19/10
Paper Magazine
Issue September 1999
Extreme Agression
I found these works intriguing. There is something daring to it. Anger and rage. A woman shouting, a woman gripping tightly the newspaper while watching an airplane, nails becoming claws, veins popping out. The vivid colours were what drew me first but the expressions and the composition were unique yet comical. I thought of portraying this sort of energy in my poster.
30/09
Caitlin Taduran
Consumerism
Beauty having a barcode. A woman having a barcode. Everything eventually is going to have a barcode and price tag. That is the world Caitlin Taduran was willing to show. I was interested as how she materialised beauty and added a superficial value to a woman.
30/09
Dotmasters
Where there’s muck there’s brass
Trash n' Cash
Supreme Cash
Degrading brands and their values. Simple as that. I thought how Dotmasters conveyed their mssage was effective and direct without any particular need of explanation. The shadows were drawn beautifully and there is almost an artificial feel to it.
30/09
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (I shop therefore I am)
Reimagining Descartes' "I think, therefore I am", Barbara Kruger's work represent explicitly how our existence is entirely shaped by our purchases. These acquisitions are covers of your own self as we clothe and eat with what we buy.
22/09
Preparation task
PART ONE
pre 1950
Fragrance Honeysuckle 1936
This piece caught my eyes when I was flipping through the London Underground Collection of Posters. Although small in size (in that book), I became fond of the graphics and the portrayal of the flowers. It is not overly excessive, yet, it seems elegant and has a sense of opulence. The colours are rather simple but I especially liked how few there were and the use of them. The font is nice, bold and geometric unlike the flowers, that gives them a nice contrast and a certain modern feel to it.
1950-2000
Yume tsuzure, 1979
Although the photos themselves are from the photographer Fujiwara Shinya, these two posters were included in Ikko Tanaka's collection of works. The organisation of the photographic album was in fact done by the latter and it was interesting to see how he structured the works when his style is so different from Fujiwara's. The pictures were eye-captivating but the posters themselves were beautiful. The way he put a fine red text enhances the delicacy of the photos and the white texts seem like a story is being told. I was drawn by the pictures at first but I love the composition of the posters.
post 2000
ASM, 200
Although this may look like the oldest of the three posters, it is actually from the 21st century and the most recent one. It has a vintage effect with the black and white colours and the newsprint type of layering, however the content of this poster is strange and absurd and defies the codes of the norm. I was especially pulled by the visuals, the subject matter. It seems like a collage of a head of a man and a miniature garden placed in a box, coming out of this man's eyes. The use of the space is astonishing and the ideas are impressive. The font seems like cut out letters, each one of them unique and it does not seem like a simple copy-paste process. I love the monochromatic look and the overall peculiar feel that it has.
30/09
Andy Warhol
Campbell's Soup Cans, Andy Warhol
Repetitive illustrations of Campbell's soup can. Almost identical drawings that are repeated 31 times. The implication of mass production and a repetitive process behind it. Such things could be noted while observing this famous piece. We can say that our market is driven for such monotone aspect of life and does not appreciate enough diversity and uniqueness. Art itself is one of a kind and personal but this work of art shows ironically how our society has become homogenised and lost an interest in art as a whole. The piece is overwhelming, as if the cans are surrounding you. The size of it is gargantuan, each canvas measuring 51 x 41 cm making it 204 x 328 cm overall (without counting the spaces in between the canvases). It is a mock to consumerism and the business behind it.
30/09
Paper Magazine
Issue September 2001
The Winners
There seems to be an alternate world in every single frame. Amy Sedaris is Miss Congeniality, Alicia Silverstone Miss Zero Fatalities. It's like having a doll house in one frame and the image conveys a whole different universe on its own. I thought I could take example of these images and incorporate such aspects in my poster.
30/09
Dazed Magazine
Issue 1994
A bizarre, psychedelic page of sunflowers. The supersaturated advertisement is eye-catching. The writing seems blurred along with the sunflowers, almost transparent. This entire page is interesting to observe: how much visual material they use, how they are harmoniously put together etc.
27/09
Ron English
Super Supper
The Last Supper converted in a fast food version. This work was attention grabbing as it altered the masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci and developed a criticism on consumerism that was relevant to my project. In modern days, fast food are being praised and have god-like value to some while the artistry of cuisine and home-made food is less appreciated. A meal is one click away and we don't take the time to cook and use our 5 senses to eat. Eating itself is often a symbolic element in mythology and society nowadays are only focused on speed and efficiency, which is a little saddening.
23/09
Duane Hanson
The Shopper
A woman shopping. Simply that. However I find it very interesting how the artist created the sculptures of the woman. Slightly overweight. Nothing absurd or wrong. But the fact that the artist portrayed a woman in her 30-40s that has such body-shape highlights the theme of overconsumption in modern society. Full cart, filled with goods. None of them are quite visible except their colours. But it seems like they do not have a great importance. They have been placed like one would shop in real life: slightly organised but overall a disarray. Once the article is placed in the cart, we do not pay attention to it afterwards, they become one of them. One of our purchases. It shows how unimportant the goods are really is and how the act of shopping has more significance to us rather than what we buy. The woman herself is looking forward and not to her shopping cart. We can learn from this work that we are as a matter of fact, involved more in the process of shopping rather than the quality /value of the goods.
23/09
Banksy
Jesus Christ with Shopping Bags
A religious symbol, one of the holiest of all holding shopping bags. A sacred figure during his death, displaying, or even commemorating shopping. To show how much he has shopped and what he has shopped. The bags seem quite expensive looking (not plastic supermarket type shopping bags) and are carefully wrapped with ribbons. The amount of bags evokes the gobbling of brands and products. But a purchase of one brand is not enough. It unveils how we buy brands only to showcase and how the inside has little value. It is ironic how the ribbons in magenta emphasise the bags and the act of shopping opposed to Jesus Christ. Thus, it implies our devotion to purchase and consumption compared to religion or other pratiques/elements that are valuable to one's own belief.