Pop Goes The Now: Deconstructing Popular Culture

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 9

Everyone in my group was confused. As one week the lecturers will say our idea is fine, the next week they will say it is too vague. So where do we begin? We changed our minds so many times for each layer of our artefact. That meant we had to work our way through each of our layers slowly and show exactly what we wanted each of our layers to cover. As well as deciding how we will present it differently to make our palimpsest one-of-a-kind. To ensure that we were on the right track, we decided to meet with one of our lecturers for a quick meeting.

Our website is going to be set out as a buying site (we are the company) where people will have access to choose whatever face they want or animal features they want to become, due to the development of technology. But there is a certain criterion that needs to be met. If you buy the cheap chip you only get access to one feature. Whereas, getting the expensive chip you have access to numerous features.

Next week creativity starts!

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 8

Following on from our feedback in week 7 although we did not get the time to meet up before class, we decided as a group to spend the first few hours trying to improve our artefact, as well as trying to map out our idea. So that we at least get a visual aspect in what we are trying to create. One of the areas we needed to improve within my group was adding more in-depth information into our different layers. We took the feedback on board and discussed within our group on how we should move forward with the layers we have. I decided to change our layers slightly as we are getting closer and closer to the deadline. As I felt as if the layers, we started off with looked like they would need a lot of time, and it would be very complicated to deliver certain layers. Therefore, I came up with some new ideas and presented them to my group which they loved:

DATES

2021 (celeb face, plastic surgery.) Billboards, On things

2121 (Machines, factory) Hologram in Sky

3000 (Animals, other faces & Cyborgs. Machines and Maybe chip) Advertising Chip Inserted when born

5000 (Be anything, you want to be limitless) Injection to make advertising Hereditary

The present-day layer- Our main focus would be creating a piece of advertisement based around celebrities all looking the same, due to getting plastic surgery done. I came up with the idea of us demonstrating this, on a billboard. As a lot of advertising is done on billboards and very common in today’s society (21st Century).

For the first future layer – We came up with the idea of a Hologram in the sky. We got this idea from the Hunger Games when they presented the different names. I then stated to my group if we wanted our piece to be free or exclusive, meaning that it will only be applicable to a certain demographic group. As you would need to be able to afford the chip in order to have access to the facilities provided with it. We then discovered as a group, that you will already have access to the chip through your inheritance. This means that it is already in your body and does not need to be brought in advanced (Become who you want to be). We than mapped out the pros and cons:

FREE:

Pro:

Everyone has equal opportunity to be who they want to be

More common

No discrimination (Ability to change all the time)

Con:

Justice system would collapse

More crime

Possible extinction of humans

Possibly no individuality

Identity Theft

EXCLUSIVE:

Pro:

Class, Rich and Wealthy. Status.

Those who have it would be Immortal

Con:

Alienation to those who can’t afford (become slaves)

More crime

Division in society (unable to correct)

We than decided to move away from advertisement for the fourth layer which will be presented in the year 5000 (Be anything you want to be) and there would not be such thing as advertisement and will no longer exist or be beneficial. We had to really think in-between the lines meaning that we had to figure out how we would present the last layer of our palimpsest. We did not really come to a conclusion on how it will be presented. Sometime this week we will surely come to a conclusion in order for us to move forward further.

We then started to do a rough sketch of the first layer so that we could see it visually ourselves. As one of our main objectives we had to achieve before the end of the class, was starting to create a mock-up piece of our different layers.

To conclude, this week was very hectic as the site we usually use to interact with one another was acting up badly, which wasted a lot of time. We were able to cover all of the feedbacks that was given to us and resolve the issues as well as bring the project to life through our different sketches which we did digitally.

We came up with a schedule plan, look below:

19th March Final ideas: Final sketches, composition, all materials gathered. Decided on final media platform

26th March Development: Creating finishing touches.

1st Final draft and presentation.

9th April Final Outcome and presentation

15th April Hand in

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 7

This week, we're focusing more on what our creative concept is, as well as taking our last feedback to further improve our work. In other words, as a group, we had to try and import as much detail into our four different layers and polish it well. To the extent that it will help us when we create our final medium and artifact. As our final idea is going to have to be presented in the last week.

The feedback that my group has just received shows that we have not paid much attention to all the areas that needed to be covered during class time. Look at the picture below.

Feedback

-       Needs Dates

-       Needs overraching Frame

-       Media – Website

-       Schedule

-       Allocation of work

-       What trading is there on these? How would you pay?

-       Would it be accessible to everyone?

-       Why are we limited to animals? Could I not design what creature/ being I wanted to be?

-       More detail for all layers

Moving forward in order for my group to be ready to start working on the creative side we are going to have to plan to meet outside of class time. In order to complete these key areas. Otherwise, we are going to be stuck when we start creating our final piece. If we do not have a clear schedule we are following. That is the only way we ae not going to lose track of what we are doing. We have not even finalised what years we are using for the present and the three futures. We also need to allocate work so that we know what each of us are doing in our group. Based on our strengths, In order for us to work to our fullests potential. As we will be focussing in this area for the next few weeks. We need more detail for all the layers, because the information we have written is very vague.

We also need to draw up a list of what each of our strengths are, so that each member of my group is able to work to their full potential and ability. In terms of the making stage I am a little worried about our group.

As a result of the current circumstances, we are not allowed on campus, and most students are in their home countries. So delivering a piece of work digitally is going to be a very challenging task. Personally, I have never worked on a presentation like this before, but I'm confident that our final artifact will turn out well. It's just going to take time and cooperation.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 6

This week was a crucial week as we started our Group project, which we will continue to develop in the coming weeks. We also had to keep in mind that whatever idea we chose had to function as a palimpsest. This includes having four layers of cultural/commercial/political/social information embedded within it.

During the discussions in our group, we had to answer these questions:

What is your theme?

What media will you work in?

What are your 4-time layers?

How will you embed Social/ Cultural/Political/commercial info?

This collage was created on photoshop.

A member of my group came up with the idea of focusing on INSTAFACE/CELEBFACE as our main themes for our group project work. As a group we discussed, INSTAFACE/CELEBFACE would be a good idea to look at how it is currently happening in this day and age, and there are so many different areas within INSTAFACE/CELEBFACE that we could further explore and re-create. In addition, we decided to do some research on INSTAFACE/CELEBFACE so that we, as a group, could have a good knowledge of the subject. According to Catherine (2020), Instagram models and other social media influencers are all beginning to look the same. This is known as the Instagram Face. Even scrolling through my Instagram explore page so many influencers and celebrities all look the same which I found very bizarre. Changing their body or face to look a certain way or look very similar to the other influencers. A key celebrity that I spoke about to my group members this week was Nakita Johnson seen in the below image. She had surgery done, however,  no one will ever think she had surgery which places  a different perception on the media.  

Key Theme

My group decided that we were going to present our idea in a website type format. This is because there are many tools we could experiment with to bring our idea to life. The image below explains this further.

We than decided on the four layers as a group:

Before we presented our idea to the remaining group we also looked into the different elements:

SOCIAL: Everyone will look more and more similar, until we all have the same features

CULTURAL: No more diversity, since the main influencers are all promoting the same things.

One culture

COMMERCIAL: The faces are being commercialised from influencers/celebrities

POLITICAL: If everyone looks the same that means crime cases would be much harder to solve with eye witnesses

ECONOMICAL: Accessible to everyone, not just the rich

How will politics, economics… be affected in a 1000 years?

The main feedback that my group received was how politics, economics, commercial, cultural and social layers will be affected in 1000 years? We will be focussing in this area in our next group meeting to further develop our idea.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 5

The topic this week was called ‘PALIMPSEST’ which can be seen as a layered artefact. It can even be seen as a layer of messages. According to the Cambridge dictionary ‘Palimpsest’ is something such as work of art that has many levels of meaning and different styles. When I first heard the word ‘Palimpsest’ I had different thoughts in my mind, but I was still very perplexed to what it actually meant. The reason why ‘Palimpsest’ was covered this week is because for our Group project assignment, we have to present four layers of information. With the present day information (being the base) and the remaining levels representing the future. (Each layer must showcase cultural/commercial/ political/social information embedded within it). I then started to understand the correlation between the two.

We then had the opportunity to create a ‘Palimpsest’ piece of work in our groups which was really enjoyable but at the same time very peculiar. I really enjoy working with my group members as we get on so well! We make the decision to either go out into our local areas and take photos that represent the subject matter or find relevant objects in our home that signify a palimpsest. As a group, we decided that we are going to find items in our households. We decided not to choose a particular topic to base our palimpsest on, as we did not want to make it restricted in any way or format. We wanted to keep it as broad as possible.

FINAL IDEAS WE CAME UP WITH

I really enjoyed studying ‘Palimpsest’ as it enabled us to get our creative mindset on and start thinking about what we want to create as a group that demonstrates these key topics.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 4

The lecture this week was focused on Music, Fashion, Architecture, Contemporary Visual Culture, Film, Graphic Novels, Theatre, Dance, Social Media & Newsbytes and Gaming. The reason we have covered these key areas is that we are mainly looking at what is happening at present. By looking at the present, we can begin to postulate new futures. If we look at Akram Khan, for instance, whose style of dance is contemporary western dance, he delivers a piece of artwork that represents the now. He delivers the message through the application of dance styles and feelings (facial expressions).

Watching the band Flaming Lips concert in Oklahoma on stage where the audience was in unique 'space bubbles' was a representation of the now as well. Due to the fact that people are unable to socialise because of the coronavirus outbreak, the use of the balls allowed people to remain safe and enjoy the concert.

Although I was unable to attend the lecture this week, I was still able to communicate outside of class time with my group members.  They had already decided on a piece of artwork that mirrors the present. This was the Clubhouse app which allows people to host and join multiple users in audio conversations. This means that due to the current Covid -19 outbreak our present is represented by a variety of new things.

This image is the final artwork that my group members created and it was done with Photoshop. The people in my group thought of an idea of a telephone wire connected to each of their heads during the process of creating the piece. They could not demonstrate this step because they only had a few minutes to create the piece and deliver it to the class. This is representative of the social media today.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 3

We looked at a variety of topics this week, first focusing on philosophy in cultural theory. This is based on the link between sign and image, the cultural form's technological basis, the conceptuality of art and the place of fantasy in human affairs. We also looked at Marxist Theory, Psychoanalytic Theory & Structuralism. When we start our group projects, these distinct areas covered in the lecture will eventually help us with the projects. As we will eventually recreate new futures to break out of ways in which we have been thinking and start creating new ideas/forms.

We were given a task in popular culture to select a recent topic, choose one of the critical approaches and then present our analysis. It was really difficult to try to choose a recent topic that connects properly with the critical approaches, as we are not all watching the same programmes. Eventually, we chose Feminism focusing on Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion's filthy song of the summer.  My group decided to focus on WAP- and Women in Music which has inspired a new controversy. " WAP " received widespread critical acclaim for its sex-positive message, while its explicit nature was criticised by some conservative commentators. When it was first released, this particular video was seen as very controversial . "Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion is what happens when children are raised without God and without a strong father figure," said a Republican politician, James P. Bradley. Their new 'song' #WAP (which I heard accidentally) made me want to pour holy water into my ears and if this is their role model, I feel sorry for future girls! ”. While we were discussing the " Video Hoe Culture " in our groups, we were even talking about the fact that women showed their body (there will always be a comment) but at the same time men were also naked and taking off their shirts and nobody commented on the men but only the women.

2019 Grammys

Only 10.4 percent of nominees between 2013 and 2019 were women (https://www.forbes.com).  37 percent of all female nominees from this period were women from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.(https://www.forbes.com). Female producers who are the people most responsible for the sound of pop music, make up only 2% of the music producers (https://www.nytimes.com) 

In order for change to be implemented we need to:

Educate the next generation and implement equality. Education for women about their bodies to not be made taboo (for example being able to talk about it more); stop policing women’s bodies and allow for artistic expression. Advocate for women controlling their own narrative concerning their bodies.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 2

In our selected groups, we had to develop a Disruptive Model in Business, Art or Popular Culture. I was not sure what 'Disruptive Model' actually meant, so I decided to do some research and collect some examples to help me more clearly understand the word. The example I found was the Uber company. Uber has improved in the 21st century, as all you need to do is go into the app and press a button when you need to book a ride (The app already has your card details). Between you and the driver, no financial transaction exists Uber Business Model : What makes it so Disruptive?, (2021). While it was more stressful to book an Uber driver a few years ago, as you need to find the contact numbers online and tell them the exact location you are at, which can be seen as very disruptive. Instead all you will need to do is press a button on the app and the Uber person will be on its way.

The name my group came up with is CashChip (Cash tip). We focused on popular culture. We came up with an idea to use a chip inserted into the wrist that connects to the brain and controls how banking is done. Instead of using other banks, you will be able to control your own funds (similar to online banking and apple pay).

 No one is really accepting cash anymore because of Covid 19 restrictions that occurred around the world. All financial transactions are done via cards these days. I also came up with the idea of paying at certain stores using a fingerprint. (You have to type your pin similarly to contactless cards in some stores when you go over a certain limit).

Instead of wearing glasses, although you will be able to visualise things in front of you, everything is done in your brain through the use of chips. The key advantage is that people will not be able to access your information when you are outdoors. We were also thinking of seeing it visually through projection, but this projection cannot be seen by others to some extent ( to confirm that you are sending the money to the right person).

 My groups idea belongs to the disruptive model because instead of using specific devices the cash tip will be connected to the brain. We were also discussing in our group that everyone will need to be subscribed to the chip especially people in other parts of the world.

UBER BUSINESS MODEL : WHAT MAKES IT SO DISRUPTIVE?

In-text: (Uber Business Model : What makes it so Disruptive?, 2021)

Your Bibliography: Uber Business Model : What makes it so Disruptive?. 2021. [DVD].

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Although this picture is very rare, we still chose to use it as it illustrates that Trump was not giving up being the President, Trump was seen as Rocky Balboa. Members of my group agreed that we should do a segment where we only see the gloves and the belt, to demonstrate its antagonism. We decided to make the pop art very creative. The use of the ‘Red’ & ‘Blue’ colour balanced well with our subjective matter as it merely sets the tone.

A member in my group thought of the idea of creating a meme image representing Trump as Rocky Balboa. The tone of the image just shows us that he has not been respected well.

[popgoesthenowoablog]

Week 1

In this week’s lecture, we began to look in depth about what ‘pop’ is. It is categorically seen as the intersection of art and pop music. According to Collins (2021) ‘pop is modern music that usually has a strong rhythm and uses electronic equipment’. Towards the end of the class, we focused towards creating a piece of pop art that is trending in today’s society.

When I first heard the title ‘Pop Goes the Now’ in the module, two peculiar words automatically stood out to me ‘contemporary society’ and ‘The future’. Compressing these two phrases and connecting them to ‘Pop Goes the Now’ shows us that society has changed drastically. In today’s lecture, we looked at Britain in the 1950s: ‘’Young artists felt what was taught at art school and what they saw in museums did not have anything to do with their lives or things they saw around them’’ Roy (1963). Society has become extremely advanced. Andy Warhol is a key example of how I would like to draw on the pop art concepts used in his work. I really love the way his work is set apart from other artists, for example, his pieces of work are distinctive such as the painted soup containers he did are very original and well thought out.

During today’s session, we had to go into our small groups and we were given a task to complete within a certain amount of time, which was creating a piece of pop art that responds to current society. I came up with the idea of doing a piece of pop art that has happened worldwide and which relates to the current coronavirus outbreak. We had different ideas between us, and my initial plan was to show people two metres apart wearing a facemask. Then import the image into adobe photoshop to make the image’s structure look more pop arty. Unfortunately, I had a lot of technical difficulties throughout the lecture so I was not able to deliver my concept. My internet and the microphone were constantly acting up. On one hand, I would say that if I could do it again, I would need more time and I would need to use better software. On the other hand, within the timeframe, some members in my group were able to create a piece. The piece was Donald Trump wearing boxing gloves and he was represented as Rocky Balboa.

Tate. 2021. Pop Art – Art Term | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/pop-art#:~:text=Young%20artists%20felt%20that%20what,comic%20books%20for%20their%20imagery.> [Accessed 23 January 2021].

Collinsdictionary.com. 2021. Pop Definition And Meaning | Collins English Dictionary. [online] Available at: <https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/pop#:~:text=1.,rhythm%20and%20uses%20electronic%20equipment.> [Accessed 26 January 2021].

#pop #popart #week1 #Groupwork