Nicola Hicks

Nicola Hicks is a British sculptor and illustrator who had been bought up around art as both her parents were artists. The artwork she creates is a unique combination of natural and organic substances, as her drawings and paintings are of beasts both usual and peculiarly created,  while her sculptures are made of anything from straw to stones although her most influential sculptures are those that are made from clay and straw.

The alternative figures she creates are weird and wonderful as the skilful way they have been crafted really brings then to life despite their rough material as she has read the body language of people and transferred that into her sculptures. Her work in general could be described as wholly distinctive as I could always pick out a Hick’s work in a line up as although all her works are different they have a general feel to them.

Her drawings are vigorous, generally large and invariably life-sized, as are her sculptures. As she draws from observation she is given a confidence of the form that is understood and recalled convincingly even if it’s not anatomically correct, this process allows her to reveal the emotion in animals and her animal hybrids.

Research:

http://www.flowersgalleries.com/artists/118-artists/3848-nicola-hicks/#/section-work/

Hicks, N. 'Nicola Hicks' (1999) Momentum

A Demand for Thomas

Thomas Demand

Being a sculptor and a photographer Thomas demand has found a unique approach that makes all of his images stand out from the crowd. He makes images of rooms and other spaces that initially look real but are, in fact, three-dimensional models, mostly life sized, meticulously constructed entirely from coloured paper and cardboard. My favorite image that Demand has created has to be those that are outside, such as the outside of a house that appears to be covered in ivy. I think it’s the intricate detail of each leaf that makes the image work for me as it makes the scene seem like a fairy tale.

Once he has photographed his re-created environments, always devoid of figures but often displaying evidence of recent human activity, Demand destroys his models, further complicating the relationship between reproduction and original that his photography investigates.

“If art makes you feel something, then the expense is worth it.” Thomas Demand

So as he considers his work as art and he pushes the medium of photography it’s these qualities that will keep his artwork original and iconic.

Research:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/apr/25/thomas-demand-artist-photographer

Modernism/postmodernism

What is modernism?

¨     Based on social change and technology

¨     Never focused on today but on the tomorrow

¨     Example: industrial revolution

The course of action for modernisation is to create new human environments and destroy old ones, speed up the tempo of life, cause democratic upheavals from ancestral habits and finally to create an ever expanding, drastically capitalist world.

Affects of modernisation based on Marx theory:

Problem....

¨     Machinery capable of reducing human labour but we see them starving and overworked

¨     Man masters nature but is enslaved by other men

Solution....

¨     Revolution – over throw the bourgeois

What is postmodernism?

Firstly it need to be noted that the term postmodernism is grammatically wrong, as post means after, whereas postmodernism is actually running alongside modernism so if anything I find it easier to think of postmodernism as anti-modernism as it supports an opposite cause.

Postmodernism rejects Western values and beliefs as only a small part of the human experience and often rejects such ideas, beliefs, culture, and norms.

Affects of postmodernism based on Nietzsche:

Problem....

¨     Christian ideals are destroyed

¨     ‘the Death of God’ through knowledge of the universe

¨     Absence and emptiness of values

Solution....

¨     Become mediocre

Portraiture, identity and gender

Annie Leibovitz

Some things about Annie Leibovitz:

·        Uses lots of equipment on shoots

·        Has photographed lots of famous people such as the Queen, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp and Demi Moore

·        She researches her locations for the shoots in relation to her subjects

Leibovitz’s book ‘At Work’ describes in detail how she goes about her shoots but it’s the introducing chapter called ‘Presence and Charisma’ that I find most captivating as she explains how certain celebrities are cliché photogenic even though she fought against the subject for long time by going to shoots with a backup plan but with the right model a set can be transformed.  She says that it’s not always that the subjects are stereotypically beautiful but ‘there are quirky things about them that are also beautiful to photograph.

So although her book is about how she works she says a lot about how she portrays the identity of her subjects as people who are photogenic like being photographed, such as Johnny Depp and Kate Moss together, possible one of the best looking couple in history as the scene in the hotel room on the bed could appear sexual but instead its a beautifully romantic and sensual images.

Sophie Calle

Take Care of Yourself

Sophie Calle and her affiliation with love and relationships is a obsession I find endearing, being a romantic a heart I can’t help but be warmed by her exhibition on her break up with a boyfriend which when it was at the Whitechapel gallery I saw many times. When that exhibition was pressed into one room the atmosphere was almost emotional as you see the effect that one woman’s heartache has on 100 other women who show her compassion and support Calle’s cause but empathising with her and expressing how they would feel if they were in her shoes.

Background: Sophie Calle the famous French conceptual artist was dumped by her egotistical boyfriend by email as he goes into depth about how he is anxious and basically trapped by their relationship but hinting at that the break up was her fault as she had rules in place but covers his tracks as he talks frankly about their relationship saying ‘I would have liked things to turned out differently’. He continues to say ‘take care of yourself’ which is harmless from anyone else, tender even, but if you look between then lines it say to me ‘take care of yourself.... as I’m not doing it anymore’. She turned this mishap into a work of art, over two years later, she circulated the letter to 107 women professionals, photographed them reading it and invited them to analyse it, depending on their job.

Susan Sontag

On Photography

Below is the summary of the notes I took in the lecture on Susan Sontag, most of which I think as a whole is all you need to know about photography from the perspective of Susan as a theorist even if it is a bit choppy I feel it gets the point across. Short and sweet.

The effects of photography can tell us that:

·         The cave has changed our world

·         what is worth looking at

·         The grammar and ethics of seeing

·         The whole world as an anthology of images

·         To collect photos is to collect the world

Putting yourself in relation to the world:

·         Abstracting

·         Scale, cropping, retouching and blowing up

·         Packaging the world

Whatever the limitations (through amateurism) or pretentions (through artistry) a photograph is seen to be more innocent than any other kind of media.

Realist theories that affect people and are taken to heart when the photographs are taken:

Position and behaviour of photographs

The viewer/audience

Context of the image

But everyone is influenced by

·         Taste

·         Conscience

·         Selective interpretation

Images which are idealise:

·         Most fashion images

·         Most animal

Photographs are used for control:

·         Police

·         Passports

·         Identity cards (drivers licence)

What do photographs portray? Why do we take photographs?

The family album- evidence of being a good parent

The internet album- evidence of being a good friend

Tourism- certify experience of the world

Feminism

Feminism is the struggle to end sexist oppression.

There are many different types of feminism; lesbian, socialist, Marxist, radical, eco and psychoanalytical. I feel that I tend to sway more towards the socialist side of feminism as it focuses partly on how gender roles have required women to become home makers and even in this day and age it is still socially expected for women to be the main carer for children/husbands and to cook and clean, although I understand that this isn’t always the case.

Although feminism and sexism are serious matters I find its best to take them with a pinch of salt, as either way men and women are always going to both exist on earth for as long as I’m living so by knowing that there is no way that women can dispose of men discretely (even though we have no need for them now that we have mechanical jar openers) it’s easier to just get along nicely. So I think it’s best to laugh along with them (them being men) as we (women) know that behind every man who thinks they have power is a women pulling the strings. Although is it this kind of attitude that is stopping any serious change for feminists?

A woman I find particularly influential is Nancy Friday, especially in 2 of her books, ‘Woman On Top’ and ‘Men In Love’.  ‘Woman On Top’ is about the study into the changes in women's sexual fantasies over time while ‘Men In Love’ is a book about men who love women and their sex lives in an intriguing way although you would need to be open minded to read her books.

Final thought:

Q. Why do women have smaller feet than men?

A. So they can get closer to the cooker.

Research

Introducing feminism by Judy Groves

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24363995/Nancy-Friday-Men-in-Love-V1-2

Friday, N. ‘Women on top’ and ‘Men in love’

Punctum

Roland Barthes

The meaning of punctum is a small distinct point that catches your eye, like your drawn to it, or in the case of photography the punctum would be what turns an ordinary image into a great one personally to you.

Roland Barthes’ book Camera Lucinda, is his only book dedicated entirely to photography, puts across the theory of punctum as a philosophical point indicating that by denoting the wounding, personally touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it will give the image another dimension into the mental of the onlooker rather than the photograph being only in the physical as a piece of paper. While Barthes elaborates that the concept of the punctum is to focus on the personal and emotional experience of the photograph as physically connected to its subject.

To me personally I find that the punctum of an image does give the image more feel and personality even if it was something that makes the image less perfect as it gives it some character in return. Such as in the image above by Guy Bourdin my favourite bit would have to be the slight reflection of the models’ hand’s on the shiny wall as it follows the body from the mirror above giving the viewer a fuller image.

Research:

Barthes, R. ‘Camera Lucinda’ (1993)

http://www.jameslomax.com/words/275/punctum

Sam Taylor Wood

Taylor-Wood has investigated concepts of weight and gravity in melancholic, poised photographs in a series of self-portraits (Self Portrait Suspended I - VIII) that portray the artist floating in mid air without the relief of any visible support. She suspended herself using ropes with the help of a bondage expert, later digitally removing these in the photograph to create the impossible scene.

I find that her series of suspended self portraits are beautiful and inspiring as her clever technique shows her freedom as she appears to float in the bright airy space which I think also makes these images more believable and magical in comparison to a dark claustrophobic room, which would have made the images looking more sinister than pure.

Therefore in "Self Portrait Suspended", Taylor-Wood was powerlessly and revealingly suspended because her body did not respond to its physical location and due to her body physically exposed in only her underwear.

Research:

www.whitecube.com/artists/taylorwood/

www.artfund.org/artwork/9754/self-portrait-suspended-vii

Semiotics

Semiotics: The study of signs and signification

How do we communicate?

Roland Barthes is a French philosopher who studied semiotics as a process which allowed him to teach and communicate with people on a deeper level or that what he hoped to achieve and what he taught to others through his book, “Camera Lucida”. In this book Barthes explores the nature of photography, what sets it apart from other arts, what are its benefits and its responsibilities. He also ponders what exactly a photograph is, and what that image on a flat piece of paper really achieves.

So…. Signs….

Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, acts or objects, but such things have no inherent meaning and become signs only when we assign them with a meaning. We understand things as signs mainly unconsciously by relating them to recognizable systems of belief. It is this meaningful use of signs which is how semiotics can be used to understand how we communicate.

Now without getting to technical a sign must have both a signifier and a signified. A signifier is the physical form, for example a house is just a building but the signified is what the signifier refers to which in this case would be the house is a place for living- a home. So in this theory you can see how stereotypes could be used in signs to related to us on a deeper and unconscious level, we are trained by what we see, do and how we live to make certain associations, much like how road signs are made to be understood worldwide despite small variations in different countries.

Research:

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html