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NOISES

After lengthy observation of surrounding noises within our environments we have come across the reoccurring sounds of shoes on pavements. People walking around and the sounds they create is something we rarely take notice of and observe however it surrounds us daily. This is depicted in our short compilation of people walking on cement.

Bibliography

· Freestone J, 'Our Education System Doesn’t Learn | Unlamed' (Mcgannfreestone.com.au, 2018) <http://www.mcgannfreestone.com.au/?p=938#more-938> accessed 15 September 2018

· 'The Rebellion Against Standardized Tests Is Exploding' (The Nation, 2018) <https://www.thenation.com/article/the-rebellion-against-standardized-tests-is-exploding/> accessed 15 September 2018

· 'Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two (Official Music Video)' (YouTube, 2018) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrxX9TBj2zY> accessed 15 September 2018

· http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1696

· Sloan JN Narooma, 'Parents Have Vital Role To Play' The Daily Telegraph (2018)

· The Daily Telegraph, 'Great Scott' (2018)

· Stiftung S, 'Schöpflin Stiftung | Engagement In Lörrach And Europe-Wide: Schöpflin Stiftung | Engagement In Lörrach Und Europaweit' (Schoepflin-stiftung.de, 2018) <https://www.schoepflin-stiftung.de/en/> accessed 15 September 2018

· 'Our Education System; One Of My Favourite Quotes By Albert Einstein | Engagement | Pinterest | Education System, Albert Einstein And Einstein' (Pinterest, 2018) <https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/310044755574810795> accessed 15 September 2018

· Magubane P, June 16, 1976 ([Skotaville] 1998)

Assessment Task 2 - Major Project Final Work & Concept Statement

Can creative acts be rebellious when rebellion has become canonised in art, design and media histories? What would a contemporary creative rebellion look like?

Following on from Assessment Task 1, I continued to research the idea of rebellion in many contexts. I have chosen to research the topic of ‘school system conformity’ through much research, analysis, experimentation and my own views on the topic using the weekly course concepts. Art is done through experience. An artist can protest a system or structure that exerts power over individuals and their autonomy through activism. I first looked at our current political situation in Australia where our Prime Minister was overthrown. This was a deliberate act of rebellion and related directly to the weekly concept of ‘Affect and Body Politics’ where emotions ran high. Strong emotion has led to desired outcomes that may be both negative or positive. My focus has been on teenage and school systems. In particular how the general school systems are very rigid and restrict individual growth. I looked at past historical extreme events like the 1976 riots in South Africa that led to profound changes on the socio-political landscape but came at a huge cost with loss of life and injuries. I was then inspired by the music artist Roger Waters from the band Pink Floyd whose song ‘Another Brick in The Wall’ who explored how “walls” people put up to protect themselves. Walls are built not for security, but for a sense of security. A wall is something to rely on, massive, firm and reassuring (to some). A walls presence symbolises order and discipline in the world. Walls create divisions and distinctions. Walls can block one's view and hide a person’s vulnerabilities and anxieties. Walls inevitably create divisions and prevent people and ideas from moving freely.

I liked the idea of the concept of the scale to illustrate a balance between a conforming traditional school system versus an alternate system that values freedom and creativity of a student. The weekly concept of ‘value’ is relevant here as if students see value in the education system it becomes meaningful to them by creating an inspiring environment. A system can transform the human social experience by empowering students to use their imagination by being innovative and resourceful rather than being controlled to conform. The art piece I created was a process of ideas that I got from researching the topic as well as my own views and passion. The art piece has a rigid brick wall that reflects metaphorically an inflexible traditional school system that lives according to its own rules and those who created it. The idea of the bricks suggests the solid school system that stands firm and uncompromising. The images and drawings in the artwork reflect the gaps in the traditional school system. These include stifling one’s individuality and taking away a person’s freedom. It also illustrates how bureaucracy hampers change where people in high places like the government impact on society as a whole. There is also the aspect of anxiety where the pressure on students to achieve high levels of academic success overrides the joys of education.

There is a sense of hope in my artwork that if changes are made individually, creatively and communally (referring to the weekly concept of ‘collaboration and community’) it can generate learning by applying new ideas, seeing existing structures in new ways and identifying alternate explanations in the system. This could include measuring non-cognitive skills like character, ethics or social responsibility which could upset power balances in schools giving students more control over their learning.

My contemporary artwork is rebellious in nature, it debunks the current educational system and metaphorically shows how students have been robbed of time and opportunities where instead they could have done things they enjoyed and loved and instead discovered who they are.

It’s not too late. WE NEED A REVOLUTION IN EDUCATION. Broadening our ideas on a different kind of success would be the next step. I would hope that my artwork would create dialogue and lead to many debates around the current education system. Through discovery, collaboration and non-conformity we could work towards a future of education that includes individuality rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Final Illustrations/Images For Artwork

Further Development Towards My Final Work #2

I have decided to draw a solid brick wall as a backdrop to my art piece. This was inspired by Pink Floyd as well as my own passions and research.

Walls create divisions and prevent people and ideas from moving freely. It also represents a solid, uncompromising school system that won’t change.

Further Development Towards My Final Work

I have continued to develop more illustrations which I will use in my final work to portray different ideas that relate to the confines of a traditional school system and the damage it has towards the growth of a students creativity and self-development.

I have drawn up a smaller version of the scale which portrays the balance between a conforming system versus the freedom and creativity of an individual and how the system can destroy and stifle one’s development.

The illustration of the girl I have drawn symbolises hope for a new creative school system that allows students to grow in their own unique way.

The drawing of the person that has a “wired mind” refers to an anxious, complex brain that is overwhelmed and overworked.

I have drawn the Statue of Liberty in the hope that the traditional school system changes to create a free, creative and exciting learning environment that fosters individuality and self-determination.

Research critique of Standardised Tests

This article was taken from the Daily Telegraph (15th September 2018) which shows a letter written by Jon Sloan and North Narooma in which they criticise the standardised testing in the Australian school system called Naplan.

“Unfortunately it’s not doing its job. Scrap it. Get rid of the people making a career out of failing children. Save the cash. Help teachers make classrooms places of learning, not battlefields”

Practical Experimentation

I have decided to start drawing small illustrations that relate to teen and school rebellion and how the traditional school system doesn’t allow for students to grow. In this drawing, I have portrayed a boy who is too big and doesn’t “fit” inside the confines of a traditional school system.

Further Research (Article)

http://www.mcgannfreestone.com.au/?p=938#more-938

Rebellion Against Standardised Tests within a School System

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-rebellion-against-standardized-tests-is-exploding/

This article resonates with me as it talks about how standardised tests are anxiety-provoking, creativity-stifling and lead to a hyper-commercialised testing regime. These kinds of tests do not assess skills, they rather measure conformity.

Practical Experimentation

I have further developed the scale concept but this time I have added words to represent the opposing sides.

The left side of the poster depicts words that have a positive stance towards freedom of speech, choice, and imagination. The right grey/black side, on the other hand, refers to the restrictive, stifling nature that many institutions impose on people which don’t allow them to reach their full potential.

Further Practical Experimentation

I was trying to portray the balance between a conforming system versus the freedom and creativity of an individual and how the system can destroy and stifle one's development.

I have specifically chosen to depict the “weighing down” a system has on individuals and their freedom to grow. This is expressed through the dark colours on the right-hand side of the drawing. On the left-hand side of the drawing I have expressed freedom, autonomy and self-determination through the bright, clear colours.

A good example of a music artist rebelling against his education system is Roger Waters from the band Pink Floyd. The concept of the album was to explore the “walls” people put up to protect themselves.

Roger Waters wrote this song about his views on formal education, which were framed during his time at the Cambridgeshire School for Boys. He hated his grammar school teachers and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than teaching them. The wall refers to the wall Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the wall were the events in his life which propelled him to build this proverbial wall around him, and his school teacher was another brick in the wall.

Waters told Mojo, December 2009, that the song is meant to be satirical. He explained: "You couldn't find anybody in the world more pro-education than me. But the education I went through in boys' grammar school in the '50s was very controlling and demanded rebellion. The teachers were weak and therefore easy targets. The song is meant to be a rebellion against errant government, against people who have power over you, who are wrong. Then it absolutely demanded that you rebel against that."

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1696

Rebellion, politics, context and time...

After exploring teen and school rebellion in poster 1 and researching political riots relating to education like in the case of the 1976 riots in South Africa, which occurred in a particular context, that is an apartheid-era where black school children were forced to learn a language that was of Dutch descent. This represented hardship and oppression for black children of South Africa. This both reflected in a political climate of the time of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 till the 1990′s. This political system was under white minority rule. Protesting the system at that time was through a series of demonstrations that begin on the 16th June 1976 which led to many deaths and injuries. This event had a profound effect on the socio-political landscape in South Africa which led to changes later on.

So from the above, it is interesting to note the example of the Australian politics (overthrowing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnball) and the example of the 1976 riots, that rebellion are both themes when people are unhappy about their political systems. Both of these events took place in different contexts, in different countries but have the same theme in that both events have and will change history.

Leading on from that I would like to explore artists and their representation of rebellion within a restricted environment.

1. Restage a creative work that is related to your assessment 1/2

We recreated the work ‘Shoot’ (1971) by Chris Burden who exemplified what a real threat was in a society of that time, in a satirical fashion.

For example the height of threat in a first world country is maintaining ones image and reputation positively and garnering a huge following on social medias. What a genuine threat is nowadays, is to that persons following. Kim Kardashian is the epitome of celebrity in 2018 so we utilised her as a representation of receiving the threat, and mainstream media organisations destroying that image as the threat itself.

Process for Assessment Task 2

After researching the relationship between politics in Australia and affect and body politics (the weekly concept) I have created a piece that depicts the latest and current situation among the politicians of the Australian government. Being all part of the Liberal party I have tried to represent the politicians in their current status after the spill of their party. I have drawn a staircase and placed the politicians where I believe belong after the ‘party rebellion’. It is symbolic of either tumbling down the staircase after trying to reach the top or falling in a hole after you've been overthrown by you're supposed colleagues. The staircase also includes the order of where the politicians are at this current stage in Australian history. Although this can change at any time I have drawn a hole at the top of the staircase for any last minute ‘falls’.

I have added childlike features onto the faces of the politicians to symbolise their rebellious and unexpected behaviour within the Liberal party. By putting these added features it was my way of rebelling against their behaviour which was also quite amusing.

Working towards Assessment Task 2

My research question relates to rebellion and how rebellion has become canonised in art. This past week’s weekly concept refers to affect and body politics. Many of the artists included in the weekly presentation use their bodies to critique, challenge or emphasise political ideas and actions that may be personal to them.

Art is done through experience, protest of systems and structures that exert power over individuals and their autonomy through activism. A possible idea that comes to mind is from a significant event that occurred over the last few days in Australian politics. This resulted in the overthrowing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull which saw a number of shocking and deliberate events that rocked and caused disruption to the political system and led to many Australians shaking their heads in disbelief. This all led to a new unexpected Prime Minister named Scott Morrison being elected.

A few quotes from the Daily Telegraph from this past weekend (25-26th August 2018):

- “Revolving door must be bolted”

- “New Guard”

- “The rupture will test the Liberal Party’s survival unless it is healed”

- “The madness of Malcolm”

- “How Malcolm lost the plot”

- “They were all rebels without a clause”

- “Vandals take aim at coup leader’s office”

From the weekly concept ‘Affect and Body Politics’ shows us that we are affected by the things we encounter and emotions are the way we process affect. Many artists find ways to explore the emotional qualities of the people they are trying to direct their work at.

From the above collage I created, I wanted to show how a person’s facial expression says a lot about what they are feeling at a given time. In the first image, Josh Frydenberg is smiling after he just been elected as deputy Prime Minister. The image of Scott Morrison, the new Prime Minister is smiling happily with his family as he faces new challenges and a divided party. Julie Bishop does not look happy in the photo as she lost the vote to become Prime Minister. She has subsequently announced her departure from politics. Peter Dutton on the right looks unhappy, confused and disappointed that his revenge plan did not work out. Lastly, the bottom left photo portrays Malcolm Turnbull with his family as he departs politics and forcefully steps down from being the Prime Minister of Australia. He is smiling in the photo but it is bittersweet. My interpretation of this photo is that he is happy to be with his family but has very mixed emotions about the events of the past week.

The events that I have just described shows ‘a democratic’ rebellion within a political party that is very divided. This was about politicians power and ego and their will to do anything at any cost regardless of the consequences that may have negative or positive results.

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