#contextual analysis

Welcome back, wandering soul! The Ink-stained Archivist welcomes you to the Library of the Lost—where, for each lost soul, a story might be found.  Shall we resume our meandering exploration of my makeshift gallery?  Last we left off, I was describing Claude Monet’s glorious Giverny garden. Alas, the serenity that once reigned within its boundaries soon shattered. I’ll explain further. Walk…

A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ARTIFACTS IN THE NIGER STATE MUSEUM

A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ARTIFACTS IN THE NIGER STATE MUSEUM

Abstract:

The creative abilities of humans have allowed them through time to manipulate and control their mental and physical environment. An artefact is what man created or made from the natural recourses around him (Ahmad, 1989).This study is on the Niger State Museum in Minna .The problem of this study therefore, is the…

1996 saw 24 hit singles in the UK. The highest number since 1980! According to UK Charts Top Source Info (http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1996.shtml), the Spice Girls got three songs into the top 100 two of which in the top 10. Wanna be, which was released on July the 7th 1996, had topped the charts in 22 nations by the end of that year. By 1997 it had hit America and topped the Billboard Hot 100.

1996 saw songs from artists like Peter Andre, Oasis, Michael Jackson, U2 and George Michael topping the charts. Although there are large differences between The Spice Girls and the above listed, it shows that Wanna Be really was riding the wave of what was normal at the time. More evidence of this in the two other songs from The Spice Girls reaching the top 100.

Looking at the music video for this song, it looks like a very clear comment on the upper classes. The majority of the video shows The Spice Girls wreaking havoc in an expensive hotel in London called St. Pancras Grand Hotel. They rush into the building, pushing past security and throwing away the guest list, dancing on the tables and generally causing trouble. While an attack on the upper classes is an easy meaning to read into this video, at the very start, the girls are seen dancing up to and then stealing the hat from a homeless man on the street. This is an act that is later repeated with a priest in the hotel. This is something that, to me, suggests that this is less a social comment video and more a statement that The Spice Girls are outside all classes and will not conform to the class system, social norms or even, in stealing from a homeless man, standard morality.

Something else that was released in 1996 was the book ‘Born to rebel: Birth order, family dynamics, and creative lives’. Written by Sulloway, Frank J, this book covers a few subjects including the affects that the order of sibling’s births, their gender and other outside influences can have on their development as people. In one online abstract, the American Psychotically Association say, “Frank J. Sulloway's most important finding is that the eldest children identify with parents and authority, and support the status quo, whereas younger children rebel against it.”. This finding, and The Spice girls flaunting a rebellious attitude in the music video, seems at odds as four out of the five Spice Girls have between one and three younger siblings. A possible conclusion that we can draw from this is that the Spice Girls, as with the majority of pop artists, were being influenced and directed by their label, manager, video director etc. Something that, in the last 21 years, does not seem to have changed.

Lyrically, Wannabe is about the girls wanting a partner that is committed, willing to contribute to the relationship and can get “Get along with my friends”.

In conclusion, this song does not seem to be doing anything new with technology, instrumentation or lyrics. While not innovative, this song reached number one for 1996, in my opinion, because it is catchy. Number one from last year (2016) was Sia’s Cheap Thrills ft. Sean Paul. Both Cheap Thrills and Wannabe have the sound of their time. This is something that shows in the more dance friendly electronic beat as well as the lyrics “Till I hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor”, something that is obviously going to encourage people to dance in a night club, places that it has become far more common for people to listen to music over the last 21 years.

//Unit 10: Photography// -I decided to complete a contextual analysis for some photography work, to identify how nature and nurture have been portrayed previously, and aspects I may wish to take forward into my own work. -Bill Brandt is a British photographer and photojournalist, born 2nd May, 1904 in Hamburg, Germany, and died on 20th December, 1983 in London, England. This image is “Dubuffet’s Eye”, taken in 1960, in Archival Pigment. The piece depicts a close up on an eye of an aged individual in black and white. Though the photography genre isn’t stated, the piece is most likely to be reportage, as the image was taken by a photojournalist. There is a theme of close ups of eyes on various individuals, all in black and white. The angle of shot is front-on, as to not distort the subject, with a very unique composition; only the selected aspect of the individual is present, with no other aspects of the face and a total lack of background, drawing the attention to the eye and nothing else. The piece is monochromatic, mainly due to the time of the photograph, with low contrast due to the lack of editing and natural lighting. The piece was completed using Archival Pigment. I feel that the artist’s work is similar to the work of Edward Weston, as Weston photographs subjects incredibly close up and also in black and white, with a lack of background. The piece hasn’t been distorted, leaving the image natural and realistic in appearance. The piece seems to be part of a collection as it is similar to the works “Tapies’ eye”, “Glacometti’s eye” and “Jean Arp’s eye”, though there is no title to the possible collection. I feel that the photographer’s aim could’ve been to realistically show the eye and capture the details surrounding it e.g., age, which I feel he was successful in doing. There are no exact intentions of the piece stated. I decided to look into Brandt’s work as he focuses on individual aspects of an individual, which I could respond to by looking into each aspect and seeing if the part is a result of nature or if it has been affected by nurture, relating to my own project.

-Angelika Krinzinger is an Austrian photographer, born 1969, and began her work as a photographer in Vienna, Austria, 1988. This piece is Untitled, and depicts a single, close-up nipple, and was taken in 2005. Her photography is incredibly abstract, as there is no particular genre of which I feel the work falls into. There is a theme of abstract eroticism, as the works are from a collection “Fragments of Reality”, all consisting of three parts; nipples, eyes and lips-all sensual areas of the human body. The angle of shot is front-on and close up, showing the full nipple, though slightly distorted due to scale. The composition is unique, as it has no particular foreground or background-just the nipple covering the entire image, allowing us to focus on nothing else. The image is full colour with regular amounts of contrast, in order to keep the image natural in appearance and not exaggerate the details of the area. The image also seems to have been taken in natural lighting, enhancing the natural beauty and appeal of the area. The process of production seems to be digital camera/photography, as the printed image is inkjet on paper. Her work is similar to some of the works of Bill Brandt, particularly pieces in his ‘nude’ collections, showing areas of the body close-up and in natural lighting, with small amounts of contrast to keep a natural effect, though Brandt’s work is monochromatic, and Krinzinger’s is in full colour. The image appears distorted due to the scale, though is actually an incredibly realistic view as nothing has been enhanced, and is part of the collection “Fragments of Reality”. I feel that Krinzinger’s intentions were to show traditionally sensual parts of the body in a natural and realistic way and to truly make us think about why we find them appealing, which I feel she was successful in doing. I decided to look at her work as I feel that the aspects of the body that she photographs could be linked back to/show differences in nature or nurture, relating to my project.

Rupert Vandervell - Remain in Light - 2013

       - documentary style

       - gritty allure + shadow

       - rule of thirds

       - shallow/deep depth of field