Wednesday 24 November 2010
assignment three.
In assignment two I was looking how designers influence who we are. The solutions I came up with was: religion, the media, celebrities, television, and the consumist culture we live in. For assignment three I am going to take a closer look at globalization and growing up as a female with the mass media. How the media and advertising has created are ideals of the woman's modern perfect body. I find that cross search has been very difficult to use. So I have done most of my research through books in the library.
Where The Girls Are: Growing up female with the mass media. Susan J. Douglas, Published by the Penguin Group, first published in the USA by Times Books, a division of Random House 1994, Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St. Ives plc.
The first book I looked at was Where The Girls Are by Susan J. Douglas. Douglas talks about how Jacqueline Kennedy redefined feminity for the baby boom. She has feet half the size of Cinderella's, therefore isnt the typical Disney perfect woman. Kennedy knew more languages than her husband yet was a leading lady in fashion in her time. Douglas also talks about Holly Golightly played by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Holly Golightly had a distain for marriage and was flat chested yet was at the height of glamour in the early 1960's. Another point Douglas intrested me in was the first major feminists demonstration for women's liberation at the 1968 Miss American Pageant. The press called them "bra-less bubble heads" but the women were trying to make a valuable point that pagents make the woman nothing more than a piece of meat. Woman around the country responded in mases and increased the woman's organisation by four hundred fold. These are all woman that have changed history for the better and made the life for women better. Woman that have always been at the height of fashion and have always been in the media become role models for lots of people.
Consuming Cultures, Globalization and Local Lives, Jeremy Seabrook, New Internationalist Publications Ltd. First published in the UK, Patents Act 1988 Jeremy Seabrook 2004.
Seabrook talks about the threat to cultural diveristy and identity around the world including the Western world. The media: mainly films are making all cultures trying to be more like the western world therefore ruining cultural boundries, languages and customs. Local cultures are being destroyed. Seabrook talks about the fight between local and global. This realates heavily to designers as they are the desirable and are clearly a symbol of western culture, luxury and glamour. McDonalds serves around 50 million people a day in 119 countries.
Looking up the word Style in the Dictionary, Barker brings up some intresting points about how the idea of style was "constituted by the signifying practices of youth subcultures, including the diplay of codes of meaning achieved via the transformation of commodities as cultural signs". Style identifies your beliefs and and identity. Barker discribes how punk is a perfect example of this. Punk was a 'revolting style' using black rubbish bags and safety pins. It was responding to the crisis, Britain was going through the Thatcher rein and the lack of jobs and poverty was expressed in anger through their clothing. Punk was amazing as it created a youth culture that was completely created by people on the streets and then publisied by music and designers such as Vivienne Westwood and the Sex Pistols. Barker also goes on to mention the first 'skinheads' who were dressing to like the hard lives of the working class, wearing boots, jeans and braces. "Their style stressed the resources of working class collectivism and territoriality through the coherence and loyalty of 'the gang' of mates. Barker also argues that the consumerist culture has robbed stlyle of its fun and creativity to be flattened down to become a political qustion of need and money.
Where The Girls Are: Growing up female with the mass media. Susan J. Douglas, Published by the Penguin Group, first published in the USA by Times Books, a division of Random House 1994, Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St. Ives plc.
The first book I looked at was Where The Girls Are by Susan J. Douglas. Douglas talks about how Jacqueline Kennedy redefined feminity for the baby boom. She has feet half the size of Cinderella's, therefore isnt the typical Disney perfect woman. Kennedy knew more languages than her husband yet was a leading lady in fashion in her time. Douglas also talks about Holly Golightly played by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Holly Golightly had a distain for marriage and was flat chested yet was at the height of glamour in the early 1960's. Another point Douglas intrested me in was the first major feminists demonstration for women's liberation at the 1968 Miss American Pageant. The press called them "bra-less bubble heads" but the women were trying to make a valuable point that pagents make the woman nothing more than a piece of meat. Woman around the country responded in mases and increased the woman's organisation by four hundred fold. These are all woman that have changed history for the better and made the life for women better. Woman that have always been at the height of fashion and have always been in the media become role models for lots of people.
Consuming Cultures, Globalization and Local Lives, Jeremy Seabrook, New Internationalist Publications Ltd. First published in the UK, Patents Act 1988 Jeremy Seabrook 2004.
Seabrook talks about the threat to cultural diveristy and identity around the world including the Western world. The media: mainly films are making all cultures trying to be more like the western world therefore ruining cultural boundries, languages and customs. Local cultures are being destroyed. Seabrook talks about the fight between local and global. This realates heavily to designers as they are the desirable and are clearly a symbol of western culture, luxury and glamour. McDonalds serves around 50 million people a day in 119 countries.
The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. Chris Barker, 2004, Sage Publications Ltd London 2004.
Looking up the word Style in the Dictionary, Barker brings up some intresting points about how the idea of style was "constituted by the signifying practices of youth subcultures, including the diplay of codes of meaning achieved via the transformation of commodities as cultural signs". Style identifies your beliefs and and identity. Barker discribes how punk is a perfect example of this. Punk was a 'revolting style' using black rubbish bags and safety pins. It was responding to the crisis, Britain was going through the Thatcher rein and the lack of jobs and poverty was expressed in anger through their clothing. Punk was amazing as it created a youth culture that was completely created by people on the streets and then publisied by music and designers such as Vivienne Westwood and the Sex Pistols. Barker also goes on to mention the first 'skinheads' who were dressing to like the hard lives of the working class, wearing boots, jeans and braces. "Their style stressed the resources of working class collectivism and territoriality through the coherence and loyalty of 'the gang' of mates. Barker also argues that the consumerist culture has robbed stlyle of its fun and creativity to be flattened down to become a political qustion of need and money.
ten websites.
Banksy's artwork has revolutionised street art which has been named the biggest rebellion since punk. "When I was eighteen I spent one night trying to paint 'LATE AGAIN' in big silver bubble letters on the side of a passenger train. British transport police showed up and I got ripped to shreds running away through a thorny bush. The rest of my mates made it to the car and disappeared so I spent over an hour hidden under a dumper truck with engine oil leaking all over me. As I lay there I realised I had to cut my painting time in half or give up altogether. I was staring straight up at the stencilled plate on the bottom of a fuel tank when I realised I could just copy that stlye and make each letter three feet high.
I got home at last and crawled into bed next to my girlfriend. I told her I'd had an epiphany that night and she told me to stop taking that drug 'cos its bad for your heart."
Banksy has recently released a film called Exit Through The Gift Shop.
And his identity is still a secret.
Kelly Smith has a beautifull collection of fashion illustrations on her website.
Maureen Paley is the name of a gallery in London's East End and shows work from lots of different artists set in a Victorian terraced house. Anne Hardy is one of my personal faverites.
Lula magazine is a source for inspitation. The website lets you listen to some of the interviews and watch videos which a magaine would ever be able to capture.
Mercedes Helnwein draws fascinating and fantastical girls. "My sanity always has and probably always will, depend on drawing. Things calm down for me when I draw. It's like my nervous system regenerates" -Mercedes Helnwein.
Wonderland magazine website has been created so that you can watch wonderland tv which is fantastic.
Claire ann Baker is a textile designer, maker and lecturer in the North east of England. "her collections are based on a passion for sensitive imagery, vintage ephemera and perceptive colour palettes"
A website built so that you can upload your own portfolio and search through other's. Tagged as an employment community for designers. Look up Ariel Mazo, I love her work.
Being intrested in advertising makes this page very intresting to see how smoking was promoted in the past to become a trusted part of our society.
British Vogue has told the nation how to dress for generations and is still hugely influential today.
kat macleod.
I love Kat Macleod's work, her latest book is amazing, her illustrations make me realise why I wanted to do Art. Like I Give A Frock was relesed last Autumn and apprently she is bringing out a new book in April. Michi xx
knitted fashion.
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” - Coco Chanel.
Clare Tough is leading in knitwear perfect to wear for winter, Tough wants girls to wear knitted dresses and nothing else. There is a heaviness to the knitting which is balanced out by a delicate lightness and perfectly placed holes so that femine collarbones and shoulderbones are shown.
Friday 19 November 2010
visual languages.
Friday 12 November 2010
craft.
After the lecture today, the division between art and craft became fragile. Knit is what I am doing for this week, walking into the room with the machines clacking and the coloured threads whirring, a girl in the class commented that it felt like visitng a factory in the 1920's. This made me want to ask the question comfronted in the lecture today about knit. How is craft distinct from art and design? Anyone with the knowledge of using a knit machine would be able to make beuatiful samples. Artists can visualise something clearly in their mind but they still need the skills to be able to create the ideas. Plumbers and electictians have to be creative and work well with their hands to do their job but does that mean they are artists? I would argue no, as craft has an emphasis on function. Roy Lichtenstein was a leading pop artist and rebbelled againt the theory of what art was, but it still became valued and pop art was used for the Beatles, Sgt. Peppers album cover. Acient shell neckalces have been found in caves and some belive that they were used for rituilas but they were used to show status for the chief of clans and for shemans to wear. Art is essentially leisure.
Craft has recently become fashionable again from the last craze in the 70's. Knitting groups have started all over Britian, a group in Nottinghill even had a knitted wedding. Caroline Gates is a contempary artist who uses knit. The problem with knit is how do you brand something that is against consumerism? Chi ha paura, who is afraid of? in Itailian, is a comtempory jewellery brand that is taking away the consumerism factor yet still managing to brand an amazing company. Branding has ruined many brilliant artists before, Wedgewood was a pinoeer in branding and created one of the first factories, designing his own designs and then hiring other artists to paint his works threrefore making the products cheaper to buy but his crafts went down in value. To answer the question: how is craft distinct from art and design? I dont think anyone truely knows the answer but has to make their own conclusion. I personally think that craft is more of a hobbie and being an artist is a proffesion.
Wednesday 10 November 2010
one step. two.
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