Essay research

After the feedback session I was given a few idea's on what to watch, and read up on in order to write the essay.

J.Berger 'Ways of seeing' was a series of a television program. I watched the final episode which focused on advertising on youtube, to gain an understanding of John's thoery and idea.

Here I quote some of what he had to say about the topic.

'We are surrounded by images of an alternative way of life...For a moment they stimulate our imagination either by way of memory or anticipation.'

'Its a language of words and image which calls out to us wherever we go whatever we read, wherever we are...we take them away in our minds and seem them in our dreams'

I partiually like this quote. It really depicts the idea that advertising gives us the want to have an idealised life, for perfection, for our dreams to become reality. That what is seen within an advertisement is what everybody wants, but can only ever be, just a dream. As he states later on in the program, he basically says that publicity pursuades us in this consumerist society, that if we change ourselves or our lives, by buying something more. This more will will make us richer in some sense. Even though we will become poorer, as we have had to spend our money. So, we have bought something to become 'richer', and set to live 'the dream' as such, but have only made ourselves poorer by buying into this.

Within advertisements, he talks about how, by showing us people who have apparently been transformed, become enviable. This in itself becomes a new glamour. Glamour is for people who find they, can not aford not to be glamorous. Now the model has taken the place of the goddess.

Glamour never used to exist, as your place in society depended on birth. Personal envy did not exist. Without social envy, glamour can not exist.
Glamour is new, society has changed.


Watching, and making notes from this program has really given me a deeper and more knowledgeable understanding of the effects of advertsing on society, and with some of John Bergers quote, I feel I can back up my own and his opinions in order to evaluate my chosen essay question.

Graphic design - A medium for the masses

John Beighton

Area's
-The origins of graphic design
- Graphic design in relation to fine art
- Graphic design in relation to Advertising
- Graphic design as a tool of capitalism
- Graphic design and post modernism
- Graphic design and social conscience

Origins of graphic design show people documenting and visually communicating from the very begining, when we couldnt even talk.

Cave painting, Lascaux, France, 15,000 - 10,000 bc.

Fine and classical art also used to visually illustrate an idea or message.

Hervert spencer : Merchandised art
Richard Holis : 'Graphic design is the business of making or choosing marks...'

Alphanse Mcuha 1819, Poster for ciggerete paper - Graphic design or fine art?
Doesn't really matter if people don't understand its message.

An introduction to Post modernism

An introduction to postmodernism

Robert Venturi

'I like elements which are hybrid rather than 'pure', compromising rather than 'clean', distorted rather than straight forward,  ambiguous rather than 'articulated', perverse as well as 'impersonal'…'

Post modernism related:

Lyotard

Roy Litchenstein

Andy Warhol

We live in a post modern era, everything has been done before 'a copy, of a copy, of a copy'

Modernism: Arised from world war one, improving people's lives with technology - a blind obedience to rules. 

Form follows function.

IMAGE

'Le corbusier, Villa, Savoye, Posissy, 1928" - removed individuality - limiting

Modernism:

• Experimentation
• Innotative
• Individualism
• Progress
• Purity
• Originality
• Seriousness

Binary opposites = Post modernism

FIND DEFINITIONS

Post modernism conditions is characterised by

• Exhaustion
• Pluralism
• Pessimism - everything gone wrong, technology a bed thing
• Disillusionment with an idea of absolute knowledge

Modernism

Expression of modern life / technology / new materials / communication

Post modernism

Reaction / response to of modern life / technology / new materials / communication

Jean Tinguely 'Homage to New York', 1960

anti aesthetic / modernist - nialistic post modern gesture

Designed to destroy self - metaphor - modern work destroying self

Origins of post modernism

1917 - German writer Rudolph Pannwitz, spoke of 'nihilistic, amoral, post modern men'

60s Beginning 

70s Establish as a term

80s Recognisable style

80s and 90s Dominant theoretical discourse

Today tired and simmering

Terms

• Equivalent to capitalism
• After Modernism
• Historical era following the modern
• Contra modernism

The demolition of the Pruitt - Igue development, st Louis - Modernist architecture

community built around equal space, quality and equality

Ended up being criminalised, ghetto like, crime and prostitution.

a failure to modernism

'Modernism dies, according to Charles Jenicks'

Igue development reality of 'Le Corbusier 'plan violin'

apparent Utpoia, and technology determinism

Post modernism has an attitude of questioning conventions - especially those set out by modernism

aesthetic - multiplicity of styles and approaches

space for new voice

New technology imporves - rejected by post mod

Modernism forcing vision upon you

POST MODERNISM

Reaction to these rules

Only rule is, there are no rules - society confused and lost with options - could be a positive, more choice.

Celebrate what might otherwise termed 'kitsch' - definition - excessively garish or sentimental art; usually considered in bad taste.

Mies Van deer roe and Philip Johnson seagram building, New york, 1957

An example of modernist architecture

Park hill flats, sheffield, 1960

'I am monument' idea

Post war housing, became a slum - and has failed like Pruitt

But can't be knocked down as its a listed building.

Urban splash - proposed re-generation of Park Hill

AT & T building - Post modernist

Philip Johnson

NYV 1982

Irregularity and unordered, greek like, old and new

Takes seriousness off modernism, more humour

James Stirling, Neue Straatsyulene - Post modernism

Old and new

Refferences other buildings

Attack on seriousness of building

THEORY

Lyotard:

'The post modern condition' 1979

Incredulity towards metanarratives - smaller narratives within a larger one. 

Result - crisis in confidence

We know now to follow over own mini narratives - eg - subcultures

Emergence of difference

Post Modernism Aesthetics

Bricolage - Mix and combine materials

Re-using images - Parody and irony

Roy Lichenstein 'This must be the place'

Pop artist - post modernist - Jokey, modern, futuristic architecture, sarcastic

High art / Low art

Begins to crumble

Las Vagas - Post modern City?

So many elements of other places in the world

'Copy of a copy of a copy' - Fight Club

Simulacra - imulacrum (plural: -cra), from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god;

Post modern Dystopia

Post modernism reacting

Loss of self order

Failure of progress

e.g Blade runner - post modern film - modern and old buildings in scenes

Andy warhol

'Everyone is famous for 15 minutes'

No longer 'genius artists'

In interviews never mentioned art

never claimed to be a leader

-Oxidation painting - metalic paint and urine

Utter attack on what is meant to be artistic

David shirley - Post modern art ' art lovers'

Piero Manzone 'Artists shit' 1961

SOME DEFINITIONS

SIMULCRA - Simulacrum (plural: -cra), from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had ...

POST MODERNISM - Postmodernism is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the rejection of objective truth and global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Postmodernism has influenced many cultural fields, including literary criticism, sociology, linguistics, architecture, visual arts, and music.

MODERNISM - 

• genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres
• modernity: the quality of being current or of the present; "a shopping mall would instill a spirit of modernity into this village"
• practices typical of contemporary life or thought

BRICOLAGE - Bricolage (pronounced /ˌbriːkɵˈlɑːʒ/ or /ˌbrɪkɵˈlɑːʒ/) is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts and literature, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by such a process.

METANARRATIVES - In critical theory, and particularly postmodernism, a metanarrative (from meta-narrative, sometimes also known as a master- or grand narrative) is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge.

'Advertising is the greatest form of artform of the 20th century'

Marshall Mcluhar

Inconclusion

Vague disputed term

Po-mo attitude of questioning conventions

Shift in though and theory investigations crisis in confidence

Space for new voices

The essay

So, here it is, essay thinking time.

We've been given 5 essay topics of think about using. I've been drawn to one focusing on advertising:

'Advertising doesn't sell things; all advertising does is change the way people think or feel' (Jeremy Bullmore). Evaluate this statement with reference to selected critical theories (past and present).

I feel this most appropriate to myself as I have a real interest in this topic, and a lecture we had focusing on this idea I found most interesting and useful regarding resources in relation to this essay topic. Also, a recent seminar looked at this topic, my vast array of note taking will help me a lot!

We have to make a critical evaluation of the statement at hand.

Seminar