Contextual Studies Lectures

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The Portrait

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(All) Ready Made

Similar to last weeks lecture the subject we went over was the once again appropriation, sampling, pastiche and parody. And how certain icons can be familiar but are made different when a new context is added. The lecturer, David Osbaldestin talked about his own personal experiences with appropriation, introducing us to the art of Martin Creed who was used as contemporary influence in the Ballworks project. 

And other similar works, such as the advert for the Sony Bravia LCD television aptly named ‘Balls’ which was used as commercial arts influence for the project as well. But this in itself is an example of something that has been appropriated, because after this commercial was released Tango made a parody of the video using fruit instead of bouncy balls, and I believe the reason for this is that it makes the audience recall the original whilst adding its own shocking twist, making it more memorable in the long-run.

David Osbaldestin’s work is called Ballworks and employs a similar sort of idea with its use of colourful use of ball-pit balls in a small, confined area and inspires a similar sort of distress caused by enclosed spaces but at the same time, a sense of childlike wonder which is the exact same feeling incorporated into Creed’s art. 

We also talked about the emergent art director So-Me who i found interesting because his style both imitates and remains original, but he also appropriates the popular typography of well-known brands. In some of his work he uses similar styles from the artwork from the covers of vinyl records to promote Ed Banger Records who he works for.  

But the story we were told was that of Kanye West’s anger at being upstaged at the EMA’s by Justice V Simian who won the best video prize, with So-Me as their director and afterwards he interrupted their moment on stage, as a result So-Me created a piece in the style of Justice’s winning record but in Kanye Wests image as a way of mocking him. 

Although the irony is in the fact that afterwards Kanye West hired So-Me as the art director for his video Good Life because of the popularity of the artist. 

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Appropriation and Connectivity

'Good artists copy, great artists steal’ - Picasso 

In the first lecture since beginning our new project we were introduced to notions of originality and the idea that nothing is original, and how this influences relationships developed from existing forms of historical culture. As well as pastiche and conceptual appropriation. 

To show us exactly what he meant by notions of originality, we were shown a series of images we were meant to interpret, which had all been directly influenced and appropriated the style of another, older piece. 

The piece in the middle is the original Marilyn by Andy Warhol from 1962, and the two separate images on both the right and left are from Matteo Bertolio in Tank magazine (2004) and David Lachapelle’s My Own Marilyn (2002) who have stolen the image and style from Warhol and appropriated it, changing the context in the process. 

Similarly Botticelli Venus and Mars (1484) was appropriated by David Lachapelle, in a piece he called The Rape of Africa (2009). There were many more examples showing how artists used the exact same composition, with the intent for the viewer to make that comparison and associate their work with that of someone else's.

Their similarities mostly stop at composition, but some artists also appropriate another artists concepts. Although Lucas Cranach’s piece is the earliest rendition of Adam and Eve among the above images, he has used a concept from the bible to inspire his own work. Therefore it isn't an original concept but his take on the story has been used again and again, as you can see the similarities between the composition and concept in the other images. 

I believe that the purpose of the lecture and the fact we were presented with the concept of no idea being original was relevant to the Another World project and my own work, because even my ideas derive from english folklore and are inspired by literature and other examples of other worldly creatures, and its a reassurance that whilst our concepts may not be original the way we choose to present them and add our own authentic twist is the key to completing the project. 

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Protest

This has been stated across many of the lectures but it was once again reasserted that all art or new art movements are a protest of past conventional and accepted norms among the art community. And that every protest is made up of some key features, including empowerment, the act of shifting power from the powerful to the powerless, subversion, participation, the act of engaging with or contributing to a protest, revolution, activism and rebellion.

We then went on to learn about teenage rebellion in the United States of America because it redefined youth and cultivated the invention of 'the teenager'. Out of this teenagers were given a collective identity (one of the key words related to my project) and old conventions of the 1950's were challenged. Along with a criticism of war and the death of the youth but eventually Cinema emerged and allowed another way for people to deal with the emotional issues of the time. This new idea of 'the teenager' as an identity was captured in the 1955 movie, Rebel Without A Cause, starring James Dean.

This explains how actual teenagers were starting to form their own identities, through the consumption and influence of media which was instructing them on how to act and it demonstrates the medias ability to shape our identities.

To me, the introduction to the beat generation was interesting because it exposed the underbelly of America, revealing the countries true identity, shedding light on prostitution, drug-use, alcoholism and racism/segregation. And proved that we aren't always able to accurately judge and perceive the true intention or identity of something, we often only have a superficial overview when we’ve only scratched the surface.

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Production

In the lecture production was the main theme and so the topic of newspapers was addressed, specifically those produced within the early nineteenth century because this is how people would most effectively engage with the world around them, and this is a similar ideology I would like to adopt for my zine work because I want the reader to engage with the media in front of them and engage with the area and people I will present in the final product. Although the style will be much different, as newspapers back then consisted of dense text with limited or no variation between the design, and this was because metal moveable type was used to complete the process.

But this changed with the development of wooden letterpress type, which allowed for there to be a wider variety of styles to use and in range of colours, two important aspects to both my individual and collaborative work. This wasn't the only change to occur with this development, it also became possible to use images with the text but a clear page layout was still unattainable, although it did enable newer ways to advertise household objects.

With modern technology and the smaller scale of my project I won't have to face many of the issues people of the past encountered when creating newspapers and similar art forms, but the key components they were to focus on, text, variation, design, images, layout and colour are all important to my work too.

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New Perspectives

At the beginning of the lecture we started off talking about the work of David Carson, a graphic designer mentioned for his innovative magazine designs, and experimental use of typography. This relates directly to my own work because in our collaborative project we have decided to create a zine and Carson teaches and displays an attention to the importance of text and typography, to the choice of words and the way they're displayed.

Another artist who's work heavily features text and typography is Barbara Kruger, but the context and intention of her pieces extend beyond superficial imagery, using her art to make political comment, often about sexism and misogyny. Whilst my own work is not based on these themes I fell it is important to acknowledge that even simple unexplained images with bold bits of text can have a large impact on the viewer.

The third form that we were introduced to was photomontage, worth mentioning as it is a form often used to communicate with the masses and have a distinct minimum or lack of text to make it more accessible, allowing artists to work with odd perspectives. The lack of text is a feature I've decided to use in my own project in the zine, using only the essential titles to get cross my point and to leave the photography and other images to do the communicating.

In the 20th century when the Russian revolution occurred, resulting in the rise of the soviet union and a new communist state, they needed to rebuild and do so by communicating and gaining the approval of the masses. And they did so through creating posters because they offered a clear concise way to communicate and that is a sentiment I want to adopt into my own work.

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Abstraction

Moving on from last weeks theme of victorian optical devices, this week the lecture featured abstraction extensively. Abstraction is a prominent visual device and practice where the subjects often separate, or withdraw from something else and has roots in both the external and internal world of ideas. It is a reductive process that takes an image and reduces it to its essence/basic components and often colours have a heavy presence. Abstraction is different from tradition image making despite drawing from a history of art practice because it seeks to find the essence of something rather than to create a complex painting of a whole image, meaning the intentions and meaning of the piece can be lost on the viewer.

Abstraction is often rooted in geometry and mathematics, which is evident in its shape and composition and the way artists choose to layer their images. Similar to the way in which I am exploring light and colour cut boxes because they require a focus on shape, colour and composition. And whilst abstract art may reduce 3D into 2D, my own work will eventually work to turn 2D into 3D.  

The first attempt at abstraction came from Kasimir Malevich, who painted the Black Square which was revolutionary at the time of its release as it was the first piece which wasn't about anything, not about detail, capturing a feeling, landscape or emotion. It presented a break from conventional art, freeing the art world from the dead weight of reality. Merging the background and the foreground, something my own art doesn't reflect because when the pieces are spaced, it will work in such a way as to give the image depth.

These impressionist paintings helped capture sudden snapshots and images in motion. The 20th century brought new ways of looking and new ways of thinking, along with a collapse of reason and a surge of chaotic art forms, even extending into music e.g. Stravinsky. Other artists that were show to us were Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha etc.

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Victorian Optical Toys

On Mondays I attend contextual study lectures which will help inform my practice and hopefully reflect the techniques and theories I use in my own work. In the first lecture we focused on the 19th century, specifically Victorian Britain/Europe when it transformed from a largely agricultural society into an industrial one, thanks to the industrial revolution which saw the emergence of a new class - the working/middle class. This was because it introduced a new concept into society - leisure time - which became synonymous with the rich because they were the only ones wealthy enough to afford it. But this is important as it gave people time to explore the arts. The rich also had access to tracing lights which enabled the production of rudimentary drawing which led to Henry Fox Talbot developing the camera, as the alternative had become monotonous. Consequently creating a huge interest in optical devices, designed to thrill and entertain the upper classes.

This is similar to my own practice as the light/colour cut boxes I intend on making are a sort of optical device, that can be entertaining depending on their content and colours, but there is also the aspect of 3 Dimensional images created by some of these devices. Once my light/colour cut boxes are fully constructed the papers are at such a distance from one another to as to create a 3D effect, possible adding light/shadow to the image.

The first of these devices that was introduced and demonstrated to us was the Thaumatrope, which often depict images of a bird and cage or bug and flower, among other things. These images are on different sides of the paper and when spun give the impression they are a single image.

The next device works similarly to modern day animation, by often presenting an animals in different stages in motion and rotating the ring they're mounted on, this is called the Zoetrope.

As well as similar devices such as the Phenakistoscope.

And the Stereoscope.