~ Sexual revolution - practical application ~

I've decided my essay question will be along the lines of how sexual revolution and sexuality affects the creative industry and vice versa. This is some initial research into applied creative examples that have relevance to the topic. Sexual revolution is known as being a movement and turning point from the 60's to the 80's where people became liberated and 'sex' became less of a taboo subject. Personally I think since then sex has become further revolutionised and fetish sex, homosexuality, gender fluidity are all becoming more prominently integrated into both culture and the general media.

Sarah Lucas' work is heavily influenced by sexual culture and feminism. Her work often breaks boundaries in the exploration of objectification of women and sex within modern day culture.

Egon Schiele and Sigmund Freud were known to be influenced by each other in their psychological and artistic practices. They predate what's known as the sexual revolution but their work is definitely relevant and considered as part of the revolution in modern day society due to their exploration of sexuality and its impression on our lives.

 Tracey Emin is also an influential contemporary artist who uses sexuality as a running theme within her work, often making statements on un-equality and sexual freedom.

Masters and Johnson were influential in the sexual revolution as they pioneered in the nature of human sexual response and the treatment of sexual disfunction. Despite being labeled as perverts by many in society they successfully went on to publish several books and inspire many to embrace their sexuality as a matter of pleasure and freedom rather than just a means to have children.

The 60's brought hippie subcultures together who produced psychedelic style graphic design and promotional material for the sexual revolution. With this also came Woodstock, the legendary marriage of peace, love, drugs, music and sex.

But for all the advertising promoting the sexual revolution came an equal amount trying to counteract this with posters like the one above. 

When looking at sexual expression through art a lot of the context behind them is feminism. They're expressions of the repression women feel in modern society and are themselves revolutionary. Activist groups such as the Guerrilla girls protest their rights as women in connection to women's overall rights and in terms of art.

The next step in a sexual timeline of ever growing revolution is the equality of women, transgender and genderfluid people.

~ Seminar 2 - parody and pastiche - OUGD501 ~

Analysis and comparison of The Politics of Postmodernism: Parody and History - Linda Hutcheon & Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism - Fredric Jameson

Just as modernism was a reaction to the progressive technological uprising at the time, postmodernism was a reaction against this in favour of looking back on our past in appreciation and using the enhancements of moving forward to socially appropriate already existing design aesthetics. Jameson's text directly expresses his Marxist opinion of pastiche and postmodernism being a negative and empty imitation of the past. In contrast Hutcheons celebrates postmodernism and the use of parody to mock modernism, rebel against bureaucracy and be critical against both the past and current political circumstance. 

One overall theme of Hutcheon's text is aimed at creatives (particularly modernists) with the desire to open their minds and show the potential of parody as a social and political tool to create change. From the offset the text defines Hutcheons opinion of modernism when described as
                 "the product of an alliance between bureaucracy and totalitarianism,                                      and singles out the great error of modern architecture in the break of                  
                 historical continuity. Solidarity's words should be meditated upon,                 
                 especially by those who have confused a great movement of collective 
                 consciousness with a passing fashion" (Hutcheon, 1989).
The text is arguing that postmodernism and parody are not infact "a systematic mimicry of their willful eccentricities" (Jameson, 1984), but instead are helpful in developing association between art and our own history to give external meaning beyond aesthetic and order to our design.

In contrast theme underlying opinion of Jameson's text is less about postmodernism being parody and instead being pastiche; an inaccurate reimagining of the past, just a bad imitation "without any of parody's ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of laughter and of any conviction alongside the abnormal tongue you have momentarily borrowed". He is making a statement about postmodernism being unoriginal and insignificant as it is the "cannibalization" of genuine history. Hutcheon's text argues against this ideology in saying "it's deliberate refusal to do so is not a naive one: what postmodernism does is to contest the very possibility of there ever being 'ultimate objects'", meaning it allows creatives to use past facts and experiences but not to their complete truth and be imaginative in orchestrating them into something as a whole that is new just using the past as a referent. 

One example of pastiche in contemporary culture is within Quentin Tarantino's films. The overall aesthetic and over-exaggerated, low effect gore is typical of exploitation and b-movie film and other aspects of clear inspiration.  Yet without being defined any one category he pays homage to the nostalgia felt by these sub genres by combining and recreating them within his own creations. 

Another example of pastiche is the design work of Stranger and Stranger. Their company ethos being "don't fit in, stand out" (stranger and stranger), they both pay homage to and cultivate the design styles of many different movements such as victorian woodblock type, americana etc. and make them more culturally appropriate (digitalisation for mass production).

An example of parody used in digital graphics is in the image below. It's a clear example of how parody can be used as political satire in the hope of creating cultural change. For writers, artists, filmmakers etc. that aren't in a dominant position of power within the community, postmodern parody can be a be a simple and effective way of sparking change within the masses, using the benefits of the internet revolution in particular without the need for money.

Another example of parody is the broadcasts and programmes by Charlie Brooker. His fictional programmes intelligently comment on both future and current dystopian issues regarding reliance on technology, politics and other cultural issues. He mocks the way our society is ran and controlled by creating suggestive scenarios showing how these regulations are damaging to our society's well being.

~ Seminar 1 - the death of the author - OUGD501 ~

need to set your own question - give it thought and do some research (giving subcultures an artistic voice?) what kind of designer do you want to be? what are your interests? kind of design you want to make? impactful?

Image Music Text- The Death of the Author - Roland Barthes (french philosophy - poststructuralist from the 60's)- Harvard reference = (Barthes.R. (1968) The Death of the Author in Image Music Text, Hammersmith London, Fontana Press, p142-148.)

Ideas at the core are relevant to design students and society in general. Theoretical lense on the world to inspire design.

(May 1968) Written in a social context of a revolutionary time in Europe, strikes in Paris, students supporting striking workers against the governments was never a revolution but still an uprising. You can find posters on this. Sexual and psychological revolution happening at this time around the world.

(Mischelle Fuko)

Auteur theory - Aims to if you can understand the signature style and personal opinions of the director you can understand the central meaning. Example - Van Gogh's painting is a reflection of his inner turmoil, angst towards the world.

Analysis of ‘death of the author’

Barthes uses ‘death of the author’ as an extensive metaphor for the social  oppositions taking place in Paris at the time it was written. Protests and revolutionary thinking were taking place all over Europe changing the ways general culture were thinking about society. In the context of 1968, Barthes uses quotes such as “the birth of the reader is the death of the author” to highlight the corrupt hierarchy people are born into and taught from their first contact with the educational system that is still relevant today. When he describes the author he says “The author is thought to nourish the book, which is to say that he exists before it, thinks, suffers, lives for it”  and the modern scriptor “born simultaneously with the text, is not way equipped with being preceding or exceeding the writing”. He’s making a statement about how others interpretation and emotional attachment to information shouldn’t be what affects us, instead we should have our own opinion on things without ‘authority figures’ telling us the appropriate and right way to feel and think. 

You can make a direct relevance to bathes’ thinking to the context in which its written but also to contemporary society. General media tells us to listen to our teachers, lecturers and the genius’ from a young age creating a society split into two sides, the dominant and the submissive. The place of the author (genius) in society creates an idea they have complete originality of ideas, something that only they are intelligent enough to come up with. When infact even them are just re-writing the knowledge collected over a series of events personal to them making collectively un-origional content we are expected to consider as genius. As our school syllabuses stay the same year on year not developing with the ever changing digital age nothing ever develops until someone argues against it and initiates change. The media tells us that popular culture is mindless and in-genius as a way of ensuring the hierarchy cannot be flipped and the general population do not become a threat to the genius’ opinion. As we are taught this is the normal way of thinking we believe the media (newspapers and news) but in reality were being told a one sided opinion of events rather than a general opinion. 

But things are changing, the internet revolution now means you can easily access the news articles you’ve always been taught to trust but comment sections on these web pages allow for opposition of opinion “the removal of the author” (Barthes, 1977). People are beginning to stand up to the structure of society and say they disagree and its something widely available for everyone and anyone from around the world to access. Its a whole new way of thinking, it just takes a comment from one person who opposes the opinion of a large corporation to spark something in others encouraging a more independent way of thinking; in turn this is beginning the change the hierarchical structure of our society.

“a text’s unity lies not in its origin but in its destination. Yet this destination cannot any longer be personal: the reader is without history” (Barthes, 1977): his philosophy questions who is the real author of text, image and anything creative. In terms of graphic design it means the work is an untraceable product derived from multiple metaphorical tissues of information and quotations we have read throughout life. Barthes is saying there is no fixed meaning within the world, literature, art and so on, just a more common knowledge and meaning that we are told to believe. He believes the author should be irrelevant when creating your own interpretation of text and art, instead we should look to interpret our own meaning derived from personal experience, knowledge and cultural reference in turn this would create a more free thinking society where we are less reliant on the dominant figures and become equal. 

This philosophy effects graphic design massively, designers have the power to influence opinion visually rather than through explanation which in a digital age where peoples attentions span to around 3 seconds is a much more effective way of starting revolution and creating change. An example of this idea in graphic design is modernism; texts and designs created by the authors of the style (Vignelli, Josef muller Brockmann etc.) Creates a series of rules thought to be the most effective way of designing according to popular belief. But the emerging postmodernist style goes against this controlled environment and encourages people to be more individual and free thinking with their design. The things created are still unoriginal as they are pieced together using already created programmes, colors, typefaces and ideas collected together but they are still more free from higher authority regulation and free to be interpreted according to personal views rather than anylised according to a set of rules.