country and representing them in a fashion statement.

‘Wild Things’ photo shoot I chose, as I was myself inspired by the image. I have found it hard to relate and describe the ethical challenges of the image. So have fallen into analysing the image. I don’t have an issue with these images or find them offensive; I admire the technical skill used and the detailed patterns presented. Comparing the identity of animals by their skin pattern and translating into fashion prints progressing to combine and compare animal print and actual animals skin via no physically immoral way just to photograph the living animals.

Reference

[1] NGAN, Jeff. 2009. ‘The Jungle Book’. SansArtifice. Available at http://sansartifice.wordpress.com [accessed 10/12/2012]

[2] RONGULLLO,Ulysses. 2009. Naomi Campbell in Stereotypical ‘Out of Africa’ spread. Available at: http://eccentriccity.wordpress.com [accessed 09/12/2012]

[3]ODUCOK, Uduak. 2009. Naomi Campbell ‘Wild Things’ Harpor’s Bazaar shoot, offensive? Ladybrille Magazine. Available at: http://www.ladybrillemag.com [accessed 10/12/2012]

 

Task 5 Copyright

Leave a reply

Big Ben Clock Tower is one of the most recognised landmarks in the world and is a sight many travel too see, as it is one of the most traditional and symbolic English sights. English culture value their traditions and try to keep them; Big Ben is still an old fashioned working clock that has a preserved perception that Britain runs to its time. This is incorrect for the clock is not reliable enough for the time has to be checked and altered daily to keep it up to date.

I found this image on Google when I searched ‘big ben London’. Romainberth is the author who photographed Big Ben on the 27/02/2009. The image is copyright under the GNU Free Documentation License that allows me to share and remix the image with attribution to the source.

The Big Ben photograph link is:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_ben_london_eye2.jpg

Big Ben images have copyright protection but not the building its-self therefore replicas and models can be made. For example this Pandora Charm. Pandora states that all their information, articles, graphics, photographs and jewllery on their website belongs to Pandora. I am allowed to produce digital and physical copies of the content for ‘own personal use’. This is where I have into a debate slightly with myself, as our university blog is an academic blog and therefore will be available to a limited number of people and not broadcast to the public – does this make it for personal use?

link to the official Pandora website:                                                       http://www.pandora.net

 

This book is my final copyright source. I chose a book as it contains artwork in the illustrations and information on Big Ben. It is a children’s fun educational book where they learn about Big Ben through a story and illustrations drawn by children, rather then history books. The book is ‘copyright 2009, Guy Fox History Project Limited. All rights reserved’ as I said earlier in this task I am viewing our university blog as ‘personal use’ due to the fact that it is for educational purposes and not accessible to the wider public.

Below is the link to see the full book online: http://www.bigbenfacts.co.uk/images/BigBenBooklet.pdf

The three images I have selected are all different products containing either visual or sculptural interpretations of Big Ben. They also are protected but different copyrights. The photograph of Big Ben, I am allowed to use and remix but need to acknowledge the source. The Pandora Big Ben charm if fully copyright protected however I am allowed to use the image for ‘personal use only’. And finally the Big Ben book is also fully copyright protected meaning I can view it online but if I want the product I will have to purchase it. This task has taught me a lot about copyright and what we are and aren’t allowed to use.