With the use of imagery found in a catalogue I photocopied the film strips of famous male and female actors and collaged the images together with a clear divide down the central point. I decided to use the images in this way to try to show the clear divide between men and women in all aspects of life including acting.

If you look at the particular imagery used to show famous men they have the appearance of being strong this is visible with the body language and facial expressions they are using such as, square shoulders, leaning towards whoever they are conversing with and the different looks of contempt. The suggestion that men are interested in violence is evident with the use of guns and aggressive facial stills which in some cases seem to be taunting the viewer. A still image in particular that caught my eye is on the bottom left, the man seems to be topless lying down and as a viewer it gives me the impression of him being the ruler as though you should be worshipping him.

The film stills used to show women make them seem vulnerable with the amount of shots showing them crying or looking troubled. Some of them appear to be on the phone and it makes you wonder who are they calling? Especially with the particular facial expressions they are wearing, it makes me think of a women being reliant on a man and perhaps always waiting for his call. It also looks at women from the side of being beautiful, in many of the shots the women are dressed up perhaps on a date.

Overall I think the focus has been on the stereotypes associated with men and women, men born to rule and protect and women born to be vulnerable and beautiful.

I think the content in my posts is well thought out and perceived well, I tried to make sure every task is done to a good enough standard without rambling on too much. The most enjoyable tasks for me were Tasks 1, 4, 8 and 12 as they were broad, and you could do anything you want with them.

I tried to make sure I completed every task weekly so I never fell behind or felt overwhelmed nearing the deadline. I think doing these tasks has helped me get back in to writing for a purpose and made me think about my writing skills more.

I enjoy writing and have tried to enjoy the experience however there were a few tasks that were very hard to write like Task 7 and 9 as there is a lot of information in relation to Art history and Art theory and to have to chop down what you say in to 300 words so you aren’t writing a long essay was quite a difficult process, especially with those tasks because there is a lot of information you could write about.

Overall, I have learned new things from this experience such as being able to review and talk about exhibitions (task 4/5). Learn about interesting art theories (task 7) and talk about my own ideas and work (task 1, 3, 8,10, 12). Art isn’t just about creating work, it’s about knowing the world of art from history to theory, to philosophy and being able to communicate ideas and thoughts in more ways than just visually which this blog has helped me to do.

‘In the negativity and positivity of society, art is born.’

Themes I explore in my work are equality, mental health and women. All these things revolve around myself and society. As a fine artist it is important to not only stay relevant with what is happening around you but also with what context I want my art to be about. When creating an art piece, I am considering these factors and it always usually relates to the negative effect our society has on vulnerable people like women and mental health. I want my art to address these issues in society and shine a light on those people who feel vulnerable and let them know that they are not alone and there is positivity to be found during negative times. 

Aesthetics, we all devise an ideology in our minds of how everything should look, we even have ideas for how the human face should be. Studies have proven that people tend to find a face more aesthetically pleasing when symmetry is involved, so when an image of the face is so deliberately distorted and disfigured how do you think this would make the viewer feel?

Julie Cockburn uses found imagery and manipulates them in different ways, she states “no image is safe after it’s entered my studio.” Cockburn’s piece The Lioness (2014) challenges the whole concept of an aesthetically pleasing photographic image of a person’s face. The geometric pattern used to cut up and mirror different areas of the face could be used as a metaphor, for how we idealize those who have symmetrical features. Yet this face has been mirrored so many times that it is no longer aesthetically pleasing to look at. Cockburn’s image makes the viewer uncomfortable, she has drawn out the person from the photograph and created a character from her own imagination. Also with these fragments, she has destroyed the memory which could have been locked within the image. However, you could suggest that Cockburn is inserting new life into forgotten and mundane images.

Why does looking at distorted imagery of a person’s face make the viewer so uncomfortable? This is a question which I would like to explore within the theory of my work. And it is a question which I believe Cockburn must have raised when creating her pieces.

Pipilotti Rist’s ‘Ever Is Over All’ (1997) involves a video of a woman walking down the road humming a tune. During the carefree, joyful walk, she breaks the window of the cars with a long stalked flower, and this is accompanied by the sound of breaking glass.

Although the woman is the epitome of femininity (wearing a flowing blue dress and holding a flower which Rist has described as ‘clitoric’), she rebels against societal normalities and the video acts as a form of self-liberation of the female. This links to the sexual liberation movement of the 1960s, where there were a series of political campaigns for changes to issues such as reproductive rights, maternity leave, equal pay and sexual violence. A key feature of second-wave feminism was an ’emphasis on unity and sisterhood’. The video can be seen to show the fight for women’s equality, highlighted by the acknowledgement of the woman by the passing female police officer, who doesn’t try to stop the chaos but instead seems to endorse the forbidden act; through this the two female figures seem united and powerful.

During the 1990s in which the video was created, the rise of third wave feminism was prominent. This built on the rights gained by the second-wave. The rise of the feminist punk subculture, the use of Internet, blogs and zines allowed women to express their dissatisfaction with society and show that women’s issues were still very relevant. Many female artists, such as the Guerilla Girls, created art which exposed female stereotypes. Rist’s video can be seen to similarly draw from these stereotypes and reject the expectations embedded in society of how women are expected to act.

The third wave redefined women and girls as assertive, powerful, and in control of their own sexuality. In popular culture this redefinition gave rise to icons of powerful women, for example the singer Madonna. Second and third wave feminism also worked to desexualise the female body. Giving women more power and control over their own reproductive rights allows them to have more control over their lives and have the same lives as men without having to worry about unwanted childbirth. ‘Ever Is Over All’ links to the desire for erotic, emotional and social freedom which was prominent in the 1960s. Rist does not objectify the female body in her works, similar to artists of the 1960s and 70s who used the body as a medium in their art, for example Yoko Ono’s 1970 ‘Fly’ video. The bold, personal inclusion of the body instead empowers the female. This is similar to Rist’s use of the female in ‘Ever is Over All’ due to the woman’s confidence and cheerful state.

Although some post-feminists believe that gender equality has been reached, Rist’s video can be seen to reject this idea, rebelling against male dominance in the world (perhaps signified by the breaking of car windows or the phallic imagery of the long flower). Rist’s video is referenced in Beyonce’s 2016 ‘Hold Up’ music video, where the idea of the empowerment of women and gleeful feminine destruction and subversion of gender norms is shown to still be relevant to society today.

Bibliography:
MoMA, Pipilotti Rist Ever is Over All 1997, Available from: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81191 [Accessed 26/11/17]

Oxford Dictionaries, Feminism, Available from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/feminism [Accessed 26/11/17]

Brunell, L. Encyclopedia Britannica, The Third Wave of Feminism, Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism/The-third-wave-of-feminism [Accessed 27/11/17]

Burkett, E. Encyclopedia Britannica, Feminism, Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism#toc216008 [Accessed 27/11/17]

Ferroa, S. (2014) Pipilotti Rist Ever is Over All 1997, Available from: https://sabrinaferraoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/pipilotti-rist-ever-is-over-1997/ [Accessed 2711/17]

Playful, Experimental, Chance, Line, Contrast, Manual, Process, Expression, Negative Space

Commentary to reflect on choices –

The above image is of a selection of zines from the manifesto project. as it is my most recent work and probably best encapsulates my overall attitudes and approach to making and my own practice.

Zine-making was a process I wanted to explore further

Reproducibility, somewhat slapdash

I was keen to embrace and play with the ‘lo-fi’ aesthetic, whereby the process of reproduction via photocopier is evident and becomes a part of the overall aesthetic, such as the offset margins and edges.

The words I have used to describe the image

old words –

Slapdash, Zines, Lo-fi, Text?, (Collaborative), Appropriation

Edward Ruscha

The Music from the Balconies, 1984

I was drawn towards this oil painting because of the big beautiful scene it depicted- it felt like Ruscha had created a portal from the gallery space to a whole other world, through this painting. The soft pinks, blues and oranges of the sky hinted that a sunset or sunrise was taking place, which made the scene so serene and wholesome. It felt as if I had entered the painting; I could almost see the grass blow in the wind, and I felt that the scene had surrounded me. After reading the white bold writing on the painting, the scene became tainted. There was such a strong contrast between the peacefulness of the scene and the “noise of sporadic acts of violence.” I believed that the artist was trying to convey how something so natural could be destroyed by violence and that we shouldn’t take it for granted. Ruscha was inspired by J.G. Ballard’s novel ‘High Rise’- a dystopian novel about how the human society in a high rise building becomes driven by primal urges and re-creates a world ruled by the laws of the jungle- and used a quote from his book on this painting. He is portraying the conflict between man and nature by contrasting this quote with this rural scene, a theme that is often found in Ballard’s novels. The strong contrasts in this painting left me feeling lost. It felt as if Ruscha had made up a beautiful world which I became absorbed in and by writing those words, he ultimately ruined it, therefore successfully communicating the damage that man could do to nature and raising caution on this matter.

The ‘Soul of a Nation: Art in the age of Black Power’ exhibition at Tate Modern presented 12 rooms, 150 works, and 60 artists and was one of the most influential exhibitions I had ever seen. Even before entering the exhibition I was faced with five big televisions, which played speeches by Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael and James Baldwin, five of the most inspiring African American leaders during the Civil Rights Movement. This gave me a glimpse of what I was about to see once I walked through the exhibition doors. A wide and diverse range of black artists’ work was presented; from abstract expressionism to photography to sculpture. These artworks portrayed icons such as Muhammad Ali and movements such as the Black Panthers. It also shed light on some activists, writers, photographers and artists that were hardly known by the public, therefore giving them the recognition and acknowledgment that they deserved. It portrayed how pivotal, historical moments influenced black artists. All artworks provoked strong emotions, ranging from feelings of empathy to feelings of empowerment. The ideas, images and messages that were presented were thought provoking and enlightening and are actually still very relevant in today’s society.

Nikki S. Lee

Part (14), 2002

[photograph]

This image depicts a woman sitting in the back seat of a car, with a solemn expression on her face. A man’s arm is hugging her shoulders, but the rest of the man’s body is cropped out of the picture. This could represent the detachment she may feel from the man next to her or her desire to remove his presence from her life. It seems as if she has had an argument with him as she looks quite annoyed or even sad. Having researched this image, I now know that the artist’s goal was to explore the complicated aspects of relationships and all the emotions that come with them. She also shows the vulnerability and isolation that comes with breakups.

“The purpose of the cut is to make people curious about the missing person and to think how his identity has affected the woman who is left behind. It forces people to examine the relationship itself, even if it is only part of the story.” –Nikki S Lee

Lee’s words prove to be true, as I recall myself being interested in the cut out part of the image, when I first saw it and questioning why it had been cut out in the first place. It made me think about the dynamic of their relationship and wonder what situation she was in when the photo was taken.

Bibliography:

CARPENTER, B. (2013) National Museum of Women in the Arts. Artists Spotlight.

Available from: https://nmwa.org/blog/2013/11/01/fluid-identities-the-parts-and-projects-of-nikki-lee/ [Accessed 26th November 2017]

BOUQUILLARD, J. (2007) Hokusai’s Mount Fuji, 2^nd Edition, New York: Abrams.

This book explores Hokusai’s famous series ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’ and how this transformed the art of Japanese print of the 19^th century. Hokusai combined traditional Japanese and Chinese techniques with Western perspective to create magnificent and unprecedented landscapes. This book was originally written by Jocelyn Bouquillard in French, and was translated to English by Mark Getlein. It consists of a single narrative and presents a total of 46 plates of Mount Fuji- believed to be the finest impressions of Hokusai’s collection. There is a commentary written for each one, as well as an explanation of why Mount Fuji was considered so sacred, as it was known to hold the secret of immortality. Bouquillard demonstrates how Hokusai depicted Mount Fuji from an endless variety of viewpoints, as well as at different times of the day, different seasons and different weather conditions. For example, the print ‘Thunderstorm beneath the Summit’ portrays the sacred mountain during a storm. Bouquillard (2007, p.18) goes on to describe it: “Squalls, downpour, thunder, and lightning unleash their power at the mountain’s darkened base.” This strongly juxtaposes with another one of his prints ‘Mount Fuji Seen from Goten-yama at Shinagawa on the Tokaido Road’, which depicts “a beautiful spring day…and flowering cherry trees”, as Bouquillard (2007, p.101) describes it. The difference in atmosphere of the two prints is reflected in the colours used too.  It can clearly be seen how Hokusai’s work inspired many Impressionists, as the theme of the effect of changing atmosphere and lighting is also seen in many Impressionists’ work. Hokusai presented close ups off Mount Fuji, but he mostly depicted it rising behind a scene of people, such as farmers and artisans doing their daily routines and tasks. This book highlights that by combining the pure landscape of Mount Fuji with human presence in many of his prints, Hokusai represented the harmony between humans and nature, which is a main characteristic of Shintoist belief and gives us an insight to Japanese Culture.