Creative Industries & History

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2014-10-07T16:25:00.001-07:00

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2014-10-01T05:55:00.001-07:00

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Presentation Notes

2013-04-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

What The essay is About

I decided to base my essay and research on how female sexuality is performed in the hip-hop culture. I decided to especially focus on how it’s performed in the music videos.

Reason For choosing this topic

The reason I have chosen to base my research on this topic is due to the massive change in hip-hop culture over the past thirty years in terms of the way we women are presented. I have personally noticed that there’s an exceeding amount of music videos where the woman always seems to be almost naked or performing an erotic dance in order to please the male partner in the video. Even the music albums of some female hip-hop artists are heavily sexualised and in some cases, pornographic.

I decided to base my essay on Laura Mulvey’s quote from her essay on the male gaze.

What I Found out during my research

During my research, I came across a wealth of information but for this presentation, I will only focus on some of the important topics that came up.

1. Women have not always been identified as objects of sexual desire in hip-hop.

“In the 1980s, making it as a female rapper in those days was all about standing up to men and asserting the virtues of being a woman” (Selling Sex, 2005)

Depending on the concept of the music, women can be portrayed as objects of sexual and visual stimulation

“The easiest way for female rappers to gain recognition and acceptance in today’s Hip-hop scene is to trade on their sexuality” (Selling Sex, 2005)

Women can be considered a trophy, the prey or the weaker sex

“portrayal of...girls...is explored through hip-hop or music lyrics. Women are portrayed as hyper-sexual, their power restricted to attracting male attention, and young black men portrayed as predatory” (Maggie, 2009)

Feminism in Hip-hop

One of the main topics that I would have liked to go deeper into was feminism and feminity in hip-hop. The reason I wanted to explore this topic a bit more was because of an article I saw a while back about how the culture of hip-hop is fading.

Everyone’s idea of feminism is so different.

1:40 This next video explains how hip-hop brings to light the many issues in hip-hop music. She explains that the fact that women are eroticised shouldn’t be ignored.

This next video talks about the fact that being a woman in the hip-hop industry isn’t a big deal. That being seen rather than heard isn’t always a bad thing.

What is Feminity

There are so many different ideas as to what feminity is. But I did find a good video on YouTube by Judith Butler who explains that people aren’t open to stepping out of the “gender norm” Start at 4:32

Conclusion

I understand that hip-hop identifies women with sex for many reasons. For example, a woman’s performance of sexuality can portray an image of power and dominance but it can also portray an image of objectification.

Femininity in Hip-hop?

2013-04-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Research

I'm currently doing some extra research for my essay on how women are sexualised in hip-hop. At the moment, I have been very interested in how femininity is performed in the hip-hop culture. The reason for this interest was because an article I came across that spoke against femininity among male rappers:

"Here’s what Lord Jamar had to say about girly-man rappers:

“First of all, it’s not just jabs at Kanye West. It’s anybody promoting the feminization — of the Black man in hip-hop culture. Anybody that I see out there, rocking dresses and all of that type of sh*t, I might shoot a jab at." http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com/category/gay-rappers/

You can see from this short piece in the the article that feminism is something that's almost looked down upon. To be feminine is to be weak as most hip-hop male artists believe. I also came across another article that greatly intrigued me. It was about a young male rapper who dared to wear a dress to a TV interview. The rapper was also critizied for being a strong support of gay rights.

"ASAP Rocky says people in hip hop, who aren’t down with the gay program, are “small-minded” and “stupid”. That’s while the rapper credits himself, Jay Z and Kanye West for keeping true to Hip Hop culture — tights, skirt and all!

Here’s what the cross-dressing emcee ASAP Rocky told the NY Daily News:

“I came up in a world that was just crazy — and it was hectic and kind of radical at the same time.
For me, growing up in Harlem and then migrating down to SoHo and the lower East Side and chillin’ down there and making that my stomping ground. That was a big thing, because I’m from Harlem, and downtown is more artsy and also more open-minded. So I got the best of both worlds. It was like being on the streets and then being in school at the same time, and I tried to keep my hands in everything just so I wasn’t missing out on any fun."

http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com/asap-rocky-fights-for-gay-hip-hop/

I also found a video by a group of video bloggers who strongly believed that feminine clothing on a man has no place in the hip-hop culture.

This video is very opinionated in the way it discusses what should and shouldn't be portrayed in a hip-hop music video.

Hip Hop Lyrics Demeaning to Women?

2013-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Women in Hip Hop Lyrics

I found this brilliant video of an interview between singer, Drake and an interviewer known as Katie Courin. She asks Drake about the way hip-hop lyrics demean women and describe them. I thought that Drake's response was very interesting!

He defends the hip-hop lyrics by explaining that it's simply humour and mostly about "the way you say it".

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

I also found an article that discussed hip-hop lyrics and how they might not always be demeaning to women.

"Many hip hop artists do exploit women of color and many song lyrics objectify and disrespect women, negatively influencing young women.
But, I think it’s all about perspective. If one is focused, hip hop can have a positive impact on one’s behavior, and the poetry of hip hop can teach one about life. For example, Tupac Shakur and Nas are hip hop legends. Their song lyrics can have a positive impact on the lives of many young women of color. In “I can,” Nas encourages positive outcomes for young students. The song promotes self-confidence, optimistic thinking, and self-appreciation. In “Keep ya head up,” Tupac Shakur promotes valuing women, rather than exploiting them. “I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women? Do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women, time to heal our women, be real to our women.” Instead of trashing women, Tupac provides a message of hope to young women who are struggling" - http://ealert.mysistahs.org/features/about_hiphop.htm

The writer explained that the lyrics in hip-hop videos are not always demeaning to women and also gave a very good example of a music video. Here's a link to the video of Tupac's 'I Can'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi-MIKb_J1w

I also found this useful article that discussed sexualisation in the lyrics of music during the 60s. I thought that I might be useful if I should decided to research deeper into the meaning of lyrics in hip-hop songs.

"Since music videos didn’t really start to exist until MTV came out in the 1980s, sexualization in songs was basically wrapped up in the lyrics. Even in songs that have blessed the world with their very existence and are beloved by millions, sexualization shines through:

“Well she was just seventeen/And you know what I mean/And the way she looked was way beyond compare”
“I Saw Her Standing There”, The Beatles

“It was an itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polka dot bikini that she wore for the first time today”
“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, Brian Hyland

“(Why don’t you come out) with your red dress on
(Come out) Mmm, you look so fine
(Come out) Move it nice and easy
Girl, you make me lose my mind”
“Sherry”, The Four Seasons

“Some like ‘em fat, some like ‘em tall
Some like ‘em short, skinny legs and all
I like ‘em all, huh, I like ‘em proud”
“Mother Popcorn”, James Brown

There’s also the ongoing idea that women are owned by men, or should be:

“When I saw you walking down the street
I said that’s a kind of girl I’d like to meet
She’s so pretty, Lord she’s fine
I’m gonna make her mine, all mine”
“Hey! Baby”, Bruce Channel

(This song also encourages street harassment, a practice that is still looked upon as socially acceptable. Think about it: men driving by a group of women and honking? It happens a lot more than we realize).

I could go on to list a thousand more songs from the 1960s that objectify women, but I have a word count, and I think you get the picture. The fact of the matter is, if you’re looking at songs about women that came out in the ‘60s, you’re going to get a heck of a lot more that talk about how pretty a girl is than how smart or strong she is".

The Gaze

2013-03-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

The Gaze

It's been a while since I've posted anything but I've decided to go ahead and do some catch up! We spoke about The Gaze in a previous lecture. The Gaze is a theory that woman are objectified and purely presented to the male viewing audience for sexual and visual stimulation. I found lecture to be one of the most interesting lectures so far.

"While the ideas behind the concept were present in earlier uses of the gaze, the introduction of the term “the male gaze” can be traced back to Laura Mulvey and her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” which was published in 1975. In it, Mulvey states that in film women are typically the objects, rather than the possessors, of gaze because the control of the camera (and thus the gaze) comes from factors such as the as the assumption of heterosexual men as the default target audience for most film genres. While this was more true in the time it was written, when Hollywood protagonists were overwhelmingly male, the base concept of men as watchers and women as watched still applies today, despite the growing number of movies targeted toward women and that feature female protagonists" http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/faq-what-is-the-%E2%80%9Cmale-gaze%E2%80%9D/

I've done some very brief reading about a film maker and director known as Laura Mulvey. She wrote an essay on the male gaze and I was only able to find a few pieces of her essay for some reason. Here's a very interesting quote that I recently found:

"Woman displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of

erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfeld to Busby Berkeley, sheholds the look, plays to and signifies male desire. Mainstream film neatly combined

spectacie and narrative"

She explains that men have become the main target audience for film and women have almost become part of the props in cinema. I agree with her theory that women are objectified. I'm hoping to base my research on this theory for my essay.

(update)

After some thorough search, I found the original essay by Laura Mulvey titled, Visual Pleasures & Narrative Cinema.

Sexualisation of Women

2013-03-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

How Women Are Sexualised

I've decided to base my research essay on the way women are sexualised in the music industry! I've been reading many books about how women are objectified and viewed within the industry. Mostly, I've been watching documentaries and reading articles. Here are a few samples of my research so far.

This video was short documentary about how women are treated in the general music industry. I would like to focus my research on a more specific music genre. I think that R&B and Hip-hop are probably the most interesting routes for me to go down.

An interesting quote I heard in this video mentioned that "Brittany...is sending a message that is okay for women to be objected and submissive".

Another interesting resource I found was from the Guardian on-line. It was an article based on sexual content in the media.

One of the images used had this note beside:

The singer Rihanna has faced criticism from parents' groups for her music video in which she shoots someone who raped her. Photograph: Joe Stevens/Retna Ltd/Corbis

I could use specific artists in my essay as part of my analysis. However, I'd like to focus on the topic more than artists. I will use few named artists but probably not very recent ones.

Here's an interesting paragraph from the Guardian article about parents worry over sexual content in the media.

"Findings from a survey conducted for the Bailey review show that:

• Two-thirds of parents had come across clothes, toys, games, music videos or other products that they thought were inappropriate for the age group they were aimed at.

• 40% of parents said they had seen things in public places (shop window displays, advertising hoardings) that they felt were inappropriate for children to see because of their sexual content.

• 41% of parents said they had seen programmes or adverts on TV before 9pm that they felt were unsuitable or inappropriate for children because of their sexual content.

• Of those parents who had felt the need to complain about these issues but hadn't, over 60% said that they had not done so either because they didn't think anything would be done or they didn't know who to complain to.

• Around half of parents felt that celebrity culture, adult style clothes and music videos are encouraging children to act older than they are.

Bailey has previously said: "For us to let children be children, we need to let parents be parents. That means giving parents the support and encouragement they need to help their children understand and resist the harms they face.

"But it also means putting brakes on ever greater commercialisation and sexualisation facing children in modern society. Only then can we look to create a truly family friendly society that protects children."

including statistics in my essay may also come in handy in terms of proving factual information or supporting a statement from other sources.

Favourite Artists - iO Tillett Wright

2013-02-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Favourite Artists - iO Tillett Wright

I've been doing a lot of research into photography lately for my latest graphics projects. I came across an amazing talk via TED.com and discovered a photographer who believes in receiving equal rights for the LGBT community. Her photography is raw, natural and exactly the sort of style that I'm looking to create for my project.

You can see that majority of her photos are black and white. They're candid and beautiful in presentation. They also have an almost vintage feel to it.

Modernism & Postmodernism (1)

2013-01-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

What is Modernism

Today's lecture was based on modernism. For the next few lectures, we'll be discussing what modernism and postmodernism is.

There are three stages of modernism:

- Crisis in the representation of reality

- The Rise of abstraction

- Abandoning the aesthetics

We discussed each of these stages thoroughly and I also went ahead and researched into each stage for myself. From what I have gathered from this lecture, I understand that Modernism can be seen as a sort of development in design of all kinds. It is also argued that we might not be in a modernism stage, but rather, we are in a Post Modernist stage.

Crisis in the representation of reality:

"representation could be thought of as means of depicting or portraying of a subject, which relied upon the connection between the rendition and the original".

We discussed a great deal about how the representation of reality has changed in design. Photography has contributed greatly to the way society sees images. Before photography, artists were hired to paint an image of what they saw. If someone where to see that image/painting they only had the option of believe it for what it was. It could be argued that photography has drastically changed the way in which designers represent an image.

"In a similar manner, artists turned to photography as a means of documentation outside of the content of abstract, purely conceptual art and instead focused attention on the political and social climates connected to the image" http://www.andrewschroeder.net/2009/03/24/crisis-of-representation/

The rise of abstraction:

We spoke briefly about abstract art and how it may a new way in which designers view imagery. Abstract art could be a way of breaking out of a set of rules. Abstract art has only recently been accepted as an art form. Realism in art and design is something that will always be there but abstract art is almost like a rebellion against the traditional way of designing.

"Artists like Monet, Manet, Pissarro and others, bravely all helped break out of the classical tradition , allowing us to see that art could be more than we had come to accept. In their time these paintings were seen as revolutionary". http://www.arts-fine.co.uk/paintings-for-sale/abstract-realism.html

Here are some examples of modern abstract art.

"This abstract realism is a form of art that sits between realistic depiction of the world and a non representational abstraction. No longer are the two separate and opposed, but come together to strengthen each other and form an alloy. The artist who can make realistic images, but takes that skill and creates a more abstract painting that is greater than sum of them both"

Abandoning the aesthetic process:

This was a part of the lecture that I was especially interested in. The reason for this was due to the fact that I study graphic design. Graphic design can focus heavily on rules and specific styling. Despite the fact that we have some kind of artistic licence, we are still expected to follow an unspoken set of rules and formatting in order for our work to be considered.

Abandoning the Aesthetic process is a time in which artists dared to stop following a set of rules in order to make aesthetically pleasing art work. Modernism is basically about abandoning the rules.

"If the rules inherent in one tradition are abandoned or proscribed, another set of rules will replace it. Thus we find that the modernists, in breaking all the rules of harmonious composition, in turn generated a set of rigid rules that are simply the opposite of the rules they replaced, rules that guarantee that complex coherence is permanently denied."

I found this quote very candid in the way it explained that explains how no matter how badly artists try to diminish "the rules", we still manage to develop a new set of them.

My Favourite Creative Practitioners - Max and Eduard

2013-01-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

My Favourite Creative Practitioners

For the next few months, I'll be using this blog to talk about my favourite Graphic Designers and other artists.

Max & Eduard

Last year I've researched the history and orientation of the Helvetica typeface. Helvetica typeface is one of the youngest typefaces I've research so far. This means that it's quite modern. Here's some information that I've discovered about the Helvetica Typeface and the creators Max & Eduard. Although, they're not entirely graphic designers, I still love the fact that they have such a huge impact the design of type today.

"The original Helvetica was designed in Switzerland in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas type foundry (Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei). Haas was controlled by the type foundry Stempel, which was in turn controlled by Linotype."
The original name for Helvitica was actually Die Neue Haas Grotesk. It was closely based on a typeface knows as Schelter-Grotesk. The typeface was created to be something safe and basic. "This neutrality was paramount, and based on the idea that type itself should give no meaning"

Here's an image of what the Helvetica Typeface looks like:

Here's an image of how Max and Eduard's typeface is also used in today's modern businesses!

Modes of Analysis

2012-09-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

Analysis Elle Magazine

This week, I attended a lecture about Modes of Analysis. This year's lecture was definitely a lot different from what we were all used to last year. Last year, we were very focused on simple creative cultures and basic terminology. This year is certainly a lot more intense and requires a great deal of note taking in order for me to keep up! For this session, we were given a series of tasks to complete in our own time.

Undertake a Form and Content analysis of an object or image. You should detail this process in writing on your blog
I'm still not entirely sure I understand modes of analysis yet.
From what I have learnt from the lecture, content analysis consists of two things; Iconography and Iconology. So, with the knowledgeable that I have on Iconology and iconography, I will analyse this image of Gabourey Sidibe that I found on ELLE magazine a few years ago that caused quite a lot of controversy.
ELLE magazine is known for using A-list celebrities as part of their front cover art work and majority of the front covers they use are usually full length body images of the celebrity at the time. Here's an example of the sort of ELLE covers that I am talking about:

You can see that in most of the front covers, the images are full length body photos unlike the image of Gabourey Sidibe in her front cover.

From the way that the image is focused close up to Gabourey's face, you can see that the director, editor did not want the target audience to focus on her body. Also the way her shoulders have been covered up in comparison to the women in the covers below is quite a lot. Compared to the women in the image below, Gabourey's entire body has almost been cloaked over.

I found a very interesting article that commented on the skin colour change of Gabourey's face. It stated that "The 27-year-old is one of four celebrities to appear on four separate covers for its 25th anniversary issue. In the image Sidibe’s skin appears to be several shades lighter than her normal colour. The magazine said the four celebrities – Sidibé, actresses Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, and Lauren Conrad, the reality star – were chosen as examples of young women who were “changing the world”. ELLE has also been criticised because each of the other three cover girls are shown in full length photographs while Sidibe’s image is cropped at chest level.In a statement the magazine said that “nothing out of the ordinary” had been done to the photograph".

Make a list of genres that are evident in your discipline
I thought that this was quite an exciting task seeing as I don't know all that many areas of Graphic Design. It was a great opportunity for me to research a little bit and findnabout certain genres that I might be interested in for the future. Here's what I found

- Editorial Design
- Logo Design
- Branding
- Motion Graphics
- Animation
- Typography
- Web Design

This information below was taken from a website called Ezine Articles.
Basically it can be categorized into four distinct categories:
1. Image-based
2. Type-based
3. Image and type
4. Symbols, logos and logotypes

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5783204

Make a list of styles that you can identify in your discipline
This are the sorts of styles that I know about so far in Graphic Design. Some of what is listed below are gathered from the internet.

- Vintage/ Retro
- Swiss Style AKA International Style
- Urban Design
- Mainstream Arts

I also found this article about the trending styles within Graphic Design. I found this article very useful for personal use. http://www.creativebloq.com/top-20-graphic-design-trends-2012-1212327
Here are a few examples of what the article contains:

"Graphic Design Trends: Royal Mail Stamps by Marion Deuchars

With polished digital perfection everywhere, the raw, flawed product of the human hand is becoming increasingly appealing, especially in contrast to overly slick digital design that’s too clean and crisp to have a soul of its own. Starting in reaction to the homogenisation of type in emails, texts and tweets – where the personality of handwriting is stripped away – hand-written type adds a real sense of authenticity to a piece of design, as well as a whimsical edge"

Introduction To Year 2 Creative Cultures

2012-09-13T04:55:00.000-07:00

Introduction

This year, we'll be continuing with our study on Visual Cultures and the industry. I'm definitely looking forward to my future lectures. This year I hope to gain a wider range of knowledge in terms of creative practitioners and possibly learn a little bit more about signs and semiotics. This is mainly because I feel that these two areas of visual cultures last year greatly contributed to my understanding and confidence in my specialist pathway which is Graphic Design!

Last year, Visual cultures grew to be my favourite part of the course. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history and future of art and design and was hoping to learn something similar this year. Not to my surprise, we learnt something completely different this year. Learning something new can only ever be a good thing! We focused a great deal on Modes of Analysis. This is something I knew nothing about and was totally open to learning a bit more. In the next post, you'll find out what I learnt this week and my completed tasks from the lecture.

Teen Violence: Research Notes

2012-04-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Researching The Effect Of Media On Teenage Violence

"He's At Your Window!" (Semiotics: Image As Language)

2011-12-03T08:35:00.001-08:00

Deconstructing Another Music Video

The video I have chosen to breakdown and analyse is a music video by an artist known as Tyler The Creator. The song in the video is called "She". No, before you actually play the video, I would strongly advice that you read the lyrics also. This is because some of the lyrics relate strongly to most of the content in the video therefore, I will be analyse a few of them too. This is because signs may not always be visible, sometimes they're in the words that we say also. sometimes we need words in order for a visual sign to make sense. Here is a link to the song lyrics http://www.killerhiphop.com/tyler-the-creator-she-lyrics/

Scene 1

In this first scene, you can see a small group of young men playing what looks like a gambling game. This scene was based in what I believe is an upper middle class neighbourhood. So, the fact that they were able to clash what is usually related to ghetto living with an upper class neighbourhood already tells us that the rest of the video won't be "Airy Fairy". The game that they were playing may suggest that they could be in a gang. Also the durags that two of the boys are wearing may also suggest the same thing. This can be a symbolic and/or indexical sign. What they're playing and how they are dressed could send across the message that they may be gang members. The fact that the scene is in an upper class neighbourhood may send across a completely different message also because gangsters are mostly assumed to dwell in the ghetto. We, as a western society, may understand their fashion as something associated with gang activity and "ghetto behaviour" but someone on the eastern side of the world may not associate such dressing and activities with the ghetto.
Here are some important lyrics I heard that I believe also contains some semiotic signs, "...A sword sliced the air...rolled off the bed then shot back, pa-pa. Blood on the sheets, probably spilling from my gash". The line basically describes a gun fight between two men. This line from the song completely backs up what I mentioned earlier about how these three boys may be associated with gangs.

Scene 2

In this next scene, you can see a girl has moved in next door or opposite to where the boys are living. She is what is commonly known in the western world as "The Girl Next Door". This is an indexical sign. The girl next door usually represent an attractive girl that can't be touched. These sorts of storylines are usually associated with American culture and The Girl Next Door almost always indicates an up coming romance of some sort. You can see she's, in a way, "off limits" because her father is standing near by in some of the screen shots that I have taken. Here, in the first shot, you can see her father is watching her closely which shows that he is playing his part as the dominant and protective figure. This is a sign that I'm sure most people of all cultures would be able to understand.
In this next shot, you can see that he noticed her flirting with the boys and quickly exercises his role as the father figure by pulling her inside the house. Already, you can see that this scene is saturated with signs that show she is an "untouchable item".

Scene 3
In this part of the music video, you can see what I believe is an indexical sign. The girl next door now has a stalker (Tyler The Creator) and he has managed to sneak into her room while she's sleeping.

The fact that he has a mask on is an indexical sign. Most people associate masks with hidden identity. The man in the mask is clearly trying to hide his identity in the video which may cause the audience to assume that he is a criminal. The entire scene of Tyler in the girl's bedroom is more or less the same through out. He goes threw her private things and writes her a note on the mirror. This is usually the behaviour of a stalker. I believe the lyrics in the scene illustrate a lot more than the scene itself. Here are some quotes that I pulled out, "You’ll be down in earth quicker if you diss me tonight...I give two for us cause you’re the one that I want...But in the back of my top I'm writing songs about we, we as including I and yourself". This line from the song signifies that the character is dangerous as he is threatening to kill her if she doesn't cooperate with him. He also explains how much he likes the girl but comes across as obsessed and possessive as he explains that he has been writing songs about her and how much she is the only one that he wants. This is a straight forward scene from the song that I believe anyone will be able to understand even without the lyrics.

Scene 4

These two scenes are quite straight forward. You can see that the stalker is actually a normal teenager and is outside with his friends riding his bike, but in a hyper state. The Girl Next Door, however seems to be at ease and is calm whilst riding her bike with her friends.

She's still clueless and has no idea that there is a stalker following her. Both of these scenes are indexical. This is because you can clearly see that the stalker isn't in his right state of mind because he doesn't appear to be riding his bike in a straight line. However, the girl is calm and relaxed, as her her friends by her side who are all riding their bikes in a straight line. It's the behaviour in the characters that I believe are the semiotics in this scene. Anyone would be able to tell who are the good and bad characters between the two groups of teens by simply watching their actions. The lyrics in this scene are quite similar to that in the shot I analysed earlier. Here are the quotes that I pulled out, "One, two, you’re the girl that I want...Eight is the bullets if you say no after all this. And I just couldn't take it, you’re so motherfuckin’ gorgeous...I just wanna drag you’re lifeless body to the forest. And fornicate with it but that’s because I'm in love with you, cunt!"
You see that the character still maintains his stalker personality by threatening to kill her and rape her if she doesn't cooperate. Again, he describes his obsession with her by telling her how attractive he thinks she is and how she's the only one he wants.

Scene 5
Despite the fact that this scene will probably be more recognised among eastern culture, we're still able to understand what is going on in this scene. You see a man dressed in Asian attire hovering from the ground and singing these lyrics "The blinds wide open so he can see you in the dark when you’re sleepin’...Ain’t no man allowed in your bedroom, you’re sleeping alone in your bed. But check your window, he’s at your window!"
From what I can hear and see in the video, he is a symbolic figure. The way in which he is levitating from the ground and dressed differently from everyone else indicates that he is special and different. I believe that he is suppose to symbolise a guardian angel or some kind of protective spiritual being. Not many people will be able to understand this scene straight away if they are not familiar with other cultures and religions. However, the lyrics that he is singing whilst hovering above the ground, "He's at you're Window!", signify that he is trying to warn The Girl Next Door that someone is stalking her. Therefore, some may catch on and begin to understand the semiotics in this scene. This is why I mentioned before that words can also be a semiotic in some cases. I personally believe that this video was a very good example of how it works.

Advertisements in the music video
I just wanted to point out some of the advertisements that I noticed in the video. These are not really as symbolic as most of the other signs that I have pointed out. But looking at some of them, you can see how they have slyly fitted each advert into small scenes. Here are some shots that you may have noticed. Adidas, Ford Car, Supreme Clothing line.

Stupid Girls? (Semiotics: Image As Language) 23/11/11

2011-11-29T12:40:00.001-08:00

Semiotics: Image As Language

This lecture was spent looking at the music video, Stupid Girls by Pink. Stupid Girls won several awards due it's very-out-there approach to media, patriarchy, feminism and Body image. There are many scenes in the video that some may find offensive because they can be quite graphic in nature. I personally like the video because Pink chose to unmask issues which we as a society, tend to ignore or pretend isn't there. Despite the strong message in her video, she still manages to entertain her audience and add a chunk of humour to the music video.

Before I deconstruct the video and analyse it, I'm going to explain and discuss what Semiotics are. Semiotics are mainly based around signs and communicating through a symbols, icons, etc. This can be done in a variety of ways. The reason we chose to focus on Pink's music video is because of the way she presented several different images using each of the following semiotic approaches:

Iconic
Indexical
Symbolic

Now, I'm going breakdown the video slightly and discuss some of the key semiotic points that I noticed in the video.

Scene 1

Here, in this early scene during this video, you can see what is called a Symbolic and Iconic sign. Where the young girl is sitting, she has two heads floating above either side of her. This sort of image is usually associated with the good and bad side of the "spiritual realm" in a religion. Most Europeans associate such images with the Devil and God who are icons in the Christian faith. I believe Pink chose this image to do the scene in this way in order to illustrate how the girl must choose between what is right and wrong.

The reason why it was easy for me, or anyone else familiar with western culture, to recognise these images as the Devil and God is because we are familiar with the different ways each image was represented in the scene. For example, the angelic figure on the right was surrounded with clouds, white colour and softness which is usually what we as westerners relate to goodness, heaven and angels. The Devil however, was surrounded in fire, a deep red colour and her facial expression was harsh which is what we as a western society associate with evil, hell and demons.

In eastern cultures such as Asia, they may not recognise or understand such symbols as the Devil and God. For example, Buddhism does not believe in such things as hell or the devil. Rather, they believe in karma and suffering for a brief period for your sins. Therefore, when seeing an image of the devil in the scene above, they may not recognise or understand why we believe fire and the colour is so evil. A symbol or icon may come across looking the same physically but it will always be useless unless someone actually understand the meaning behind it.

Scene 2

I have included two captions from this scene because I spotted two separate semiotic points. In this first image, you can see the woman is flipping her hair. Flipping your hair is usually associated with being young, flirtatious and feminine. In some ways, flipping your hair can even be associated with sex. This is what I believe is called an indexical sign. I'm certain that this sort of action is not common worldwide because as I mentioned before, a sign is meaningless unless someone understands it. In places such as west Africa, flipping your hair is usually connected to childishness, restlessness and fidgety behaviour. I also noticed how the scene was set somewhere in the early 1950s where feminism was not very widespread and women were still taught to "behave lady like". In some parts of the world, there are still schools made especially for Girls Etiquette. I believe Pink purposely chose to use a 1950s set scene because this was a time close to the 1960s "freedom of women" era. In my opinion, she didn't over exaggerate the scene, she simply added humour to an action that we as Western society still practice today.

Here, in this image, you can see the same woman biting her nails just seconds after she flipped her hair. Biting your nails is usually a sign of bad habits and, in some cases, stupidity in girls. The fact that this part was included in the scene just seconds after she flipped her hair, illustrates how Pink wanted to show that despite all the "suffocated" flirty actions, this sort of behaviour is only practiced among girls of lower intellect. I believe this is an indexical sign that should be quite recognised in most places around the world. I would say that western countries connect it more to bad habits.

Scene 3

This is one of the most entertaining scenes of the entire video in my opinion. I say this because of the fact that she was able to clearly mock another music artist (50 Cent) without mentioning their name. In this scene, you can see that Pink is still in the video but she makes herself seem almost unimportant and to an extent, scarce. She does this by wearing a black hat to cover half of face and faces side ways to ensure that the camera is focusing on the male rapper rather than herself. In this short scene, there is an almost endless list of signs and symbols. I believe that the way in which she presents herself in this scene and purposely tries to make the male rapper look superior to her is known as indexical text. She's making it obvious how modern rap and hip hop music have exploited women in many ways. The way she dresses also represents that message.
Her tight tank top and leather shorts are usually associated with sex, prostitution and promiscuous behaviour. Also, the setting for the scene is quite dark and "mysterious" and I believe that they purposely chose to use a dark, street like setting for the scene as such places are usually related to gangs, urban music and ghetto estates. In a way, this can be considered as iconic text. But like I mentioned earlier, the setting just look like a normal dark street to someone who may not be familiar with western culture. They may not understand what the ghetto looks like in the western world as we may not understand or recognise what the ghetto looks like in the eastern world.

Scene 4
This is probably the most icon scene in the entire video. Pink is stood on a high platform, dressed formally and looking as if she could be a potential politician or president. Either way, she looks as though she is in high power. The the camera angle is pointed makes it seem as though we as an audience are below her, therefore illustrating that she in control and we are in a lesser position. I believe that this scene illustrates an iconic text and also an indexical text. The fact that she was stood on a high platform with was looks like the American flag behind her, is what I'm recognising as an iconic text. All the presidents of America have been considered an icon. Also the flag being represents America which I also believe is a iconic text. As I have mentioned previously, this scene may come across as meaningless to those who do not understand or recognise the american flag. Although, I'm sure that most people will understand the sort of message she's sending across in this scene because of the way she's dressed, her posture, facial expression and the way she clenches her fist as if to say that she is in control.

There are more scenes that I would really like analyse from the video, but you can see where I'm coming from when it I'm describing the semiotics in this video. There are messages in everything we see around us, especially media, art and design related areas. Please click on this link http://estherakinola.blogspot.com/2011/12/hes-at-your-window-signs-semiotics.html to read an analyse of another video that I selected.

Japanese Subculture! (Part 2 What Is Fashion) 02/11/2011

2011-11-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

Japanese Subculture

日本のサブカルチャー

Recently, we've been discussing a lot about culture, fashion and what is right or wrong in terms of art. Today, I read an article discussing Japanese subculture. It explained how their style and trend has developed over the years and the reasons behind it. The article was called 'Street Style and It's Meaning In Postwar Japan'.

What I found particularly interesting was the fact that they separated each group in a similar way that Britain does. We, as a culture, have a habit of separating specific groups into categories according to their taste in clothes, fashion and music. The article compares the similarities of subculture with that of Britain's and explains how though we are two completely different countries and in different continents, we still possess similar cultures to some extent. In the following I will be discussing the areas of the article I found the most interesting.

Youth Tribes (Zoku)
According to the article, Zoku is a word used to describe subculture in Japan. Because there is no clear definition or concept of the word 'Subculture', Japan has come to associate it with youth, music and media. Zoku is more or less a group of young people keeping up with the latest trends and fashion. As time progressed, new words were invented in order to label a new group of adolescents following a certain trend. For example, in the late 1950s a new group of Zoku emerged and these were motorbike gangs; the Kaminari-Zoku. This means the Thunder Tribe because of the loud noises coming from their motorbikes on the streets.They were thought to be groups of teenagers trying to imitate the British 'Rockers & Greasers'.
It's unknown whether or not they have the same view of teenage fashion as we do in Europe and America. From what I've read in the article, Zoku have been associated with crime and deviancy in the same way Britain portrays teenage culture. So, I'm unsure as to whether or not Japan recognise youth fashion as culture or just rebellion.I found this part of the article very interesting because it was something I knew I could relate as a young adult in today's modern world. Society fails to understand youth culture so instead they conjure up assumptions and conclusions instead of asking questions and attempting to understand.
I personally believe that media played a significant role when it came to the description of subculture in Japan.

Bosozoku (Anti Middle Class Style Of The Late 1970s)
I found this area of the article to be the most interesting due to the fact that it discusses teenage behaviour in relation to culture and fashion trends. It compares the way in which media portrays teenage culture in Japan and the way teenagers literally behave in their modern culture.
To illustrate Japanese adolescent behaviour, the article used a popular group in the 1970s known as the Bosozoku. These were a group of teenagers who were said to have descended from the earlier 1950s biker group known as the Kaminari Zoku which I mentioned earlier. The difference between the Bosozoku and the Kaminari Zoku is that the younger generation were more rebellious and less interested with fitting into society. These teenagers were a distinct group. They were easily spotted and identified due to their unique clothing. For example, they wore clothes that were given nicknames associated with frightening wear. These were clothes such as ToKkoFuku which meant 'The style of suicidal Kamikaze Party.' I'm assuming that the Bosozoku gang's intentions were to come across as frightening and intimidating. In comparison to today's modern cultural groups, there are still groups which try to protray themselves as intimidation and dangerous for a number of reason.

The Japanese Bosozoku were known to be high school drop outs who originally started off in normal gangs. These were to the teenagers who were normally associated with the more violent bike gangs. According the Globalist.Com, "Bosozoku bike members are much more carefree than violent. They are full of life, teenagers dedicated to the sublime intensity of youth. They are not the violent criminals that are portrayed in the Japanese media....". I liked this quote because, as I mentioned earlier, teenagers are portrayed as rebellious and troublesome according to the media. Therefore, despite the fact that this article is meant to come across as factual and evident, I believe that without actually going out there and getting involved in youth culture, one will always lack understanding about it.

Overall, these were the two areas of that I found the most interesting. This was mainly because groups within teenage culture fascinate me and it's something I can relate to.

What Is Fashion? (Part 1) 02/11/2011

2011-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

FASHION

As a group, we discussed what we believed fashion was and created a list among ourselves. Here is a short list of some of the key points that I felt stood out the most:

Fashion is an expression
it's culture
it's wearable art
it's liberating
it's expensive
some like it and others don't

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to what each person felt fashion was. When it came to actually discussing what we thought fashion wasn't, there was a dramatic shortage of answers. Here is a short list of what we thought fashion wasn't:

Fashion isn't the clothes we wear
Fashion isn't a necessity
Fashion is not our survival wear

This is something I would have never realised or thought about when discussing fashion. I found it fascinating how we all began discussing how fashion has changed and evolved over the years due to cultural acceptance, music and history.

We looked at a series of images that were supposed to be fashion related. Some of the images were of women wearing clothing that could transform into pieces of living room furniture. I personal thought to some extent, the outfits on show were fashionable but not exactly wearable fashion. To my knowledge, there are two different sorts of fashion; the fashion that appeals to a mass market and then there's the fashion that can only be admired but never worn. This brings me back to a point that I made during our discussion. I mentioned that fashion was "wearable art" because there are moments in the fashion industry where some pieces aren't intended to be worn but simply admired and displayed. For example, the image you see above is of a woman wearing a skirt that instantly turns into a table once she steps out of it. As I mentioned in one of the points, fashion is not survival wear. The clothing you see in the image above is not necessary wear. We don't need it to cover up or keep warm and unless our society and culture decides to change dramatically, I highly doubt it will ever appeal to the mass market as wearable fashion.

Culture was also a big issue when discussing what fashion was. We discussed how Britain is such a diverse country and how there are many different groups who express themselves through fashion in multiple ways. Our fashion depends on our financial state, our social peers, our geographical location and culture. I personal think that one might see a clear definition of the different fashion groups when looking at a younger generation of people. We also discussed how one may portray themselves, through fashion, as something that may not directly indicate the sort of personality they possess. For example, a girl dressed in dark coloured clothes with piercings all over face may not be as intimidating as she looks. This brings us back to the point I mentioned earlier about expressing yourself through fashion.

Our culture influences the way in which we dress in so many ways. For example, I dress in modest attire because that's how I was brought up. In my home, we were taught that women who wanted to get married to a respectable man should dress respectably. It's not something that I personally believe but because of my culture, that is how I dress. Where we come from, modesty is fashionable. The more you cover up, the better it looks. I believe that it's the same everywhere you go in terms of fashion.
Please Continue To Part 2 of What is Fashion? http://estherakinola.blogspot.com/2011/11/japanese-subculture-part-2-what-is.html

What is Graphic Design? (28/10/11)

2011-11-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

What is Graphics?

This session was spent looking at the history of Arts and discussing what we thought Graphic Design actually was. There were many different thoughts and opnions as to what Graphic Design intailed and what it was used for. Here are some of the key points that stood out to me the most:

Advertising
Marketing Material
Posters
CD Covers
Logos

Each one of these points were what people from other areas of creative practices thought graphic design was. From this session, we learnt that graphic design dates back many years ago and started purely from basic art. Graphic Design is a fairly young form of art due to the fact that in the early 1900s, art and design were not separated into any multiple categories. They were all simply combined into one and was called art.

We spent time looking at real definitions of graphics and one that stood out to me the most was a quote that read "…as an art form, graphic design is viewed only from an aesthetic perspective, without enough consideration of communication and social significance".
This got me thinking about people who are not so knowledgeable about Visual communication. The way in which others may see visual communication would definitley be different the the actual designer themselves.
We also discussed the quality of graphics when it comes to communication with the public.

Is the image still useful if it is not communicating in the way that it should be?
There were mixed opinions and answers to this question as many people felt that graphic design should be considered as an art, therefore if it not communicating well, it should still maintain it's quality. Others believed that graphic design is visual communication, therefore if it is not communicating a message, it's useless.

London 2012 Logo? (28/10/11)

2011-11-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

The London 2012

Recently, there has been much controversy surrounding the new London 2012 Olympics logo. I've spent some time browsing the internet in search of articles and creative reviews sites discussing the design of the latest 2012 logo. The article which caught my attention was the London Metro; the article was titled "The Blogosphere is Angry!" and also included the subheading "The internet has seen the 2012 logo and frankly, they don't like it".
The Article consisted of a short list of quotes from different social networks and blog sites. Each one expressed what they thought about the logo and, not to my surprise, those who genuinely liked the logo were a minority. "The London 2012 Logo looks like bad stone age art" - DFL; Twitter. From this quote, I can tell that some may think of the logo as old fashioned because of the eighties style edged shapes and the use of vibrant colours.

Here's an image of what the present logo looks like. In my opinion, the logo didn't come across as anything special or particularly interesting. Surprisingly, I am quite disappointed with the design this year as I am usually quite impressed with the Olympic campaign designs. In comparison with the earlier Olympics logos, this one looks too complex, busy and almost old fashioned. Once I looked closer at the logo, it reminded me of something from the early nineties which isn't exactly a good look for a modern event. Although I may have these opinions and many people may feel the same way as I do about the logo, I'm almost certain that after a few years or less, people will start to warm up to the design. Art that usually causes some sort of uproar eventually develops a supporting fan base because it go so much attention.
Here is a series of different versions of the 2012 logos. For one some reason, the logo comes in a variety of colours.

What is Photography? (08/10/11)

2011-10-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

What is Photography?

Here, I will be explaining in detail some of the notes that I have gathered during my lecture on photography.

Today was spent discussing what we believed photography was. Before diving into the question, we discussed what we thought were some of the ethical points behind photography and other areas of art. Here is a short list of some of the points I felt stood out the most during this discussion.

The health of the model (Anorexia, Bohemia etc)
Clothing and fashion (Fairtrade)
Copy writing
Airbrushing (what is beautiful)
Animals (use of animal products such as fur, leather etc)
Design Brands exploiting other countries
Photography - Paparazzi (no privacy)
Nude Images

This is just a short list of what was discussed about the ethics behind photography. There was a series of questions raised about the ethics of art in itself. What is allowed and what isn't? Are we crossing the boundaries in some areas? One of the main points that stood out to me was the marketing strategies used to sell certain products. Software such as Photoshop is used these days during post production to make, for example, a certain kind of makeup item seem more effective than it actually is. It also sparked the question whether the art of photography is actually being used for good or bad.

I have read two articles that both discuss the art and ethics behind photography. I believe that both articles have similar as well as different views of Photography which really captured my interest and provoked some ideas I had.

Sally Mann

Sally Man is a well known photographer in america (Virginia) and is mainly popular for her pieces centered around nudity and nature. After doing some personal research on Sally Mann, I have come to be a fan of her work. Some people/critics may think of her work as inappropriate or disturbing but from the article I've read about her, I have concluded that she is the sort of artist who is not afraid to shed light on unspoken areas and push certain boundaries.

One of Mann's latest interests have been capturing images of the dead. In the article she explains "...And with that came an almost prudish attitude to death. It used to be sex that was the unspeakable but now nobody wants to get old and nobody wants to die..." From that quote, I understood why she was so interested in taking photos of what people usually find horrifying and upsetting. In our modern society, nobody is interested in ageing or death because it has always reminded us that life doesn't last forever and for someone like Sally Mann to make an art of such a subject makes certain people feel uncomfortable. The article also discusses Mann's interest in her children and how she tries to make them a part of her artwork. This brings us back to the subject of the ethics behind photography and what is considered right and wrong. Sally Mann has never been shy of presenting her children's images as she believes in capturing the innocence of childhood. The fact that her children were naked in most of the images caused controversy as they were considered somewhat pornographic.

Mann reminds me of another photographer, Nan Golding, who also believed in capturing the innocence of childhood. Most of Golding's photography is centered around sexuality, lust, intimacy and gender so the fact that she included images of her godchildren naked came across as inappropriate. The question remained whether or not taking pictures of the naked children was art or just another part of her belief in capturing gender and sexuality which may have come across as inappropriate.

Overall, from the article I have read about Sally Mann, I have gathered that she is more interested in bringing to light what we as a society shy away from. She discusses race, gender and death and emphasises on those subjects through photography in order to get her message across.

Controversies - A legal and Ethical History of Photography

This is another article I read that basically explains and discusses the rights to photography and what is considered right or wrong. It is a press release for a photography exhibition that displays photos that have been considered to cause controversy in the past. From the article I have gathered a significant amount of information. What stood to me the most was the three case studies that deal with what is seen as right or wrong when practicing photography.

The first case study is about a photographer named Garry Gross. Garry gross was a popular advertising photographer who shot photos mainly for commercial use. In 1978, Gross took pictures of a young soon to be actress, Brooke, when she was just ten years of age. She posed nude in a bath tub with makeup on her face and body covered in oil.

After reading this article, what interested me the most was the fact that the images he took of the young girl was used in a pornography magazine, Playboy. After a few years, Brooke fought to prevent further use of her pictures as she felt that they were embarrassing. Unfortunately, she lost the case due to the fact that her mother had signed a contract giving Gross full rights to use the images as he chose. This brings us back to the ethics behind photography. Many would say that the images were innocent and no where near pornographic but I personally believe that Brooke's rights to privacy had not been respected or acknowledged. My question is If the images were just art and only for commercial use then for what reason would they need to be a part of any porn publication press?

I believe that because of Brooke's age at the time, she obviously had very little say in what she was comfortable doing. Because of the law behind binding contracts, no matter what Brooke's argument was, she would still lose because and agreement had been made. I still think that despite the fact that her mother had signed a contract, Brooke should still have been entitled to have her say because she was a child at the time. The rest of the case studies all had similar stories more or less but the Gross case study is what I felt stood out to me the most. It raised questions such as whether or not certain kind of photography can be inappropriate and cross boundaries, is the rights of the model always met, is the law actually helping in terms of the rights of the photographer and the model? These were all questions that I asked myself after reading the article.

Introductions (28/09/2011)

2011-09-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog and from this you'll find out a little bit about me.

My interests, opinions and so on.

"Potential; What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us".

I thoroughly believe this image represents me overall. A friend of mine had just come back from a session at the gym and looked exhausted and totally drained but still pumped up. Almost as if he wouldn't mind doing another weight lifting session. It was that day that I noticed he had been going to the gym almost everyday for some reason. I asked him what spurred him on in order to dedicate his entire week to vigorous exercise and he pointed at this poster stock to his wall.
It was a simple poster and for a second I didn't think much of it until I read the quote at the bottom and I was instantly inspired!
Just like the image, I come across as a quiet, shy person and not much of a threat but beneath the surface I have potential. At first, the image itself may come across as bland and simple but once I started relating it to my everyday life, it developed a deeper meaning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le3MDtf7ZGE&feature=related

This is a link to a video on YouTube that I found a while ago. It's a simple video that I believe brings together the basics of Graphic Design. I consider myself to be a spiritual person, therefore my aim when it comes to Graphic Design is to send across positive messages and information in a way people of all ages can understand and enjoy. The video basically speaks about the definition of love and uses words and pictures to do this. I also admire the fact that the person who created this video allowed the audio to speak the message but highlighted the important areas using typography and imagery. This video represents the sort of messages I would like to deliver as a Graphic Artist.

http://www.facebook.com/SamDavisCreative?sk=app_167969729896883

Samantha Davis is a fairly known Creative Director in all aspects of creative practices in London, but mainly works on photography. I recently discovered her three weeks ago when searching for creative ideas. Unfortunately, she has only just recently started promoting her business after 20 years so Facebook is where most of her portfolio is publicised. I love the fact that most of her work is simple but still manages to come across as classy and sophisticated. I personally enjoy looking at photography that doesn't have too much going on in one place.
On the left is one of her photography peices from her Facebook portfolio. It's simple but striking at the same time which is what drew me to Samantha Davis. She makes simplicity look beautiful.

http://www.lokationco.com/

Here's another link for Samantha Davis. She is currently developing a new website where she will be publishing her latest photography portfolios.

http://shiniquesmith.com/?p=475

Shinique Smith is one of the few female Contemporary Artists that inspired me to be more open minded and to just "Go with the flow". Like myself, Shinique is a spiritual person and believes that art can only be inspired by what lies around us which is why I'm always in awe of her contemporary art.

http://shiniquesmith.com/?p=94

Here is a link to one my favorite portfolios by her that I can only describe as quirky and modern. Her work is colorful, vibrant and she doesn't hold back on anything she chooses to create. Some critics have said that some of her pieces don't make sense but that in itself is what I believe makes her stand out. I hope to one day be as exciting and confident in my art as she is.

Session Task

Today's in session task was a basic introduction of modern art history and creative industry. We were all given the chance to share our opinions and views of certain areas of creative practices. From this lecture, I found out that no matter what area of creativity one specializes in, we are still connected in some way.
I understood this better when we were all separated into groups of 6 and were given approximately ten minutes to discuss what we believed our specialized areas were about. Surprisingly, all members of my group had similar answers. We all believed our subjects were inspiring, changing, communicating and constantly developing. Through the group task, I understood why one area of art can not always be independent of the other.
After a while, we all parted to explore the building in search for anything that looked like it had been designed; whether it was photographically, graphically, fashion or even interior. I realized that basically everything I looked at was the product of a designer which is something I wouldn't have thought about before.
Overall, from this first session I believe that I've developed a slightly better understanding of what if means to be creative and open minded.