The Scapegoat - Further Research

This painting is one which is deeply symbolic, with biblical concepts and themes being explored within the composition, which includes the background of the Holyland in Jerusalem, a place that the artist visited and was inspired by.
It has been suggested in research that I have gathered so far, that the title and featured 'Scapegoat' is not in fact a type of goat at all, a scapegoat is normally used as more of a figurative personification of something that is being blamed for someone else's wrongdoings. This further supports the idea that the painting is featuring a day of the 'Festival of Atonement', a ritual day for Christians stated in Leviticus 16, where they sacrificed a blooded mammal to the Holyland. Within the ceremony, the high priest would confess the sins of Israel upon touching of the head of the 'scapegoat' with the slaughtering of the goat, it was believed that their sins were taken with the goat into the wilderness and cleansed.

Installation Overview

9th February 2015
As part of my research into the impact of the installation, I decided to collect some opinions of my peers and persons I have shared my installation with before the display on Wednesday. These opinions will provide me with a further insight of what effect the piece will have once displayed and who in fact will link it to the theme. I asked selected peers in my class to review the installation after experiencing it, here are the results:

"When I experienced the infinity box installation I found that it was very effective in creating a sensation of a never ending experience for the time you are listening and watching it. However I found that it also gave me a sense of entrapment into this unlimited void of infinity, as you can see the never ending repetition of the moving images traveling far into the background of the box and so far that you cant see how far it actually goes on for, giving a sense of no end and no stopping to this experience however also the colors used in the animation are cold colors and not so lively and again gives a feeling of hostility almost, a place void of emotion or warmth. This is then further emphasized by the cold robotic voice speaking through the head phones, lacking emotion. All of these things combined gave me an experience of never-ending and emptiness which related back to this idea of an infinite void. However the script of the void speaking through the headphones was full of emotion and deep thought. This contrasted with the empty never ending experience However the some of the things in which the voice spoke of again only added to the experience of loneliness “existence is a dark void of wonder, as obscure as the shadows that cascade through your skull” this made the experience a more personal one. Overall the experience I had was that this display was showing me a personal journey through a never ending void. Only one individual at a time can see or hear this display and so it makes it a private journey that you can only have alone. Similar to the journey through the void at death. The cold emotionless feeling and atmosphere I experienced could be connected to the emotions of death and so exaggerated this idea of traveling trough the void."
-Rachel Fielding (Motion Design peer)

"When viewing the installation I was able to embrace the meaning of void life void thanks to the the images that were being shown along with the specific voice that had been chosen. It was like I had captured a glimpse of an entrance to another world." 

- Beth Ward (Illustration BA Hons)

The use of the mirrors gave a very effective illusion of the void going on for eternity and coupled with the altered voice it was very unsettling. I felt that I was forced to confront the void as it was ready to swallow me up.

- Gwen Young (Illustration, BA Hons)

When I looked through the hole and put the headphones on, I felt like I could express by own thoughts on the meaning of void life void without any distractions because I was the only one that could see and hear what was going on. I think everyone who viewed it saw something different as they have their own views on the topic even though they were hearing and seeing the same thing thanks to the mesmerizing images and robotic voice.

- Hazel Robinson (Illustration, BA Hons)
I thought your ideas and the way you communicated void life void was really immersive and captured the never ending cycle, the constant peeping hole into the unknown was a really interesting take on the subject and was my favourite of them all.
- Adam Reddall (Illustration, BA Hons)
 On the group reflection of the alternate reactions to the brief, a lot of my peers were in favour of the piece created, here are a few ideas and points people made about my work:

• It had an intimidating feel to it, but in a positive way as it secluded you.
• Voice sounded knowledgable, tells the future, sounds informative- further suspense.
• Bold and abstract shapes in animation look ominous
• Isolates you with the earphones and staring into box- makes you feel alone
• Feels like you're really staring into a void that goes on forever
• "Cleverly put together, really cool effect created"

Making Connections Introduction

30th January 2015
The lecture today elaborated on the new underlying theme of making connections for the next essay due in March. Gary and Jane overviewed a selection of over 30 images that involved information and facts about them. It came apparent that this essay wasn't about the composition necessarily having the most importance, but the connotations and reflections of the artist themselves and the impact their own background and period of time that would have altered their work.

The Scapegoat- William Holman Hunt- 1854-1856

The lecturers went into quick details over each piece and why it is in fact effected by such things. It helped us with a further understanding of looking beyond the compositional values and into the more intimate details of the origin of the painting/photograph/composition. I liked the fact that there was a vast variety of different medias given to show that this technique of making connections applies to many pieces.
Additionally I think it provided us with a larger perspective of alternate artwork, for example, Gary made it clear that if we knew anything about the artists we should select a different image, as this is all about selecting a whole new outlook on a piece we don't necessarily recognise or know much about.
The image that I chose at random was 'The Scapegoat' by William Holman Hunt. The quick points that were made about this piece were:

• It's an extremely symbolic piece, metaphorical in some aspects, it has alternate controversial meanings - linking highly to the time period.
• Biblical references thoroughly throughout the composition, including the actual goat itself.

We have been informed to research some key words into the piece we have been given for next week's lecture and session, I feel quite excited to look further into the research as it's a piece that I don't know anything about besides the composition so would be extremely interesting to look further into it and narrow down three key words that I feel represent the image.

6th February 2015
Today was the opportunity to develop our ideas further by presenting our key words that we had looked into further individually during the week. I had already produced a small selection of key words that I found were relevant in correlation with my initial research:

• Biblical- In the research involved it was made instantly clear that there were a high amount of bible references throughout the piece's composition as well as the surrounding Christians that the artist faced when constructing the piece. The piece is actually a reaction to a religious ceremony that took place when the artist was present, that influenced his decision in painting the scapegoat.
• Holy land- I chose this initial word due to the Holy land being the Christian reference to Jerusalem, the home of Jesus Christ and the ultimate birthplace. However. I'd like the keyword to be more precise and detailed on this fact.
• Sins- The sinful aspect of the process was made extremely apparent when researching into the ceremony. The cloth that was tied around the antlers of the goat was red, and it was believed in the Christian ceremony that they would release this goat into the Holy land, and it gave the belief that if the goat returned with a white cloth upon it's head, their sins were forgiven. However they allowed the wild to 'take' the goat if its sins were not forgiven.
• Atonement- The Festival of Atonement was the ceremony of which Christians began to free a goat into the Holy land of Jerusalem hoping that the red cloth upon it's head would be returned white, to show forgiveness of sins.
• Jerusalem- Jerusalem is the key aspect of this piece, not only for the theme, but for the fact that the artist produced this piece in the country, but had to flee after the ceremony due to controversial views of the artist's intentions.
• Death- Death is key within this piece, not only connotations with the skeletal aspects in the composition but also the aspect of the fate of the goat.
• Forgiveness- The aspect theme of forgiveness is additionally key for the research, as it explains the process of why in fact they did this, and their true belief that sins can be forgiven by the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

The highlighted words are ultimately my selected 3 key words I found were the most relevant to the task in hand.

The Scream- Edvard Munch

23rd January 2015
We have been given the brief to look at Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' a piece that is containing plenty of connotations that are interpreted differently by each viewer. We were told to produce a piece of creative writing that describes the scene that transpires in this painting in connection to existentialism.
For me, I personally wanted to produce a descriptive writing within the scene, being one of the dark figures in the background watching the screaming figure.
I decided to adapt this to being a screaming person that has in fact stared into the deep truth of existence and is in agony of the truth that has been seen and the desperate hunger for understanding.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this task, and intend to adopt this idea of perspective in future work.

100 words
A sonic screech scraped at my very soul that amplified around the pool of despair around me. Below the rim of my crinkled brow a woman crouches, her eardrums plagued with vicious whisper; a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. Her ears clamped by her brittle hands trying to claw back her humanity. She had gazed too far into the depth below us, the truth that cannot be seen by her dangled in desperation.
The world around her stripped away in torturous tremor, her knees crumbled under the weight of the shadows as she lay crumpled, a sack of bones against a disobedient tide.

50 words
A sonic screech scraped at my very soul, amplified around the pool of despair below me. A woman crouches, eardrums plagued with vicious whisper, a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. She had gazed too far into the depth, dangled in desperation. Her knees crumbled under the weight of the shadows in torturous tremor. A sack of bones against an unruly tide.

25 words
A sonic screech scraped at the soul. Her eardrums plagued with vicious whisper, a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. Her knees crumbled in torturous tremor; a sack of bones against an unruly tide.

The task involved us having to restrict the amounts of words further, to adapt the idea of getting the key points of descriptive language across. Although a struggle at first, I found this really helped develop the effect we needed to create over the piece.

Void. Life. Void. Essay Interpretation

Friday 16th January 2015

Friday 16th January 2015- Hannah Langfield

Void. Life. Void. 

Through developing the idea of Void. Life. Void further, there were certain links and connections that were made that would further provide inspiration such as the aspects of Existentialism and Enlightenment. 

First of all, the aspect of the Enlightenment period was introduced in the lecture, the era where the absence of God became more apparent, and the connection of Existentialism remained.  It was a period approximately between 1650 and 1800 where the basis of rational beliefs was challenged. I found the aspect of the Enlightenment period was easy to digest, as the important information was brought to us in a way that made us additionally question the existential questions of life. As a whole I realised that the enlightenment period was a key period to lead up to Existentialism, building up to philosophers and general citizens questioning authority as well as current beliefs.

 In times such as the medieval era, it was highlighted that peasants were expected to grow and provide food for the aristocrats and royalty, a highly run social class was brought upon the peasants, and the aspect of a higher power was used in a way to manipulate them due to their lack of literary education. However, despite the hundreds of years of empowerment the Enlightenment era came and challenged the very meaning of a monarchy and the aristocrats. 

Existentialism began in the 19th century with Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Søren Kierkegaard, Nietzsche's piece 'God Is Dead - The Gay Science (The Joyous Wisdom)' questioned existence in detail for the first time in philosophy. I believe these philosophers were brave in questioning the matter of existence as well as being inspired by the brave act of the Enlightenment period, where the height of power was questioned. It began to express a freedom of choice, a questioning of value of life, and the opinion that there may be no core to existence. I was inspired by the fact that Existentialists believe that in order to except existence, you have to live life. The idea of living life to the full in the belief that nothing follows afterwards is truly inspirational and I truly support the idea of trying to make the most out of life. 

During the lecture, it began to influence how to produce visualisations of Void. Life. Void. and has influenced me further into more research of Existentialism and how other artists have picked up the theme and visually represented it. 

I additionally like the fact that Existentialism highlights the aspect of Spirit, Reason and Creativity, something that would easily transpire into artwork and visual forms. The aspect of Enlightenment had previously highlighted the aspect of independent thought, and superstitions were removed to be left with a blank space, thus the reason behind Nietzsche's piece 'God is Dead' reinforcing the idea that in the enlightenment era and due to continued questioning of existence we have killed God, we have removed the belief not completely, but enough to kill away the legends and replace it with curiosity. 

"We create to protect and shield us from the void"- Friedrich Nietzsche 

As well as this lecture inspiring me more into visualising what Void. Life. Void. would actually look like, and how metaphorically the aspect of enlightenment and existentialism can be highlighted, it also applied other underlying themes into the project that could be further explored.

Myth was linked into the aspect of Enlightenment and Existentialism, with the fact that the peasants were manipulated and the myth of God drilled into their lives. Due to the peasants not being taught the key points of education such as reading and writing, they evidently believed in the things and beliefs that the aristocrats thrust upon them. For them, the myth was that the monarchy were chosen by God, and therefore inherited the power of God, and if anyone was to challenge this very monarchy would have to face the wrath of God. Therefore in such belief, the power of myth was eventually challenged where light was shed on the aspect of what they believed in, with more freedom from power, leading to the Enlightenment period.

In such a lecture, connections could then be made to present and future beliefs, the idea of democracy throughout history, how feminism became empowerment, how gender became unbalanced, and how the way equality was expressed through democracy such as now, in present day the monarchy still obtains power, but not nearly as much power as history inherited, and additionally, we live in a democracy where all beliefs and thoughts are equally accepted. It became clearer to me during the expansion of the lecture, that the aspect of equality would have originated from such a moment in the history. Additionally considerations such as gender equality and human rights would have transpired from the Enlightenment period and Existentialism.

Void. Life. Void. Lecture.

Friday 16th January 2015
Void. Life. Void. 
Through developing the idea of Void. Life. Void further, there were certain links and connections that were made that would further provide inspiration such as the aspects of Existentialism and Enlightenment.
First of all, the aspect of the Enlightenment period was introduced in the lecture, the era where the absence of God became more apparent, and the connection of Existentialism remained.  It was a period approximately between 1650 and 1800 where the basis of rational beliefs was challenged. I found the aspect of the Enlightenment period was easy to digest, as the important information was brought to us in a way that made us additionally question the existential questions of life. As a whole I realised that the enlightenment period was a key period to lead up to Existentialism, building up to philosophers and general citizens questioning authority as well as current beliefs.
 In times such as the medieval era, it was highlighted that peasants were expected to grow and provide food for the aristocrats and royalty, a highly run social class was brought upon the peasants, and the aspect of a higher power was used in a way to manipulate them due to their lack of literary education. However, despite the hundreds of years of empowerment the Enlightenment era came and challenged the very meaning of a monarchy and the aristocrats.

Existentialism began in the 19th century with Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Søren Kierkegaard, Nietzsche's piece 'God Is Dead - The Gay Science (The Joyous Wisdom)' questioned existence in detail for the first time in philosophy. I believe these philosophers were brave in questioning the matter of existence as well as being inspired by the brave act of the Enlightenment period, where the height of power was questioned. It began to express a freedom of choice, a questioning of value of life, and the opinion that there may be no core to existence. I was inspired by the fact that Existentialists believe that in order to except existence, you have to live life. The idea of living life to the full in the belief that nothing follows afterwards is truly inspirational and I truly support the idea of trying to make the most out of life.
During the lecture, it began to influence how to produce visualisations of Void. Life. Void. and has influenced me further into more research of Existentialism and how other artists have picked up the theme and visually represented it.
I additionally like the fact that Existentialism highlights the aspect of Spirit, Reason and Creativity, something that would easily transpire into artwork and visual forms. The aspect of Enlightenment had previously highlighted the aspect of independent thought, and superstitions were removed to be left with a blank space, thus the reason behind Nietzsche's piece 'God is Dead' reinforcing the idea that in the enlightenment era and due to continued questioning of existence we have killed God, we have removed the belief not completely, but enough to kill away the legends and replace it with curiosity.

"We create to protect and shield us from the void"- Friedrich Nietzsche 

As well as this lecture inspiring me more into visualising what Void. Life. Void. would actually look like, and how metaphorically the aspect of enlightenment and existentialism can be highlighted, it also applied other underlying themes into the project that could be further explored.

Myth was linked into the aspect of Enlightenment and Existentialism, with the fact that the peasants were manipulated and the myth of God drilled into their lives. Due to the peasants not being taught the key points of education such as reading and writing, they evidently believed in the things and beliefs that the aristocrats thrust upon them. For them, the myth was that the monarchy were chosen by God, and therefore inherited the power of God, and if anyone was to challenge this very monarchy would have to face the wrath of God. Therefore in such belief, the power of myth was eventually challenged where light was shed on the aspect of what they believed in, with more freedom from power, leading to the Enlightenment period.

In such a lecture, connections could then be made to present and future beliefs, the idea of democracy throughout history, how feminism became empowerment, how gender became unbalanced, and how the way equality was expressed through democracy such as now, in present day the monarchy still obtains power, but not nearly as much power as history inherited, and additionally, we live in a democracy where all beliefs and thoughts are equally accepted. It became clearer to me during the expansion of the lecture, that the aspect of equality would have originated from such a moment in the history. Additionally considerations such as gender equality and human rights would have transpired from the Enlightenment period and Existentialism.

Frida Kahlo - Context Review.

 The lecture on Frida Kahlo, was to help reflect the style in which we could express our own artists in the Issues and Practices Essay. There is the research process to break down the information and events of the artist's lives and then there is the overall application of relating the events to the practice of the artist's work.
Such things were highlighted that could be considered for this research process:

• Family and country dynamics
• Illness and personal dynamics
• Entry into Art
• Position as an Artist
• Love, Marriage, Despair, personal relationships.
• Politics
• Movements 
• Constructing Identities.

The overall research and points were made about Frida Kahlo to help to restrict the important movements in her life and apply them to how this effected her work. The first underlying points of her personal life and other politics of the time were highlighted efficiently in this process.

• Mother controlled family life
• Born into a Mexican family in 1900's
• Uprising of Mexicans
• Revolution of the Civil War
• Mexican Revolution
• Illness- caught Polio at the age of 9
• 3000 children died of Polio - made her have a limp, and frail leg
• Isolated as a child
• One weaker leg
• Interested in medicine due to her Father's influence
• Had an accident that punctured her abdomen (a pole went through her) in a tram/bus crash.
• Started to paint when recovering from the accident
• Bedbound so painted a lot
• "The Accident" 1926 - Reflects pain and trauma of the experience
• Intense and needy relationships
• Affair with Diego Rivera - 'Peasants' 1947 -his work
• He was a communist
• Rivera was someone she looked up to - influenced her idea of politics
• Part of their culture to have more than one ongoing relationship
• Rivera directed her artwork and political values
• Rivera influenced her to look back at her Mexican roots.
• Spanish Culture 16th Century onwards - influenced her
• Researched into the Aztecs that were there to begin with - primitive styles
• 21st August 1929 - Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's wedding day.
• Referred to as 'the Elephant and the Dove' - a toad like man in appearance.
• Known to have fallen in love with his power and intelligence not looks.
• Symbolism
• Strands of Mexican culture began to influence her work further 
• Mexico's relationship with America influenced her movements
• She saw industrialisation and machinery as bad forces due to her accident
• Unable to trust machinery
• Influence of Mexican ketablo - votive paintings (a painting depicting an accident or event)
• Produced a votive painting about her accident.
• Diego Rivera's war mural 'Man, controller of the Universe' 1934, controversial content- further influences Kahlo's political views.
• Lennon hiding in the mural- caused chaos. Court case ordered because of it.
• Numerous operations to fix her problems due to the accident
• Always painted in hospital
• "The Flying Bed" 1932- Produced in hospital
• Miscarriage after miscarriage due to the damage of her accident
• Really wanted a child and family with Diego
• "Frida Kahlo- My Birth" 1932
• Death of Mother
• "What the Water gave me" -1938
• Surrealist movement influence
• Marcel Duchamp helped her set up and exhibition
• "The Little Deer" 1938 - Exhibition work - testicles on deer- bisexuality? Impossibility to have a child? - SYMBOLISM.
• Affairs with men and women (Rivera also having numerous affairs)
• Marriage Problems
• Splits from Rivera
• Decides to get back with Rivera but with no sexual relations
• Becomes like a mother figure to Rivera
• Surrogate children in animals-  takes on several exotic pets.
• Diego Rivera "Mexico Today and Tomorrow" 1934-35 - Arrested by Police and put under suspicion due to strong political messages.
• Frida Kahlo "a Few Little Pricks" 1935 - self portrait - shows pain and suffering
• Cropped hair in 1940 - starts to dress like a man again - cuts off the hair Rivera used to love.
• Due to Diego, she sheds her identity
• "The Broken Column" 1944- showing the difficulties with her spine.
• Constant expressions of her pain
• Many operations
• Wheelchair bound due to operations
• Amputated her weak leg
• A sad time in her life was when wheelchair bound - time of depression.
• Aztec costumes
• Pretending she's brave when in agony.
• "She signalled the movement when women artists began to break the historic silence about women's experiences" - Judy Chicago 2010

After having listed all these points there was then an overall review of what was involved and how these applies to the practice.

• Spinal Problems
• Polio
• Depression
• Countless Operations
• Accident
• Heritage
• Hatred of Industrialisation
• Change of Identity
• Betrayal 
• Suicide
• Lack of fertility 
• Marriage Problems
• Miscarriages
• Gender
• Disability
• Economics
• Class

Manchester Metropolitan University Library Visit

Friday 28th November 2014

Upon our visit to Man Met Library facilities, I came across a series of books in the animation section of the library. My favourite of these books were 'Mickey Mouse- by Pierre Lambert (Foreword by Roy E. Disney)' and 'Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston' I found these books particularly interesting as they included original copies of Disney's storyboards, which inspired me into my own storyboards and currently producing in the planning for the Animation Principles Kinetic Verb brief. 

It was apparent that with Disney, animation wasn't something that had been really gone into much detail before, so making their own rules and regulations into the Principles of Animation I found really interesting. 

"When we consider a new project, we really study it... not just the surface idea, but everything about it." - Walt Disney

I found the original principles and the overall detail of this book rather inspiring and it has made me want to research further into Disney's original ideas and set ups of his animation. The copies of his original storyboards were magical, you could clearly see his thoughts and ideas and the production of better thoughts being evolved within the drawings and sketches produced.
The book 'Disney Animation- The Illusion of Life' was particularly inspiring with the detailed application of physics into the animation, with considerations of what movements apply to alternate animations.

Such principles that we'd been introduced to were highlighted such as the jargon that Disney produced. The usual animation principles that we'd been introduced to were named in the book as just original ideas that soon developed into rules of the trade, unbeknown to the people that originally made them.

1. Squash & Stretch
2. Anticipation
3. Staging
4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action
6. Slow In and Slow Out
7. Arcs
8. Secondary Action
9. Timing
10. Exaggeration
11. Solid Drawing
12. Appeal

Picasso- Magic, Sex and Death

21st November 2014
In this lecture it was highlighted rather well to us that dates are just as important as the work itself, obviously the work will have a story behind it, whether it's the artist's background, thoughts, feelings, or just the overall era that it was produced all impact the outcome. Therefore the timing is important, and I feel this was very helpful in the overall lecture all of which could implicate into my own timeline.

Pablo Picasso- Mother 1896

As well as the timing being important, we reviewed the preconceptions of artists such as famous artist  Picasso, I visited the Picasso Museum in Paris and found it very interesting to observe the reactions of a variety of visitors, and I applied this in the lecture when discussing the preconceptions of Picasso. At first, the abstract elements of his work hits you accompanied by the vibrant use of colours, dependant on his feelings at the time.
I found it really interesting that Picasso had managed to break from traditional styles of portraiture that he had grown to know so well, his father being a skilled painter taught him from an early age, leading to a genetic skill in beautiful and intricate drawings and paintings. He had a vast skill of depth perception and spacial awareness in his work, intricacy and rich use of colour.

Picasso- Sitting Woman

However, his once realistic looking beautiful oil paintings soon adapted to brighter, more vibrant abstract pieces, that I believe that despite being a hundred years old, still look modern and contemporary to this day. Picasso began an adventure into 'drawing as a child and not like a child' I think it was demonstrated in the lecture of what Picasso really meant by this, there is no way that an adult can realistically draw like a child because our brain's are too developed to not be able to think intricately of the actions that were taken, therefore as much as we tried they'd look too thoughtful and organised.

Raphael Madonna- Tempi 1508

He created the aspect of feeling 'blue' in his pieces, since his strong feelings of sadness began to impact his work.

"I started to paint in blue when I learned of Casagema's death" - Pablo Picasso

Picasso- Mother and Child

The sheer impact of loss allowed the artist to express a new outcome of emotion through his paintings, adding another alteration to his work.

Old Guitarist- Picasso

Blue was once a colour used to represent purity, a rich colour that was hard to come by, was often used for pure characters like the Madonna. The blue period was a large part of his life, making his painting mirror his feelings.

Picasso- Guernica 

 Another emotional piece Picasso produced after fleeing from homeland Spain, was the aspect of the explosions and attacks in Guernica, which he decided to represent in this deep piece, again representing sad emotion with tones and grey and blues. Each piece of the painting representing a different thing.

Issues and Practices Lecture

24th October 2014
Today's lecture explored the ideas of perspective. What is considered a real art form? How can art movements impact a community?

Perspective- Paolo Uccello 

Each movement reflects the time era of the chosen topic. The industrial revolution transpired into such movements as Cubism and the aspect of collage. (From the French coller- to glue)
In contrast such movements as the famous Dada movement, a movement that rebelled against known art conventions, transpiring from the first World War onwards. The aspect of things that may seem nonsense at first but within the perspective of the time made strong statements against the norm. Such movements completely contrasted with the usual perspective (such example as Paolo Uccello's 'Perspective' 1397-1475)
A famous act of the Dadaist rebellion is Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' 1917- a simple urinal made to represent art in an alternate form. It is visually strange and completely symbolic of the rebellious nature against society's considerations of normal behaviour and normal ideas of art.


Alternatively, Dadaism effected other medias, such as the Literature and Language stages of society, acts of Dadaist poems provided a rather random outcome of poetry, defining themselves against the considerations of everyday literary ideas.

Hannah Höch's work.

"One can shout with rubbish... Everything had broken down in any case, and new things had to be made out of the fragments"- Kurt Schwitters.

The aspect of randomly cutting up existing literary words and reassembling them by chosing at random words from a hat was a bizarre concept, with extremely bizarre outcomes. These poets were wild and free of society's restrictions during this time, they wanted to make a statement that anything can be altered, even society's art forms in every media.

Hannah Höch's Industrial Landscape 1967

How to make a Dada poem-

1. Take a newspaper or book
2. Grab some scissors
3. Cut out all the words necessary

Female contribution to the movement also offered completely different perspectives, such things as the combinations between pornography and women's magazines was a key element produced mainly by female artist Linder Sterling and Hannah Höch.

Wasilly Kandinsky

Wasilly Kandinsky is an artist that I have found particularly inspiring in context lectures and I feel it could also be translated back to my past few months of experience with Motion Design.

Although these paintings that Kandinsky composes are stationary forms, I feel like metaphorically they are meant to be the opposite. To me, these pieces look extremely adventurous, lively and animated, anything but stationary paintings. The sheer aspect of line and shape itself is extremely effective with curvatures and straight lines representing alternate forms of movement, and that paired with the adventurous forms of colour is truly magnificent.
In a way, it reminds me of our project in which we had to use the shapes to represent the different words in compositions. Personally looking at Kandinsky's pieces I feel a sense of adventure and a euphoric energy about them.

Kandinsky was mythed to have a form of Synesthesia, where the senses are somewhat muddled. In Kandinsky's case, most of his pieces are supposedly composed to represent his confusion of being able to see sounds instead of hear them. After having heard this, I think it really shows the beauty of the work that Kandinsky produced, the colour and melodic shapes in a busy composition representing sound and pitch.
I love the abstract element of every piece, although all representing a similar feeling of sound in a series, each composition is completely unique and inviting.

Kandinsky once said -

Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.

History, Culture & Society

Friday 17th October 2014
Again in this lecture we breezed through the aspects of Abstract Expressionism, but delved more into the connotations of the influences.
Three main words for this lecture were History, Culture and Society, we gathered the following points for each of the 3 words and their connotations-
 
History

• What is history? A point we explored was that some people believe there is a define difference between past and history. Past being things that have just happened, and history historical events that have been written.
• Who writes history? Most war events and written historical events have been written by the victors or men, are the points of history that we know altered? 
• Distant memories, expediently written, our memories constantly playing tricks on us- some people remember a memory completely differently to how you remember it.
•  Conflicting views on how to record historical events- how factual are they really? 
• Piecing together the truth from written history.
• Making our own history, how do we remember our own historical events?
•  Victors portray themselves in the best possible light- contracts away from the truth and factual information.

Culture

•  Fashion- varying culture's ideas of fashion.
• Belief
• Languages
• Alternative cuisine
• Respect- the amount of care expected as part of the culture
• Upbringing- traditions being reinforced on children etc.
• Traditional values
• Culture of learning- overall consciousness
• Religion- overall faith, does it differ from those surrounding them?
• Social Class, are they working class or middle class perhaps?

Society

• Rules and regulations and laws
• Citizenship
• Government
• Moral values- what's wrong and right? Conforming to certain modes of behaviour
• Patterns of behavior that are passed down through society 
• Democratic behaviour- choosing a leader
•  Distinct desire of how we should live

 Modernism was an important factor to consider the aspect of involving a variety of mediums, not just Art, but English Literature & Language, Sciences and Music to name but a few. Looking into the contrast of two of the same song but before and after the Abstract Expressionism did open the horizons of the implications the movement had on music, with the first music clip being the song 'Embraceable You' by Sarah Vaughan whilst the second was by Ornette Coleman. I found the songs sounded completely different, yet still remained the same, much in similarity to the art movement of that time, such artists like Picasso produced abstract portraits but still with the same underlying traditional portrait structure.

The inclusion of Jackson Pollock in the lecture as previously visited was also helpful, my first thoughts on his speech was that there is in fact a structural idea behind what seems to be a random mess of marks. Jackson Pollock wanted to break free from the orthodox of traditional art expression and drift away from the original paintings he created.

 

Abstract Expressionism - Ritual, Myth & Memory.

Friday 10th October 2014
Critical Review- Context Lecture
Our lecture today explored the journey of Abstract Expressionism and the alternate artist movements and the define differences between them. Coming back to the same timeline of movements, it's clear to see how Abstract Expressionism developed over time, with artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Clyford Still, Phillip Guston, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt and Arshille Gorky.
Such movements explored in the lecture such as Expressionism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism didn't only impact the visual compositions, but those of music, theatre and dance, a whole new movement that showed a new abstraction to previous culture, for example the American movement of jazz influences.
Critically I'd say the lecture was very informative, allowing the mind to wonder of how in fact others would also express power and strength through visual compositions. I myself found some of the pieces hard to envision the whole composition via slide show, and like the idea of visiting some of the exhibitions of given artists to further explore the aspects of emotion that is expressed in Abstract Expressionism. Such work from Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko for example have large pieces that are meant to bring a wave of emotion, and become quite overwhelming to those viewing it, I'd personally like to view these in person myself as I believe they could have a completely different effect than the smaller photographs shown in lectures.
However, I found that the idea of empowerment in Abstract Expressionism was particularly inspiring, the way in which it was all new then, and truly broke down the usual conventions of art to produce a whole different impression of composition.

Mark Rothko Yellow Band 1956

Although begun primarily in New York in the 1940's (famously 'The New York School') to take the focus away from the usual stylistic pieces of Paris, I found that the Abstract Expressionism was highly influential, and soon spread to varying regions, all with different stylistic backgrounds offering all new ways of expressing the movement.

Some key examples of Abstract Expressionism given in the lecture different effects- the first example was a cerebal focus of alternate fields of colour, an extremely reflective piece by Mark Rothko titled Yellow Band 1956, which allows the viewer to insert their own feelings into the piece. I imagine that the piece when witnessed is in fact rather emotional, allowing your own subconscious feelings to fill in the gaps between the shapes.

Jackson Pollock- Blue Poles 1940

The contrasting piece but still within Abstract Expressionism was Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles 1940, this piece was highly dynamic, extremely expressive and truly beautiful. The large scale size and anti-Western technique of applying the paint onto canvas via just flicking it onto the floor rather than applying to a canvas on easel was highly influenced by the Indian background of his home town Wyoming.

The SUBCONSCIOUS was an aspect that was carefully explored throughout the lecture, I myself find the aspect of subconscious thoughts and dreams rather interesting, so enjoyed the exploration of this in the lecture. Gary spoke about the new idea Sigmund Freud developed of compressed subconscious thoughts being expressed in surreal circumstances such as in our dreams, I realised that such movements as Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism explore the idea of the subconscious.

Interpretation as Visual Essay

Friday 3rd October 2014
We were given our first written brief to construct a visual piece of writing 400 words or more. We were given the choice to select any of the given postcards to study for our piece of writing. We were told to first off make a list of our first thoughts of the postcard given. My postcard featured the painting 'Nighthawks' by Edward Hopper- 1942, a piece that I found particularly eye-catching due to the isolated composition. Here are some initial notes I made on the piece:

• Coffee Bar- probably USA
• Two Contrasting worlds- inside and outside, deserted
• Smells- Coffee, smoke, milk
• Sounds- Coffee pouring, porcelain, stirring with spoons, cups and saucers, coughs, sighs, mumbling
• Dark tones and shadows
• 4 characters involved, do they know each other?
• shape contrasts
• Late at night- no one else outside
• Mysterious figure 
• 'Phillies' coffee bar
• The glow of the room
• A couple sat next to each other- have they fallen out?

I really enjoyed the fact that we were using our creativity in an alternate way, dissecting an unknown piece and constructing something new out of it. Here's the piece that I created. 

Piercing silence. Only the brief clinking of spoon on porcelain could drop a sigh amongst the congregated few at Phillies coffee bar. Greeted with dull set tones a red haired lady in a scarlett gown, crouched over the wooden panels as if they would forever hold her weight, her brow crumpled with the heavy fury of her day. Lover in tow, she examines her nibbled nails, hoping that the glistening umber of her coffee would drown her pitiful marriage. 

An intrusive cough splits the air like a concord, eyes dart towards the mysterious man sat in the corner, his hat engulfing his head, the bottom of his jaw floated like a crescent moon.

Outside the wall of glass and steam lay the sorrowful wait of reality pressing against the clocks; it lingered, waiting. 

The beige walls lit like a dwindling flame whilst the steady silence daren't touch it. As if the very essence of syllables were cyanide to the mouth, not a single soul spoke, their eyes couldn't dare wonder from the cage of their own troubles. 

The server sat in the centre of the bar, his face resembling the dull faces of his peers. He tried looking busy, a damp cloth embedded in his palm, but the firey haired lady was all that he saw. His eyes glistened at every sip of her coffee, as if every sip was a dose of admiration. Her eyes slowly and uncertainly flickered to the server, green as emeralds they sat on his face for less than a second, then scurried away back to her worn skeletal hands.

'Pride' Cornerhouse Manchester

Friday 19th September 2014

(Artwork found on wordpress.com) 

We went to the Cornerhouse in Manchester to review the film 'Pride' Directed by Matthew Warchus, starring Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott and Imelda Staunton. The production was a film exploring the aspect of Thatcherism based in 1984 during the Mining strikes when the government was run by the late Margaret Thatcher. Before viewing the film, we were allowed to tour around the exhibits of the Cornerhouse and get a real context of the building itself, I admire the cinema's traditional yet independent values, and the exhibits themed around the building too. We were handed a sheet describing the overall context of the film we were about to see, explaining the aspect of Thatchercism and the impact her rulings had on miners in the 80's.

Context of Thatchercism- (Sourced from internet as well as sheet given at Cornerhouse Manchester by Gary)-
Thatchercism makes up the ideology of former Conservative Primeminister Margaret Thatcher, whom elusively thrust her ideas onto the general public forcefully, the main rules being about the miners, thus leading to a long battle of miner strikes due to her very movements. The Miners Strike 1984-1985 began due to the unfair amount of coal mines that were forcefully shut down due to Thatcher's beliefs, producing an organised strike by the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) The actual strike itself involved riots of thousands of miners and of the police trying to restrain them upon Thatcher's orders.

The film itself bases around a group of gay and lesbian activists, who decide to raise money for the miners on strike in that time, naming themselves the LGSM- (Lesbian and Gay Support the Miners) I think the way the film was constructed allowed a heartwarming sense of empowerment, making the audience feel a sense of empathy towards both the activists and the miners involved, producing a beautiful sense of teamwork and acts of passion. The fact that despite their differences, they were similar in more ways than they could imagine, forming an unlikely friendship between both groups due to the fact that they are both groups of people that are victimised for having certain beliefs and left to feel alone. I think the way in which this unlikely friendship was conveyed was very uplifting and powerful, especially alongside the symbolism that was inserted in the piece.

The film was first off based around the character Joe, who was soon to be nicknamed Bromley was in the opening shot, filmed at a birthday table with his parents, and soon rushes to a train to take him to London, opening up to a gay and lesbian parade, who he then meets the group of gay and lesbian activists that he will venture the film with.
The group pair up with a miner village in Wales, a complete contrast to their urban lifestyles, the rural idyllic landscape of Wales was home to a village who drastically needed financial support to ensure the families and the miners themselves wouldn't soon starve.
The miners have mixed views of their new vibrant guests, but are soon warmed up to the attitude and passion that LGSM soon display, encouraging hope in a village that is engulfed in fear and hate from Thatcher's actions with the government. I think it really embraces the fact that no matter what background people are from, or what their current state is, a single similarity and act of passion and courage can bring any group of people together, despite their variations of characteristics.

Warchus had clearly put a lot of thought into the production of such a heart warming film, the outfits relevant to the 1984's and the overall prejudice that would be present against individuals at that time (gay, lesbian, transvestite etc.) and the fact that Warchus had harmoniously paired up both politics and humour was a media gem. I personally normally find films that possess a political theme quite tedious and boring, but this film presented something for everyone, light hearted jokes but without removing the seriousness of the situation and overall reinforcing the importance of human generosity.

The handshake was a symbol of the miners

Symbollism- Throughout the film, the symbolism of hand in hand support was repeated throughout, the aspect of shaking hands/holding hands included the meaning of support 'you support me and I support you' The symbol was the main metaphorical background to the film, two alternate groups of people sticking together through a familiar discrimination of Thatcher, and working together to show their rights to freedom of speech.

Manchester Art Gallery

 Friday 12th September 2014

We ventured out to Manchester Art Gallery to study the exhibition that was taken place, we were told to allow independently our inspirations take hold, taking notes of any pieces that particularly stood out to us, listing the title of the pieces and why they interest us. I found it quite relaxing and inspiring looking through the exhibition but with extra analysis that wouldn't normally take place in a passive format. I liked the freedom of the choice of our own pieces, allowing us to pick and decide what pieces are the most effective, meaning that the ones I selected were a variety of media, both 2 and 3 dimensional pieces. We were told to select a few that interested us, and one main piece that we found the most inspiring. 

Euston Steps- Frank Auerbach- 1980-81

Euston Steps- Frank Auerbach- 1980-81

The first piece to attract my attention was this piece by Frank Auerbach, the first things about it was the fact that despite only being simple marks, from a distance they resemble a complex scene. The layers of paint were applied like impasto, instead of removing the layers of oil paint he wasn't happy with, Auerbach painted thicker layers to cover it. I found the way in which the aspects of lines resemble the scene work well together.The way the colours worked together despite not really having a theme also seemed inspiring to me, finding the overall composition extremely effective.

The Chariot Race- Alexander Von Wagner 1882

This large piece attracted my attention due to the pure intricacy of the design, featuring a scene of gladiators racing horses in a Colosseum, with additional detail added to even the audience's facial features. I like the way that Wagner has captured the action and adventure of this historical scene, due to the date of the piece, it is clear the painter was not present at any event such as this, but yet managed to capture the event in such beautiful detail, I find it very inspiring that Wagner has managed to successfully capture the action of the scene without even being in that era.

Homer- about 1800-3- William Blake 1757-1827

I found this piece caught my attention due to the detail and contrasts in white and blue tones, looking extremely effective as a whole I like the way the greek figure (Greek poet Homer) and the media used looked effective with the neutral tones shining through. I like the fact that Blake always paints his fellow poets, suggesting that perhaps Homer is his muse, inspiring his own poetry, like society's celebrities.

Porca Miseria! Chandelir 2004- Designed and Constructed by Ingo Mailner
This 3D piece really drew my eye in, as it used objects that would be used in everyday life, to represent a chandlier, which I think was a beautiful construction, and was elevated in such a beautiful and intricate way.  The way the objects were elevated casting interesting shadows, almost like an elevated explosion.
I like the fact that Ingo represents that any objects can be manipulated into representing something else entirely.

My Favourite Piece
A Spate in the Highlands 1866- Peter Graham
This piece was ultimately my favourite, not just for the representation of a landscape in the Highlands, or the use of negative space and muddy tones, but the fact that the landscape was so well thought out to match the famous poem by Robert Burns that the piece is actually based on. (Afton Water- Robert Burns) 
'Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes, Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise; My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream, Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.'
(http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poems/afton-water)

 I feel that the whole effect of making a melodic piece in honour of a poet was a beautiful collaboration. I found myself looking at the piece for a long while and peering into the centre where the river is flowing, and it very much has a three dimensional aspect to it, with the exploration of colour and tonal depth.
 

Introducing Context

 Friday 5th September 2014

To begin our context lectures, we were given an introduction that I personally found quite inspiring, watching a video of a talk given by a man who I found particularly inspiring in the way he spoke of society.