#final work 2

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ASSESSMENT 2: FINAL WORK part 3

Note: When trying to document the barcode scanning, the video wasn’t able to capture the text on the phone screen, so the I took photos of the decoding process instead. 

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ASSESSMENT 2: FINAL COMPOSITION

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FINAL WORK: Concept Statement

Desire has often been conceived in terms of a lack: we desire what we lack, and we move endlessly (and impossibly) towards the object of desire. Against this notion, Gilles Deleuze conceives desire as a constructive force: desire produces its own objects. Taking up this idea of desire as a constructive, creative, productive activity, consider art and design practices as ways of exploring the radical possibilities of desire. 

From a commercial perspective, what we desire is not our own, but a social formation. The products we desire have been encoded with a capitalist system of advertising, information circulation and desire production. As a result of the growth of capitalism in today’s society our desires have been manipulated, making us believe that our desires are our own, when in fact, they are a social and economic construct. Daniel Smith discusses this idea – reinforcing Deleuze’s desire production theory – by stating that “the effects of marketing… are directed entirely at the manipulation of the drives and affects.”1 In this sense, the products and images we are exposed to are therefore a manifestation of consumerist desires.

The appeal to certain products is influenced by a number of factors. Colour, for instance, has implicit psychological qualities that advertising utilises to entice the consumer into desiring a certain product or manipulating them into viewing it a certain way. We are naturally drawn to bright, vibrant colours, but the way products are displayed to us must also be taken into consideration. For example, the colour red is notable for its eye-catching qualities, whilst the more subdued hues connote sophistication and structure. In my work, I have used a select range of tonalities which companies take into account when advertising: warm bright, cold bright and cold dark. To make sure all the objects have similar to equally eye-catching qualities, I have intentionally highlighted the coloured liquids to give the ‘neon glow’ effect commonly used in shopfront signs and advertising.

A performative aspect of the work is in the use of barcodes. The viewer must participate in active viewing by scan the code using the ‘barcode scanning’ smartphone app to decode the words hidden underneath the bar lines. Barcodes are universally associated with marketing, products and consumerism. Research finds that consumers rated elaborately named paint colours as more pleasing to the eye than their simply named counterparts.2 It has also been shown that more unusual and unique colour names can increase the intent to purchase.3 To comply with this idea, I have encoded names such as ‘bubblegum’, ‘brandywine’, ‘glacial’, ‘seafoam’ and ‘candy apple’ in each barcode to describe the colours of each product. This alludes to the unnecessarily extravagant naming of cosmetic fragrances which have been, in fact, successful at appealing to the consumer’s interest. This is because we are conditioned to desire elaborate, ‘fancy’ products with brand names and artful descriptions.

My work harbours many characteristics of the mass-produced aesthetic that we, as consumers are accustomed and exposed to on a daily basis. The packaging is glossy, artificial and non-biodegrable glass and plastic. The tags give the objects a visual sense of a complete product; pre-made and ready to be sold. We like to see things in an orderly manner, we are drawn to bright colours and creative names, and the use of light draws the eye to the object. The coloured liquid itself reveals the nature of desire: something that is fluid, adaptable, easily manipulated and contained. It is fluid in that it holds no form, adaptable as it applies universally to all humans, easily manipulated through capitalist marketing regimes, and contained as we are generally private beings who never really openly reveal our truest desires.

1 Daniel E. Smith, Deleuze’s Question of Desire, Parrhesia Journal, p 75: http://www.parrhesiajournal.org/parrhesia02/parrhesia02_smith.pdf

2Barry J Babin, David M Hardesty, Tracy A Suter, Color and shopping intentions: The intervening effect of price fairness and perceived affect, Journal of Business Research, Volume 56, Issue 7, July 2003, Pages 541-551: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296301002466

3Elizabeth G. Miller and Barbara E. Kahn, Shades of Meaning: The Effect of Color and Flavor Names on Consumer Choice, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 32, No. 1 (June 2005) , pp. 86-92, Oxford University Press: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/429602

Kaminska, P. (2015). The Impact of Color in Advertising, Marketing, and Design. blurGroup. Retrieved 14 September 2015, from http://www.blurgroup.com/blogs/group/the-impact-of-colour-in-advertising-marketing-and-design/

Ciotti, G. (2013). The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding. Helpscout.net. Retrieved 14 September 2015, from http://www.helpscout.net/blog/psychology-of-color/

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ASSESSMENT 2: DESIRE 

FINAL WORK (PART 2)

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ASSESSMENT 2: DESIRE

FINAL WORK (PART 1)

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Final Work 2

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Final Work 2 - Morning

Adobe Premiere Pro

Snapshot editing - Rotation, hue, repetition

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Final Artwork 2

Trash bag, photo manipulation