Project statement
For this project I spent my time looking at cartoons and their influences on children. I read articles that talked about how what children see in cartoons can influence their opinions and understanding of the world around, and what morals these cartoons teach.
From this research I looked at cartoons from my childhood and the times I spent watching them. It was a very nostalgic project for myself. After creating many pieces of cartoons ceramics I felt like I wasn’t exploring my topic enough it was too vague and wasn’t connecting with what I was trying to explore. Which got me thinking about the activity of watching cartoons and how it was like a ritual at least for me as a child. This sparked the idea of a Saturday morning cartoon breakfast. Every morning as a child I would get up at dawn it seemed like to watch cartoons. This was a key part of my childhood. I thought what better exploration of story/stories than to explore the visual stories of cartoons and that morning ritual. Although I may have done this in a simple way by simply creating ceramic pieces influenced by cartoons I think I was able to capture the imagination of a child by creating these pieces.
For this project I set goals for my self which I think I accomplished. I wanted to explore the medium of clay and what I could do with it and I learned a lot of techniques and information that will help me in my second year. I wanted to explore the meanings behind the cartoons I was researching which I did more some than others for example:
Adventure Time teaches children acceptance, tolerance, bravery, loyalty, courage, being adventurous etc
Coraline teaches children bravery, curiosity, acceptance, being great full of our parents
Disney reimagines stories from popular storytellers like The Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, changing scary warnings into cheerful stories for example to be curious, take chances, speak up, work hard and you’ll achieve your goals, you control your limits, try new things be adventurous, be kind, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and embrace who you are.
Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki in particular wants to teach children and viewers to appreciate the little things in life and that it’s good to be alive we may find hardship along the way but we come out stronger and wiser.
Nightmare Before Christmas teaches leadership, that it can be lonely at the top, to be passionate about what you love, not everyone will understand you but that’s ok, to look at things for a different perspective, that’s working hard pays off.