Assignment One Research

Assignment One Research

I did research into each visual culture to see which my body of work would fit into. 

Modernism paved the way for  complete change in many aspects, like in literature, architecture, and in art. It is not based on one characteristic but covers a range of contributing ideas. Following the Second World War, there become a universal need for ‘healing’. People believed this could be achieve by a new outlook, this manifested in at first a change to the design of basic items like clothing. It induced a utopian feeling. This then moved into the art world. One aspect of modernism is nihilism, which rejects moral and religious doctrines. The beliefs that are born from the assumption of a higher power (Buchanan (2010)). Art is visibly different. Artists would experiment with new materials and techniques, in an aim to explore form. So basically a completely new tradition than anything before. Modernism promoted a new world view, one which was simple and uncomplicated, the perfect world, a utopia. 

Postmodernism is a controversial movement, which is hard to pin point a definition. It spanned around two decades from the 1970s up until the 1990s. Similar to Modernism, it changed art completely, but in this instance it was a force against the modest ideals. ‘Anything goes’ is a saying that comes to mind with postmodernism, there was a complete mix of ideas. One characteristic was the bringing together of ‘cultural hybrids’, this created unique artworks. It is known for bringing together high and low culture; Cindy Sherman is an artist who is known for doing this. Another is that it is often the complete lack of subject that makes the image work, banal works well in postmodernism. If Modernism is a utopia, postmodernism is a dystopia. The Guerrilla Girls are a group of feminist artists who are known for their postmodern activist work. They wear masks in public, so no one knows who they are. They combine images with humour and facts to form a work of art with meaning. This image (see fig. 1.) highlights the issues that female artists have experienced at the MET Museum. They have used facts and imagery to make their point clear. They are feminist artists who fall into the postmodern culture (Guerrilla Girls). Postmodernism become the norm for consumerism, this was its downfall. According to J. S. M. Willette, postmodernism would be more aptly named re-photography. As images are so plentiful, it has all been done before. Images are not about documenting reality. Willette goes on to say that postmodern artists “re-explore the past and revisit history” (Willette (2012)). This is part of the premise of my body of work. 

The poststructuralism movement came in response to the structuralism movement, it arose in the 1960s in France, it started as a movement in philosophy and literature. It began emerging in other art forms over time. It came together using the deconstructional ideas of Jacques Derrida, anthropological theories of Creuda Levi-Strauss, and the linguists from Ferdinand de Saussure. It declares that a code of principles, will allude to a meaning, they act together without any input from a world outside. 

Barthes started by discussing the origins of the word ‘image’, which is from imitari, meaning to imitate. According to Barthes, an image will contain three messages. He uses a Panzani advert to illustrate this. The first message takes its form as linguistic. This is basically the text that supports the image. This message takes two forms, connotational and denotational. Often what is signified can depend on the viewers interpretation and our culture. The second message is iconic. Which is to do with the signifiers, mainly what is photographed. The third message is to do with the relationship between the signifiers and what is signified. So the three messages are linguistically, a coded iconic and non-coded iconic message. 

Portraying reality in art can be difficult, but in photography it should be easy as the camera records what we see. But reality can be manipulated. It is easier especially with digital image, people use photo-manipulation all the time. Cameras document what they see but as soon as you edited them, are they still documenting reality? What about if you change the exposure slightly or the contrast, is it still technically reality? The tableau genre is a an example of what may seem like reality but infect is a staged scene. Yes technically, it is a record of what the camera saw, but the actual scene has been staged, so it is intact a staged reality. Photo-manipulation is often used in advertisement, images of models are edited so they look flawless. Their skin is edited to remove any imperfections, some even make the models look thinner, this is not showing reality. It is difficult sometimes in photography to see what is real, but this has been going on for a while. The series of images captured in 1917 by Polly Wright is known as the Cottingley Fairies. They feature both Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths. The images are so realistic, that people today even still believe them. This image (see fig. 2) features a young girl with what appears to be a fairy. People were convinced that these were real fairies, and it wasn’t until the 1980s that the photographers admitted they had faked the images using images of fairies cut out of a book. Whilst the images are what the camera saw, they are not depicting the a real scene of fairies. 

The global age has paved the way for a plethora of technological advancement which allows us to communicate and share globally. This is also important for sharing artwork. Art now has a global audience. The internet is the perfect platform for sharing photographs, there are many photo-sharing websites. Artists are now using this format to share and market their work. Whereas previously artist may exhibit in a gallery, now they now can exhibit online to a wider audience. It is not just artists who benefit but people in general become more aware and have become more culturally diverse. But the internet does come with a few disadvantages. It is so easy to copy an image online, so copyright infringements can and do become an issue. There are billions of images, possibly even trillions, how can your images stand out in that volume. Whilst work is accessible from almost everywhere in the world, the numbers can sometimes be against you.  

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Bibliography

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Brooks, A. (2002). Postfeminism: Feminism, Cultural Theory and Cultural Forms. London: Routledge, p. i. 

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Figures

Fig. 1. Guerrilla Girls. (1989) Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum? [Photograph – Online]. At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/guerrilla-girls-6858/who-are-guerrilla-girls (Accessed on 13th of August 2019).

Fig. 2. Wright, P. Elsie Wright and a Cottingley Fairy. [Photograph – Online]. At: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Fairies-of-Cottingley/ (Accessed 13th of August 2019).