Recycling

Study task 3

I always find it difficult to have tasks like this so early on when I have no idea what Im doing. But this one was actually quite useful because myself and Charlotte stayed behind and talked out a load of ideas with Pete. I don't have a solid idea as of yet, but I now have a few more topics to explore.

Suggested research question-

Something to do with deforestation-
Deforestation and the effects on the creative industry?
How does deforestation impact the creative industry? (this could be difficult)
Do we as creatives take a sustainable approach in our work?


Academic sources-

Still not sure, I will have to take a trip to the library asap.

Images to analyse?

Ive been collecting lots, I just need to narrow them down once I have a clearer direction. Heres a few I've collected though...

Could look at images that have been created with recycled materials, or ideas that push the idea of a greener future.

I didn't do an essay map while I was in class because I didn't have any solid ideas. But my four main points moving forwards would be-

- Deforestation, the effect this is having on the world and what is being done about it.

- Climate change and why this is happening and how this is linked to deforestation.

- The importance of sustainability, looking at this from a creatives point of view, whether is it possible to be a sustainable practitioner, advantages and disadvantages.

- Whether creatives are using their visual skills in order to bring these issues to the publics attention or not.

To move forward I need to start doing ALOT of research.

Identity Lecture 5th November

This lecture was really interesting, and I really enjoyed listening to James Beighton speak.
The lecture didn't particularly have anything relevant to what I will be researching but its good to think about various topics for the future.

Im really interested in photography, I always have been, so I mainly noted the photographers he was showing us. I liked the concepts behind the work that were explained.

Humphrey Spender /Mass observation- worktown project 1937.
This project was interesting, being a man from upper class London, he took the trip to Bolton to document the working class life in 1937. It perhaps insinuates an uncultured town, where there are only a small handful of people at the theatre to watch 'A mid summer nights dream', and definitely reflects the lack of money in one place with children on the streets playing with chickens feet rather than toys, but its raw and honest and I like that.

Martin Parr- again photographs the lower class folk, in projects like New Brighton, Merseyside, "The Last Resort" (1983-86). A lot of his images are very stereotypical and they condescend the 'poorer' people. These images are the sort that would be displayed in upper class places, where only the rich can enjoy them, but it could be argued that its almost mocking the people of lower class. Is this Parr's tactical approach to photography? Or is this the point he's trying to put across?

Gillian Wearing- her photography was by far my favourite, as it focused on what the people wanted to say about themselves or life in general. Its not someone coming in with their own view point and making money from showing the lives of the lower class. Her project 'signs that say what you want them to say' is a really interesting concept. It shows people the way they want to be shown, and gives them their own voice. 

Establishing a research question

Its pretty hard to think about a research question before Ive even researched what I want to research...if that makes any sense?

I came up with a few ideas.

Im trying to think about all of the subjects that encompass my topic, and then I'm trying to think about all of the things I want to know more about. 

So at the moment my topic is centred around deforestation, but I want to research into palm oil production, sustainable materials, whether designers/creatives take a sustainable approach to their work.

I want to look into the age of humans and what we are potentially doing to our own beautiful planet.

I saw something the other day thats really inspired me...

A mural created by 'Blu' on the streets of Italy. A dire evolutionary timeline. 

Definitely makes you think. 

Now i need to-

Start making some drawings. 

Do lots of research.

Im excited to get started, I'm actually excited to learn about all of this. 

Task 1- 500 words

Analysis of how Editorial Illustration on the topic of deforestation relates to Barthes' interpretation of Authorship...

Editorial illustration is such an important asset in todays world, and from a cultural view point too. Everyday newspapers and magazines print illustrations alongside their articles to shine a light on some of the concepts for the reader. To highlight and emphasise important points, or simply to get people interested in what the text might be talking about.
Editorial illustration can fit into any of the categories, whether its a political illustration or an image for an article about technology. It works.

Barthes writes, 'it is language which speaks, not the author', which when relating to editorial work is usually completely accurate. You read an article for the content, not because you know the author that  wrote it. With an illustration in a newspaper, you look at it because its aesthetically pleasing, or with the hope that it will inform you about the piece you are about read. When analysing the text it was apparent that the destination of a piece of work is more important that the origin. Which reflects this point.

On the topic of deforestation within editorial work, the demand for such illustrations are on the rise. However, there are some very interesting points made in Steven Miles' 'Consumerism as a way of life'
about how ecological we as designers can actually be, and whether we need to make a significant chance to the way we work or not. He writes 'the designer must assume more responsibility for what he or she designs, this is not always possible when designers have to contend with directive clients'. Designers are approached to make work for articles about global warming or climate change, but then that illustration could then go on to be printed in hundreds and thousands of newspapers, which almost defeats the object of the article in the first place. However, as Bathes states, nothing can be explained with passion or feeling if the creator is not present. Do we need to have more of a say in these circumstances? We as illustrators don't necessarily have any power in any of this. We live in a world where we 'prioritise financial profits before ecological concerns.'

Does this make us as creators fall to the bottom of the chain? Should we be finding alternative means of creating work, or translating messages through visual imagery? Miles' writes, 'Designers operate in a world where the creation of wealth is a prime motivation.' We create work for others to exploit.
Which again makes Barthes point valid, 'Writing is the neutral, composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost, starting with the very identity of the body of writing."
Perhaps no one will ever interpret an illustration exactly the way the illustrator had intended, but thats not to say it won't communicate effectively and make a change.

Cop lecture 2- The flipped classroom.

This lecture was really interesting. It was all about how perhaps we shouldn't rely on the teacher to teach and educate us, but rather we work as a collective, with the students deciding what they want to learn and the teachers taking a step back.
This way the learning is embedded a lot more, because its student centred, you tell yourself what you want to learn.

In France in 1968, students took to the streets to fight for a more equal opportunity to go to university. They took over an art school and started making hundreds and thousands of prints to put out all around the city. They were visually communicating a message of revolution. They worked as a unit, as a collaborative, which i guess is what this is all about.

We went on to look at some philosophers, such as Jaques Ranciere, who always looks at society from a flipped/different way.
We also looked at Jacotot who was a french teacher. And I guess the principles of universal teaching come from him teaching french in the Netherlands. He couldn't speak flemish to his students, and they couldn't speak french, so he decided to give them a book to read, one in each language and they were to read each book and teach themselves the translations. It was completely student led, and they ended up being incredible at speaking french.

Teacher centred 'explication'=enforced stultification
Stultification-Repression
Self-Education-Emancipation

Education as a social form.

There are a few places around the world that actually do use this method of education, such as the Art Academy Islington Mill and The school of the damned.
There are many things that I think are great about this theory, and in many ways it could work, however as a society I feel we are far too comfortable with rules and routine, and Im not sure what would happen if we threw all of that out of the window.

Cop practical lesson

I found this weeks class really really useful. I went in with an extremely vague idea of what i might want to write and draw about, and came out feeling very confident and excited to get started. Something I distinctively remember from last year when reflecting on my year as a whole, was that I wanted to make a difference with my work, and its still something I feel strongly about, so hopefully this project I'm setting myself will be well suited to me.

Ive decided to start researching deforestation and the production of palm oil. But then perhaps on a deeper level look at mass production and whether we as artists use our products wisely. I think theres many ways I can take this, and I won't be short of things to research, I just need to narrow it down a little and really think about what I want to say.

Collecting items rather than just using the internet to get some information was also great, made me think differently. Its always good to approach a project from various angles, avoid missing something thats right infront of you. Like this conscious creatives leaflet I found. I had no idea this was a society in our college! 

Next steps:

1. Get involved with conscious creatives and find out more.

2. Start drawing, let it take me in the direction I need to take.

3. Research lots.

The items I collected in the hour we had. Also took some photos of trees.

(I am also aware that my topic doesn't really fit into the cultural category anymore, id say its more towards society and perhaps even political?!)

Death of the Author

Before I write this I just want to say I really struggled with this reading task so Im sorry if its wrong..

What Barthes is saying in the text:

Barthes is explaining how once something has been written by an author, the originality of that piece disappears. If the author is not present, then we are left to decipher the text for ourselves, and so the passion or the feelings that have gone into it leave. The author will always have a bond or a link to his writing, but it may never be read in the same way he had intended or hoped. Feelings are lost in translation. Writing is there to be read and interpreted, so maybe the focus should be on the writing rather than on the creator. We can only create new work based on something that we have already learnt, so is anything truly original? He writes, 'Writing is the neutral, composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost, starting with the very identity of the body writing.'

However, illustrations purpose is to communicate, to work in context and to fulfil a brief, therefore there must be a connection between the creator and the creation, "it is language that speaks, not the author" doesn't necessarily apply for an illustrator. I think his theory, when applied to illustration, doesn't quite have the same impact.

How the text relates to the disciplines of illustration?

- The destination is more important than the origin, so the viewer is more important than the illustrator. We create work to communicate to an audience, not necessarily to give our own personal opinions on a matter.

-Nothing is original, everything is influenced by someone else. We create work in reference to whats happening in the world or what the job description says. We use a breadth of reference material, as well as add our own experiences.

-Removing the illustrator from the work eliminates any connection the viewer may have had with such illustrator, making the work completely open to interpretation.
When you know an illustrators work, you'll know their style and their tone of voice, which limits the audience or the potential.

1. Nothings original, everything is influenced by someone else.

2. Drawing to please everyone else

3. What happens in the world effects what we illustrate.

4. Style over substance. "is language which speaks, not the author"

5. Everyone reads illustrations differently, words are lost in translation.

6. Destination is more important than the origin.

7. When the artist is discovered, the piece of work is explained because of that certain illustrators style and tone of voice. 

Quotes that relate to my theme...

"The image of literature to be found in ordinary culture is tyrannically centred on the author, his person, his tastes, his life, his passions."

"For him, for us too, it is language which speaks, not the author"

"Text is not a line of words releasing a single theological meaning but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture."

Research and Epistemology - COP LECTURE 1

I actually found this lecture really helpful, when I really thought I wouldn't benefit from it at all.

Sometimes its really good to slowly review the steps of research that need to be undertaken. 

Things Ive taken from this lecture:

Research through doing, be experimental with my learning. 

Context is everything, research and is contents is more important than the outcome.

Exploration, experimentation and problem solving are all really important.

Fail, Fail again, Fail better. 

Ideas

1. Stimulated approach - looking at things that are external to you.

2. Systematic approach - take what I've found, change and modify it.

3. Intuitive approach.

Good research, taken from a variety of sources - don't just use wikipedia! Get information from books, by talking to people and then from the info gathered, analyse and ask questions- just keep learning more and more! 

Qualitative research - explores and understands peoples beliefs etc

"Research is creating new knowledge"

Knowing that... (theoretical)

Knowing how...(practical)

Knowing where...(contextual)

I must always be clear on the purpose of my research.

Think about what no one else has thought about. 

What is there to study? How can I find out more about it?

After this lecture I felt inspired to learn, and to want to know more about something. Now I just need to figure out what I want to know more about.

Context of Practice - Studio brief 1

Social 

• Being around and enjoying others company
• Relating to society or its organisation
• An informal social gathering, perhaps organised by a certain group or club

Historical

• Something that has past, could be an event in the past, something in history.
• Based on factual knowledge and materials as distinct from legends and stories. 
• Based on or suggested by history or material from the past. A historical account.

Cultural

• Either describes the customs, ideas and social behaviour of a society or it could be describing the arts and the intellectual achievements
• Relating to the habits, beliefs and traditions of certain people/groups.
• Relating to arts and intellectual achievements 

Technological 

• Relating to using technology, or characterised by technology.
• Technical processes that increase the productivity of machines.
• The knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their affiliation with life, society and the environment.

Political

• Relating to or dealing with the government or public affairs of a country
• Interested or active in politics.
• Political power in a country or society.

CULTURAL

Im choosing cultural as I feel its best suited to my interests, and feel I could do a lot more with it than some of the others. Im no good when it comes to Politics, but I really enjoy learning about the world and different cultures within. So hopefully this will be a good starting point.

3 quotes-

Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear, their table-talk, gossip, controversies, historical sense and scientific training, the values they appreciate, the quality of life they admire. All communities have a culture. It is the climate of their civilization.
Walter Lippmann

Culture is the tacit agreement to let the means of subsistence disappear behind the purpose of existence. Civilization is the subordination of the latter to the former.
Karl Kraus

If everybody is looking for it, then nobody is finding it. If we were cultured, we would not be conscious of lacking culture. We would regard it as something natural and would not make so much fuss about it. And if we knew the real value of this word we would be cultured enough not to give it so much importance.
Pablo Picasso

 Images-

Jing Zhang

 Lizzy Stewart

I like that she keeps little travel journals when she travels, something i'd like to think about...

Arunas Kacinskas

3 Photographs-

Steven McCurry

I went to a Steven McCurry exhibition in Birmingham when I was younger and it blew me away! 

Aaron Huey (also works for Nat Geo)

Alexandra Boulat

OUIL 401 End of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art

BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION

Level 04

OUIL401 Context of Practice Credits 20

End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME: TILLY BUTTERS

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you

think you have applied them?

During this module, I feel I have developed the skills to research a topic thoroughly

in order to extract the important and necessary sections of information. The subject

I studied was so great that it was crucial for me to highlight the important factors,

meaning research was vital. 

Making literature visual was also a skill that i gained from this module, and although 

I feel my visual outcome could have been better, I feel I tackled a difficult subject. I

had to change my ideas quite a few times in order to show what autism was, and

not to show my opinion on the subject, or tell people how to feel about it. This was

extremely difficult for me, however I think the end result is a reflection of what I

learnt.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have

they informed your practical outcomes?

Research was key for me, given that I didn't know anything about autism when I

started. Therefore I tried all methods of research. Books helped with factual

information, often very complex and scientific. Certain websites helped me to

understand an autistic persons point of view, and to empathise, which resulted

impacting my practical outcomes. It was important that I kept the balance between

a factual visual outcome and something I felt strongly about. 

I think my Petcha Kutcha presentation was based on how I felt much more than it

was informative. I took this on board when creating my visual diagram, and tried to

use all sources of information to create a clear diagram of what autism is, rather

than how I felt about it.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on

these?

My knowledge on the subject has expanded vastly since the beginning, and I feel

my strengths lie primarily in my research. Making such broad subject into one

visual diagram was also something I feel I did well. Given that the spectrum is so

broad, I really struggled with pin pointing the most important factors and then

turning them into an informative visual diagram. However Im happy with my

outcome, and feel I tackled my problems with this well. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these

in the future?

For me, my weaknesses are mainly in the visual research of my subject. I found it

really challenging to communicate what I knew and understood about autism, in a

way that the viewer would understand. I think i will give careful consideration before

choosing a topic so vast and complex next time, and make sure that I can visually

portray the subject before embarking on a very difficult journey with it. I would also

have liked to explore more methods of image making with this module, which is

something I will definitely do next time. 

5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of

Practice module?

1. Choosing something a little easier to make into a visual diagram, and

something that isn't so complex and dangerously easy to get wrong. 

2. The ability to translate an essay into a visual diagram on a subject with

such in-depth complexities should definitely help me to communicate

through drawing during the next module.

3. During this years context of practice i felt I had to do a lot of problem

solving in order to get to the end result, therefore tackling complicated

obstacles more effectively will definitely benefit my work next year. 

4. Blogging my research as I go would definitely benefit my research next

time, and perhaps drawing ideas as they come to me, rather than waiting

for the visual task to be set.

5. Petcha Kutcha has given me the confidence to talk passionately about a

subject I feel strongly about, which is definitely something I hope to build

on next year. 

Final piece and evaluation

Here is my final poster!

Im really pleased with the outcome, given how much I struggled with getting my ideas down on paper. This was by far the hardest thing Ive ever tried to communicate though imagery, and i will definitely pay careful consideration when deciding what to do for COP next year. There is far too much to try and communicate in one visual diagram when it comes to autism, but I think I managed to extract the most important factors. 

Things I would do differently next time:

• Perhaps make the man a little more hand drawn and add more tone, it looks too flat to me. 
• Made the boxes smaller in the brain so as to fit more information in.
• Choose an easier subject to illustrate!

On the whole Im happy. I feel I tackled so many problems with this brief, but it was worth it in the end. 

Colour palettes

Thought I'd make a load of variations of the final outcome, just to make sure I got the perfect one. Unfortunately my laptop crashed after I'd made my first final and I had to start over. But in some ways Im glad, as I think these came out much better. 

I like the coloured ones, but I want something that reflects a medical phrenology aesthetic. Therefore the one I'm going for is the bottom middle one. 

Final drawing

Here is my final design! Finally. Needs some touching up on photoshop, and I'll be adding colour digitally too, but this is the one. 

The sections I didn't mention before include:

The music- symbolising creativity again. Often autistic people have something they are amazing at that they tend to find as a release or an escape. 

The bird in the cage- represents the communication difficulties, how they might feel trapped in their own emotions, as in Isabella Arsenaults work. 

The lightbulb is based on something I read from an autistic persons blog. The quote was 'Autism makes things shine for me'

And the other is the shapes- these symbolise the patterns and obsessions that are often found in an autistic persons life. They often get lost in one subject, and find it incredibly interesting/therapeutic. 

Now to add the colour and type and get it finished! 

Ideas.

I thought about having the things that represent autism coming out of the head, however I decided against the idea, as I wanted to keep the poster simplistic and more professional, like a medical phrenology poster.

Therefore i will go with something like this. Still experimenting with what goes where and what to include at the moment. Don't think Ive ever voluntarily given myself something this hard to do!

Problem solving.

These were my initial ideas (before petcha kutcha). During my feedback after the presentation however, it was clear that I needed to change my ideas somewhat. I was trying to shine a positive light on autism, the bird symbolising freedom, acceptance, in a society where perhaps autistic people are marginalised. 

I completely agreed with my feedback though, I needed to hold up a mirror to what autism is, rather than show my thought on the subject.

After discussing phrenology with Richard, I started to rough some new possible outcomes. I really struggled with what to put in the brain, because autism isn't just one thing with an answer, its a spectrum disorder. In some ways, I wish I'd written about something else, but I guess problem solving is all part of the course!

So far I've got the puzzle to represent the symbol for autism. Paint brushes and pencils to show creativity, physical equations, these are both to show the gifts an autistic person might have. The eye with a cross through it for difficulty with eye contact. Need to work on some more ideas.