My initial ideas within this project, I was originally drawn to topics I had already covered within my work, both in and out of my studies at UWE. This included -
My Little Pony cosplay contest held at BronyCon 2014.
This was a topic I had covered within the 'Visual Culture' project, which consisted of picking an artefact (art work, book, movie, TV Show, object, etc) and analysing its wider influences and portrayals. I chose to cover the TV Show and 4th installation of the My Little Pony franchise, 'My Little Pony : Friendship Is Magic'. I chose this topic as I believe the influence of MLP:FIM on both animation and fandom culture is vast but not widely talked about due to the negative perceptions held against the 'Brony' community, MLP:FIM's fanbase consisting of adult men.
I wanted to cover My Little Pony's unique relationship with its fandom and how it impacted the franchise and other fandoms later on as well as how the negativity surrounding it's unconventional fanbase spawns from the misogyny ingrained within our society, seeing femininity as something to be ashamed of and thus not something to be engaged with by men.
However due to the wordcount limit on this essay, I believe I will not be able to fully cover all the aspects around this topic as I would hope to, as I believe a lot more can be said about the Brony fandoms place within culture, as well as how and why it was so impactful. It is because of this, I considered choosing it as the topic I covered within this project as well.
If I were to choose this subject, I would hope to interview and discuss with Bronies, other actively participating members of the fanbase and ex-members as to gauge an in-depth perspective of how life was like within the fandom at its prime, the landscape of it, the community aspect, and how others perceived them for being within the fanbase. I would hope to receive this information both online and in person, however this may be difficult due to the fact that Brony conventions are very rare in recent times, due to the series end in 2019. However, if I were to gain access to a convention or meeting, I would also want to make observational drawings of the event, as to capture the wavering fanbase and the energy of the space within my project.
Major Jesse A. Marcel (looking right) of Houma, LA holding foil debris from Roswell, New Mexico UFO crash site, July 1947.
The topic of aliens and abductions I had already discussed within the first module of the illustration course, Three Perspectives. I portrayed and recounted abductions and alien descriptions through playing cards and miniature sculptures, and illustrated speculative humans through the eyes of aliens, satirising the nature in which we 'other' things we don't understand and theorising the various ways humans could be perceived.
This latter topic I believe is very interesting, and if I were to further this concept within this project, I would hope to speak with professional theorists on how this may be literally visualised in a way that is more grounded in reality.
As well as this, I would hope to discuss with individuals, preferably from around the world as to achieve a balanced and diverse range of accounts and perspectives, who believe they have had encounters with aliens and/or UFOs, so I can get a first hand experience into the world of UFO hunting, abductees and how those involved perceive the concept aliens, whether it be positive or negative.
If I were to further this concept, I would hope to tackle how humanity views the unknown or 'outsiders' and whether or not responding with violence or fear is necessary.
Amphisbaena with one head biting the neck of the other head, Getty Museum, MS. 100 (The Northumberland Bestiary), folio 58v
Similarly to my interest to aliens and UFOs, I have a strong interest within folklore, mythology and bestiaries due to it being a reflection of culture and humanities fears and morals, presented through traditions, beliefs or in this case, animals and fictional creatures.
Bestiaries were an archaic form of animal documentation, having many pages dedicated to stylistically illustrated creatures, real and fictive, accompanied with descriptions for each, often followed with moral lessons, allegory and religious teachings alongside it.
What interests me about this topic is not only it's notoriety to contain bizarre depictions of animals, but also it's importance in showing humanities change in morals historically and the prevalence of Christian allegory within medieval life and art.
This opens a larger discussion into how each animal is depicted, having some depicted as morally good or evil, displaying humanities consistency in placing animals within human moral standings and thus demonising certain creatures. This is an issue which prevails today, as certain creatures are still seen as 'lesser', examples being insects and fish, which causes many to not care about their extinction or abuse.
If I were to develop this concept, I would hope to speak with historians with experience in researching bestiaries and creatures within religious allegory. I would also, if I were to take this project in a more environmental activist route, would reach out to environmentalist researchers onto how our cultural perceptions of certain animals affects their conservation.
An observational experiment I would hope to carry out would be to go to zoos and other animal enclosures and draw observational drawings of these animals alongside their medieval manuscript counterparts, to demonstrate the contrast between written description, which was what most artists relied on within this period, and physical observation.
(Left: A crocodile eating a person, Museum Meermanno, MMW, 10 B 25, folio 12v, France, c. 1450
Right : A nile crocodile photographed at Saint Augustine Alligator Farm in FloridaPhotograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark)
My Boyfriend Came Back From the War (1996), Olia Lialina
This topic I had incorporated into my work previously within my final project within my foundation course, where I had attempted to make an interactive website consisting of various off-branching surreal pages, trying to emulate the experience of early web surfing and the tendency to get stuck on the internet. However this project wasn't fully realised and didn't properly convey the message I had intended, so I had hoped to continue with this concept in the future, thus it came to my mind as a potential concept within this brief.
To me, Net Art is a very interesting and under-looked medium for artistic expression, as it allows for a broader range of interactivity and viewership through the medium of the internet. However, I believe this downfall is in part due to the corporate takeover of the internet. This is a subject which I wanted to focus on within my previously mentioned project and would hope to discuss further in the future, whether or not I actually pursue this idea.
In modern times, mostly starting from the end of the web 2.0 era, a definite shift has been seen online concerning user-generated content and advertising, prioritising engagement and profit instead of user satisfaction. A very noticeable example of this is the death of personalised online spaces, such as the closure of Geocities (an online personal website creation site) in 2009 and the gradual limitations enforced on personalisation of social media profiles, concealing the vast, sprawling and outlandishness of the experience of the internet to 5 major sites that most frequent.
If I were to attempt a project like this again within this brief, I would plan to reach out to researchers within digital affairs for their insights to the corporatisation of the modern internet and how it intentionally fuels addiction, indoctrination to extremist beliefs and mental illnesses. I would also want to contact Net artists and hear their opinions on the current landscape of the internet and how they portray it within their own work.
As well as this, I'd hope to inspire others to engage more with the 'indie web', independently made internet spaces intended for self expression and creativity with minimal to no monetary incentive. For this, id hope to collaborate with those within this space in order to highlight the importance of community and humanity when online. I'd also hope to host this project online to fit with the topic, preferably on Neocities, an independently run free HTML website making site inspired by the debunked Geocities website.
A poster found in Warsaw shows a QR Code for a website related to the Cicada 3301 mystery.
'ARG', standing for 'Alternate Reality Game', is a term referring to a genre of real-time storytelling incorporating unfiction (fictional storytelling which is presented as truth) and audience interaction, allowing participants to alter the the story and events as they happen. These often involve puzzle solving, code deciphering, research, real life treasure hunts and collaboration with the audience and the 'characters' within the story, often roleplayed by actors or the author themself. ARGs are usually hosted online due to their nature of encompassing multimedia techniques for the audience to solve and engage with, but frequently embrace real life interaction such as posters to draw attention to the project or clues to the story which are planted somewhere within the real world which players are encouraged to find for the story to progress.
For a long while, I have attempted to incorporate ARG or unfiction elements within my own projects to little fruition, as the process of setting one up alone is hard and strenuous due to the time it takes to structure a truly difficult puzzle and engaging story. However, I would still hope to incorporate these elements into a project at some point during this course, regardless if I do within this project, as I believe its a really interesting form of artistic expression as it looks into how interactivity changes an outcome depending on audience.
Illustration accompanying "The Hand" by N.B. Shein, the first documented account of the 'John Fare' urban legend, published in Insect Trust Gazette (1968)
The urban legend of 'John Fare' is one I briefly covered on a project I made for my foundation course on folklore and urban legends. Through my research then, it heavily grew my interest and I would love to explore it again.
The urban legend surrounds the story of an extreme performance artist under the name John Fare who throughout the 60's-70's would perform more and more intense and brutal performance art pieces involving self mutilation. These retellings involve performances of a lobotomy, removing many body parts to be preserved in alcohol and a whole amputation of his right hand. In his last and final performance, Fare straps himself to a large metallic bed where a large robotic arm slowly beheads him, killing him immediately.
This story is often regarded to be an urban legend, as no factual evidence confirms John Fare's existence besides witness accounts. Despite this, its undeniable to see where this legend came from, as many performance artists were pushing this boundary around the time the story surfaced, such as the work by Marina Abramović, Chris Burden, Bruce Nauman, Allan Kaprow and other endurance art works.
If I were to choose this topic for this project, I would want to interview those who were around for and remember the spread of the John Fare urban legend, so that I can gain an insight into how the legend spread, what circles the story prevailed in, if people truly believed the story at the time and where people believe it originated from.
I would also like to discuss within this project the topic of endurance art itself and the ethics surrounding it. This subject is incredibly complex as it concerns artistic freedom as well as idealising self-harm, for such a tasking subject I'd want to reach out to endurance artists themselves as well as mental health professionals on their opinion.
GPF Bunny (2000), Eduardo Kac, An albino rabbit genetically modified with Green Fluorescent Protein as to glow green under UV light
Bio art is a medium of art consisting of pieces made through biological material such as bacteria, living tissue and other organic matter, often being altered through genetic engineering, cloning, etc.
Bio art as a whole has been subject to many debate and controversy, usually around the ethics on using biological matter and living organisms within art as well as the concerns of 'playing god' with genetic manipulation. If I were to choose this subject, I would want to directly cover these concerns and speak to not only the public but also artists and bio artists to know their thoughts on the ethical dilemmas of bio art.
Much like with the last subject of John Fare and endurance art, the topic of bio art is complex and difficult as it crosses the line of ethics and artistic freedom, if I were to tackle this topic, i would have to do so with a lot of consideration and research.
