ch&i homework: reading tasks

CONNECTING CREATIVITY - MARAMOTTI, L. (2000)

i found the idea in this article that each style creates an 'anti-style' that helps to define it very interesting, including the linking reference to Fred Davis' book, Fashion, Culture and Identity (2002) where he talks about contrasting concepts in fashion: young/old, conformity/rebellion, simplicity/complexity, work/play, etc. if one trend contrasts with another, it outlines the features that make the other so different and unique, helping to define it.

i could see maramotti's point when he talked about new fashion ideas and trends usually having to relate to something that has previously existed. you often hear about trends coming back into fashion referencing eras. for example, a current mainstream trend: shoulder pads and sequins, popular in the 80's. it was also interesting to read of Chanel's contextual influence in the 1930's with the economic struggle: how one of the themes in her design was to play on the contrasts between rich and poor (getting her wealthy clients to dress like their maids)

one of my favourite quotes/ideas from the article: "...our experiments will never reach a conclusion. The game will last forever"

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD - BLANCHARD, T. (2004)

the main point that came across to me within this article was the concept of the graphics creating the brand identity being strongly linked to the product (fashion). i feel that in any case where graphics are representing a product, whether its music, a film, a book, a computer game, that they should reflect what they represent. especially where there is a strong creative element (music, film, novel..) if i was designing a dvd insert for a film, i don't think it would e a very effective outcome if i'd never even seen the film.

there seems to be a common use of symolism in westwood's brand design:
- in the use of colour on the bags: the pink for femininity, and the gold for status and luxury.
- in the 'man' logo: perhaps westwood and her team of designers chose a tough material such as stone to represent a masculine strength.
- in the orb logo: the traditional british elements of her label in the royal orb, and the fresh, modern feel in the futuristic saturn ring.

THE ARTIST IN THE MARKETPLACE - TRAUB, C. (2006)

i found a lot of the views coming across in this interview relating to discussion points in our photography lecture. for example, 'public access to art': art not just part of 'high culture' but for everyone if they want. also, the point that photography has not always been considered an art form. when it was first discovered and established as a process it was seen as used simply as a technology, put to use 'recording people' and to produce images of a situation (e.g: war) to show people who could not be there, i.e: the public.

i liked charlotte cotton's take on independent practice: "independent practice is about what a photographer creates when no-one is paying for it, there is no guaranteed round of applause, but you will create it anyway" its as if you can really explore and create what you want to create when someone else isn't tailoring your work to their needs.


i found the idea of creating your own magazine very interesting: "i think if someone wants to see their work in magazines, why not think about what sort of magazine you would create". you don't need some big famous gallery to want to show your work in order for your work to be appreciated, you can get it out there yourself.


CONTROVERSIES: A LEGAL AND ETHICAL HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY - PRESS RELEASE (2008)


i felt this point by comedian steve hughes pretty relevant to controversy in art, and people being offended.. skip to about 3:47 for the joke, but the whole thing's pretty funny :D





relating to daniel girardin's point: "it's all a question of how the pictures are interpreted", photographs being censored due to people being offended.. steve hughes: "so what? be offended! nothing happens!"


i also feel that girardin highlights the flexibility of photography, when he talks about it's 'unrivalled ability to reproduce reality'. but this made me think that with technologies and techniques having been developed to manipulate photographs, it is now all to easy to create the unreal, a fantasy, or simply false, environment too.


i found a couple of quotes that linked together in the article: christian piker's idea of considering previous possible reactions to a photograph, compared with your own in the modern day; linking with girardin's point of photos that have been censored and hidden away for many years suddenly being liberated due to a gradual change in context or public opinion, or visa versa: a photograph that has been circulating freely for years suddenly being put down as being 'unacceptable'.


the theme of gary gross' 'untitled' piece on brooke shields (and other pre-adolescent girls) was one i found quite shocking. i could imagine how infuriating it must have been for shields during her legal battle with gross, and losing due to her mother's decision when she was younger and unable to sign for those sorts of decisions.


however, although i found the approach exploitive towards the young girls, i felt the theme relevant: young girls growing up faster and faster in today's culture, perhaps influenced by the media.




THE SOCIAL TURN: COLLABORATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS – BISHOP, C. (2006)

i had to agree with claire bishop when she said how the projects listed in the opening paragraph did not have a high profile in the commercial art world, because i definitely hadn’t heard of any of them. however, they all sounded distinctively unique and interesting.

biennial = art exhibition/event that occurs every 2 years

i liked bishop’s description of artists using social situations and politics in their work: ‘blurring art and life’. many contemporary artists portray their view or experience of the world through art, like a documentation of their life and opinions. looking at (particular) art and design work through history is like looking at the changes the world goes through.

- art bringing people together, creating conversation, “art as a means for creating and recreating new relations between people” (maria lind on oda projesi)

a recurrent theme in the works discussed in this article seemed to be using people and their reactions as art, using them to convey and depict the topic.