JBlog

Principles for Buiding Better Cities - Peter Calthorpe

“More than half of the world's population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way we build new cities will be at the heart of so much that matters, from climate change to economic vitality to our very well-being and sense of connectedness. Peter Calthorpe is already at work planning the cities of the future and advocating for community design that's focused on human interaction. He shares seven universal principles for solving sprawl and building smarter, more sustainable cities.”

“..social well-being, economic vitality, sense of community and connectedness.”

Assessment Three:

Final Works & Concept Statement 

For my final work, I wanted to combine aspects from previous works whilst further developing the concepts which I had explored earlier in the semester, continuing on with the topic from Assessment Two, Week two - Experimentation and Contemplation. I chose to focus in on the specific themes addressed in Assessment Two, inspired by Nikki de Saint Phalle - political protest directed towards specific modern issues. Furthermore, adding aspects from other artists explored in Week Two into my last piece, for example, the playfulness and protest found in Jonothan Messe’s works.

I wanted to challenge my skills with digital media for this work, utilizing Adobe Photoshop, Picasa, and Lucidpress. My first experiment involved creating cut outs of each politician, stuck on to a backdrop of text from speeches relating to their controversial forthcomings - the text turned upside down represents ’upside down views’ and bold is utilized to highlight areas of the transcript. Another experiment involved creating three sound files using Garageband and Soundcloud, again using audio from relevant speeches, then overlapped with the sound of crying. Then, combining what I had learned through my investigation, I wanted to create one final piece that would complete this series of works.

After further research, I found images of relevant and modern political protests that were targeted at each specific figure, then, using Adobe Photoshop I edited, layered and merged these images into three separate final pieces. In the first image, you see Trump’s headshot, juxtaposed with an image of a Muslim protest. After this, you see Hanson’s headshot contrasting with a rally directed personally towards the figure and her policies. Lastly, Turnbull is portrayed juxtaposed with a colorful gay pride rally. The relationships between these groups were explored in depth throughout Assessment Two and here I have attempted to recreate that same sense of meaning which was originally conveyed through video and sound, but rather through a powerful still image.

Joseph Akkary

Pauline Hanson’s ‘Maiden Speech’ (1996)

Mr Acting Speaker, in making my first speech in this place, I congratulate you on your election and wish to say how proud I am to be here as the Independent member for Oxley. I come here not as a polished politician but as a woman who has had her fair share of life's knocks.

My view on issues is based on common sense, and my experience as a mother of four children, as a sole parent, and as a businesswoman running a fish and chip shop. I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my comment that Aboriginals received more benefits than non-Aboriginals.

We now have a situation where a type of reverse racism is applied to mainstream Australians by those who promote political correctness and those who control the various taxpayer funded 'industries' that flourish in our society servicing Aboriginals, multiculturalists and a host of other minority groups. In response to my call for equality for all Australians, the most noisy criticism came from the fat cats, bureaucrats and the do-gooders. They screamed the loudest because they stand to lose the most – their power, money and position, all funded by ordinary Australian taxpayers.

Present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, moneys and facilities available only to Aboriginals. Along with millions of Australians, I am fed up to the back teeth with the inequalities that are being promoted by the government and paid for by the taxpayer under the assumption that Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in Australia. I do not believe that the colour of one's skin determines whether you are disadvantaged. As Paul Hasluck said in parliament in October 1955 when he was Minister for Territories: (continued in link below)

- http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pauline-hansons-1996-maiden-speech-to-parliament-full-transcript-20160914-grgjv3.html

Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘Plebiscite Speech’ (2016)

Mr Speaker, I present to the House today the commitment that we made in the election campaign to put the question of whether same-sex couples will be allowed to marry under Australian law to the Australian people in a plebiscite.

Now, we believe that that commitment is one that all members of this Parliament should support and respect. It is thoroughly democratic. It is thoroughly democratic. Every Australian will have their say.

And if the Opposition support the plebiscite in the Senate, the plebiscite can be held on the 11th of February, which is the soonest practicable date.

Now, Mr Speaker, there has been over the years, relatively recent years, a very rapid change in attitudes to same-sex marriage, to same-sex couples, indeed. And all of us have seen the way in which one discrimination or disadvantage for same-sex couples was removed - whether it was initially with respect to social welfare legislation, pension’s legislation. I remember very well the debate within the Howard government in its last year about whether same-sex couples should have equal rights in respect of Commonwealth and defence superannuation and to John Howard's great credit, he supported that change and took it to the 2007 election.

So, there has been a series of changes over time and the one issue that has not been addressed is the issue of marriage.

Indeed, I remember discussing this point with President Bush many years ago, at the time of APEC in 2007, when we were discussing what were the big moral issues in Australian politics, and we talked about this issue of equal access to superannuation, and I remember the President said: "Well, those are all issues of financial fairness. The big moral issue is the one about marriage."

And we have to respect that it is a very big moral issue. It is an issue of conscience. It is an issue of conscience for millions of Australians who have different views on it - and sincerely held views. And it is vital that we respect all of those views in this debate.

I would say to all honourable members, it is utterly wrong - it is utterly wrong and it shows dreadful leadership on the part of Parliamentarians to characterise those people who do not believe the Parliament should change the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to be married, to characterise them as being homophobic, as hating homosexuals - this is so often being injected into the narrative at the moment, it is profoundly disrespectful. (continued in link below)

- https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/speech-introduction-of-the-plebiscite-same-sex-marriage-bill-2016

Donald Trump’s ‘Inaugural Speech’ (2017)

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.

Today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people.

For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment, it belongs to you.

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. (continued in link below)

Experiment using Adobe Photoshop:

Audio Experimentation Continued: 

Audio Experimentation Continued: 

I am continuing to experiment with my final work and challenge myself with digital mediums. For this final piece, I have used sound. In this audio clip, you hear a girl crying, whilst Donald Trump gives his inaugural speech in Washington, DC. 

In these works I continued with my previous theme, attempting to find different ways to convey the same message through a still image.

Here I have found images of the political figures, along with speeches that related to their political personas and controversial forthcomings. The text behind Trump is his 2016 inaugural speech, the text behind Hanson is her infamous 1996 maiden speech, and the text behind Turnbull is his 2016 speech regarding the plebiscite in the house of Australian parliament. The text is turned upside down in representation of their upside down views and I have used bold to highlight certain parts of the text, for different reasons. 

A3 - Initial Research

In order to create my work for assessment three, I first wanted to revisit what I had learned in my chosen wee; Week Two - Experimentation and Contemplation.

I looked over the slides shown in class along with my notes and wrote down things that caught my attention most. Wolfgang Laib’s work stood out its ritualistic nature with Wolfgang describing it as “essence of experience coming into an artwork”. I also liked some of the concepts in Jonathan Messe’s works such as how he utilizes color, playfulness, and movement within his work. I want to somehow incorporate these practitioners ideas into my work. 

Additionally,  I wanted to bring aspects from my two earlier works in the semester. This includes my first assessment which was based on experimentation with an everyday object. My second group work was inspired by Nikki de Saint Phalle and was a modern political piece focused on making a statement and the visualization of emotional release. 

Our group was asked to choose one weekly class topic and then to focus on a single artist or designer from that week, reflect on its engagement and respond with a final work. Our group chose ‘Contemplation and Experimentation’ (week two) and artist, Niki de Saint Phalle.

Nikki St de Phalle constructed her works shooting guns filled with paint which created bleak abstract expressionist pieces, brimming with raw emotion. St de Phalle personifies the canvas she works on in the creation process “shooting at society and its injustices”. We chose to engage with St de Phalle’s process remaking and remixing it into a piece that incorporated modern influences.

Each of our canvases was set up on a white backing, with acrylic paint-filled balloons secured to the top of the canvas, with two video cameras set up on tripods in order to document the process. We then threw darts at the canvas in an attempt to pop the balloons. Once all of the balloons had exploded, an image revealed itself from underneath the mess of color. After this was complete, we then moved to editing and enhancing our piece. Using the footage from both video cameras and software we edited, enhanced and added sound to complete our final work.

The political figures and colors that we chose were intentional and significant. For Donald Trump we utilized red and green, symbolizing the Mexican flag, highlighting the recent and ongoing controversy that his presence has created for the United States and its international image. A comparative Australian political figure, Pauline Hanson, was chosen for similar reasons including her outspoken stance on nationalism and racial profiling - red and blue were chosen for Hanson to represent the Australian flag. Malcolm Turnbull is depicted in purple, green, yellow, orange and blue in a representation of the Gay Pride flag and Turnbull’s failure to modernize and promote equality in modern Australia.

- Joseph, Kirsten, Zac & George.

Yesterday, our group got together to carry out our work for assessment two. After borrowing two cameras and tripods from campus, we went to the painting studios to carry out the first part of our experiment. 

We found a space where we could set up, covered the general area with white paper to ensure minimal mess was made. After protecting the area, we mounted each of our three canvases, setting them up with water balloons overhead - filled with a solution of paint and water. For each canvas, our group and some honors students then threw darts at the canvas in an attempt to pop the paint balloons - which was harder than initially expected. 

Last week in class, we were given a group assessment. For this assessment, we have been asked to choose one of the weekly topics and then to focus on one artist or designer from that week, who had effectively conveyed the topic. 

Our group has chosen: Week Two - Contemplation and Experimentation. Artist/Designer - Niki de Saint Phalle 

Colour Walk

I gave myself an undefined amount of time in order to complete my color walk. Without a plan, I began walking, attempting sensitized and guided by unconscious preference. I first noticed my favorite color, yellow. Which was followed by greens, beiges, grays, red and browns; being the most abundant of the spectrum which was available. 

There were also other, less prominent colors I observed during my color walk; purples, blues and shades of orange. I found it intriguing that my eye was more drawn to the hotter and warmer colors, rather than the cooler, more relaxing tones. 

I focused in on these warmer tones (yellow & red), which I found attractive and noticed that more often than not, these colors were working with one another. Yellow, I saw as a symbol of dignity, integrity, and peace, visible through its structural and textual qualities. Red, I saw as passionate, cautioning and strong, visible through its placement and vibrancy. 

These two colors were often seen juxtaposing one another via altering shades green. I saw this as a story of ones free will in life; with the angel on our shoulder being 'yellow' and 'red' being the devil in our ear. Both are essential to our learning and when in our natural environment, work in sync to create a harmonious outcome.