To be completely honest I can say I didn’t enjoy this at the beginning I found the researching tedious and in some cases irrelevant. I have never been the biggest writer so it was quite difficult to get into as well. Some weeks were definitely easier than others as I found the topics more interesting therefore it was easier to express my views and opinions and I feel this will be evident in my previous posts.

One of my least favourite is most likely evident as the Authenticity post. I did not enjoy this one at all it dragged out and was extremely boring to research. And as admittedly I don’t have the longest attention span this one was hard to complete.

On a more positive note one of my favourite posts would have to be the Publish or Perish. I enjoyed this one I’m not 100% sure I done it right but nether the less it was interesting to me to look at and express my opinions on some very interesting pieces of published media especially when I spoke about the comic ‘Batman: Hush’. I was able to speak about this with fondness as I very much enjoy the book.

The Publish or Perish lecture was also one of my favourites for another reason. I found the section on Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcom X extremely interesting as I have looked into this a little myself and it was very insightful into the black history in America. This is a topic I find engaging as a young black man myself this relates to my history also.

Overall I did like the way we explored into each of the pathways throughout the course of the lectures. They are not all going to apply to me but I did get the much needed insight in order to help me make a decision for which I am going to choose. I do feel like the lectures were a bit too long on some days though. I feel as though there wasn’t enough information given to justify two hours of lecture. Especially with the Netflix show ‘Abstract: the art of Design’ don’t get me wrong I enjoyed watching the show but on occasion it wasn’t completely relevant and sections could of easily been skipped.

My personal take aways from the research and communication lectures are the ability to reference. I have never used this form of referencing before so it was a change but I see its importance to see where the information has been sourced from. Also the ability to find these sources that give valid information that I need. I will definitely be using these skills to improve my research in future projects making sure to use correct referencing.

Starting off strong with one of my first and favourite ever graphic novels Batman: Hush. It was published issue by issue from December 2002 to November 2003. The award winning story was written by Jeph Loeb and brought to life by the amazing pencil work of Jim Lee which was then inked by Scott Williams and finally coloured by Alex Sinclair. Jim Lee alone is one of my favourite comic book artists with his amazing renditions of the characters. Besides the beautiful artwork the story and narrative is gripping throughout the entire novel with intense action sequences and compelling backstories to lesser known characters. Also the way the Williams has introduced so many characters into  the plot with out it seaming like to much each having just the right amount to make them relevant to the continuation of the story. To prove my point further here is one of the first lines in IGN’s review  “there are books that offer significant changes in the status quo, good or bad. In either case, fans are certain to go absolutely f—— nuts. That’s what happened when fan-fave writer Jeph Loeb teamed with Jim Lee for the year-long “Hush” storyline. It didn’t just alter the status quo, it destroyed it.”

next on my publication list is the more recent Avengers Infinity war covers to well know magazine Vanity Fair. these covers were published in late November of this year in order to further hype the already massively anticipated 2018 release of the movie. Vanity Fair writes about how marvels decade long story is coming into its final chapters with Infinity war. they interview many of the actors from the MCU one being The Hulk played by Mark Ruffalo who said to Vanity Fair “All good things must come to an end.”

And finally moving away from the comic theme slightly and into the realm of popular television show we have the second season of the smash hit Netflix original Stranger Things. This latest addition to the Duffer brothers show was another hit and a great addition. Both seasons are jam packed full of pop culture references to the era that its set in. That era being the 80’s. The second season scored an impressive 94% on rotten tomatoes                         ” Stranger Things‘ slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against a growing horror that’s all the more effective thanks to the show’s full-bodied characters and evocative tone.”

The post modernism movement is a rebellious movement against the increasingly more modern forms of art. “It opposed the Modern art’s emotional and spiritual detachment from society. This gave rise to the two distinct schools of Postmodern art theory, Deconstructivism and Constructivism.”   It spans all the way from the 1960s to the 1980s.

postmordernist art is split into a few sub movement that are quite well know such as Pop art, conceptual art and installation art just to name a few.

One of if not the most famous conceptual artist was Marcel Duchamp. With one of his most famous pieces titled “fountain” originally made in 1917. This famous piece by Duchamp was iconic for its time as it was simply a urinal signed R.Mutt. “Fountain” was highly controversial for its time as no one wanted to consider something so ugly and grotesque as a piece of art. This piece was later joined by more replicas of the “fountain” commissioned by Duchamp himself.

Next on my list is this image titled      “bitches love cake” by James Rawson. his art fits well with the pop art movement of which the most well known artist is Andy Warhol with his famous prints. Rawson however uses a mix of collage and painting to create his bold pieces. This piece stood out to me for its use of bright colours and the text in the background which is contrasted by the people in the foreground.

Finally i have a piece here from artist Dan Flavin it doesn’t have a title as he has quite a few similar to this all of which use fluorescent, long neon bulbs in a variety of colours. I like his pieces mainly for the colours in them being colourblind these installations mess with my mind making the whole scene become sort of distorted which i believe give me a unique insight to his pieces.

if something is authentic it is genuine and real, not a fake or a copy. Relating this to my own practice any original piece that I create would be ‘real’ and therefore can be seen as authentic and genuine

Artists and designers take inspiration from everything around them including other current artist and art that came before them, all tweaked and updated to fit modern standards and culture. Can it then be said that no art today is authentic. As we are merely adapting old concept or upgrading old techniques to fit our needs in the ever moving world of art.

In art I believe something’s authenticity relies more on it being created by who it says it was. Forgery in the art world would be an example of this. If I created an exact replica of the ‘Mona Lisa’ it would both be inauthentic because it would not be the original created by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503, however it would be authentic as a real piece of my own work as long as I didn’t try to make it seem as if it were the original. A real life example of this is referenced in Denis Dutton’s discussion on authenticity in art                                                                                               “A forged painting, for example, will not be inauthentic in every respect: a Han van Meegeren forgery of a Vermeer is at one and the same time both a fake Vermeer and an authentic van Meegeren, just as a counterfeit bill may be both a fraudulent token of legal tender but at the same time a genuine piece of paper.”

Some people do not share this opinion. Believing that no art today can truly be authentic because in everything made there is at least one aspect that is copied from somewhere.