Sunday 26 August 2012

Blog 5 - Pluralism and the Treaty of Waitangi


Week 5 - Pluralism and the Treat of Waitangi


Pluralism and the Treaty of Waitangi

In teaching week 5 you will discuss pluralism and the Treaty of Waitangi in your tutorials.
Use this discussion, the notes in your ALVC book and the Internet to respond to the following
questions;

1. Define the term 'pluralism' using APA referencing.
"Pluralism in art refers to the nature of art forms and artists as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicity's, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religious, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities."  (Cadwell,1999)

2. How would you describe New Zealand's current dominant culture?

New Zealand's culture is largely inherited from European and British Custom, combined with Maori and Polynesian tradition, amongst these we also have Chinese, and Indian so there isn't really a majorly dominant culture. The Maori, are known as the indigenous people of Aotearoa and first arrived here from their homeland of Hawaiki, over 1000 years ago on voyaging canoes (waka hourua). Today Maori people live all over New Zealand and are always involved in keeping their culture and language alive. Since the beginning of the Maori culture, the Marae has been used as a meeting place, as well as a cultural and spiritual place to seek guidance, just like other religions go to church. ( I'm not saying Maori do not attend churches).


3. Before 1840, what was New Zealand's dominant culture?

Native Maori culture was the dominant culture of New Zealand, this was before the Treaty Of Waitangi was signed.

4. How does the Treaty of Waitangi relate to us all as artists and designers working
in New Zealand?

Just for people to live in New Zealand, is why it relates to us as artists and designers. New Zealand has a large background, the Treaty of Waitangi is obviously part of it so for us to uphold the meaning behind it is very important for us as New Zealanders. What us as artists & designers produce should be and represent what is respectful and what isn't in terms of being disrespectful or offending our New Zealand Culture.


5. How can globalisation be seen as having a negative effect on 'regional diversity' that leads to a 'homogenized world culture' in New Zealand in particular? (ALVC2 handbook page 52, http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/globalisation)

'Globalization is the tendency of business, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen.' (A.L.V.C2 2012) 

Maori Culture being very unique to New Zealand is something that hasn't been seen by anyone before, which allows it to be presented to the world, as one would be put in the limelight. Although, Maori Culture can be used as marketing and tourism, because of its uniqueness. Which makes the Cultural Importance seem less.. important. This is why Globalisation can have a negative effect on 'regional diversity' that leads to a 'homogenized world culture'.

6. Shane Cotton's paintings are said to examine the cultural landscape. Research Cotton's work 'Welcome'(2004) and 'Three quarter view ' (2005) to analyse what he is saying about colonisation and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Shane Cotton's work have a more modern sense/interpretation to tradition Maori art in the works Welcome (2004) and Three Quarter View (2005). "Welcome" (2005) was part of Shane's second series of Lithographic prints, Gow Langsford Gallery said "delicately delineates images that have become synonymous with his work"/ His works involve what is known as "the conversational motif" that surrounds 'Marked Heads' or 'Upoko Tuhituhi'. When i look at Shanes work i can see references to after-life, death and heaven, this all can be seen as Cotton's attempt to keep the memory and identity of these ancestors from the Maori Culture alive. 

'Three Quarter View' features a 'Moko' which is a facial tattoo. The work is a artistic representation of the British flax trader Barnet Burns, and the decision that he made - to live amongst the Maori during the 1830's. What inspired Cotton to do this piece, was a 19th century etching that was done.Cotton has used 'Avian Imagery', we know this because of the Sparrow and the Golffinch being present in this work. 'The avian motif has particular importance in Maori cosmology and the goldfinch symbolises the passion of Christ in western religious art'. (Ron Radford, 2008).
His depiction greatly differs, however, Cotton removed anything that would show Burns' British Culture. To show this, he has only shown the silhouette of Barnet's face, with the skin and moko covering it in two different shades of blue.

'Welcome' (2004) Shane Cotton 
http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/catalogues/work/52293/shane-cotton-welcome.aspx
  

'Three Quarter view'(2005) Shane Cotton

http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=149998 


7. Tony Albert's installation 'Sorry' (2008) reflect the effects of colonisation on the aboriginal people of Australia. Research the work and comment on what Albert is communicating through his work, and what he is referring to. Describe the materials that Albert uses on this installation and say what he hopes his work can achieve.

Tony Albert's 'Sorry' (2008) represents a very important day in Australian History, this day marked the event of Kevin Rudd offering a formal apology to the Indigenous people of Australia; 13th February, 2008. He has made this work and achieved a visual expression of the emotion that was felt on the very day. In the work, features a range of different objects and facial expressions - these all represent the elements stolen from the Indigenous people. How ironic is that though, the most significant and joyous event in Australian history, was merely an apology. 

8. Define the term 'kitsch'.

'Something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.' (kitsch, n.d.) Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved August 24, 2012, from Dictionary.com website:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kitsch

9. Explain how the work of both artists relates to pluralism.

Both of these artists stand by in what they believe in. They both are making an attempt to make people around them see how important our Cultures are. They both are clearly proud of where they are from, and have full respect for all ethnicities, and see how different Cultures are important to different people. They have pointed out important, yet not well known events that have occured in History - These events, whether they occured in Australia, or New Zealand, or Europe. They all are important and should be respected. 





                                       Tony Albert | Australia b.1981 | Girramay people | Sorry 2008 |
                                               Found kitsch objects applied  to vinyl letters | 99 objects :    
                                               200 x 510 x 10cm (installed) | The James C Sourris Collection.
                                               Purchased 2008 with funds from James C Sourris through the 
                                               Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery




http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/maori-culture.html 

                              

Sunday 19 August 2012

Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley and inter-textuality



Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley and inter-textuality

Kehinde Wiley

1. Untitled (2009)
  
2. Untitled(2009)
3. Kehinde Wiley Count Potocki, 2008 oil on canvas, 274.3 x 274.3cm


4. Kehinde Wiley Support Army and Look after People, 2007 oil on canvas, 258.4 x 227.3cm

Kehinde Wiley is a Gay American based painter born in Los Angeles, who has an international reputation. Wiley lives and practices between Beijing and Brooklyn.
This weeks ALVC class focuses on the Postmodern theme "INTERTEXTUALITY", re-read Extract 1 The death of the author on page 44 of your ALVC books and respond to the oil paintings of Kehinde Wiley. 


1. Find a clear definition of Intertextuality and quote it accurately on your blog using the APA referencing system. Use your own words to explain the definition more thoroughly. 


Kilbride (2011) explained, “at its most basic level intertextuality acknowledges the fact that no text is an island. All texts are intertexts in so far as they refer to, recycle and draw from other pre-existing texts”. 

Which basically mean's that every idea we see, everyday, whether it be in a Film, or it be in advertising, there are always those ideas that are seen as "Cliche" or have been done before. Intertextuality is the independent text/scene that represents or backs an idea up. So the viewer will see something and say "Hey, that must actually be true because that same idea was produced in another movie" not in those exact words, but if something is seen enough we become familiar with it so our only way to really be able to see intertextuality is simply by watching as many movies as possible, because everything these days are generally copies/re-do's of something that has been already made/ though of. 

If you build something up,an idea or design for instance. If it is done in different types of ways throughout years, it becomes more known and therefore stands in relation to these previous ways of showng these ideas. For instance holding eyes open is known as something generally quite scary but this is only because a Movie called "A Clockward Orange" (1971) featured somewhat dangerous therapy for inmates, involving their eyes being held open. It has now been seen in family shows for entertainment like The Simpsons, and Thriller Movies such as Final Destination 5 (2011)

2. Research Wiley's work and write a paragraph that analyzes how we might make sense of his work. Identify intertextuality in Wiley's work. 

Kehinde Wiley's portraits are based on photographs of Men who Kehinde has seen on the street. He has painted people from places such as Harlems 125th Street, and also from the South Central neighbourhood in which he was born. Kehinde takes these African-Americans, and has them pose as one would from the Renaissance. The reason for this is because in the Renaissance, Portrait's were generally only for very wealthy, classy people. so Wiley is giving this sense of wealth and importance, and giving it to ordinary, African-Americans (which I mean in no form of Racism). But as sad as it is, it's very unexpected to see African-Americans being painted in this way so when you see the painting it can be a mixture of humour, shock and confusion. 


We can make the connection between Wiley's ideas and Renaissance painters and say that this is Intertextuality, because he has taken ideas from something very famous, that made an impact on the world, and that also occured many years ago, and used this ideas of Importance in Portrait Painting to produce his own works, that feature people that do not seem to be seen as relevant or wealthy. But then we can only say that this is Intertextuality, if we all know the connections. If one were to come along and not have a clue about the Renaissance, then to the person it would not be Intertextuality until the connections are seen. Once the ideas can be seen, the connections can be made. 

Another Intertextuality, is that these Men in the paintings have not only been painted in a way that gives an essence of Importance and Wealth, but also in a way that says that these Men are actually Heroes. As if these men, should be looked up to because they are going to help us if something bad happens. There is a movie called Black Knight (2001), that has Martin Lawrence, a black American who was originally born in Germany, playing as the Knight. As cliche as it sounds, i'm sure you can picture what the movie would involve. But even though it is a comedy movie, the connection of a Heroic black American can be seen once it is addressed. 


3. Wiley's work relates to next weeks Postmodern theme "PLURALISM" . Read page 51 and discuss how the work relates to this theme.

Wiley has taken something that we have all seen at one point, in this case it is Portrait Painting's of wealthy, important white people, and replaced them with ordinary African Americans in the Painting. In my opinion this increases the Post Modernist ideas of Pluralism. This is because in a way the work is questioning the social issues which are around the White upper class. If this white man is important, why can't this African-American be important?


4. Comment on how Wiley's work raises questions around social/cultural hierarchies , colonisation, globalisation, stereotypes and the politics which govern a western worldview.

The way Wiley has positioned the Men over the Floral background gives a sense of confusion to the viewer. This is because we have never seen Portraits done in such a way; a floral background generally represents a higher class, classiness and importance because of the floral background being used in Renaissance Paintings. Now when we look at these works, we instantly see something different because of the colour contrast and the stance of the person, it confuses us because nobody has ever tried to show African Americans in such a professional manner,while in baggy clothing. 

It seems to be that Wiley has almost literally just swapped the President or something out of the Painting, and put in an African American because when we look at this, it doesn't seem right and that is what his purpose was, to show that our society is used to seeing people like this in the streets, not in a gallery. Which is sad, because that's racist beyond any possibility. But its true because of steriotyping, etc. These paintings generally look amazing. But because of Steriotypes, this Painting looks out of place, like there is something wrong with it.

5. Add some reflective comments of your own, which may add more information that
you have read during your research.

I think the way Wiley is producing these paintings is amazing. I think that him trying to raise questions about the world, and racism and stereotypes is great because one steriotype, is that all African Americans are gangsters, which is clearly wrong because Wiley is a Gay, African American Artist. I personally wouldn't put him into that catagory of being a Gangster.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Week Three Blog, Hussein Chalayan and Post-Modern Fashion.


Week 3- Hussein Chalayan and Post-Modern Fashion

Hussein Chalayan

Chalayan is an artist and designer, working in film, dress and installation art. Research Chalayan’s work, and then consider these questions in some thoughtful reflective writing.



1. Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996) , are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer. What are your personal responses to these works? Are Afterwords and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?

In my opinion, both "Afterwords" and "Burka" can be seen as an artistic design, and a design based for fashion purposes. Both are clearly wearable, but not to an extent where people would wear them out on a regular occasion. I think however that these two pieces are more so art, because they aren't made in a particular manner to be appropriate for daily use, they aren't very appealing in a fashion sense. I see these works more as art because Chalayan is taking one concept of design, and using it in a different way to create and reflect ideas from the work. Although fashion is considerably an Art, it has guidelines to stay in that catagory, once you use the concept of fashion to produce Art, I see it as more than fashion. There is more meaning behind it than a simple clothing outfit. The term fashion, is generally "for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, or furniture" I guess the only thing that seperates Fashion & Art with these pieces, is the fact that with Fashion your creating something for a group of people purely because you want to design clothes, but with Art your taking that idea of clothing, and expanding the capabilities of your materials and ideas. But then again, Artists can really call art anything, why cant a Fashion Designer call anything Fashion?


Hussein Chalayan, Burka (1996) (99
6
                                                                 Hussein Chalayan, Afterwords, 2000

2. Chalayan has strong links to industry. Pieces like The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose (2006) are made in collaboration with, and paid for by, commercial business; in these cases, a vodka company and a crystal manufacturer. How does this impact on the nature of Chalayan’s work? Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?

Using Art to sell product's is done not only by Chalayan, but by many artist's all around the world. Sarah Findlay, for example, worked with Becks, a type of beer company, to produce artworks on the beer bottles, but still incorporated the Becks logo on the bottle. Using art as a way of attracting attention to products is a very good way of selling products, aswell as gain the status of the Artist. The actual meaning to the works will not change for the Artist, depending on why it was made in the first place. If the Artist planned on creating a piece, and then was confronted by a company asking for the artwork to help sell their products, the product would have to reflect on the Artwork for it to make sense to the Artist. But if an Artist is asked to create an Artwork, purely for a product sale, then the Artworks meaning is probably already in the product. So it really depends on the Artist in the end. Even if you can see that the meaning has been taken away, you would have to speak with the Artist to clarify whether it is there or not. 





3. Chalayan’s film Absent Presence screened at the 2005 Venice Biennale. It features the process of caring for worn clothes, and retrieving and analysing the traces of the wearer, in the form of DNA. This work has been influenced by many different art movements; can you think of some, and in what ways they might have inspired Chalayan’s approach?


It's quite hard to distinguish some art movements in this piece "Absent Presence" but one movement that is clear and easy to see is Post Modernism. The reason for me thinking this, is because Chalayan's film show's a Biologist helping to examine the DNA, which shows an interest in modern technology, post modern ideas in social change can be also seen in this work. 

by m
Hussein Chalayan, still from Absent Presence, 2005 (motion picture)


4. Many of Chalayan’s pieces are physically designed and constructed by someone else; for example, sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works from Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) and Before Minus Now(2000) fashion ranges. In fashion design this is standard practice, but in art it remains unexpected. Work by artists such as Jackson Pollock hold their value in the fact that he personally made the painting. Contrastingly, Andy Warhol’s pop art was largely produced in a New York collective called The Factory, and many of his silk-screened works were produced by assistants. Contemporarily, Damien Hirst doesn’t personally build his vitrines or preserve the sharks himself. So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?

In my opinion i think that an Artwork holds alot more value when it is done only by the Artist him/herself, rather than having a group of workers helping to produce it. I feel this way because when your creating a piece of art, you have a vivid image in your head that you can only portait as an exact idea. So when you go to tell others to make this image in your head, they will have different interpretations of it, as well as different skill levels. Personally i would never have others helping me make my Art, but I think that if it were to be important to have people help yo at any time, it would be at a time where you are making a mass-production of the same work, for instance a t-shirt print. 


www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CHYQFjAC&url=http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2012/ready-to-wear/hussein-chalayan&ei=wdgqUOHwH-iciAe1wIDoAg&usg=AFQjCNF8CfjHgTuT2w6UWv1IXCzzFXSSIw&sig2=EV5RY1-NX2ENl93wSu1xyQ
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fashion
http://definefashion.tumblr.com/
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/hussein-chalayan-beyond-limitations
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0768786/
http://www.galerist.com.tr/artist/huseyin-caglayan/biography/


Friday 3 August 2012

Post Modernism, Week 2 Blog.



POST-MODERNISM






1. Define Post-Modernism using 8-10 bullet points that include short quotes.


- was a movement in architecture that rejected the modernist, avant garde, passion for the new. -James Morley.
- the project of rejecting tradition in favour of going "where no man has gone before" or better: to create forms for no other purpose than novelty- James Morley.
- this was an ironic brick-a-brack or collage approach to construction that combines several traditional styles into one structure.- Unknown.
-"Well according to Billy Corgan, Postmodernism is whatever the fuck you want it to be"- Unknown

-"The first dificultly in defining postmodernism, is that everyone. Everyone gets a crack at it." - Bruce Ellis Benson.
-A recent French philosopher defined Postmodernity as "incredulity towards all metanarratives. Thats a mouthful, but basically what it means, is a kind of sceptical attitude towards all claims of absolute truth. - Bruce Ellis Benson.
-Metanarratives; now the word he actually uses in French, really translates into English as "Big Stories". Now there are all kinds of big stories. One kind of big story might be 'human beings, by way of human reason, are capable of knowing... everything. - Bruce Ellis Benson.
Postmodernism is a broad term used to describe movements in a wide range of disciplines, including art, philosophy, critical theory, and music.












2. Use a quote by Witcombe (2000) to define the Post-Modern artist.(page 24)
" The post modern artist is "reflexive" in that he/she is self aware and consciously involved in a process of thinking about him.herself and society in a deconstructive manner "demasking" pretensions, becoming aware of his/her cultural self in history, and accelerating the process of self-conciousness."


3. Use the table on pages 47 and 48 in your ALVC handbook to summarize the list of the features of Post-Modernity.




- Social & Cultural pluralism and disunity. Paying attention to surfaces and textures rather than Depth. Art as a process, or performance/production. Recycling culture authenticated by the audience to share identity with the artist. Irony, seriousness.




Use this summary to answer the next two questions.


4. Research Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994)
in order to say what features of the work could be considered Post-Modern.




Ai Weiwei is an amazing contemporary artist who is very active in a wide range of Art's, including instalation and sculpture, as well as being involved in Political and Cultural Criticism. He stands up for his rights, and has been beaten by the Police, arrested, and put in secret detention. ALL because of how his art affects the public. In Ai Weiwei's spare time, he literally designed the Beijing Olympic Stadium. 


In Ai's work titled "Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo"(1994) he has taken what appears to be quite a historic, old looking vase, and put the Coca Cola Logo on to it. By doing this, is he putting today and the past into one clear format, just by looking at the pot you instantly know that the Coca Cola logo seems almost to modern for the style of the Vase. What he has done could be seen as quite disrespectful because this Urn appears to have alot of cultural meaning to it, it's not just a standard Urn - it has history behind it, it stands in representation to something or someone. So by putting a Coca Cola logo on it, it's almost like Ai was taking the piss out of the Urn, in the process. He's mixing two known things together- this historic Urn, and a Coca Cola logo. The Urn is so historically important, and the Coca Cola logo represents merely a fizzy drink, which the whole world recognises in seconds. Doing this, he has created a very Post-Modernist work.


The Photo of Ai dropping the Urn, shows that today, cultural importance is not as important as it used to be. By Ai dropping this Urn he is disregarding the object to the fullest extent, he's telling us that there aren't any people that would worry about what is occuring in this photo. And that is basically what Post Modernism is, adapting to cultural differences and making something out of it, but i think by dropping it he is telling the viewer that because of time, cultural aspects have been thrown out and forgotten about because thing's such as Coca Cola, for instance, have been designed for everyone, to bring cultures together. Also the way he drops the Urn, he shows no care in what is about to take place, and i think he is doing this to show China that traditional objects are no longer important to us because of Post Modernism, as in post modernism you are combining these cultural ideas into a sort of Melting Pot.


"If we look at history, nothing can give us more vivid a lesson than those pieces of evidence. You can talk about Greek or Roman civilization, or India or China or whatever. The image is still the most powerful. If we think about the United States, we think about Coca-Cola or McDonald's. And those things are so strong and so clear that we almost don't need another explanation. I suppose that's why art projects are needed - to reveal how history and reduced everything into such a nonsense image" - Ai Weiwei.




'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994), Ai Weiwei





Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynast Urn.


6. Research British artist Banksy's street art, and analyze the following two works by the artist
to discuss how each work can be defined at Post-Modern.(Use your list from question 3.)


Banksy is a very famous artist, who has been doing stencil graffiti art for many years, while hiding from the public to this day, nobody knows his name. But they do know that he makes work for meanings, to make change to the world. In his work "Flower Riot", he has put a human figure as a stencil, in a aggressive stance, similiar to one of a real person at a riot, tossing a molotov through the air. So you have this sense of anger and destruction, and what is to cause this "destruction"? Flowers. Banksy has replaced the "molotov" or a "brick" or whatever was in this person's hand, and replaced it with Flowers which shout "friendship" and "compassion". Its quite ironic really because why would one throw flowers at things to cause destruction? This is why Banksy, to this day, is still my favourite artist. Its not about money for him, it's about making a point. In terms of post-modernity, I do believe that there once apon a time no such thing as violence, and anger and destruction, and instead there was a constant energy of happiness that surrounded us. By doing this piece, Banksy may be saying that instead of breaking people's stuff, and destroying their belongings etc, why not give them Flowers? If you think about it, no matter what you throw, if you throw it in anger it does the same job. Throwing a book at the ground can involve the same anger as one that throw's a brick at a car. Maybe Banksy is just saying that if we are angry, pick something soft up and throw that. It seem's stupid, but it could easily be that simple. Post-Modernism involves the past and the present in one aspect, the flowers could represent that attitude that the public had years ago, verses the stenciled man throwing the flowers, which represents anger and destruction. 
'Flower Riot', Banksy


In Banksy's work "Los Angeles (2008), Banksy", he has taken a Prehistoric caveman, and shown this Caveman holding something that we can all recognise - a tray of Fast Food. Titling this "Los Angeles" shows that when Banksy thinks of Los Angeles, or pictures it in his mind, he see's fast food. This could be because of the large amount of obesity in America, or merely the fact that Fast Food is everywhere in America itself. The Previous artist, Ai Weiwei, did say that "If we look at history, nothing can give us more vivid a lesson than those pieces of evidence. You can talk about Greek or Roman civilization, or India or China or whatever. The image is still the most powerful. If we think about the United States, we think about Coca-Cola or McDonald's. And those things are so strong and so clear that we almost don't need another explanation. I suppose that's why art projects are needed - to reveal how history and reduced everything into such a nonsense image"Ai Weiwei.

What Ai Weiwei was meaning was that when people get used to something for to long, we see it as being represented by an object or logo, for instance in Ai Weiwei's Dynasty Urn Work, people are more likely to recognise what the logo is, before they understand the background of the Urn itself. So maybe thats what Banksy is referring to, the fact that America is such a Fast Food Country, that eventually all it's really known for is Fast Food's, rather than the sight-seeing oppertunitys that they have available for tourists. He also could be using the stencil of the Fast Food to represent Fast Food in general, like it doesn't take much skill to look at this art and know what the Caveman is holding. The shapes in the Fast Food are very typical for a Mc Donalds order, as sad as it is i can easily tell that there is a Frozen Coke, Chips, and probably a Big Mac. It is alot easier to characterize which is what, unlike Ai Weiwei's art. Banksy is straight to the point with this Art by keeping it simple, to state that Fast Food is like second nature to us, we've known what it is since your first day you can remember, the Caveman represents history/age, so all in all he is saying that nowadays even cavemen know what Fast Food is, because it's everywhere, literally.