Visual Journal - Failed Texture Experiments

Based off some of my artist research of textures, such as the work of Zes MSK, I wanted to try and explore textures within images of advertising and the people in them. So I headed into the city to collect photos of advertising to respond to.

Just as I was with my original line experiments, I wanted to try and incorporate overly happy and idealistic images that adverts often use, but that are quite dystopian and easily uneasy with how over the top and unrealistic they are. By using layering and gestural image making techniques I wanted to heighten this sense of eeriness. 

The outcome, although certainly dystopian, was horrific. I don't really know what went wrong with my drawing abilities this day, and trying to save it with more marks and layers evidently didn't work wonders. In this instance it is not the idea that was unsuccessful but the execution and image making, which is easily rectified by exploring other ways to present my ideas using layering and textures.

Visual Journal - Perfume Posters

Leading on from the ad slogan posters I made previously, I combined the perfume drawings and typography together to make some more posters.

Pairing the two really communicates the absurdity of the perfume names and the photos they usually exist next to. They are taken out of context when coupled with a drawing, but also the abstract and ambiguous nature of the drawing creates a strange almost dystopian feel to the images; faceless women with minimal features and just anatomical outlines.

Visual Journey - Posters

From my earlier textural and typographic work, I coupled them together to make posters; fake advertising selling nothing. There is an interesting discussion that exists regarding advertising being simply aesthetic instead of commercially functional. I was simply making posters that looked nice and commented on advertising yet served no further purpose as images.

Putting them up was a way of taking this idea and actually applying it, pushing it outside of the confines of the studio, something that I need to push more in my uni work. I don't know whether it particularly worked in this instance, due to the execution and process I used to actually stick them up. They are very DIY, 2 A4 sheets taped together which were then haphazardly taped up. It does show an interesting juxtaposition when compared to the polished, slick billboards we see daily and stands true to the DIY ethics, but in this case they may have been more effective had they exactly emulated real adverts. They also might have lasted longer...

Visual Journal - Study Task 7, Rationale

The theme I am currently exploring is advertising, considering it's purpose, values, ethics and functions within out society. I started with wanting to explore the issue of public space in relation to advertising, but as of yet haven't come across a suitable and effective way to push my work in such a direction. As a result I have been more focussing on deconstructing advertising into it's separate visual elements, playing around with taking them out of context in which they were created for. In this I am hoping to highlight what the images we see on a day to day basis actually represent beyond the product and company they are intended to advertise.

I am currently just using simple drawing techniques to visually represent my ideas, namely posca markers on paper. This is proving effective in the creation of initial images taken from advertising, even if it is very basic and predictable as a medium. I do wish to further explore texture as I was doing at the start, and combine mixed media within the drawings of deconstructed perfume adverts. I think by layering up and working into these images it could create an interesting contrast to their polished, airbrushed beginnings. Collage is also something which could find its way into my exploration, but in what way I am yet to decide.

I am inspired by the loose textural and mark-marking works of graffiti artists Revok, Zes, Seikon and Blqk. All use line, shape, tone and texture in interesting ways, creating engaging and tactile yet loose textural images. This is a way that public space comes into the work, playing on the idea or authorship over public space and the concept of paying to present visual work within it. Although their work does not tackle the same issues as mine does, I think trying to learn from their approaches and adopting some of their techniques could provide some great outcomes when paired with my theme and idea.

Visual Journal - Failed Idea, Dead End

This image was an attempt at exploring an idea, but one that was wildly unsuccessful and a dead end in regards to my visual journey through this project.

My thinking was to try and represent advertising's power and impact over public space. I wanted to try and visually present their bombardment, showing how they 'take over' more than just the physical billboards and walls they inhabit.

I went into Leeds city centre and found all of the Street Posts that I could, and standing there for a few minutes I tallied how many people walked past them, close enough to notice the adverts and so be influenced by them. By no means was this a scientific experiment which I had some contention with; I think that if I am going to explore this idea then the data needs to be accurate and that is important. Then from photos I took of the advertising and a map that I picked up from tourist information I tried to visualise this experiment and depict my findings, by taking as many shapes and outlines from the photos as people I tallied to show the concentration and scale of influence these images were having.

Needless to say it didn't work as well as I had hoped, and there were a lot of loose ends with it as an idea, such as the incorrectness of the data and the randomness of my visualising methods. However I think that the idea is interesting and there could be some value there. I think I will still just put it down to a failed experiment and carry on exploring other methods of image making and idea exploring with this journal.

Visual Journal - Shape/Line

Today I started exploring the shape element, but as each element can be vague and the boundaries blurry, they could fall into line also.

The initial idea was to look at adverts and pick out shapes that the compositions used made, looking at not only the forms of the products and actors depicted, but also the negative space around them, to create abstract and fairly random assortment of shapes from these.

When searching for different advertising, I stumbled on perfume adverts and for whatever reason they caught my eye so i started responding to them. Because they basically always use actors and female forms, my responses ended up becoming quite interesting, abstract anatomical outlines and shapes. There is the obvious controversy surrounding such adverts for being objectifying, which added an extra layer of intrigue within the work and the comment I was making. 

I really love the way they turned out, that they can be abstract yet you can still pick out the forms of the women and they are distinguishable at the same time. I think the least effective one would be the top right as it's just too obvious as to what it is, I think i may redraw it but vaguer and more abstract.

Whilst drawing these and studying the adverts, I noticed the type of names the perfumes were called, things such as 'reveal' and 'addict', and thought they were odd names. They don't really have positive connotations, yet they sell the product and people buy them, and genuinely I wonder why people don't see them as strange names.

I thought it would be an interesting idea to take these words out of context, to redraw them in the same typefaces used in the adverts, but taken away from the adverts, the elegant and often quite fancy type really juxtaposes the actual words they are spelling out. I want to put these on posters with the previous drawings. I think the combination of the words and their contrasting typefaces along with the line drawings of mysterious and anonymous yet elegant and sexual women will create some really interesting and thought provoking results.

Study Task 6 - Peer Review Focus

Here is the peer review form....slightly sparse lets say.

At this point I have an idea of the vague direction my project may be heading in, and I have focussed down on advertising within the creative arts as a topic to explore and deconstruct further. I have really enjoyed the textural responses and experiments and really want to continue with these.

There are a lot more possibilities within the other formal elements too to explore, and I think line/shape is going to be my next direction, trying to push my image making and idea exploration further. I am hoping this will then lead into, inform and incorporate the textures somewhere later too.

I think it will also be really crucial to do some more research around my concept. More artist research will inspire my outcomes but also some more contextual, theoretical research to inform my ideas and the intentions I am formulating throughout my journal.