work of interest

'They are gone'-personal work

They are gone 

(2nd year work)

What is Graphic Design for me

What is graphic design for me booklet

A5 size

Although I've been studying Graphic design for about 2 years so far, funny enough that I never actually sat down and  questioned myself what graphic design is for me. I have to admit the fact that I am not really 'thinker' and I don't consider myself to be independent on the thought and decisions that I make in general and it is really starting (or it has been) to reflect through my work. As I progressed towards 3rd year, I feel like it is becoming more and more challenging and more confusing but as Annegrette said today, may be it is a good sign for being like this. Although it sounds so tragic..:(

Anyways, on this brief in general, I had some negative feedbacks and I have to admit that I haven't really thought into the thinking behind it and only concentrated on the visual presentation. The whole idea was though I reflected the aim of the being successful graphic design to be to able to please the viewers with communication through visual language. Some argued that we, as a graphic designer, can not satisfy the whole crowd and have to concentrate on the message that we want to portray to people out there and additionally, not necessarily have to please everyone which is impossible anyways. The important fact that I picked on today was that I have to concentrate on finding my audience and be myself with the style of work I produce. Also, the conversation we had in class on the whole was interesting facts that I've been always questioned myself such as;

• Finding a style of your work (eg. so that when you open a magazine everyone would recognise my work)
• How to keep a balance between commercial without losing your style

In the end, we are aware of the fact that we have to graduate next year and jump into an industry at some point. Then, should we concentrate on our design work produced in college unto the expectations they want? or should we keep our interest and continue with our exploration of work ignoring these facts?  The feedbacks in class seems to be that since we are in college and learning, we shouldn't really consider about commercial side and only have to concentrate on WHAT WE WANT. But is it really so?

About the finding a style of your work question, one of the pupil said that every work we produce embodied the style of our own even we don't recognise it. 


There is no right and wrong on this question obviously, but for now my advice for myself would be focus on the content and really thoroughly study it first before I think about how to look good in visual presentation. 

'What if' brief

'What if' tutorial group session works

Brain storming, idea sketches on 'what if' questions

A3 x3

Before class, I was very confused of what we had to do but after the session, I had a very clear idea what it was all about. Basically it was something different to our dissertation final piece (which I thought it would be) and the outcomes that we do for this brief was in order to help was to experiment and not necessarily to produce a perfectly touched up final product. 

First, I felt quite behind then others since I didn't know what to choose for my 'what if' question but given in 45 minutes I came to conclusion to concentrate on the questions of 'what if there is all age limit to enter in to public galleries/museums to see nude arts(not modern nude art as they already have one)' and 'what if pornography is displayed in public places like some of nude art in National Gallery Museums'.So basically, I am moving on to the nudity in public display rather than nudity art itself. 

Also, we had to come up with a brief idea of what the final piece to look like too. I thought about to interpret the souvenir of museum with pornography so there for might produce a kit with postcards and posters for some of those who sees pornography.I am not sure if idea makes sense and thought I need to understand what museum means in society first. So after the session, I headed off to library and looked in to some of books relating the poetics and politics of museum display such as this book;

 

Exhibiting culture

by Ivan Karp and Steven D.Lavine

By looking it at briefly, it is interesting to extend my interest along with the dissertation topic and somehow there is a link between two and thought I can include some of interesting ideas inspired by this, but before that I feel like my visual experiments are lacking..now is the time to really really put all the efforts for myself!!

Lynn Hershman

Phantom Limb #2

Lynn Hershman is one of the most influential artists working in the areas of gender, technology and identity today. Hershman works in photography, video, photo-collage, and multi-media interactive installations. Issues surrounding female identity are at the forefront of Hershman’s work and she links these issues to our continued relationship with technology. Another key theme is the notion of privacy in the era of surveillance, a topic well-illustrated by her Phantom Limb Photographs.

More work of Lynn Hershman

http://lynnhershman.com/

water woman

Her works are more relevant to the relationship between female identity rather than nudity itself, however as female representative as myself, her series of art inspired me to think about how I can reflect my personal view of female body visually. For instants, I can explore how I can represent myself in visual communication in a form of peice of art and then if I do, what message would I want to get across to people? What am I trying to say on the whole in my investigation of studies of nudity?All this can be included in my conclusion for my dissertation, too.

Context tutorial feedback

Short presentation on dissertation

I've made a brief presentation to Andrea when we met and it definitely helped to explain my ideas more clearly and easier for him to add a feedback as he could just fix some quotes/images and rewrite straight on to it. Some of my images were used not appropriately in some cases and some case studies needed to polished up. 

These are some of really important feedbacks that I had from Andreas;

• Don’t explore differences in terms of what’s “best”. Be critical. No classification.
• In conclusion you can be personal and compare the results of your research into art and nudity with your feelings and thoughts (and your social position) as a female visual communicator.
• Don't try to write perfect. Just start writing all the thoughts and research first and smooth it later.
• The successful dissertation will be a collection of your thoughts with communication. Not collection of references.
• Your final piece doesn't have to a nude of yourself or naked body, think more how to deliver your view of nudity visibly and by not necessarily using human body.

Brain storming for tutorial group session

brain storming on dissertation

size A1 

It was shame that I couldn't turn up today's crit since my cold was getting worse...

Anyways, by doing this exercise (although it is something that I always do anyways before I start any projects) it helped me to open up to some of the subjects that I haven't thought about and raised more questions to consider in my dissertation. At the moment, the topic of nudity is such broad content, since it has such deep history in background, my thoughts are all over the places and I feel like I need to narrow some of things down so I booked appointment with Andrea(my personal context tutor) for more help in the afternoon. Hopefully, I can be more clear of the arguments after a talk with him..! Fingers crossed! :)

Performance nude-Fiona Banner

Almost Fluorescent Nude

2007

Indian ink on wall

1340x2090mm

British artist Fiona Banner explores the limits and possibilities of language in text-based drawings, sculptures and installations. Best known for her laborious, handwritten descriptions of war films and epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Banner has also used the art-historical genre of the nude to explore issues of violence, vulnerability and voyeurism; and has used sculptures of punctuation to investigate breakdowns and gaps in communication.

 – Excerpt from Artinfo interview, 2006.

Performance Nude

08.08.2010

Film

The process of 'performance nude', particularly in relation to the history and development of Banner's art to date, relies on the meticulous balancing of literary and visual language. Banner's use of writing, language and text is both verbally and sculpturally poised.

As in Banner's use of descriptive text and transcription, the effect of the language is to relay a sense of real time-thus becoming as does the medium of writing in Banner's 'performance nude' both commentary and commemoration.

In her interview, she defines nude in the following terms;

'Nudes are not painted for who they are, but for what they are, and what they offer the viewer'

'Nude is always an act or performance in one way or another.'

LIGHT OF THE BODY (segment)-by Amy Greenfield

YouTube allows nudity from TV and film, but not from artists and amateur videographers. This from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

“Today EFF and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) wrote to YouTube, asking the video hosting giant to reconsider its removal of the work of internationally recognized video artist Amy Greenfield.

Amy Greenfield received notice from YouTube that her works, which contain some artistic nudity, did not conform with YouTube’s “community standards.” Under YouTube’s policies, “films and television shows may contain [full nudity]; however, videos originating from the YouTube user community must abide by the YouTube Community Guidelines and are not permitted to include such content.” (emphasis in original). The Community Guidelines purport to allow nudity with “some educational, documentary and scientific content, but only if that is the sole purpose of the video and it is not gratuitously graphic,” but does not recognize the value of nudity in art.

When video artists present works that have clear artistic, political or educational merit, YouTube should allow the artist to post the material with at least the same freedom as major studio films and television. If a user community video is flagged as inappropriate, YouTube should at least have an appeals process to allow an artist to explain the artistic merit. While we understand YouTube’s desire to keep pornography off its servers, it must also understand that not all nude art is pornographic.” —EFF

• What is the difference between nude art and pornography?
• How do we distinguish in terms between two?

New key words- censorship, definition between pornography and art

(plate 1)

(plate 2)

Richardson Magazine returns with Issue A4, featuring its guiding theme on the feminine take on sex and pornography as well as gender issues. At this point, I would like to focus on plate 1 on the image of it itself, which triggered my inspiration somehow. The placement of 'A4' on the female body recalled myself to think of nudity as a subject for art. 

A picture provokes thousands words and there is no such term as 'just looking'. 

We see things because we have all seek to know. 

Even when I look at blank page of a sketchbook, I'm not looking just at 'whiteness' of a page but further beyond that. It sounds strange but the emptiness of it excites me whenever I buy/start a new page of a empty page. As art itself can be viewed differently by different person, this can be effected by their different culture and backgrounds, whether they understand the true meaning beneath the art piece or not, any piece of art will provoke questions of morality. The question of which argument is right or wrong is never be solved. Especially, since nude art is the most traditional subject used in Art history, it is inevitable to acknowledge that we need to know more deeply into the subject before we even talk about Nude in art. However, rather than going deep into history and how nudity in art has changed from books, I thought about just to think of Nude as 'subject' for inspiration like any other object we find for our inspirations. 

• What if we don't feel any desires(eg. sexual) when we look at ourselves naked? 
• What would happen if we have been naked like any other animals? 
• What would it be like to have no artificial tools around us?
• How can it be translated into just as an object for inspiration visually?
• By twisting my questions, what if nude body turns into a canvas and something else to be an inspiration instead?

Body art

http://fun.ql4.org/weird/unusual-body-art.html

Emilio Gomariz

(click for a link)

Somehow (like any other people), the form of human body always has been a subject for inspiration in my work. Especially like Emilio Gomariz, I have done similar works collaborating the shape of body substituted in nature around us.

Personal work on human body

Human and nature-1

2008

Human and nature-2

2008

Book design

'Fractures from anxiety'

2009

When we were told that our dissertation could be about anything that interests me, the first thing that I wanted to explore was about nudity but during summer holiday, I questioned whether it is good idea to take on its topic  since I thought there might be a chance of my work becoming too cliche. I was worried if I am sticking in to one thing too much and not taking a risk and experiments which might thought would be a problem in the end when I sum up my works for portfolio.

This is the reason why I spent time (wasted) writing a whole new topic about 'money and art' which I handed in the beginning of this term. I had serious talk with Andrea and he thought it would be a good idea to go back to my original topic. I thought it too so here I am back to nudity and art. I guess this is my final year at CSM and if I think through, this means it is my chance to do whatever I want. So if I am so interested in it..I thought why not explore it as much as I want?

First Draft-Research proposal

self portrait

Venn diagram to show the relationship between field of practice, skills and research

I have to say that since this research proposal was intended to direct us to explore the areas I was interested in, by looking at it now, this seems quite vague in general and some of my direction has changed from certain point since but anyhow, here is overall evaluation of what I've thought at that time.

Research proposal

The category of nakedness is a fundamental ambiguity about the nature of human existence, and has continuously been used as indices of humanness and its hierarchies. Nudity has especially been used for various advertising and design purposes. So, how do we divide the nudity as an art or an object of humiliation? My aim of the investigation is to distinguish the boundary that defines nudity as an art and debate about the morality of nude uses in our society.

                                         United Colors of Benetton Advertisement          Wired Magazine cover

• In the commercial terms, the use of presentation of nudity could be viewed as a trick of the trade where it is attracting our sight for amusement.
• It was noticeable to see that the most of the images in advertisements were female bodies.
• ‘what makes naked female bodies are acceptable to entice the public to attract and encourage to buy something and at the same time why men’s nudity appeared to be generally unacceptable in public context.’
• what defines sometimes sexist assumed as illegal or sometimes yet morally justifiable exception.

Bill Brant

In photographs by Bill Brant, the nudity become as an object, not a human. His photographs proved that there are no other elements than photography that can extract the reality on a piece of art. But also it has ability to change the reality in the view of photographer of the image and creates a new order. His work involves architecture, reportage of society, landscape and portrait, but especially my inspiration has to be his series of nude photographs. His uses of black and white contrasted photographs appeal strongly and his distortion of positioning models inside the frames creates an overall mysterious and surrealist atmosphere. 

Luigi Colani

Luigi Colani’s said, “The earth is round, all the heavenly bodies are round; they all move on round or elliptical orbits. We are even aroused by round forms in species propagation related eroticism. Why should I join the straying mass who wants to make everything angular?”. His theory appeal on his characteristic of the designs which are the rounded, organic form and sometimes described as ‘biodynamic’ that evokes the beauty of nature; also refers as beauty of nudity. His work informs that nudity always does not have to be reflected as human body but also transformed in to pieces of design. His work introduce another possibility in design that the nudity can be exposed as branding identity, used as an interpretation of metaphor in product, fashion and advertisement that signifies the clarity purity in itself. 

Jerome Abramovitch

Jerome Abramovitch is a photographer, performance artist, and heavy body modification enthusiast. He is most famous for his experiments involving injecting saline solution into his skin. His inherent nature to seek, explore and be that which is different has gained him the kind of recognition and marketable appeal that can only be attained by such an unconventional and driven individual. I think that the stark honesty of his photographs is testament to who he is as an artist, the eccentric characters that surround him and the intimate bonds they share. 

Geraldine Georges 

Geraldine Georges produced a magnificent pieces of illustrations based on nude. She demonstrated that the uses of curves and shapes of body can be corrupted and rejoined in other parts to create a piece of design. Her skills to contrast in dark and light in image have appealed to me and her combination of illustrations with fine lines on top of the pale body which inspired me the most. Her works of photograph and illustrations showed her deep knowledge of understanding the form, shape and lines of body in terms of a subject for inspiration. 

The real nude art prefers human in its most raw form.  As much I have concerned, a nude artist would do away with embellishments which are deemed as mere accessories to the beauty of the human body.  These accessories do not really beautify the human body in the process of depicting art.  Rather, it sullies the beauty of the human nature.  For some nude artists, however, this is perfectly acceptable like , as he uses his three dimensional sculpture on top of  his parts to emphasise the softness of the body beneath his garment. His chosen colour and form of sculpture outside not only makes the piece attractive but also blend in to the shapes and line of the nudity of human.  

So in conclusion..my further investigation was to 

• Investigate further, the reasons of our obsession with proportions in both human body and in Design and also, look into the rules and definitions that involved in producing a piece of art/design that is expected as a ‘perfection’.
• Create works of series that will show that nude art that refers to the study of the human body and the nude person is merely a representation of behalf of humanity.