COFA1002

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GLITCH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FsF_bRcd8&list=UUxPTr3tHDrfi0Cbs_gSFE7w

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FINAL BODY-OF-WORK "BE DESPERATE FOR"

“Be Desperate For” is the name of my body-of-work where it withholds three different artworks.

#1 “Best Celebrity Interviews Ever.” 

Film here: https://vimeo.com/106051405

#2 “How to be Successful” 

#3 “iPhone9.1” 

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Bibliography

Mateusz M “Motivational Video,” November 24th 2013, viewed: 14th of September 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMm6tDavSXg

Wallin, P “Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self-defeating Behaviour.” Beyond Words Publishing, USA, May 2001.

González-Torres, F "Untitled", 1991. Candies individually wrapped in multi-coloured cellophane. Dimensions vary with installation, ideal weight: 175 lb. 

Osborne, M “More” Bad Clams Productions, Flemington Pictures, Large Format Cinema Association, 6 minutes, USA, 1998.

Foucault, M “Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia.”Univ of Minnesota Press, December 15th 1983.

Slade, J “Boss Hunting.” 10th of September 2014, viewed: 11th of September 2014, https://www.facebook.com/bosshunting

Biennale of Sydney, “Callum Morton, The Other Side, 2014.” June 30th 2014, viewed: 11th of September 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YyH1RRNTuA

Torczyner, H “Magritte: Ideas and Images,” Harry N. Abrams Inc, March 29 1979, p. 71.

Aristotle “Metaphysics.” Written: 350 B.C.E. Translated by W. D. Ross. Book 1, Part 1. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.1.i.html

Genesis 2:15-17 “Adam and Eve”

Harrell, K “Creative Destruction,” December 15th 2013, viewed: 13th of September 2014. http://www.blackoutpoetry.net/

Fairey, S (American, b. 1970). “HOPE,” 2008. Mixed-media stencilled collage. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery. 

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Concept Statement - "Be Desperate For" - Body of Work

What is desire? According to ‘dictionary.com’ desire is "a longing or craving, as for something the brings satisfaction or enjoyment." The notion that we desire things we don’t have was very intriguing to me. My conceptual approach to Assessment 2 focused on this concept of yearning and how something can be more desirable if you lack knowledge or understanding of it.

My research initially began on a very wide range as I saw desire in two different ways. Firstly, desire is a constructive force that empowers an individual to learn and discover, very similar to ambition. Secondly, desire is a craving and wishing for something which we lack.

One of my research quotes from Michel Foucault was “the individual is the product of power.” This outlines desire as a power within a person to make a difference and have a purpose. One of my inspirations was the 1960’s French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze and his book ‘Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia.’ Deleuze also depicted desire as a constructive force. I further explored this portion of desire by watching a short video called“Motivational Video.” It also explores desire as an empowering determination to strive for something you want. However, even though I researched this aspect of desire it was not my final concept.

Desire is a craving and wishing for something in which we lack. This aspect of desire was very interesting to me. Why do people desire what they do not have? This was the main question I asked myself throughout my research. “When something is hard to get (or forbidden) you immediately pay more attention to it…You want it more.” This was a quote for Pauline Wallin who has a PhD in psychology. Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ artwork “untitled” investigates this concept through an installation of wrapped candies placed in a gallery. The colourful candies appear delicious and become desirable to the audience, playing on their sense of taste. I came across a short animation called “More” by Mark Osborne, the title simply explains this film. The character is lacking happiness in his life and notices children playing in a park, reminiscing his childhood memories. I believe the persona desired happiness even more when he realised he didn't have any. “All men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses.” This perspective from Aristotle clearly converges well with my other research on desire. I wanted to research more with twenty-first century artists and I found “Hope” byShepard Fairey. It is a poster of president Barack Obama made during his presidential campaign in 2008. Fairey creates Obama as the desirable candidate to lead America through the use of national colours and simple typography. I found this propaganda art appealing to my concept. Through my research into this aspect of desire (we desire what we lack) I wanted to experiment with this concept practically.

I experimented with blackening out important steps in a tasty chocolate cake recipe to make the recipe more desirable. Although it worked well with my concept, I didn’t think it was very desirable to the audience as not everyone loves chocolate cake. It also wasn’t visually appealing in my perspective. This was why I decided to leave it out of my final work.

“Be Desperate For” is the name of my final body-of-work where it withholds three different artworks.

The first work is a short film called “Best Celebrity Interviews Ever.” It displays exerts of exciting celebrity interviews, however, the celebrities faces are blackened out. I want the viewer to be disappointed, irritated and desire to know who these celebrities are.

The second is edited images and text named “How to be Successful” because everyone desires success. It contains four different facts and quotes from inspiring people, such as, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Henry Ford. Although, keywords in the facts are smudged out so the sentences do not make sense.

The final piece is a poster called “iPhone9.1.” It is a satirical advertisement that displays the common social media techniques used to make certain products you lack more desirable.  

As I said before; why do people desire what they lack? I came to the conclusion from my research and experimentation that it is human nature to desire, learn and understand; especially things we lack knowledge of. 

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Just saw an Instagram post from 9gag. I thought it worked really well with my concept of desire and value. You want something more when you don't have it, but when you get it you don't want it anymore.

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Experimenting with Poster Advertisements:

I wanted to create a satirical advertisement that displayed the common social media techniques used to make certain products more desirable. So i created it for a futuristic phone (iPhone9.1). Do you desire this phone because of this poster?

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Experimenting with Desire (Smudged Text)

For one of my experiments I decided to explore success because it is something everyone desires. I named the work "How to be Successful" to evoke an initial desire to the viewer. I inserted important facts and quotes from inspiring people like Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Henry Ford. Then i smudged out key words in the quotes to make the facts and quotes more desirable.  

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Shepard Fairey - Hope

Shepard Fairey is an American graphic designer and street artist. His artwork 'HOPE' represents a portrait of Barack Obama and the word 'hope' underneath. The simple use of red, blue and white colours symbolise the American flag and a national identity. Obama is glorified and is the symbol of hope for Americans. This poster is a clear representation of how an artist can evoke desire and a dream onto their audience. 

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Live Now - Blackout Poem by Kevin Harrell

Kevin Harrell blackens out words in texts to create new meaning. Although, the poem doesn't entirely focus on the concept of desire i was inspired by his process to create new meanings. I reflected this similar process through my work "The Tastiest Chocolate Cake Ever."

http://www.blackoutpoetry.net

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Experimenting with Food Recipes

I've been experimenting with food recipes to make them more desirable to the viewer. 

I named the recipe "How to Make the Tastiest Chocolate Cake Ever" to hype the recipe to the viewer. I found a recipe to make chocolate cake online and then blackened-out the important information in each step. Does this make the cake more desirable because the viewer is lacking information? 

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Adam and Eve Reference on Desire

The ancient biblical story of Adam and Eve is important when discussing desire. 

God created Adam and told him:

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)

Adam still ate the apple thinking it would make him wise, but it did not and he was punished by God. 

The story outlines the vulnerable human condition. People always desire what they lack.

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Advertising vs. Reality

Nearly all advertisements project a false perception of their products to make them more desirable to the audience.

With the use of Photoshop in the first image Julia Robert's is portrayed as a perfect woman with no imperfections. But in reality that's not the case.

The second image also shows the same concept but with food. Burger King advertise a tasty looking burger that looks larger and healthy, but again in reality it's completely different.  

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Experimenting with desire using celebrity interviews

From my research on 'desire' I have discovered that people desire what they lack. So in order to evoke this desire in the viewer i created a short film of some celebrity interviews. However, there is a twist. I blacked-out the celebrities faces in the interviews. Does this create a deeper desire to know who they are? 

Video Here: https://vimeo.com/106051405

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Aristotle Philosopher

"All men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer sight to almost everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things."

- Aristotle 

Knowledge is an important role in desire. An individual's thirst to understand and learn is a critical human condition that allows someone to have an ambition. All people desire knowledge! 

- Book I, 980.a21: Opening paragraph of Metaphysics  

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Rene Magritte - The Treachery of Images, 1929

The text on the image translates to "This is not a pipe"

"The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture "This is a pipe", I'd have been lying!" - Rene Magritte

This ironic artwork focuses on the audience's desire to decipher meaning in a work of art. The painting is clearly saying "this is not a pipe" which is correct, as it's a painting of a pipe. 

This ironic meta messaging is what i will be experimenting with to evoke desire in the viewer.

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Callum Morton, The Other Side, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YyH1RRNTuA

This installation is an innovative train journey. The audience enter into the tunnel via a small train and are be transported through the tunnel experiencing a range of surprises. The use of light, sound, wind and smoke create a type of black hole or deep universe. It also reveals a desire and dream like consciousness to the audience.  

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Social Media has the ability to determine what an individual should desire. The Facebook page Boss Hunting regularly posts photos of popular celebrities, beautiful landscapes, expensive cars, luxury items and many more. With over 230,000 likes on Facebook it is obvious that people desire and idealies these everyday luxuries. 

https://www.facebook.com/bosshunting