Eroné

 

Eroné is a French Illustrator whose work centres on these elongated or unusually sized characters that she creates. Eroné goes beyond just illustrating he is also a member of Lille Collective Mercurocrom.  This is a group that collaborate on Mural, installation and design concepts. Eroné choose to focus on human movement, feelings and manners. In many of his works Eroné has taking atmosphere and texture in to great consideration by experiment with a lot of different mediums such as old paper, linocuts and wood. He has also used found object in his work.

Eroné. Illustration for the book Glasnostdead [mixed mediums] erone [online] Available at: http://erone.grphk.free.fr/dessin.html (accessed on 23 march 2011)

Eroné has this sketchy rough style combined with this mixture of experimental textures from different materials used and the way the work is composed give a delicate coarseness feel to his work.

 

 

sources: 

Eroné. Illustration for the book Glasnostdead [mixed mediums] erone [online] Available at: http://erone.grphk.free.fr/dessin.html (accessed on 23 march 2011)

 

Manco, T. Street Sketchbook( London: Thames and Hudson Limited, 2007)

Ben Templesmith

Ben Templesmith is an Austrian comic book artist. His most famous works have been 30 Days of Night and Fell. Templesmith uses pen, ink, acrylic paints, watercolours and Adobe Photoshop to create his work. Using these different mediums allows Templesmith to give his illustrations a frightening horror feel to them, for example his work wormwood (2006).

 

 

Templesmith, Ben. (2006) Wormwood Gentleman Corpse [pen, ink, acrylic paints, watercolours and Adobe Photoshop] Templesmith [online] available at: http://www.templesmith.com/faze3/ (accessed: 14 February 2011)

 

Templesmith use of mix mediums is what attracted me to his work. I find the mixtures of elements creates different focus points on each of his illustration such as the one above which gives the viewer several things to explore. I like how Templesmith has used the background image and brought it to the foreground to interact with the character he has created.

 

 

sources: 

Skinn, D. Comic Art Now (East Sussex: The Ilex press Limited, 2008)

Templesmith, Ben. (2006) Wormwood Gentleman Corpse [pen, ink, acrylic paints, watercolours and Adobe Photoshop] Templesmith [online] available at: http://www.templesmith.com/faze3/ (accessed: 14 February 2011)

‘Ben Templesmith’ (2011) Wikipedia. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Templesmith (accessed: 14 February 2011)

GERTRUDE HERMES

Gertrude Hermes is artist known for her works in sculpting, woodcuts, linocuts and drawings. Her drawing and woodcuts and lino cut are what she made along side her sculptors. She would draw from nature as a source of inspiration, normally showing images of animals, flowers, trees or landscapes. During the Second World War she used her drawing skill to obtain a job at the drawing offices for aircraft factories and shipyards. She had worked with only black and white for many years and after a long time she grew tired of the limited pallet of black and white and decided to experiment more with colour in her work. She made colour wood engravings and large linocuts that became the main focus of her exhibitions. She developed a career later in life as a teacher at art schools based in London

 

Gertrude Hermes 1932, Stag [lino cut] north house gallery [online] available at: http://www.northhousegallery.co.uk/image.asp?ImageID=133&exID=40 (Accessed on: February 10 2011)

Her has a lot of build up in contrast between the white and black areas its almost painful to look at the white outline around the deer when against the sudden black background. Looking at the linocut you can see all these small carefully details that shows Hermes’s skill when it came to her work. Personally I like the work as a whole and the part that really sticks out for me is the textures of the deer. It seem to have this fur like rendered quality to it. In the sense that the artist has made it look like that rather than it being accidental results of the art work process.

 

Sources: 

Gertrude Hermes 1932, Stag [lino cut] north house gallery [online] available at: http://www.northhousegallery.co.uk/image.asp?ImageID=133&exID=40 (Accessed on: February 10 2011)

 

North house gallery (2008) Gertrude Hermes. Available at: http://www.northhousegallery.co.uk/exhibitiondetail.asp?exID=40 (accessed : 10 February 2011)

 

http://collection.britishcouncil.org/collection/artist/5/17621 (no date) (Accessed: 10 February 2011)

 

 

 

 

Wangechi Mutu

Wangechi Mutu is an artist who was born in Kenyan.  her work mainly consist of sculptors  and collages.  she is widely influenced by the African female form and uses the form in her work.  She uses ink and drawing combined with images a from magazines  collage together to create these unique figures. she uses a number of ink techniques such as a scribing and spattering which gives her work a loose free flowing feel that allows the viewer to see the artist hand at work.

Mutu, W. (2004) Hide n’ Seek, Kill or Speak, [mixed medium] Art net [online] Available at:  http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424756505&gid=424756505&cid=109930&wid=424764004 (Accessed: 3rd April 2011)

her work has a chaotic feel with all the different patterns emerging from the collage parts and with the sporadic flowing of the ink drawn lines. 

Mutu, W. (2010) Kenya’s pride [mixed medium] African colours [online] Available at:  http://www.africancolours.com/african-art-editorials/633/international/the_defiant_ones:_africancolours_calls_for_a_rebalance_.htm 
(Accessed: 3rd April 2011)

her work explores the what it is to be female  in society and cultural identity. other works of her depicted the female form being disfigured and jumbled as if the forms parts were a jigsaw placed together incorrectly. this is can be seen as a  social comment on female mutilations that was occurring in parts of Africa due to wars. things like female castration, rape and  murder were happening widely as the certain areas became unstable with conflicts from different regions and political corruption.

In my opinion I like how she has approached the ideas behind her work starting with a basic concept of the female forms and then drawing from different medium to developed and eventually create a work of art. also I like how the work engages the viewer to try and understand how the fundamental elements, that make up the work,  connects to the context behind each art work.

Otieno, M. (2010) African Colours. Available at: http://www.africancolours.com/african-art-editorials/633/international/the_defiant_ones:_africancolours_calls_for_a_rebalance_.htm (Accessed: 3 April 2011)

miss wretched (2009) wordpress. Available at:http://mywretchedconsciousness.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/wangechi-mutu/ (Accessed: 3 April 2011)

Saatch Gallery (2011) Selected works by Wangechi Mutu. Available at:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/wangechi_mutu.htm (Accessed: 3 April 2011)

Mutu, W. (2010) Kenya’s pride [mixed medium] African colours [online] Available at:  http://www.africancolours.com/african-art-editorials/633/international/the_defiant_ones:_africancolours_calls_for_a_rebalance_.htm 
(Accessed: 3rd April 2011)

Mutu, W. (2004) Hide n’ Seek, Kill or Speak, [mixed medium] Art net [online] Available at:  http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424756505&gid=424756505&cid=109930&wid=424764004 (Accessed: 3rd April 2011)

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist and print maker during the Edo period in japan. His work helped to influence Japanese art and culture with his  15 volume manga books. These Volumes were filled with over 4000 sketches that Hokusai had worked on for many years. He had developed his drawing style with the emphasis of line over shape and form. This was commonly seen in Japanese art at the time and is still used in modern Japanese art works such as the manga comic books and traditional Japanese animation. 

Hokusai, K. (1814) Hokusai manga. [ink sketch] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hokusai-MangaBathingPeople.jpg (accessed 1 may 2011)

 

Hokusai, K. (1823-1829) The Great Wave off Kanagawa, [wood block print] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg (accessed 1 may 2011)

His most famous work belongs to his 36 view of mount Fuji, the most noticeable being The Great Wave off Kanagawa. A wood block print that most likely would have been done in stages for each colour and tone. This art work has been reproduced in several places around the world  in derivations such as 

Swords, D. (1998) The Great Wave of Kanagawa – in Camberwell, [mural] Available at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yersinia/192044619/  (Accessed 1 may 2011)

Teuwen, P. (2007)The Great Wave of San Francisco [ Digital manipulation ] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Wave_off_San_Francisco.jpg (Accessed 1 may 2011)

The Manga art is wide influential amongst Japanese culture. it is seen in their literature, film, fashion, decor, computer games and entertainment. more over as Japanese culture has open up to other society around the world due to modern telecommunication and travel. its begun to transfer to these cultures and begin to influence them and we are beginning to see indigenous mange styled art work being developed in the western world.

'Hokusai' (2011) Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai (accessed 1 may 2011)

katsushika hokusai (2011) available at: http://www.katsushikahokusai.org/ (accessed 1 may 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00KkjKgt7M&feature=related

Hokusai, K. (1814) Hokusai manga. [ink sketch] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hokusai-MangaBathingPeople.jpg (accessed 1 may 2011)

Hokusai, K. (1823-1829) The Great Wave off Kanagawa, [wood block print] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg (accessed 1 may 2011)

Swords, D. (1998) The Great Wave of Kanagawa – in Camberwell, [mural] Available at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yersinia/192044619/  (Accessed 1 may 2011)

Teuwen, P. (2007)The Great Wave of San Francisco [ Digital manipulation ] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Wave_off_San_Francisco.jpg (Accessed 1 may 2011)

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-manga.htm (no date) (Accessed 1 may 2011)

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is a photographer and film director. Her conceptual portraits are what she is more wide known for. Sherman takes photographs of herself in different looks. This would be with different clothes, makeup backgrounds and props. With changing her look to suit the photo she try to comment on social issues in society. Her untitled film still series depicts her taking on different looks from old films.

Cindy Sherman, (1981) Untitled Film Still, no. 92, [online]

Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1978) Untitled Film Still, no. 21, [online] Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html

 (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1980) Untitled Film Still, no. 66, [online] Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html

 (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

 Cindy Sherman  has also used maniquins to construct her art pieces shown below.

Cindy Sherman, (1992) Untitled 258, [online] Available at :http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/27198#ixzz1MzqEFY7Q
  (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman said in a interview “My ideas are not developed before I actually do the pieces. It's good that you see it in that way.”  

Sherman, C. (2000) interviewed by Lichtenstein, T. for the Journal of contemporary art. [online] Available at: http://www.jca-online.com/sherman.html (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

 

you can see this element in her work as it feels raw and undefined at times as thought she has begun making the art before deciding on what its meaning is going to be or the overall outcome. Her work is very much postmodern in many way as she classes her self as a film directors and photographer but she chose to take on more aspects of her work by being in the photo herself and doing her makeup and taking on other roles that go beyond the role of just a photographer. Again it’s the interpretations of her work that also fall into postmodernism is about the individual reaction to her work. There is this small ground to gage her work in your own interpretations.  

sourses: 

Sherman, C. (2000) interviewed by Lichtenstein, T. for the Journal of contemporary art. [online] Available at: http://www.jca-online.com/sherman.html (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

 

dipity (2010) dipty. Available at:http://www.dipity.com/timeline/Cindy-Sherman/ (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Sherman, C. (2011) Cindy Sherman. Available at: http://www.cindysherman.com/biography.shtml

(Accessed: 30 April 2011)

British Broadcasting Corporation, (2007) Genius of photography. Available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/sherman.shtml (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1992) Untitled 258, [online] Available at :http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/27198#ixzz1MzqEFY7Q
  (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1980) Untitled Film Still, no. 66, [online] Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html

 (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1978) Untitled Film Still, no. 21, [online] Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html

 (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

Cindy Sherman, (1981) Untitled Film Still, no. 92, [online]

Available at : http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/visualculture/media-slide17.html (Accessed: 30 April 2011)

 

Reboots, Remakes and Re-imagining

 so what are Reboots, Remakes and Re-imagining?

I will use  examples to try explain what they are. A few well known reboot movies are Ang lee's 'hulk' which was criticized for being convoluted, dull and humorless.

Producer Avi Arad (2004) called the film 'a financial flop/disaster at the box office, but declared that Hulk's merchandising was successful enough to make a sequel.'

Arad, A. (2004) 'An Interview with Avi Arad'. Interviewed by Ken. P for IGN, 10 February [online] available at: http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/491/491232p1.html (Accessed 13 April 2011)

This leads to a reboot of the film in it's squeal. The first 10 minutes are devoted to retelling the story of the first movie with a new cast and concept.  The reboot was created out of bad intakes at the box office, general criticism from movie reviewers and fans of the comic from which the film was derived.  another well know reboot is Christopher Nolands Batman begins,another comic book movie but taken with a more serious concept and a some what consciousness of what would be considered not too far  beyond reality. By this I mean Noland tried to keep it more reality based in terms on character and plot. where as the Tim Burton's versions of the batman movies have his unique stylized Gothic look and silliness about them.

Comparing the old and new Spider-man outfits (2011) Comparing the old and new Spider-man outfits [image] Available at: http://geekmythology.tumblr.com/post/2743559646/comparing-the-old-and-new-spider-man-outfits (Accessed 13 April 2011)

another reboot would be a new film called the amazing spider-man with is  reboot answer to the last installment of the spider-man franchise 'spider-man 3' which was financially a success and was paned by critics for being over the top, silly and having too many pointless plots and characters.  normally reboots would be done a while after the previous films have kinda been forgotten to a degree. however this reboot was done only a few years away from spider-man 3. this had many people asking the questions whats the point? and many people give different answers such as its money driven, it's because the writers of the original want to fix what went wrong before or its a way to continue the franchise etc.

Akira, (1988) Akira [poster]. Available at: http://collider.com/keanu-reeves-akira-2/91421/

(Accessed 13 April 2011)

To focus more on my interest in animation the film Akria is widely considered to be landmark film in-terms of quality of animation and style of animation. it influenced Japanese animation form that point onwards  well made animated movies. It was animated by Takashi Nakamura, Yoshio Takeuchi and Hiroaki Sato. I heard that they were going to do a live action remake which in my opinion it shouldn't happen as its just one of those films best left alone. but remakes get made some are good some are bad and some are just pointless. this would basically be an attempt to try and fit the 6 manga comic volumes which was condensed down into a 2 hour animated movie and now "Hollywood"  wants to take the animated movie and make a plaster patch live action mess which would flop in cinemas like previous attempts, Street-fighter and Dragon Ball Z to name a few.


The Idea of  Re-imaging has been used in TV shows such as Battle-Star Galacticia AKA BSG the old series  was made in the 1978 with some success but eventually faded with time. Until 2004 when it we remade with a re-imagining concept. taking the ideas and them of the shows but creating a new interpretation of the story as a whole. This allowed the creators to take different spin on characters and to add a more serious and gritty tone to the story. 

Battlestar Galactica, (1978) Battlestar Galactica, [Poster]  Available at: http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html (Accessed 13 April 2011)

 Battlestar Galactica, (2004) Battlestar Galactica [poster] Available at: http://slouchingtowardsthatcham.com/2010/11/06/classic-tv-intros-5-battlestar-galactica/

(Accessed 13 April 2011)

'Battlestar Galactica' (2011) Wikipedia. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica (Accessed 13 April 2011)

'Akira' (2011) Wikipedia. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_%28film%29 (Accessed 13 April 2011)

'Batman Begins' (2011) Wikipedia. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Begins (Accessed 13 April 2011)

Vinevald, H. (2009) comic book movie. Available at: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Ohtori/news/?a=6950 (Accessed 13 April 2011)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~hwalther/anime.htm (no date) (Accessed 13 April 2011)

Arad, A. (2004) 'An Interview with Avi Arad'. Interviewed by Ken. P for IGN, 10 February [online] available at: http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/491/491232p1.html (Accessed 13 April 2011)

Akira, (1988) Akira [poster]. Available at: http://collider.com/keanu-reeves-akira-2/91421/

(Accessed 13 April 2011)

Battlestar Galactica, (2004) Battlestar Galactica [poster] Available at: http://slouchingtowardsthatcham.com/2010/11/06/classic-tv-intros-5-battlestar-galactica/

(Accessed 13 April 2011)

Battlestar Galactica, (1978) Battlestar Galactica, [Poster]  Available at: http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html (Accessed 13 April 2011)

Comparing the old and new Spider-man outfits (2011) Comparing the old and new Spider-man outfits [image] Available at: http://geekmythology.tumblr.com/post/2743559646/comparing-the-old-and-new-spider-man-outfits (Accessed 13 April 2011)

Identity Gender In console games

Recently I read an article on a popular gaming website that explored several characters that are widely known in the “gaming world” the article was titled Fake or Gay and was written by Jack DeVries who is an editor at www.IGN.com.   The article received mixed responses from the gaming community.  What the article explained was the underlining hints of homosexuality of game characters, the things that would suggest or be rumored about a game character but wasn’t fully confirmed.  Jack DeVries sought to find definitive facts that would confirm rumors or debunk misconceptions about game characters. This was done in a light humored way but not at all in an offensive way, if you bothered to read the article and choose to find out more about the person who wrote it.  

The article is on here for people to read:

DeVries, J. (2011)'Fake or Gay', IGN, 28 April [online] available at: http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1164533p1.html (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

So the article most interesting point is the character of Yoshi from the Super Mario games.

Sato, M 'Yoshi' [digital image] Nintendo Co., Ltd. [online] Available at: http://jcooltech.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=100383865(Accessed: 10 may 2011)

The Article explains that Yoshi has been dating another character called Birdo shown below.

Sato, M 'Birdo' [digital image] Nintendo Co., Ltd. [online] Available at:
Image of Birdo from: http://fantendo.wikia.com/wiki/Mario_Kart_Super_Speed (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

(1993) page from Super Mario Bro 2 manual,  [online]  Available at: http://gamingfreeks.com/?p=1764 (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

 

DeVries explain that in the first game the character appeared, the Manual for the game explained that Birdo was  a Male who believes that he is female. Transgendered is the technical term DeVries used to explain Birdo’s circumstances. The article was interesting in Gamer Nerd Value, by that I mean completely trivial to those who may have heard of the character and utter pointless by those who don’t even care about computer games at all.  But Sophie mentioned in the last lesson on how we could apply the subject of the blogs to an interest we have as long as it tied into out courses discourse in some way.  Sophie mentioned games and how the identity, gender and race are shown in this popular media.  So from this I was curious on how Sexuality and gender identity are shown in the gaming world.

with men and women. In the gaming world these simpler character deployments or paradigms of sexuality are harder to come by.  To see lesbian characters in games is more common and mainly I feel this is due to male interested over story and character development. For example The Game Fear Effect 2 hinted at its main characters ‘Hana Tsu Vachel and Rain Qin’ were in a lesbian relationship to the adverts before the games release shown below. Both characters were seen as strong independent females something seen in many other games such as Lara Croft in the Game Tomb Raider or Samus Aran in the game Metroid. But as far as Lesbian relationship went Fear Effect 2 was probably one of the first MORE popular games to hint as the main characters being in a lesbian relationship.

 Fear Effect 2 poster advert (2001) [online] available at: http://stopgame.ru/files/wallpapers/5659/fear_effect_2-8.jpg (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

 Fear Effect 2 poster advert (2001) [online] available at: http://www.gossipgamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/5538.jpg (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

You can see this as objectification or simply as true as any lesbian couples display of affection.  The point is that lesbians are more accepted openly in the gaming world compared to any other forms of homosexuality or gender identity.

A game called Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of liberty had a character called Vamp who was a villain in the story and if you played the game you would eventually fight him in a Boss Battle. When exploring some of the optional conversation in the game you can come across a conversation that your character has with another about Vamp where you eventually talk about vamps sexually orientation of being bisexual something that doesn’t get mentioned or explored beyond this point. I wouldn’t class this as much of an exploration of a characters sexual orientation but more of gossip and rumors between two characters in the game. You can say there is more to it but that’s solely left to the gamer playing the game. 

 

ZarlaSheenaza (2006) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Vamp is Bi. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpx5TW1A68I (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

My point is that there will be game devoted to exploring lesbian relationships but you will only mention in passing of male homosexual rumors in other games. This feels kind of biased in one way to have games that show straight relationships and the only homosexuality shown is lesbian relationships or female bisexuality.  From that you get the sense that there is a prejudiced against male exploration of sexuality.  A good example of this is a game called Mass Effect 1 and 2 which is a role playing game on consoles that allows you to take control of you own character and customize them however you want. The game allows you to choose your gender, male or female.  You can play through the game and choose to have romantic relationships with other characters in the game. So if you choose to be a woman you can have a relationship with men or other women but if you choose to be a male you can only have a relationship with men.   This show that for women its more acceptable to the masses to for a women to explore her identity. The Creators of the game could argue that this was a result of the demographic audience for the game.  However the creators of the game have mentioned that in the next installment of the game ‘Mass Effect 3’ the game will feature  more equal same sex relationships for male and female character.  This caused many fans to be outraged and argued many different reasons why this should not happen. The article was called  ‘Mass Effect Fans Worry That Expanded Gay Options Will Create Inconsistencies, Alter Canon’ written by Drew Cohen on a site called www.Kotaku.com.

Cohen, D (2011) 'Different Ways of Loving', Kotaku, 16 May [online] Available at: http://kotaku.com/5802371/mass-effect-fans-worry-that-expanded-gay-options-will-create-inconsistencies-alter-canon (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

The article outlines several arguments used against allowing this change and arguments for this change. So even though game developers wanted to change games to add more option for people to explore things equally when it comes to “artificial” premises of sexuality or gender there is still the conflicts from the people that make up the audience of the game for what they want and what they don’t want.

To move back to the subject to identity I want to finish off by saying as far as Gender wise Women are more explored in this media than men. in terms of there sexuality but in terms of leading roles for games I would say that more games are adapting the create your creature feature at the beginning of the game which allows you to select  your preference for Gender, Race  and how you look in the games

Mass Effect character creation screen (2007) [online] available at: http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/mass-effect (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Mass Effect character creation screen (2007) [online] available at: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/251/masseffect2201002131717.png/ (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

This feature is being used widely already. Also another feature used is having multiple characters the gamer can control through out the game this feature is also widely used in many games as well.
  
sourse:

Hooks, B. (2005) The Will to Change Men, Masculinity, and Love. USA: Washington Square Press


Gauntlett, D. (2003) Media, Gender Identity An Introduction. London: Routledge


Friedan, B. (2010) The Feminine Mystique, London:  Penquin books Ltd


Butler, J (2008) Gender Troubles, Reprint, Oxon: Routledge


DeVries, J. (2011)'Fake or Gay', IGN, 28 April [online] available at: http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1164533p1.html (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Cohen, D (2011) 'Different Ways of Loving', Kotaku, 16 May [online] Available at: http://kotaku.com/5802371/mass-effect-fans-worry-that-expanded-gay-options-will-create-inconsistencies-alter-canon (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

ZarlaSheenaza (2006) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Vamp is Bi. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpx5TW1A68I (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Sato, M 'Yoshi' [digital image] Nintendo Co., Ltd. [online] Available at: http://jcooltech.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=100383865(Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Sato, M 'Birdo' [digital image] Nintendo Co., Ltd. [online] Available at:
Image of Birdo from: http://fantendo.wikia.com/wiki/Mario_Kart_Super_Speed (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

(1993) page from Super Mario Bro 2 manual,  [online]  Available at: http://gamingfreeks.com/?p=1764 (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

 Fear Effect 2 poster advert (2001) [online] available at: http://stopgame.ru/files/wallpapers/5659/fear_effect_2-8.jpg (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

 Fear Effect 2 poster advert (2001) [online] available at: http://www.gossipgamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/5538.jpg (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Mass Effect character creation screen (2007) [online] available at: http://firsthour.net/first-hour-review/mass-effect (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

Mass Effect character creation screen (2007) [online] available at: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/251/masseffect2201002131717.png/ (Accessed: 10 may 2011)

 

Modernism/Postmodernism

Haris Epaminonda, VOL. VI

Epaminonda, H. (2010) VOL. VI [installation] Tate modern Gallery [online] Available at: :http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/harisepaminonda/default.shtm
(Accessed: 23 march)

I saw this exhibition at the Tate last year the artist work in my mind had one of the main defining characteristic of what postmodernism is.  Her work was basically objects that she had gathered from around the world from different places and she arranged them in a particular order. From this she invited the viewers to use their own personal experiences to interpret the piece. The idea of each individual having his or her own interpretation of her work is the key characteristic that firmly places her work in postmodernism in my opinion.  Post modernist art tend to focus on the individual interpretation compared with modernist art where the artist would provide a defined context to the meaning of their work. Allowing the viewer to perceive their work solely as the artist intended.  With postmodernist work each person ads his or her own meaning to the work from his or her experiences which, purposely done with the artist intention, means the meaning is always different.

Funeral of the anarchist galli painted by Carlo Carrà

Carrà, C. (1910) Funeral of the anarchist galli [Oil on canvas] wikipedia [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Funeraloftheanarchistgalli.jpg (Accessed: 23 march)

This painting is from the futurist movement era. The movement was about incorporating the themes of speed, science and technology in their paintings using technical skill but to allowing the work to be emotive. This painting is clearly a modernist painting as it conforms to characteristics of modernist paintings such as the context embodying the political agendas and social changes that effected that period in time. Another reason being that the painting has an exact meaning that the artist wishes to portray. So individual interpretations don’t apply here where as the previous artwork above that was the whole intention of the pierce.  

Epaminonda, H. (2010) VOL. VI [installation] Tate Gallery, London, 10 July 2010

Epaminonda, H. (2010) VOL. VI [installation] Tate modern Gallery [online] Available at: :http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/harisepaminonda/default.shtm
(Accessed: 23 march)
  
Carrà, C. (1910) Funeral of the anarchist galli [Oil on canvas] wikipedia [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Funeraloftheanarchistgalli.jpg (Accessed: 23 march)

Berry, F (2006) postmodern art. Available at:http://www.postmodern-art.com/ (Accessed: 23 march)

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/harisepaminonda/default.shtm

Semiotics

Semiotics

To put it simple semiotics is tough topic to define. Many people consider it the study of signs however  it includes much more than just this and it also has many sub categories to it such as the following: which were listed by Chandler, D. (2011) cited in Morris (1938, p. 6-7)

 

‘semantics: the relationship of signs to what they stand for;

syntactics (or syntax): the formal or structural relations between signs;

pragmatics: the relation of signs to interpreters .’

Chandler, D. (2011) Aber available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/

The website also gave a good introduction into what semiotics are. I’m not going to define semiotic but only apply it to an image or two.The image I am going to look at first is the image of the toilet signs shown below.

Betterclean Services (2010) Toilet sign 1-2 [online]. Available at: http://www.bettercleanservices.co.uk/wash%20room%20servicing.php (accessed: 20 March 2011)

Very simple to look at and identify which is male and which is female.  Looking at it longer you could ask yourself why exactly do these shapes represent to us the forms of male and female.  They are both clearly not in anyway what an actual human being looks like.  I mean do humans have floating circular head hovering over their stick like bodies? Of course not but these symbols have been universally translated to almost all cultures to signify what and where a male or female toilet is. When I look at this image  I instantly think that the toilet sign for men and women.  So just from the simple symbol shapes on this sign, which would be called signifier, I can easily reach the meaning represented of the gender specific toilet areas, which would be the signified.  This is from Saussure diagram showing signified over signifier as shown in the image below.

Saussure- 1[online] Available at: http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/theory/luco/Hypersign/Saussure.html (accessed: 20 March 2011)

This is a foundation of semiotics developed from Saussure. There’s more than just this to semiotic, Peirce, Charles Sanders added the modes of the relations the signs have. These were:

·      Symbol/Symbolic this is a sign in which the signifier doesn’t actually resemble the signified. So the meaning has to be known before hand.

·      Icon/Iconic this is where the signifier does resemble the signified in some way.

·      Index/Indexical this is where the signifier is connected to the signified in a more direct way such as physically or causally.

 Now to apply the toilet sign above I would have to say the sign is iconic as it does resemble some idea of what the human form is however from that particular toilet I would say the shapes themselves that make up the male and female figures fall into Symbolic because if you weren’t aware of what the signs meant you wouldn’t know that they refer to the toilet facilities just that they might resemble a man and female. 

The next image is harder to define using semiotic, as it is tattoo on an arm. 

Akber (2011) Flower Tattoo Design on Arm for Cute Girls [online] Available at: http://www.photofunblog.com/fashion/beautiful-flower-tattoo-design-ideas-for-girls/attachment/flower-tattoo-design-on-arm-for-cute-girls-2011/  (Accessed: (accessed: 20 March 2011)

Ok to start with I’ll focus on the tattoo itself. Its iconic as the signifier resembles the Signified, being a cartoonish illustration style tattoo of a flower and butterflies. Tattoos are seen as fashion statement in modern times but people also get tattoos to represent important moment or factors in their lives. Because of the colour being pink and traditionally being a girl’s colour we can assume its girl who that tattoo is on.  But this is reinforced with the arm itself as its size being feminine as well. The arm being iconic as its am photo of an actual arms so it resembles an arm. Because of the light form the right hitting the surface of the arm and floor it is signifier of the sun and that’s its daytime. This would be indexical as it’s connecting directly to the signified as it’s caused be the light from the sun and the signifier being the light itself.

sources:

Chandler, D. (2011) Aber. Available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/ (accessed: 20 March 2011)

Akber (2011) Flower Tattoo Design on Arm for Cute Girls [online] Available at: http://www.photofunblog.com/fashion/beautiful-flower-tattoo-design-ideas-for-girls/attachment/flower-tattoo-design-on-arm-for-cute-girls-2011/  (Accessed: (accessed: 20 March 2011)

 

Betterclean Services (2010) Toilet sign 1-2 [online]. Available at: http://www.bettercleanservices.co.uk/wash%20room%20servicing.php (accessed: 20 March 2011)

Saussure- 1[online] Available at: http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/theory/luco/Hypersign/Saussure.html (accessed: 20 March 2011)