#assessment 2

Juvenile Corruptions Part 2

(Juvenile Corruptions Collection, Paper-cut, Aileen Heal, 2018)

Featuring:

(Macerated Male, Juvenile Corruptions Collection)

(Fur Coat, Juvenile Corruptions Collection)

Assessment 2 - Experiment 3

The conflict explored between binaries creates depth in art and design as two opposing forces are explored and experimented with. My poster design largely explores the relationship between the defined and the unknown, a rather politically driven binary being explored in our society today. By playing with contrast, contrasting colours, contrasting figures, contrasting forms and contrasting values I have been able to create a piece showing the benefit of allowing space for both the old and the new, for the known and the unknown.

The defined black and white portrait in the background, is representative of an older way of thinking, that for something to be beautiful it must adhere to conventional ideas of beauty and aesthetics.

Concept Statement | Bibliography  

For my first assessment, I explored how conflict is good and is a necessity for the development of a strong community.  For my second assessment, I continue to explore the conflict aspect within my question. This time, however, I wanted to directly challenge the question, as the question implies that collaboration in arts always brings communities together and that there is always a solution to the conflict. My final work conveys the idea that collaboration may not always bring communities together because sometimes conflicts within collaborations cannot be resolved regardless of how much effort is put in.

When I think of conflicts I think of opposing forces between two or more individuals. This led to me exploring and experimenting with materials that display signs of opposing forces such as magnetic forces, oil and water and opposite flavours.  During these experiments, I was able to relate the interactions between the opposing forces within the object that I was experimenting with to how we behave in a collaborative environment where conflict is present. Realising this link and observing the objects gave me a better understanding of conflicts and why sometimes it can’t be resolved. The objects capture different aspects of conflict rather than one homogenous idea of two parties fighting. I really like this idea of exploring different aspects of conflict rather than looking at it as a whole and felt that it is something that I want to incorporate in my final work to help show how conflict may not always be resolved and why collaboration may not always work.

To help me develop an idea for my final work where I can achieve this, I researched how other artists have captured different aspects of conflicts in their work. I discovered artist Mona Hatoum who uses internal conflicts in her design to challenge our expectation and perception of every day. To an extent, I am using conflict to challenge our expectation and perception of conflicts. Hatoum’s aim to challenge our expectation and perception and her method of adding a design conflict to an everyday item to achieve this is a method that I plan to use in my own work. I felt it was an effective way to get the audience to challenge their expectations.

The expectation and perception aspects reminded me of commercial products. As commercial products, especially “As seen on TV” products often challenge your expectation and perception of a product. Due to the often-disappointing nature of the products after purchase. This too can relate to conflicts in collaboration. As consumers have an expectation of products to be good but sometimes they are disappointed by the products as their expectations are not met. Similar to how expects the collaboration to run smoothly but sometimes we are disappointed by how this is not always possible. They both desire an expectation for something but sometimes they are faced with the reality that their expectation cannot be met.

I decided to incorporated my experiments into commercial products that could be interacted with, adding a conflicting design element to it that represent different human behavioural aspects of conflicts. The use of commercial products represents how a good collaboration is something that we desire but may not always be possible. Each product has 2 labels on top of each other. The labelling of the products as “Community Brand” represents how the idea and aspect that is being represented is present in communities. The top labels have an instruction claiming that doing so would allow for achieving a successful aspect of collaboration. The instruction cannot be achieved due to the conflicting element design. The top label has an obvious tab, signalling the viewer that the top label should be removed, reviewing the bottom label that showing the true intent of the product as an aspect of conflict of collaboration and that the conflicting element reflects it.

Smell of great/bad chemistry | The conflicting element here is water and oil. Water and oil cannot mix due to its different chemistry. Representing how we desire to get along with everyone, however, sometimes regardless of how hard we try we just cannot get along with them.

Cube of Great Minds/Single Mindedness | The conflicting element here is opposing magnetic forces. The opposing magnetic forces show the magnet from aligning with each other. Representing how we desire for everyone to agree with each and to share the same idea, however, sometimes regardless of how hard we try not everyone will agree with each other.

Elixir of Sweetness/Sourness | The conflicting element here is the expectation of sweetness but receiving sourness instead. Representing how we want to work with people who are kind and supportive, however, sometimes we will have to work with people who are nasty.

Bibliography

“Capturing conflict through art”, Khan Academy, 2015, viewed on 13September 2018, https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/tate/conflict-contradiction/art-and-conflict/a/what-about-internal-conflict-in-art

“What about Internal conflict in art?”, Khan Academy, 2015, viewed on 13September 2018, https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/tate/conflict-contradiction/art-and-conflict/a/what-about-internal-conflict-in-art

Arteffusion, “Untitled (Wheelchair) by Mona Hatoum”, Arteffusion, August 2017, viewed on the 14 September 2018, https://arteffusion.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/untitled-wheelchair-by-mona-hatoum/

B. Geiger, “Sweet and Sour Opposing Forces”, Fine Cooking, [No Date], viewed on the 8 September 2018, https://www.finecooking.com/article/sweet-and-sour-opposing-forces

C. Davies, “Eyewitness: a war artist in Afghanistan”, The Guardian, March 2010, viewed on the 13 September 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/18/jules-george-war-artist-afghanistan

Flavie Audi 

Super Zoom — 2018 Resin, Glass, Stainless steel , 200 × 80 × 10 cm

Over the weekend I conducted a photo shoot, in which different selections of the rags I have collected and made were modeled on a human body. I would also like to take some photographs of the same rags, but in a different context, perhaps in piles or boxes, on the ground, to see how that changes their meaning and the way we view them. 

This is a selection of the photographs I took, and I would like to cut this number down further for the final assessment, however I have yet to decide which ones to use, especially in the final ‘outfit’. I am also considering whether or not to edit any of the images. At the moment I am leaning towards just leaving them as they are. I quite like the very simple, pared back look they have - it stops them looking too much like a modeled photoshoot (that is the same reason my model didn’t wear any makeup or do anything fancy with her hair, though I know some of the shots are quite posed), and also adds to the somewhat grungy aesthetic of the rags. It does make the photos seem somewhat washed out, but again I quite like this effect, as it reflects the rags themselves, which are washed out versions of their original selves.