Contextual Final

7/30/2019 Contextual Final

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CONTEXTUALSTUDIES

HAMISHBL

AIR


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CONTEXTUAL STUDIES

Contextual:

Relating to or determined by or in context contextual information.

Studies:

The devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge on an academicsubject, esp. by means of books.

So to me contextual studies means to learn about a specific subject(art, design and media) and expand my knowledge of the terminology,history and facts that surround it.

Contextualizing your work is very important. If you can show how one

piece of work reflects relevance to an event, statistic or other piece of workthen you are giving it a context.

In our first lesson we looked at thispicture by Diego Velasquez. In thepicture he is seen painting a largepainting, he did in fact paint thispainting.

Despite allowing the wordpainting to be sad a lot there is astory behind this image. Velazquezwas commissioned by King Philip IVof Spain to paint a family portrait.This was probably to be one of themost important commissions of hislife.

Instead of conventionallypainting what he was asked to doVelazquez decided to depict

himself painting the painting he was painting from a different view. It is atechnical picture that also includes the people in the foreground moving inthe moment in an almost snapshot like manner.

The painting is complex and enigmatic in its composure, it is almost anillusion in itself. Because of these factors this painting is one of the most

widely analyzed works of Western painting.


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There are so many ways of looking at and perceiving this painting, forexample there is a mirror reflecting an image of the King and Queen in thebackground, despite there clearly being no one in front of it.

It is speculated that Velazquez chose this bizarre angle because hewanted to document, portray and perhaps even preserve his artistic career

up to that moment.The self-portrait would have been hung in the royal palace amongstlavish objects and an assembly of royalty and courtiers.

MAPPING

Mapping:An operation that associates each element of a given set (the domain) with

one or more elements of a second set (the range).

When we looked at mapping in our lectures the first exercise that wedid was to observe a video by the Phaseone called sugar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODaeJFK8DGE

After we had watched the video we were asked what aspects of it were

mapped. There were a few elements of it that could be classified asmapping:There was a text conversation throughout in the middle of the screen thatmapped an argument over two people.The texts also have time stamps on each one which maps exactly whenthings happened.Also the video is of a journey through a city, it is sped up but you canpotentially map where the car is travelling.

Also, seeing as we watched it on YouTube you could argue that the timestamp and status bar at the bottom also map the video.

In the society that we live in today, maps and mapping systems are anessential part of day-to-day life. They help guide us through what isessentially a busy and hectic world.

The ability to map accurately is actually a fairly recent thing, if you goback 700 years in time and look at the Mappa Mundi, a famous medieval

depiction of the world that features Jerusalem in the center and has manykey points that are far more illustrative than factual. Seeing as the map has


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always been (and still is) in a town very near to me I went and had a look atit.

Maps are like milk; their information

is perishable, and it is wise to check the date Mark MonmonierThat famous quote by Mark Monmonier couldnt be more right, it is a cleverand unarguably correct analogy of maps.

To the left is an original London Underground map and to the right the 1933and current map. Harry Beck designed the new one; it was based on anelectrical circuit and shows how if something is designed with considerationand intellect using a clear and known system then it can be essentially

brilliant and timeless.

From an artistic

perspective the picture

is pretty interesting

and has many differentand interesting details.

As a map though

the Mappa Mundi is

pretty rubbish, nothing

is in the right place or

the right shape,

considering that is

supposedly depicting

the whole world it is a

fun attempt but if you

tried to navigate with it

you would end up

incredibly lost.


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The picture on the right is from the 1970s and is barely different fromthe one that youd see nowadays. The map became so famous that manyartistic interpretations of the map have been created since.

To the left is an interpretation ofthe tube map by David

Shrigley. To be honest the maplooks a bit like something atoddler could make with somespaghetti, but I guess that is thepoint.

Despite its chaotic naturethe map was chosen to be thecover image of the pocket tube

map in 2005.

ORDER & CHAOS

Chaos:

Complete disorder and confusion.

Order:

The arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each otheraccording to a particular sequence, pattern, or method.

Generally order and chaos are seen as almost complete opposites, butin an artistic sense I reckon you can often find elements of them both in

certain things. For example the Shrigley map looks completely chaotic buthe accurately used the lines from the map in an orderly way.

As an exercise we were asked to map a vision of Plymouthconsidering order and chaos. This could have been mapping of any sort, astatistical map, an aerial map or a simple observation. For my map I did anaerial view of Drakes Island, it was an orderly map.


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2 events + A series of causallyRelated events

No restrictivedefinition

Alison

The above image by Alison is on a placemat in my house. She

created a series of similarly themed images. This image has multiple

characters all looking in different places and there are also relevant

details in the background.

Simply put, narrative is the representation of an eventor a series of events Abbot 2008

The narrative of the image is represented in a clear manner, an

event which is happening (most likely at high speed). The narrative is

seemingly quite simply what meets the eye.


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PaulaScherdenitivelydemonstrateshoworderandchaoscanbemapped.ThepieceseenaboveisknownasTsunamiandittypographicallydepictsthesizeandrangeofthetsu-namithathitareassuchasSriLankaandIndonesiaintheIndianOceanbackin2006. Ithinkthattheworkcleverlyshowsyouthescaleandreachofthetsunamiaswellasafairlyaccurateaerialviewofthesurroundingareas.Allofhermapsarehandpaintedandsheclaimsherselfthattheyareabsolutely,onehundredpercentinaccurate. Ithinkthatinasenseyoucouldarguethateveryandanymapispartiallyinaccuratesimplyduetothefactthattheycannotportrayeverylastaccurateelementanddetailswillbemissedout. DespiteSchersayingthathermapsarenotatallaccurateIthinkthatinmanycases(suchastheoneabove)theycaptureaveryinformative,emotionalandrawfeeltothemthatcausestheviewertofeelanimmediateneedtolookintoitandrespond. Scheralsosaysthatshemakeshermapsinthechaoticmannerthatshedoesbecauseoftheoverloadofuselessinformationthatwearedealtnowadays. Eitherwayfromagraphicdesignpointofviewherworksareveryimpressiveandin-spiring.Theuseoftypographyasakeyvisualelementwhendonecorrectlyalwaysleavesaresoundingimpactontheviewer.


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SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND DE

SAUSSURE SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE SEMIOTICS AND FERDI-

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SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND

DE SAUSSURE SEMIOTICS AND FERDINAND DE SAUSS- URE SEMIOTICS

Semioticsisbasedonhowweperceivethings.Thesethingsareusuallyvisualofverbal.Semioticstalksabouthowwerelatecertainthingsandlinkthemtosomethingwithameaning.Soundsconfusingright? FerdinanddeSaussurestates,everythingisasignandthatlanguageisasystemofsigns.Moreimportantly,Saussurewasoneoftheykeytheoriststoinstigateandtalkaboutsemioticsandthewaythatitallworks. FerdinanddeSaussurewasaSwissbornlinguistic.Hewasbornin1857andwasisviewedasoneofthemostinuentialpeoplein20th-Centurylinguistics.Saussureanalysedmanydifferentelementsoflanguageandsemioticsandwelookedathismodelforthesign/signier/signigied.

Signier:anymaterialthingthatsignies,e.g.,wordsonapage,afacialexpression,animage.

Signied:theconceptthatasignierrefersto.

Sign:thesmallestunitofmeaning.Anythingthatcanbeusedtocommunicate(ortotellalie).

AccordingtoAmbroseandHarrisSemioticsisthestudyofsignsthatoffersanexpla-nationofhowpeopleextractmeaningfromwords,soundsandpictures.Anunderstandingofse-mioticshelpsadesignertoinstilworkwithreferencesthatenablethemtocommunicatemultiplelayersofinformationtoareader. Semioticscanbeaffectedbycultureandotherinuences,therecanalsobenumerousrelationshipsbetweenthesigniferandthesignied,agoodexampleofthiswouldbeanapple.Anappleisthesign,thewordisitselfisthesignierandthesigniedisafruit. Althoughanapplebeingafruitisthemostobviousansweritcouldalsosignifythebrand

AppleormaybetoareligiouspersonitcouldrepresentTemptationfromthestoryofAdamandEve.Thisisanexampleofhowculturaldifferencescanaffectthemeanings.


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InthewordsofReneMagritte:

THIS IS NOT A PIPE Renesmessageissimpleandcorrect.TheimageisfromRenesseriesTheTreacheryofImages.Inthispictureheiscommunicatingthefactthatitisnotapipethatyousee;itisjustanimageofapipethatrepresentsthepipe.Goodlucktryingtoputtobaccoinitandsmokeit.

Imagesandviewslikethisaredesignedtomaketheviewerquestiontheirreality.Hereisanotherexampleofthis:THESEARENOTWORDS.Initsownrightwhatyoujustreadformedwordsandthewordsyoureadformedwhatwassaid,butthewordsareactuallyjustformedofmarks,shapesandapicturethatmakesuptheinfromationthatyoujustdigested.


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Welookedatthisbox,whichbelongstothebrandQuakerOats,andwediscussedhowitslookandpackaginghelpstorepresentitsoverallmeaningandimage.

YoucouldlookattheboxandcometotheconclusionthatthecompanyrepresentsQuakers,whichisareligion.Thereligionrep-resentscommunitylivingandseesanessenceofgodineverydaylife,notinareligioushierarchy. YoucanseeanimageofwhataQuak-ermightwearonthefrontofthebox.So,Quakeroatsrepresentademi-godoftheoatmakingprocessandtheboxisacommunity

ofoatswithequalreligiousworth? Logically,theimageisrepresentingatraditionalfeel.Quakershavebeenknowntofarmandthinkecologically.Theimageoftherollinggoldeneldhelpstosupportthiswarmandtraditionalbrandfeelingthatquakeraretryingtoportray.

NARRATIVE SPACES

Thenarrativeofbrandingisinteresting.Acompanywillpayforbrandinginordertocreatanimageandfeelthatwillgenerallycausepeopletotrustandrecognizethebrand.De-pendingonwhatkindofcompanyitisthebrandwilladaptitself.

Aboveyouhavetwoverydifferentbrands;ontheleftisLylesGoldenSyrupandontherightBand&Olfusen.Bothofthesebrandscreateanarrativewiththeirimageandfeel.Import -antthingstopickuponarefontsandoveralldesignconsideration. Lylesisatraditionalfoodproductthathasbeenroundforgenerations,itisbestknownformakingonesimpleproductandisprobablytherstbrandyoudthinkifyouweretoldto

buygoldensyrup.Theirtraditionalimageismaintainedbytheirtraditionalbranding. Bang&Olufsenareanewcutting-edgetechnologycompanythatspecializesinaudioandvideo.TheirproductsarehighendandwouldtinperfectlyinyourcentralLondonpent-house.Thebrandingischicandstylishwithagoodamountofmoderndesignconsiderationandprinciplesthrownin.Thiscreatesaluxurybrandfeel.


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Anybrandcantrytochangeitsimage,butBang&Olufsencouldntconstructanarrativethatsaystheyaretraditionalandfamilyfocusedsimplybecausetheyhaventbeenaroundforlongenough,perhapswithenoughtimetheimagecanchange. Cleverbrandingincorporatesasmanypositivefactorsaspossible,andoftencaninvestalotofmoneyinhidingthenegativetruths. TakeCoca-Colaforinstance,theirbrandnarrativeisup-to-dateandfresh,everyoneknowsitisacompanyofthetimethatisworthahorrendousamountofmoney.Atthesame

timethecompanypursuesandclaimsitsrootsasakindfamilyfriendlybrandithasbeenaroundforalongtime,givingoffpositiveandrecognizablemessagesisprobablythebestthingthatacompanycanachievewithitsbranding.

Changingtheimageofabrandcanberiskybusiness.Youcanspendaverylongtimebuildingupanimageandclimbingtheladderofopinionsandthenoneslipupcancauseyoutocomecrashingdown.Societytendstoremembertheshockingbadthingsinlife,especiallywhentheyaffectthem.AgoodandrecentexampleofthiswouldbeTescoValueBeefBurg-ers.Anyonewith2braincellsknowsthatifyourfoodsaysTescovalueonititsnotexactlygoing

tocomewithaMichelinstar.Nonetheless,youexpectacertainlevelofquality,forexamplebeefburgersyoudimaginebeingattheleast,burgersmadeoutofbeef.Obviouslyconsumerswereinforashockwhentheyfoundoutthattheyhadbeenchompingseabiscuitsgrandchildren.TheTescoValuebrand(andgenerallyTesco)lostanymorselofrespectitmighthaveoncehad.Whenaneventlikethishappensitcallsforare-brandoftheseproductsseeingastheirimagewillbeassociatedwiththenegativeevents. Despitebeingabeautifulandclevertoolbrandingcanoftenbeviewedassomethingsomewhatofanegativeandforcefulpartofourconsumeristculture,withpricesalwaysontheupandaninvisiblepressureloomingabove

everyonetobuyuptodateitemsthereisalsoananti-brand-ingmovementuprising.TotherightisanantiApplebrand-ingadvertthatIthoughtwasamusing,IagreewithwhattheyaresayingbutunfortunatelyiNeeditanyway.


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IdaKarhadanexhibitionatthePlymouthmuseumandartgalleryjustuptheroadfromthecollege.Foronelessonwewentandhadalookatherphotographywork,theexhibitionwasentitledIdaKar:Bohemianphotographer. Inthe1960sKarplayedamajorroleincontributingtowardstheviewofphotographyasaneartandnotjustajournalisticlogofimagery.HerworkwastherstphotographyworktobedisplayedinamajorLondonartgallerythatoriginallyfocusedaroundneart. 50yearslaterandtheexhibitionstillliveson.WeweregiventherareandprivilegedopportunitytoseesomeoftheworkthatwouldhaveoriginallybeenhangedintheLondonex-hibition.AlotofherworkfocusedaroundtakingpicturesofotherartistsatintheirworkspacesuchastheimageofGeorgesBraque(picturedinthetopleft)aroundsomeofhisearlyFauvistpaintings. AmanwhoworkedforthegalleryalsotalkedtousaboutKarsexhibitionandalsoabouttheincrediblythrivingartsceneinSt.Ivesaroundthe1950-60s.Itsamazingandsome-timesgoesforgottenthatSt.IveswasamajorcontenderintheartworldforplacessuchasLondoninthatperiod.


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Wewatchedthe1932shortFrenchSci-lmcalledLeJettebyChrisMarker.Thelmrunsfor28minutesandislmedinblackandwhite.Watchingitwasaninterestingandconfusingexperience,mostpartsofitarecomposedofphotosinwhatcanonlybedescribedasastopmotioncrossedwithaslideshow.

ThelmissetinapostapocalypticParisandfeaturestime

travelasthemaintopic.Themaincharacter,whiletimetravellingandgoingplacesinhisbrainmeetsagirlthathehadfromhismemories.Theplotofthelminvolvesthemaincharacterbeingexperimentedonbyascientistandithimrevisitingachildhoodmemorywherehesawamandieonajetty.

Asthelmunfoldshemanagestoescapeintohismemorytochasethewomanofhisdreams,buthediesjustbeforehereachesher,atthispointherealizesthathishauntingmemoryofseeingsomeonediewasinfacthimwitnessinghisowndeath.

Thesubjectandplotcanbecriticallydissectedend-on-end.Themerefacthesawhimselfdiecreatesaviciouscirclingfractalofconfusingparadigmsandphilosophicaldebates.Inditdifculttofullyanalyze(inlessthan10,000words)whatallofthismeans,butbasically;welldoneChrisMarker,youdidgood. ThereasonthatthelminvolvedmostlyphotosandbarelyanymovingimagewasdowntothesimplefactthatMarkercouldnotaffordtorentacameraformorethananafternoon.Thelminspiredanotherlmin1995titled12Monkeys.Thefactthatthislmhashadaninuencethathaslastedgenerationsgoestoshowthatanyvisionaryonanybudgetcanstillformbrilliantartisticandconceptualcontent.InMarkerscasenancialrestrictionsfacilitatedthecreationofthelmsuniqueandeerieimpression.


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WalterBenjaminwasunfortunateenoughtobebornaGermanJewintheearly19thCentury.WalterBenjamin,althoughnotverywellknownduringhislifetime,isnowhighlyrec-ognizedasanimportantinuenceonWesternMarxism. WereadanarticletakenfromtheGuardiannewspapercalledMyhero:WalterBenja-minByElifShafak.AfterreadingthearticleweweretoldjotdownsomeoftheinformationthatwehadpickedupaboutWalterBenjaminfromthearticle.Onepartofthearticlethatreal-

lygotmyattentionwas:

Onedoesntreadhimtofeelbetter.Onereadshimtofeel.

Inhisuniversenothingisasitappearstobeandthereisavitalneedtogobeyondsurfaces

andconnectwithhumanity.

IthinkthattheabovesumsupShafaksviewofBenjaminratherwell.TheimpressionthatIgotfromthearticleisthatWalterBenjaminwassomethingofalonewarrior,aone-manintellectualarmywithanarrayofvariedweaponsandknowledge. ItdoesntatallsurprisemethatShafakviewsBenjaminasaheroandanidol.Itseemslikehewasgrosslyunderestimatedduringthetimethathewasaliveandhistrueintellectwasnotappreciated.Benjaminkilledhimselfin1940. Idsaythatitisquiteclearthathedidnotdrivehimselftothegroundandeventuallytoextinction,morethattheworldaroundhimpushedhimfartherandfartherawayuntilhehadnothinglefttodobuttoppleovertheedge.


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BIBLIOGRAPHYhttp://www.youtube.com/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/

Dunn,MaryMaples.WilliamPenn:PoliticsandConscience1967

http://art.t.gov.uk/projects/detail/1348/

Marker,Chris(1992).LaJete.NewYork:ZoneBooks.

Fetscher,Iring.MarxandMarxism.NewYork:HerderandHerder,1971.

http://www.dogpile.com/

https://www.google.co.uk/

MultipleAuthors.(2013).FerdinanddeSaussure.Available:http://en.wiki-pedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure.Lastaccessed2013.

http://www.wikpedia.org

ElifShafak.(2012).MyHero:WalterBenjamin.Available:http://www.guardian.co.uk/.Lastaccessed2013.

Kermode,Frank.EveryKindofIntelligence;Benjamin,NewYorkTimes.30July1978.

Freestone, Clare and Wright, Karen Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer (2011) NationalPortrait Gallery

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