RENAE (FROGS) - A VISUAL PROJECT ASSESSING EMPATHY IN POPULAR (INTERNET) CULTURE

I am incredibly pleased with my outcomes regarding this project. I think the images above not only convey Kermit in an intelligent, empathetic way, but also the paintings they were inspired by.  I deliberately picked paintings that are supposed to evoke emotion, whether it is the stern nature of Woods’ American Gothic, or the loneliness and existentialism of Gogh’s Gate to Eternity. 

continued sketchbook work from my project assessing empathy in popular  (internet) culture A3, 4B PENCIL

after having multiple consultation on my essay, I was suggested to have place Kermit, being the iconic character he is, in iconic situations- big brand advertisements, more specifically. but I didn’t feel inspired by this. while iconic imagery is something I am incredibly interested in, marketing is not, even if ironic. but it was this suggestion that led me to place Kermit in different iconic imagery to create empathy using popular culture- the iconography of fine art. 

after having consulted a lecturer again, they stated that while this was a comical and intelligent idea, the images didn’t communicate what I wanted to communicate- empathy. and this is true. Kermit is an empathetic caricature of a frog, but placing him in “famous” paintings meant nothing; perhaps to people who love and understand fine art such as myself, but they were not operating in an all-encompassing and immediate way of “oh, I know exactly how that feels”. 

continued digital work (for future screen printing) from my project assessing empathy in popular (internet) culture  PHOTOSHOP CC

for further experimentation towards my final pieces, I decided to adapt some of my previous sketches into screen print designs. when I was drawing these, I did actually have screen printing in mind- the images above are intentionally economic and simple for this reason. the black shapes next to the images are certain elements of the drawings I would like to highlight through screen printing in different colours; more specifically, red, blue and green. 

continued digital work from my project assessing empathy in popular  (internet) culture PHOTOSHOP CC

I was initially inspired by the painting of Gnome Child (left); how someone turned such a pixellated image into something that resembles early portraiture of the 1900s- dim lighting, smoothed features, etc., this painting was originally created for game use by user AliBaba1337 on gamebanana.com. while my digital painting is not designed for the same use, I wanted to experiment with the concept of Kermit. 

continued sketchbook work from my project assessing empathy in popular  (internet) culture A5, BRUSH PENS, COPIC MARKERS, 3B PENCIL, INK BRUSH PEN, INK PEN

these drawings are based on Gnome Child, a Runescape meme (2014), Simpson Wave (present day) and emoji culture (present day).  

Gnome Child is a type of non-player character featured in the massively multiplayer online roleplaying video game Runescape that has gained notoriety for its tendencies to respond with bizarre and philosophical quotes when approached by the player. I really enjoyed the shape (or, lackthereof) of gnomechild, and also the existential nature behind the meme, often placed side by isde with the phrase, “BORN TOO LATE TO EXPLORE THE EARTH, BORN TO EARLY TO EXPLORE THE GALAXY, BORN JUST IN TIME TO BROWSE DANK MEMES.”

the pixellated nature of this image, while interesting, was particularly hard to convert into a drawn illustration, so I spent a lot of time fixating on the economic shape of his head, feminising his appearance as I did with Kermit and obsessing over the text.

A VISUAL PROJECT ASSESSING EMPATHY IN POPULAR CULTURE

I first got the idea of a visual project assessing empathy in popular culture when reading The Oxford Student article, “Tag Urself and the Aesthetics of Empathy”. relating to memes as satirical way of coping within the modern world is not uncommon in Generation Z adults. having grown up without the outlet of the internet, being able to relate with complete strangers in a niche, funny way on a global scale has a certain charm to it. around this time, I was also thinking very literally about empathy in popular culture- the imagery we see around us on a daily basis through illustration to photographs. this is evidenced in my mood board which depicts subjects such as 

Donald Trump’s presidency

people of colour

ambiguous illustrations

popular memes regarding free speech, the smotion of confusion and respecting women

my own art

surrealist illustration

I think my love and, realistically, vicarious way with Kermit the Frog blossomed sometime after I had gotten into the meat of my essay, “How does Illustration provide an empathetic/interpretive space for the reader/viewer?”. 2017 was a big year for Kermit- he was used from describing everything from negative emotion, mental illness and guilt to love, respect and affection (as seen at the bottom of this post). 

I began to grow an affinity for this little green frog that had become the vehicle for so many feelings and shared concepts, which is why I started to draw him expressing some of my own feelings- feminine sexuality, and ultimately, I think, my struggle with gender. Kermit, like many of these memes, is a perfect object for projection. Why? Because besides being comical, he is faceless. This is how empathy is accomplished across the board a lot of the time. My initial drawings aimed to personalise him.