Week Eleven - The Image as Self-expression: The Designer as Author

Grayson Perry - Who are you?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you/on-demand/55337-001

I will be analysing an episode of Who are you, a programme about Grayson Perry's journey of creating portraits on peoples identities, at the end I will be drawing a conclusion of my thoughts and feelings towards his process. Grayson Perry is making portraits of who we are. He is interested in what is behind the masks we wear. He chooses people who have maybe been through a crisis in their lives because he wants to know who they are! Some things he looks at are gender, fame and religion. His portraits would then be exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery. The first portrait he wants to create is of the former cabinet minister Chris Huhne. This is the politician who got his ex wife to take speeding points for him. Grayson likes to understand what his subjects are rather than what they look like. Chris invited Grayson round for tea the night before he finds out if he would be going to jail for the crime he had been found guilty of. Grayson wonders if Chris is even bothered about going to jail because he seems quite calm and happy whilst they are having tea. Grayson wants to make a true portrait about Chris' true situation. In everyones eyes it is a disaster that Chris did go on to get a prison sentence for his crime but to Chris he has an 'oh well never mind' sort of attitude towards the situation. Chris is sentenced to three months in prison, this is when Grayson would see him again. When Chris comes out of jail, Grayson was struggling on how to find the inner truth of Chris Huhne. Grayson expected to see a change in Chris after he had been to jail, he doesn't feel as if he is talking to a more vulnerable Chris Huhne. The first time Chris shows any kind of vulnerability is when Grayson asks him if he can see his tag and Chris won't let him. Grayson references the work of Andy Warhol and says Chris' portrait had to be a repeat pattern. He makes stamps and begins printing his repeat pattern portrait on to a pot made out of clay. He begins printing Chris' number plate as one of the aspects of the piece, the next stamp is a penis because that's what got him into trouble, for putting it where it shouldn't have been. He glazes the pot when he is finished. Because he wanted to base this portrait on vulnerability, he decides to smash the vase. He then has a restorer glue the pot back together to show the vulnerability Chris wouldn't show. He also gets the restorer to trace the cracks in gold leaf. The finished piece is called 'The Huhne Vase'.

Grayson Perry wanted to choose another person who was experiencing fame, He picked the X Factor contestant and Celebrity Big Brother winner Rylan Clark. Rylan now host's Big Brothers Bit On The Side, this is when Grayson goes to visit him. Grayson feels Rylan is a famous for being famous kind of celebrity. Rylan reveals that the performer 'Rylan' is his alter ego but really he is Ross (his real name) If Ross got up on the stage he would not be able to perform because it would be too scary for him. Rylan was troubled because his fake identity was being believed. The artistic president for what Grayson wanted to capture about him was the court portraiture in the Elizabethan age. He created an Elizabethan style miniature portrait. Grayson sees Rylan as a contemporary 'Earl of Essex' in a digital age. He names the portrait 'The Earl of Essex' The biggest character Grayson is dealing with has the smallest portrait.

Another portrait Grayson wanted to create was to be based on something to do with religion. He goes on to meet a girl that used to be racist and hated muslims. Kayleigh is a 27 year old single mother of 4. She has now converted to Islam. Her brother says he was a little bit ashamed that Kayleigh converted to Islam, he did not understand what Islam was offering her. Grayson had a conversation with Kayleigh about how she refuses to buy her children 100's of pairs of trainers because things like that are material things and they don't need them. Grayson decided her portrait was going to be based on Islam VS Shopping. He feels britain are buying their identity from big brand shops, Kayleigh is offered another identity from the mosque, which is Islam. He wanted to focus on the hijab in his portrait, that tells the story of Kayleighs life and her conversion to Islam. His photoshop design would be printed on to silk to make an actual hijab. He shows Kayleigh 'The Ashford Hijab' at the National Portrait Gallery, this is eighteen months later. Kayleigh is now married with a fifth child.

The final portrait in this episode is based on gender. He meets a person that was born a girl named Jaz who is now taking male hormones and is embarking on life as a man. Jaz always felt he was one of the boys from a young age and had a fascination with Peter Pan. His Mum once tried to put him in a dress when he was younger and he cried so much to the point of going to be sick. Because Jaz kept his identity in so long he finds it a bit scary, but now everything is out. Jaz says most people go along with what they're told growing up, what is acceptable and what it means to be a man or a woman. Grayson points out that he feels some of the most dangerous words are 'normal' and 'natural'. Hazel is Jaz's Mum, she said when she gave birth to a baby girl she had a vision for her, so she was a bit disappointed. Jaz decided to tell his family how he felt growing up at his 24th birthday party, he did this through a poem he wrote. Grayson realised he wanted to create an heroic portrait for Jaz. He decided to create the portrait in the form of a statue. He now knew what sculpture he had to make. The finished sculpture was cast in brass. Eighteen months later Grayson shows Jaz the finished piece in the National Portrait Gallery. Jaz has now changed his name to Alexander and had top surgery. Alexander sees how Grayson has incorporated Peter Pan into the statue and he also sees the heroic aspect of the piece. The piece is called 'I am a Man'.

Conclusion
It's amazing how Grayson Perry got so much from reading these people. It was definitely not about just sitting down and making a portrait of someone, it was more about sitting down and getting to know them all. This really connects with this weeks research topic because it shows the designer (Grayson) as author. The way he interviews his subjects before he even thinks about drawing them shows how much thought has went into these pieces, I don't think the final pieces would have been as successful if Grayson didn't go through this process and get to know the true identities of these people first.

References.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you/on-demand/55337-001

All images are screenshots from the programme to show the work he created.

Week Ten - The Image as Ideology/Gendering the image.

Ideology
Definition of ideology in English:
NOUN
1(plural ideologies) A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy:the ideology of republicanism
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES SYNONYMS
1.1The set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual:a critique of bourgeois ideology
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

2[MASS NOUN] archaic The science of ideas; the study of their origin and nature.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
2.1archaic Visionary speculation, especially of an unrealistic or idealistic nature.

What we know is what we have been told to know.

These two perfumes differ in price greatly. Dolce and Gabbana The One costs £72.50 for 75ml whereas Charlie Red costs £4.99 for 100ml. For 25ml less, many people would much rather pay the higher price for the more expensive and extravagant perfume. This is one way to talk about ideology. Because with having the more expensive perfume you can smell expensive and you can show off to your friends and tell them you have this material thing. These two perfume bottles probably didn't cost very much to make in comparison to each other and I don't think the cheap perfume would smell that bad but not many people would be proud to get their Charlie Red perfume out and start spraying it because they might be branded as scruffy or cheap for having it.


Figures
Figure 1 - Dolce and Gabbana Perfume
Figure 2 - Charlie Red Perfume

References.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ideology
http://www.theperfumeshop.com/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=1271
http://www.theperfumeshop.com/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=3205

Week Nine - The Image as Self: The Portrait as Individual

Self portraits
This is one of my favourite portraits. It was created by Marc Quinn and is made from the artists' own blood along with liquid silicone, glass, perspex, stainless steel and refrigeration equipment. It was created in 2006 and measures 2050 mm x 650 mm x 650mm. He took several pints of his own blood over time, froze it and cast his head in it. Marc Quinn described it as a 'frozen moment on life support'. He creates a new version of this every five years. I really love the delicateness of this piece and how it looks as if he is holding his breath, trying not to break it. The way the shadows reflect all around the head are really powerful, as if the eyes are going to open. It is a very unique thing to do and I feel if you go crazy with something and dare to do something mad then you will be seen for it and hopefully in a good way.




Being self critical
In order to understand the work that is created by yourself, you must understand yourself as an artist/illustrator and as a person. You must know where you have went wrong and be able to admit your mistakes. You must know when you have done something right and be able to praise yourself for it. When viewing other artist's work an illustrator should not hold back on critique if they feel it will encourage a better outcome, not to sound nasty but to help them better their work.

Figures
Figure 1 - Self by Marc Quinn

References.
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw138260/Marc-Quinn-Self

Week Eight - The Image as Documentary: Decoding the Image as ‘Fact’

When seeing an image such as children fighting wars in we may be be shocked and feel disgusted that this could be happening in the world we live in. Do we really know what is going on and are the documentaries truthful in what they tell us. I feel I automatically would believe something if it has the word documentary next to it, because that is what I have been told.

I came across a documentary on child soldiers in Myanmar. The Myanmar war was claiming lives, they force teenage men to join the army against their will. The army would arrest the underage children and send them to military training schools. They threaten the soldiers with prison sentences if they do not join the military. Many if not all of them are scared to fight in the war, with guns going off all around them and their friends being killed in front of their eyes. Children are abducted and brought to join the army, the Myanmar army would pay people to go out and find recruits, that is why 70% of soldiers are serving against their will, the army does not have enough troops that willingly join. If it wasn't for the soldiers being there against their wouldn't be much of an army at all. The Myanmar army destroy villages and are known to rape girls that work on the village farms, they would kill them afterwards, they kill people for no reason and children are being forced to join them if they do not want to be killed. Other men and teenagers would join the Karenni army to fight against these evil people. Soldiers were forced to kill friends they had made in the army if the friend disobeyed orders. If the soldier did not kill them, they would be killed. The soldier this happened to shot his friend then shot the commanding officer who gave the order. He then ran away and escaped. The number of child soldiers in the Myanmar is still increasing today.

You can find this documentary at - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR_Iz98KFL8

What we see.
When I saw this documentary I was extremely sickened and shocked by what is going on in this world. Footage of the soldiers and escaped soldiers telling stories of what it was like for them. Some of the footage was reenacted so I don't feel this is true fact but it still got the message across.

What it tells us.
The documentary told me what it was like in the Myanmar war and what sick things they do. The worded information along with the images made me feel empathy towards the soldiers and the sense of needing to help them.

References. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR_Iz98KFL8

Week Seven - Symbolism and Colour in Illustration

For this research task I wanted to look at symbolism in terms of negative space with some making hints of optical illusions.

This piece was created by Belgian designer Caroline Remy. She has used shapes and negative space to create this piece. At first glance I saw a rabbit and a dog with a few surrounding shapes, maybe the back of a cats head. I then looked closer and as a focussed a cow appeared. I like the cleverness of this piece and how it tricks the mind.

This image was created by Tang Yau Hoong, and illustrator based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This piece is called 'Day and Night'. I like the way the piece has been cut in half to maybe symbolise what one side of the world may be like compared to another. The bright blues in both of the birds really stand out along with the sun and moon. I also like the concept of having both of the birds sitting on the tree tops, that also are the way of splitting the page up in a zigzag line.

This is one of my favourites from the pieces I have talked about. It is by American graphic designer, Richard Fonteneau. It is a logo for Spartan Golf Club. The way he has executed this logo is extremely clever. The spartan warriors helmet appears as another thing, the power of the golfers swing along with the golf club at the bottom. The spartans face also works as a golfer making a swing. The gold colour used as the background also relates to Roman gold's. The colour could also have meaning of how exclusive or platinum the golf club is.

Figure List
Figure 1 - Design by Caroline Remy
Figure 2 - Day and Night by Tang Yau Hoong
Figure 3 - Spartan golf club logo by Richard Fonteneau

References
http://www.creativebloq.com/art/art-negative-space-8133765

Week Six - The 1950’s.

In this research task I will be looking at Illustration and artworks created during the 1950's. I will be doing this through the publications of Playboy Magazine in the times between 1953 and 1959. The editor and founder of the magazine is Hugh Marston Hefner and the art director was Art Paul. Hef came up with the idea of playboy magazine when he was married with an infant child. Through mutual friends, Hef got in touch with Art Paul, who was also married with a baby on the way. The first publication of the magazine was in 1953 with a photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the front cover. On the front page there was also text that stated there was a nude photograph of Marilyn Monroe inside. Selling for only 50 Cents a copy, this is how Hef and Art Paul launched the magazine.

The next year in September (1954) they came up with this design for the front cover, Madeline Castle was playmate of the month. If I didn't know what playboy was, I would probably think this was a music magazine. The cover looks like a rainbow of colour and would have definitely stood out on magazine stands. I like the strong use of black line used for the outlines and how some of the lines overlap. We also see the playboy bunny, a version of it before the famous logo created by Art Paul was introduced.

This is the cover used for November 1959. There is something quite humorous about the expression on the playboy bunny's face. He seems to have been at a bar drinking and now he is thinking about something much more exciting than being at the bar alone. He is thinking about women, they are all in bright colours against the black background having a good time. This could suggest to men that are buying the magazine that if they are alone and feeling the need of comfort or a bit of fun, buy the magazine and see what's inside. It is a lot different from what playboy produce in this day and age but it still is a good way of communicating with the target audience. 






Figures
Figure 1 - Playboy magazine cover 1953
Figure 2 - Playboy magazine cover  1954
Figure 3 - Playboy magazine cover 1959

References
http://www.playboymagazinestore.com/1954/index.php?v=playboy_magazines_back-issues_the-1950s_1954

http://iit.edu/magazine/spring_2009/article_2.shtml

Week Five - The Image as Message: Signs, Symbols, and the Art of Semiotics

Semiotics
The dictionary definition for semiotics states that it is 'a study of signs and symbols, what they mean and how they are used'. What we see is called a denotation and what we think when we see a sign or symbol is called a connotation. There is the meaning of semiotics in signs and symbols but it can also apply to people such as celebrities that have personas/aliases.

Personas
Beyonce/Sasha Fierce

The woman on the left is Beyonce Knowles and the woman on the right is Sasha Fierce. They are both the same person but they act very differently to one another. Beyonce is calm and serene where as Sasha Fierce is loud, confident and dances on stage. These are the two versions of this woman but which one is real? I feel because of all the pressure she is put under from the media and the public, she needs a persona to live her life. She would go on the stage as Sasha Fierce, ready for anything and to dance and sing loud. But when she is done she can go back to being Beyonce.
Colours and feelings - My personal thoughts.
Red - Anger, Danger, Blood, Hot, Love, Passion.               
Yellow - Sunny, Flowers, Teeth.                                          
Pink  - Girly, Happy, Fun.                                                    
Green - Nature, Slime, Mould, Smelly, Snotty.                    
Orange - Fruit, Citrus, Fresh.                                                
White - Heavenly, Clean, Fresh, Snow.
Purple - Sad, Goth, Dark.                                                      
Blue - Water, Tears, Boys, Cold, Ice.                                   
Brown - Mucky, Muddy, Chocolate, Wood, Trees, Nature. 
Black - Death, Darkness, Scared, Blind, Slimming.             

I decided to write a few thoughts that pop into my head when I think of a colour. Some of my thoughts are because the colour is the same as something I am thinking of such as chocolate is brown but others I can't understand why I think of them. Why is black scary? Is it because when I was a child I would be scared of the dark when I went to sleep, because I couldn't see anything. I only think these things because of what I have been told. Why do I think the colour white is heavenly? When I picture Heaven I see white clouds and everyone wearing white, but is Heaven even real? It's just what I have been told, I've never seen heaven or been there so why do I think it's white?

Figures.
Figure 1 - Beyonce/Sasha Fierce.