Introducing the theme

What do you consider to be the issues of Gender and/or Identity in Contemporary Art and Illustration, and how do artists and illustrators investigate these?

I decided to investigate the theme of ‘Gender and Identity’ because I believe these are big issues and very relevant in society today. I believe that ‘Gender’ refers to being a male or a female, considering social, cultural and biological differences. The differences between male and female are usually encouraged from an early age although today we understand the term more broadly, looking at a range of identities which do not correspond to the established ideas of male and female.I understand that ‘Identity’ refers to who or what a person or thing is. I would usually look at the characteristics which determine who or what a person or thing is. Both females and males have obvious characteristics. Some people see identity as a social construction of the self, and I know the western world assumes that we have a true self, we possess an identity that become known to us, it’s expressed through forms of representation and its recognisable by ourselves and other people. There are definitely still gender stereotypes and women are seen to be more sensitive and men more dominant. Stereotypes are a big issue in society and I will discuss these and how artists investigate these throughout this essay. ‘Feminism’ is also a topic I plan to discuss throughout this essay, looking at political movements and social groups who share a common goal. They wish to achieve social, political and economic rights for women and I think it’s important that women establish equal opportunities, especially in education and employment. Some of my favourite pieces of art are based around the idea of gender, identity or feminism and I will definitely find it interesting researching and learning about how artists investigate these issues. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these topics in the recent lecture and I’m looking forward to developing my understanding through the essay.

Technology Lecture

GLOBALISATION
- Compression of the world through global connections and exchange of information
- Global cultural flows - world financial transactions happen 24 hours a day due to new technologies
- An information economy made possible by digital technologies such as the internet

THE INTERNET
- A decentralised networks of networks
- A digital universe
- An ocean of data
- Where information is networked and identities are constructed
- A social space where information is circulated - open and democratic as well as regulated (CCTV)
- An information economy is part of a new culture of exchanges

A new technological paradigm 1960s - 1980s
- Processing of raw material. The move from material production to information processing
- New information is generated based on combined and stored information
- New information gets embodied into services, goods and procedures
- Process is more important than the product - how the information is processed and applied

Manuel Castells, The information Age : Economy, Society and Culture
- Our societies are incredibly structured around the bipolar opposition of the net and the self (Castells, The rise of the Network society, 1996)
- The net. The network replaces the hierarchies as dominant form of social organisation
- The self. The practices of a person reaffirming their social identity and meaning in a shifting landscape - the networked universe

The digital Universe
- The world overflowing with information
- Expansion of human knowledge - a kind of cyber space of play and experimentation
- Cyberspace. A cognitive map. No fixed boundaries in space and time
- The cyber walker in the digital universe, creating mapping prints

Gender and Identity Lecture

Firstly, in partners we had to make a list of 10 characteristics - mine included fair, sensitive and gullible.

The western world assume that :
1. We have a true self
2. We possess an identity that can become known to us
3. Identity is expressed through forms of representation
4. Identity is recognizable by ourselves and by other people

Social construction of identity is about meaning making processes : narratives or ideologies about who we are and what we become. I believe it is social. Often, its not fixed or a natural state of being. Its always in a process of becoming. Identities are often created by institutions eg education.

Cultural identify is a shifting set of subject positions based on differences and then we are identifies through these positions. However, these identifications are always changing across time and space.

Examples of consciousness raising feminist art :
1. Project woman house, LA, 1972
2. The Dinner party, Judy Chicago, 1974-1979
3. Guerrilla girls

"Why has there been no great women artists?"
Is a 1971 essay by American art historian, Linda Lochlin
It is considered a pioneering essay for both feminist art history and feminist history

Linda Lochlin argued that no women have achieved artistic greatness like De Vinci and Michael Angelo. This could be due to education restrictions on women or the fact that history has hidden female artists due to social and political conditions in society at the time.

In contrast, the Guerrilla girls looked at the advantages of being a female artist - how they are positioned in relation to what they are not.

Contemporary art explores the ways in which the social construction of identity often clashes with the identities formed out of lived experiences. These can be both positive and negative experiences - instances where we identify and instances where we are identified. I could not use this to fuel my practice.

PROJECT WOMAN HOUSE
- Women only art installation and performance organised by Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro
- Chicago, Shapiro, their students and other female artists from the local community participated
- Students were encouraged to use consciousness raising techniques to generate the content of the exhibition
- Exclusively women

THE DINNER PARTY
- Second feminist project
- Used traditional craft techniques including pottery, patchwork and embroidery
- The artwork was collectively produced
- Place settings, entry banners caused huge amount of controversy. The museum wanted to buy the piece

GUERRILLA GIRLS
- Feminist activist artist
- Over 55 people have been members over the years and decades
- Focus on issues and away from who we might be
- Wear Gorilla masks in public, using humour and visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture
- Undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked and the unfair
- Believe that feminism should fight discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders

I am thinking of doing the Gender and Identity question for the essay. Over the next few weeks I will be doing more research into the above examples and I will also be developing the ideas of identity, gender, lived experiences, stigmas, social norms, patriarchy and biological essentialism.

Concepts and Narratives Lecture

During this CPiC lecture we looked at different ways of showing movement and notion.

I mostly show movement through lense blur, brush strokes, shadows, light manipulation and the boomerang app.

We looked at different examples including
- Citizen Kane, Dir. Orson Welles, 1941
- Cinema, rolls of film, a series of static images which run together
- Captain America, Jack Kirby
- Gone with the wind, 1939, Richard Flemming
- Storyboards for Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock

I thought Psycho was the best example and the most interesting one, as we know the knife never actually touches the skin - its an illustration.

I then compared the differences between 'sequence' and 'narrative'

Sequence :
- One image leads to the next
- There is a flowing logic to the build up of information
- The reader doesn't have to do 'extra work' to 'join the dots'
- This can only happen when there is a clarity that demands little of the reader.. the reader isn't a 'meaning maker'

Narrative :
- Similar to sequence but I think it is a better way of explaining what is required in my essay
- The story is built up of a process - the story of testing out an idea

Works in a series :
I may have a series of key examples, part of a collection that I tie with the ideas that I work with. These can be considered as a series. This could be a problem because the work may be interesting, but not give all the information. Instead, only by drawing these numerous works together can an idea be fully demonstrated and explored.

Juxtaposition :
Took a series of photographs and brought individual images together. (Bernd and Hilla Becher Gas holders 2004)
Idris Khan. I like how the images look like their in motion as they were put on top of one another, giving a whirling affect.

Moments outside the frame :
Johannes Vermer, Young women with a water pitcher, 1962.
I found that the most interesting part isn't on the painting, looking beyond the picture frame, something else has caught her attention.
Edgar Degas, Ballet rehersal, Gouache and Pastel, 1875.
Some of the people were initially cut off and silhouettes were often included within his work. This would never have happened before photography was invented. Its more realistic, showing half a person.

Tvzetan Todorov suggests that the following key points are useful to remember :

EQUILIBRIUM - introduce characters, the setting and the general thrust of the storyline
DISTRUPTION - the balance established initially should be upset in some way
RESOLUTION - the problem is solved, addressed or equilibrium is restored.

Drawing Transformations - Visual Explorations

I have been working on another project alongside the ‘Colliding information’ project and I decided to link the two together because I feel like my ideas related to both projects.  It’s called ‘Drawing transformations – visual explorations’. My definition of the word ‘drawing’ has definitely changed over the past few weeks and I find it really interesting to see how my approach to drawing has changed in the space of just a few months.

My definition of ‘drawing’ at the start of Project 2A (January 2017) - I would define a drawing as a piece of work produced with pencils, pens or crayons rather than paint.  I would expect a drawing to include a range of tone and be on a flat surface such as paper.

My definition of ‘drawing’ now (March 2017) – I would define drawing as a way of an individual expressing their creativity, thoughts and ideas through a range of media such as pens, pencils and paint as well as other 3D materials such as sticks and tape. Drawing is a way of expressing yourself and often shows how an individual is feeling at a certain time, through mark making etc.

Through the ‘visual explorations’ workshop sessions, I have developed a body of work which extends my understanding of my own drawing practice. I used this as an opportunity to explore the media, contexts and applications of how I used and will use drawing in my practice. I tried to think about drawing in its widest possible sense. I tried to think about drawing as a ‘tool’ for visual thinking and research, presentation, plotting and documenting. I tried to explore how I extended my understanding of drawing into the media, by using new techniques and mark making tools. I also looked at drawing more conceptually – as a way of thinking about the relationship between drawing and ideas. The workshops and other related sessions have really supported me during this project, as well as regular critiques and tutorials with my friends and tutors.

During the first ‘Wednesday workshop’ I produced a series of drawings which showed transformation, after thinking about my values and usual conventions whilst drawing. I thought about what I would do to transform my approach to drawing.

The next workshop forced me to think about transforming my purpose of drawing, transforming my method whilst drawing as well as transforming the style and values of my drawings. I then went on to take photographs, experimenting with different features on the camera (focus – blur) and thought about how I could use the interesting shapes in the project.

I took photographs of some landscapes around Leeds and produced a number of drawings using a range of media. These included a quick observational drawing, a drawing using a pencil and an eraser, a drawing using graphite, a drawing using sharpie pens, a drawing using a ruler, a drawing using tape, a drawing using ink with the natural drawing tools I made, a drawing using acrylic and crackle glaze, a drawing using mixed media and a paper cut out, thinking about positive/negative colours.

Annotated References

“A blind man can make art but a blind man can’t see art”.

LeWitt, S.

Published in 2007 by Art Monthly and Ridinghouse

Edited by P Bickers and A Wilson

Talking Art : Interviews with artists since 1976

Page 418

Line 17-18

London, United Kingdom

"Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple".

LeWitt, S.

Published in 1969

Edited by A Alberro and B Stimson

Conceptual art : A critical anthology

Page 13

Line 4-7

United States of America

https://monoskop.org/images/3/3d/LeWitt_Sol_1967_1999_

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you”.

Pollock, J.

Published in August 1950

Edited by M Gayford and K Wright

The Grove Book of Art Writing

Page 546

United States of America

“For me, rhythms and things that repeat are comforting”.

Creed, M.

Published in December 2014

Interviewed by C Scott 

In Your Face : Interview

1 minute, 10 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY3L0cNqDiw

Books

I found one of my ‘Sol LeWitt’ quotes in a book called ‘Talking art’. I feel like books a very reliable sources, which is why they are used in schools and universities all across the world. Books used in schools contain authoritative information and this can include comprehensive amounts of research, data, overviews and experts views. I find books interesting as I can find very thorough overviews of relevant topics. I really enjoy researching artists and I feel like books are useful when I require background information / research on a certain topic, when I want to add depth to my research or when I want to put a certain topic into context. In this case, I was able to take part in an in-depth research on relevant artists such as Sol LeWitt, Martin Creed and Jackson Pollock. I think the obvious advantage of this source is that they’re accessible and portable. I didn’t require a computer or any electrical information to read the book and I actually read the relevant section in the studio. Books are easy to ‘dip in and out’ of, and can be read anywhere. I feel like books are more reliable than websites because they are obviously well researched. They have been produced by publishers, therefore they’re more trustworthy as they have been through the process of selection, editing and proof reading. On the other hand, I may find it challenging so trust a source from a book because it can sometimes take years to write and publish them, therefore they are not always the best source for current topics. Artists produce work fairly quickly and art may become ‘out of date’ or ‘not relevant’ in society anymore, by the time another book is published. In the University library there were 6 or 7 copies of the ‘Talking art book,’ publishers will print a certain number of copies of a book and the material won’t be updated until a new edition is brought out and this could be several years later or not at all. It might also be a challenge to use a book for research because the Author may be biased towards a certain topic. I would find it hard to research a topic if the author’s views contradicted my views. Luckily for me, P Bickers and A Wilson weren’t biased and I found the text extremely interesting.

Websites

The other 3 of my 4 quotes were found online. I also find most online sources reliable and interesting, especially as websites can be updated very regularly and they provide up to date news and information about current events, trends and controversial topics. They also provide reliable statistics, interviews, newspaper articles, research reports and many other types of resources. Throughout this assignment task, I read many interviews with artists and I watched a few YouTube interviews. I enjoyed watching the Martin Creed interviews online, and I feel like these were the most reliable source because the editor couldn’t change what Martin Creed was saying although they are able to cut large chunks out and ask biased questions. Luckily, this didn’t happen. Search engines allow us to retrieve a large amount of information within a few seconds and I find it extremely useful how they are ranked in order, according to their relevance. I find it interesting how the most popular sites show first, saving lots of time because selecting which information is useful and which isn’t, can be time consuming. However, I find websites a challenging source as they can be updated by anyone and anybody can publish anything on the internet. Wikipedia is a prime example of this and I actually found one of my quotes by Jackson Pollock on Wikipedia, which is why this one was the most challenging for me. I believe that websites such as Wikipedia could be compared to a game of Chinese whispers, with a small amount of information getting changed slightly each time but overtime the source wouldn’t be accurate at all. I have also found that website information is sometimes outdated, biased or inaccurate information. When searching for my quotes, I tried to find up to date quotes because I would expect these to be most relevant to society today as well as my art practice. Often, books are provided in a digital format and they are easy to search or download but still many resources are still only available on paper. I would also find websites challenging sources because plagiarism and copyright issues are also a major problem with this source. I would suspect this is because it’s so easy to just ‘copy and paste’ large amounts of information.

My 4 Quotations

“A blind man can make art but a blind man can’t see art”.


I strongly believe that art is not what you see but what you make others see. This is important to me and I find it interesting when I produce one piece of work but people interpret it in a different way to how I intended. An example of this could be in the studio, I often produce a piece of work with one intention in mind, but my teachers and peers often see it from a different perspective which helps me to develop my ideas and not be so narrow minded. I especially like this quote because I believe that nearly every single person in the world can produce art, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, religion or disability. Everybody has an imagination but some may find it hard to express or apply their ideas through art. This could be through paintings, drawings, sculptures, performances or photographs. Personally, I like to produce work that simply ‘looks good’ and is often made up using geometric shapes and is quite linear, clean and sometimes there is no obvious narrative. I could imagine that the artwork of a blind person wouldn’t be as structured as mine but I would appreciate it due to the emotional power it would probably have on the audience. Colour is very important to me and I often associate different colours with different feelings and emotions. In the studio, when I’m struggling to ‘make work’ or come up with ideas I just like experiment with colour and make spontaneous development pieces. Then, I feel more confident and positive about the project or task set. Just ‘doing things’ helps me sometimes, even if it is simple and solid, it’s like a walking stick or a hand rail. Something to hold onto in an ever changing world. I would imagine that a blind person wouldn’t engage with colour in the same way as me, so perhaps the artist’s emotions would become clear through the texture or how the material was applied. Unlike my work, I would expect it to have a texture and be capable of being touched. Throughout the second semester I will experiment with the idea of my work becoming more ‘tangible’ because I think my visual wall structures could become more substantial and striking if they were perceptible by touch.

“Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself”.

I liked this quote because the words ‘successful’ and ‘simple’ stood out to me. Before I started University I never would have associated these two words because at school we were encouraged to impress our teachers by researching as many artists as we could, experiment with as much media as we could and develop as many ideas as we could. My final pieces appeared to have no real focus and I found that the end result often looked too hectic and unorganised. I think it’s important to see a thought process throughout a project, which is why I always try to make sure that my sketchbooks show a journey or a smooth transition between ideas. Then, I surprised myself as I have become more selective and have started to narrow my ideas down more efficiently. I do a lot of work during activities I participate in throughout the day and then my mind seems to reject / select certain ideas. Some ideas seem interesting at the time but they end up not being effective. I’ve learnt that the simplest of ideas produce the most affective outcomes. Some people like ‘simple art’ whilst others don’t. From discussions in the studio, I feel like some people really overthink a piece, making it quite hard to understand. Sometimes, you can’t even pin it down but that’s like love or like magic.  It would be unrealistic for people to expect you to love somebody you didn’t even like. I don’t expect everybody to understand or like my work but it’s always good when people like it. At university I have become very interested in looking at abstract and the geometric form, often influencing other ideas but I didn’t want to get into the backwaters of philosophy. That wasn’t me and now I mainly like to focus on conceptualists and minimalism. Minimalist artists often rely on industrial materials which is why I like to work with paint or tape, directly onto wood or canvas. Some materials are vulnerable and demonstrate their own vulnerability to decay or become destroyed, which links in well with my current ‘crash sites’ project in the studio. Like my wall structures using tape, I feel like Sol Lewitt’s conceptual pieces were seen to be quite ‘basic’ which isn’t a bad thing because a piece of work no longer requires to have an actual material presence in order to be considered ‘art.’

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't meant it as a compliment, but it was. It was a fine compliment. Only he didn't know it”.

I like this quote because it states a fact. “Abstract painting is abstract” almost makes me question myself. Is abstract painting really abstract? When somebody mentions ‘abstract art’ I automatically think of a piece of work with no physical existence or no obvious narrative. It’s art which doesn’t represent external reality but seeks to achieve the same effect by using different lines, shapes, colours and sometimes textures. I’ve noticed that often pieces or lines have been extracted or removed. Jackson Pollock’s work could be a prime example of this and although I don’t like to separate line from colour, I really like the idea of detaching the two as it’s a different way of describing pictorial space. ‘Confronts’ is the main word which stands out to me. I would assume that ‘confronting’ meant a group of people coming face to face with one another with argumentative intent.I initially thought of other words such as resist, tackle and challenge. I understand why some may find it hard to understand abstract art, therefore I have really tried to challenge the view of “My five year old could do that” because I find it interesting that people express their creativity by creating visual experiences, which seem to be more ‘free’. I thought about a group of people facing up to one another to deal with a problem or difficulty. I thought about my work ‘confronting’ the viewers and I like the idea or allowing the viewer to decide what the artwork is about. I like the fact that my work can be interpreted in many different ways – you have to open up to your intuition. Personally, I think that Jackson Pollock’s work is quite hard to understand because there’s no obvious beginning or end. Knowing the artists thought process for creating a certain piece of work often adds a further layer or meaning and value to each of the viewer’s interpretations. I feel like Jackson Pollock’s work represents his touch and unsettled life as he was growing up. My arranged geometric shapes could represent structure and stability. I wouldn’t like my work to have a negative effect on the viewers, but I would like to ‘challenge’ their perspective to some extent. I have challenged myself in the studio by thinking mainly about the design and shapes, as well as the colour I’ve chosen to use. For my previous project I used black tape on a white wall but for my current ‘crash sites’ project I decided to go for ‘red’ because I associate this colour with blood, fire, danger and determination. An artist always has to be determined to produce a high quality piece of work.

“For me, rhythm and things that repeat are comforting”.

During this interview Martin Creed states that he tries to live his life in the world that he finds himself in. He says that “most of the time I don’t feel so good” and I find this very interesting, especially as repetition is so integral in his work. I decided to pick this quote because I also find rhythms and repetition comforting and that maybe the reason why I like to listen to music whilst producing artwork. He compares this to a fence which runs around the perimeter of a jungle – it helps you to enjoy looking without getting eaten by the lions inside.  This suggests that pattern and reputation makes him feel safe and secure but without it, he may feel vulnerable and insecure. You could also compare this to the rails at the side of a baby’s cot. It refers to a ‘safe place.’ A few months ago I would have just associated with ‘rhythm’ with sound and syllables in music but more recently, I have learnt that rhythm is also a regular movement of pattern and colour. When I’m producing work, I like to create patterns, a flow or a tempo within my wall structures because I enjoy making work which is aesthetically pleasing to the audience. Occasionally, I achieve this by erasing or stressing certain lines or shapes but most of the time I like to keep my work simple. I feel comfortable playing with precision and I often I do this by paying attention to vectors and co-ordinates - which often end up splintering into new pieces, new paintings, new compositions, new colours and new places. I feel comfortable producing work this way. I would say my paintings are slow and precise but at the same time, I would describe them as ‘open structures’. I think they’re ‘open structures’ in the sense of the meaning and the colour. I like the audience to interpret my work in whatever way they want to. There is no obvious narrative within my work and on the face of it, there’s no relation to reality what so ever.