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