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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Final Essay Draft 1

Intro

For my project I wanted to research surrealism art and most importantly the influence it has had in media and pop culture, I also wanted to investigate how traditional art in general effects the modern day even decades after their creation. In this essay I plan to investigate the different ways these images have been used and the common types of projects they have inspired or contributed to. I also plan to interview different groups of people to see which artist has become common knowledge for most people and about the first time they remember being introduced to said artist/ work. By the end I plan to have narrowed down how the movement has continued to live after.

Surrealism art is defined as “a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing, or automatism, which sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious” (James Voorhies, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002) or as a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Originating in the 1910’s and 20’s some of the most well-known artists include Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Rene Magritte. Each piece has a dream like quality to them as they mesh fantasy with reality creating these whimsical scenes, the meaning behind the piece is almost never clear and there are many roads of interpretation you can go down (probably contributing to its timeless popularity as there is always a conversation to be had regarding each piece). This is what inevitably drew me to this genre of art as I feel as if there are always endless conversations to be had about them.

Research

For the first part of my I decided to make a questionnaire to get a general idea of how people feel about said genre as well as seeing which artists would come to mind the most. My research started out with me asking if people could define surrealism art of the top of their head (I also stated that if the didn’t know they could guess just to see how they would interpret it). The most common words and phrases brought up were strange, unusual, the opposite of real, abstract, mysterious workings of the subconscious, uncanny and the twisting of reality. However a few people did say no to this question.

For the next question I asked what opinions and emotions they got from this type of art. The reaction was mostly positive with people saying, “It has amazing visuals”, “it’s quite interesting and visually pleasing” and “very enigmatic”. However I did receive a few negative responses saying that it can be confusing and to over simulating.

The next two questions I asked were the most important to my research as first I asked how many artists they could name. The three most common names I got was Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo and Rene Magritte, and again a few people did say none. The second part of that question was about which artist slash piece do you feel has had the biggest impact in media. For this question Dali’s melting clocks were the most commonly sighted as being the most commonly brought in media as people sighted many albums covers which have used this imagery. A few other mentions were pieces like Picassos ‘The Weeping Woman’ and Banksy’s ‘Girl with a Balloon’ although I’m not sure if I would class that as surrealism.

Influence in Pop Culture

The genre of art has cropped up in many different unlikely projects other the years with countless parodies and references I can list. To show examples of this I’m going to specifically research the top 3 most well-known artists I got based on my research, starting with Frida Kahlo. Kahlo was a Mexican artist who was born in 1907 and died in 1958, most famous for herself portraits often inspired by Mexican culture and nature as well as taking great influence via her own suffering (due to a car crash she was in as a teenager which left her with lifelong complications and health problems). The most recent example I can think of is with the latest Shien collection titled SHIEN X FRIDA KHALO. Described as a ‘tribute’ to the late artist, the collect debuted this year and features multiple clothing items and accessories inspired by her work. The collection included clothing with her face and her paintings printed on them but also taking inspiration from Mexican nature to create patterns and embroidered clothing. The collect received slight controversy as the brand Shien has been one of the worst sources of fast fashion to date, as well as people feeling that they were falsely profiting of her work instead of paying tribute like they claimed. However the collection remains up and available for purchase today.

Another instance of Kahlo’s work being used in media is in the 2019 drama series ‘Euphoria’. In the opening of season 2 episode 4 there are several pop culture references (both referencing TV and art history) representing the love one character has for another, these references include The Titanic 1997, Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus 1480, Ghost 1990, Broke Back Mountain 2005 and Frida Kahlo’s 1943 painting titled ‘Self-portrait as a Tehuana’. The original painting is a portrait of Kahlo with a smaller portrait of her ex-husband Diego Rivera on her forehead, this was painting right after their divorce and is supposed to represent despite his betrayal of their marriage she can’t stop thinking about him.

“This painting expresses Firda's desire to possess Diego Rivera, who continues betraying her with his affairs with other women. But she cannot stop thinking about him. She painted a miniature portrait of him on her brow which indicating the obsessive love she has for the famous Mexican artist” FridaKahlo.org 2016.

In the show, the painting is used to describe a similar dynamic between the two characters. The shot shows one of the characters dressed up as Kahlo and posed like her portrait whilst the other character assumes the role of her husband and is sketched onto the first character’s brow just like the painting. The second season of this show aired only less than a year ago and is mainly targeted at teens and young adults, this shows just how influential Kahlo’s work has been as her paintings are still commonly referenced to the point where even people well after their time can recognise their work.

Euphoria, Season 2 Episode 4 2022

Shein, 2021

Kahlo hasn’t been the only artist who is an example of surrealisms influence on pop culture, Salvador Dali is another great example of this. In 2000 a play titled ‘References to Salvador Dali make me hot’ was written by Puerto Rican playwright Jose Rivera, the play premiered in 2001 and even won an Obie award for writing that same year. The play is a surrealistic story that follows a Latina woman name Gabriela who is struggling after being separated from her husband as he serves in the military, during which she begins to fall into a fantasy where animals and objects (such as the moon, a coyote, and a cat) come to life representing themes of lust and longing. “The writing fluctuates between faintly surreal poetry and wryly pointed prose, cocky fantasy, and bittersweet earthiness. Rivera manages the latter adroitly, but even the former is not without its moments … a genuine comedy-drama that rises above the specific into the ecumenical. Particularly praiseworthy is the even-handedness with which Rivera articulates the husband’s and the wife’s dilemmas, and his ability to anchor Benito and Gabriela in both their Hispanic roots and their ultimate universality” – John Simon, New York 2001. The show takes a lot of inspiration from the surrealism art movement especially with its personification of the moon and other animals turning them in to important characters to the structure of the story and deeply influencing the main characters decisions and actions. The show feels very much like a first-hand experience of what it would be like to bring this genre of art to life as the whole story pushes the grounds of reality and feels very dream like.

The third most well-known artist according to my research was Rene Magritte who has had no short of reference to his work throughout music, film, tv and literature. A few good examples include the 2015 Korean dark comedy film titled ‘Collective Invention’ which centres around a mutant fish man and his rise from celebrity to disgrace, this project is referencing the 1934 Magritte painting of the same title which shows a figure with the head of a fish and the legs of a human washed up on the beach. Another example would be in the 1973 horror film ‘The Exorcist’ in which the scene where the priest arrives to the family home (which is also used as the main movie poster) references the 1954 painting ‘The Empire of Lights’.

Collective Invention, 2015

Collective Invention, 1934

The Exorcist, 1973

The Empire of Lights, 1954

A thew other non-TV related references includes the artist Jeff Beck using Magritte’s painting ‘The Listening Rooms’ as the cover for his 1969 album ‘Beck-Ola’, the Toru character in the show ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: JoJolion’ having abilities called ‘Wonder of U’ which are modelled after the painting ‘The Son of Man’ and even allowing the user to bend reality in a similar way to the imagery throughout his work. There was also a play which was heavily influenced by Magritte’s work Titled ‘After Magritte’. The show was written by Tom Stoppard in 1970 and follows a group of people after they have seen a Magritte exhibit and it shows how each was inspired and influenced by his work. “Tom Stoppard’s ‘After Magritte’ presents us with a possibility. Life is not as serious as one expected. It is full of idiocy and nonsensical moments, which often are labelled absurd. This play aims at that exploration through the surrealist work of Rene Magritte” – Antonio Delgado, GoodReads 2021.

Beck-Ola, Jeff beck 1969

JoJo Bizarre Adventure: JoJolion 2018

After Magritte, Tom Stoppard 1970

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Final Piece

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Save the Bees Street art - Louis Masai

Louis Masai is a British painter who has specialises in graffiti and street art, he mainly focuses on animals but always strives to find a human reference to juxtapose an element that might not be previously obvious. I was first introduced to his work by his ‘save the bees’ campaign which debut around the streets of London. The work entails many illustrations of bees which was made with the intent of bringing more awareness to the declining bee population “My work with the Save the Bees campaign was born of a desire to increase awareness about an impending environmental crisis (…) When countries have populations of people piled on top of each other, people care less about what lies beyond” – Louis Masai, Demilked 2015. I wanted to focus on his work because he has achieved exactly what I am attempting which is create art to spread awareness.

The campaign features 10 paintings (which have been painted on the sides of buildings and other public buildings) which all have an element of humour to them to help spread the message. One painting features a painting of two bees with the phrase “when we go, we’re taking all of you with us” and another which shows a bee holding a sign saying “Drones + Gents”. My favourite piece from this campaign shows a bee with its wings morphing into giant angel wings fighting a griffin which I interpreted as Masai trying to show the value and importance bees have to our survival. Each painting is painted in a neo traditional style which helps the piece not feel too unrealistic, but still help the humours and ‘silly’ elements not feel too out of place.

Masai’s hope with this campaign is to bring the general publics attention to the issues of endangered species not just bees, he wants more action to be taken as most of the loss is due to human activity. “Bees are just a small part of the show, the focus will be on a much bigger range of endangered species (…) I think there’s a disconnection in British peoples’ minds about their own living environment and the idea of extinction” – Louis Masai, Demilked 2015.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Save The Bees - Lynne Pearce

For my project I have decided to shift my focus slightly and switch from the environment to the topic of bees and the impact they have on our lives, I wanted to direct my focus to somewhere more specific than overall topic of the environment as that is a very broad issue. So to start of my research I found a scholarly journal titled ‘Save the Bees’ written by Lynne Pearce in 2008.

Honey has been a useful tool for humans for centuries not only being consumed as food but also because of its massive health benefits it can bring. “Whether spread on toast, swallowed in cough medicine or used to help heal wounds, honey's health-giving properties are well known.” The honey bees produce has been used in many different aspects of medical care throughout the years and has began to over take over from anti biotics “Dressing wounds with honey was a standard practice before antibiotics came into use. But since antibiotic-resistant bacteria have begun to proliferate in clinical areas, honey has come back into favour. (…) They can be particularly useful in the treatment of chronic wounds, such as leg ulcers and pressure sores (…) and on burns.” Because of these huge benefits and how it’s naturally formed honey has become more and more essential in modern day health care and more benefits are being found the longer it’s being used.

In the journal it is explained that, despite how beneficial the honey bees produce is for us, bee populations have been going down in alarming rates noticeably higher than they where in previous years,

“an already catastrophic decline in honeybee numbers has continued, with populations believed to be as much as 30 per cent down on last year. (…) Some believe it has been the worst harvest in three decades”.

There are many things that can contribute to both the rapid decline of the bee population as wells as bad harvest which can be caused by bad weather, which could be related back to climate change and the way fossil fuels and global warming has affected the earth. Another explanation for the declining population could be virulent viruses

“In the United States, colony collapse disorder is believed to be responsible for massive losses something the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) warns could emerge here. Most of the honey used therapeutically is manuka from New Zealand and Australia, where experts believe production is secure. Peter Molan, professor of biological sciences and director of the honey research unit at the University of Waikato, says: 'New Zealand has strict biosecurity enforcement that aims to keep out diseases that could affect bees”.

There is a lot research has been done into figuring out the issue of the declining bee population but there hasn’t been much noise about how we can prevent such issues which is why I wanted to focus my campaign around this issue and make my campaign more specific.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Reading Presentation

1) What is the test you’ve chosen, who is it by, and what kind of text is?

The text I have selected is a scholarly journal entitled ‘Act now to advert a climate crisis’ which was published anonymously with the publication title being ‘Nature, London’.

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2306403953/fulltext/7105C2BEE26F4A7FPQ/1?accountid=12441

2) What is the issue your text has taken on, and what does it have to do with your work?

My work is centred around the destruction of the environment such via issues such as climate change, deforestation, and pollution. This text takes on the issue of the importance of immediate action when it comes to these environmental issues, we have lost the privilege of time and we have to act now in order to avoid irreversible damage.

3) Summarize: What does the text have to say on this issue? What’s interesting about it?

The text talks about the inconsequential steps that have been taken to prevent a climate crisis and how it hasn’t been enough or the right steps we’re not taken to ensure these rules, placed for the sake of the environment, where followed. As an example, the promise to lower greenhouse gas after the 2015 Paris climate agreements which placed to restrict carbon emissions one of the biggest culprits of global warming.

The text talks about how we are on the verge of the ‘point of no return’ and how we have ignored this issue for too long. ‘Tyndall centre for Climate change research at the university of Manchester UK thinks that time has run out for what he calls "incremental decarbonizing of the free-market economy" (see page 348).

4) Choose an extended passage

Last year, the IPCC warned that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels would be a colossal undertaking, requiring greenhouse-gas emissions to be halved by 2030. The transition to renewable energy alone would cost US$2.4 trillion annually. And yet, without such drastic measures, the world is likely to exceed 3 °C of warming by the end of the century and will experience more frequent and more severe catastrophic effects, including weather extremes, rising seas and drought (see page 333). Scientists on the meteorological front line see temperature records continually broken, and this is leading to despair (see page 317): from watching the natural world deteriorate before their eyes, and from continued inaction by heads of government despite compelling evidence of the importance of intervention.

5) Select creative works

· Jenny Kendler – Lounging through the flood

https://jennykendler.com/section/483111-Lounging-Through-the-Flood.html

· Aida Sulova – plastic waste art

https://www.aidasulova.com/once-upon-a-plastic-bag

· Coexistence environmental art campaign – 125 Elephant sculptures https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/the-elephant-family-coexistence-environmental-art-campaign-london-uk-15-may-2021-11905345o

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Project 4: Environmental Issues displayed through art

For this assignment I have decided to follow along with the nature project we had previously to focus on theme of environmental issues and the greater effects human activity can have on the natural world. I wanted to focus on showing the long-term effect of choosing to neglect these issues and to shed light on the greener alternatives to said issues. To start of my research into this topic I decided to do research into two artists that great work the relates to the theme I am exploring.

Shahram Rezaei

Rezaei is a digital painter who’s work perfectly showcases the main cause of environmental issues and that is humans using the natural world for their own convenience and not worry about the negative effects this could bring ahead. The first painting shows a group of people using a crocodile’s mouth as a boat which I interpreted as commentary on the treatment of animals such as through the meat, fur, and leather industry. We farm and kill animals to use as tools much like the people in the painting. It could also be a commentary on overfishing and ocean pollution caused by boating. The people using the crocodile as a boat could be them seeing the ocean as not as one’s home but to further themselves.

The other painting has a similar effect as the piece shows a person using a lightning bolt as a washing line, to me I see this as Rezaei implying that we have almost ‘tamed’ nature to further ourselves and our engender. Either way I love how thought provoking his work is and I will take a lot of inspiration from his work for my project.

Pawl Kuczynski

Pawl Kuczynski is another artist that I found that really inspired me with what direction I plan on taking this project. His work is a lot simpler than Rezaei’s and is a lot easier to see through to it’s meaning. The first painting is very clearly a commentary on global warming as it shows penguins lined up and chained to an iceberg whilst it is cracking and melting away. I interpreted this as nature being unable to help itself with these issues and shows that they are completely helpless unless we fix what we started. The second piece has a similar meaning as it shows a bear playing hopscotch with the last tile being a bear trap.

I feel both these piece state a huge message about how our actions not only effect ourselves but how there are many silent victims too.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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Nature Project Final Evaluation

For this project I was given the task of creating a poster with the slogan “If meat is murder, than fish is not justifiable homicide”. I completed two different drafts and this was the one that I decided on for my final design. I decided to go for one simple imagine in the centre to pull all eyes towards it, I also wanted the imagine to be simple and legible so the viewer would know exactly what message the poster was trying to push forward. I went pretty neutral with the colour palette, trying to only use 3 colours for highlights and shadows, as I wanted it to have a lino print effect. I also thought that having a bold simple imagine would be beneficial for the purpose of this piece as if it was a poster put up on a wall somewhere most people would only glance at it so having anything more detailed would just muddle up the design and make it hard to read.

I made several tweaks to my first poster design as I found it much harder to read, also I was just unhappy with how certain feature turned out.

I initially had two contrasting images in each corner which would fit with the slogan that I had been assigned. I had the idea to draw a rabbit for the “If meat is murder...” part as a rabbit was usually used on cruelty free logos but I realised that that is usually for beauty and cleaning product and didn’t really fit with the context I was using it for. It was also harder to read and I found that the shape of the fish didn’t look like it fitted very well in the corner.

One thing that I do prefer on the first draft is the text and how I had to over lap over the red background and the pink background. I really liked the effect of the two toned text matching the background and I did initially plan to keep that in my final draft, however when I placed the fish in the centre it was impossible to lay the text in a way that was visually appealing and that also overlapped over the two different background colours. I wish I could have worked it in but Im still happy with the final piece.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 2 years

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The Trouble with Wilderness Essay

In William Coron’s he gives his opinion on how he views the reality of nature and how we as people perceive it as something it is not. In the text Coron explains how he believes nature is actually more viscous than it seems contradicting the human belief to see nature as like a park.

In the text Coron describes how people see what they want to see rather than what is actually there. “We too easily imagine that what we behold is Nature when in fact we see the reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires.” He also talks about how it makes perfect sense for nature to be more hostile than we believe it to be as the organisms living in the wilderness would have the same human nature that we have. “To insert the unnaturalness of so natural a place will no doubt seem absurd or even perverse to many readers, so let me hasten to add the nonhuman we encounter into the wilderness is far from being our own invention.”

Despite his view on nature, Coron also expresses a feeling of nostalgia and a fondness with these wild ecosystems as they remind him of places he grew up. “ I often find myself remembering wild places much closer to home. I think, for instance, of a small pond near my house where water bubbles up from limestone springs to feed a series of pools that rarely freeze in winter and so play home to waterfowl that stay here for the protective warmth, even on the coldest of winter days, gliding silently through steaming mists as the snow falls from grey February sky's”.

In conclusion, it is evident Coron’s text that he views the wilderness as an unpredictable environment that is beyond human comprehension, but yet is still beautiful and inviting non the less. I enjoyed reading his take as, although it was rare, it made perfect sense with the way he described it to.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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Identity Final Essay

For my box project I really wanted to focus on the theme of family as to me that has played a big part in my identity, I planned for the piece to be very personal and have a lot of layers to it. Everything in the piece has some kind of relation to my family or something personal to me.

My plan for the box was to have it look like an ordinary box from the outside so that whoever opened it wouldn’t expect what’s inside. I really like how the flaps fall after the lid is removed making the piece look like a star or an explosion, however my initial intentions was to make the piece look like an anatomical heart when opened to imply that these things are very important to me.

Everything drawn in this piece has an important meaning. The cover is decorated with two types of flowers pansies, and daisies. When my sister and I were young we had matching soft toys that we were given just after were born, so they have been with us for our whole lives. Mine was a pansy flower and my sisters a daisy, to this day we still have them in our rooms. Inside the box on the first layer I drew both my parents wedding and engagement rings as well as the necklace I brought in as my object relating to identity and the necklace gifted to my sister by our great aunt.

For the second layer I wanted the message to be a bit more subtle, so I did some research into animals that represent family and the theme of identity. I found that Koi fish (particularly red spotted Koi’s) represent motherhood as well as perseverance and courage, also relating to my grandma’s koi pond in her home. I also found that butterflies represent individuality which I thought suited the theme very well.

For the final box I wanted to make a symbol to represent family to add something a bit simpler to the piece but also something that would make the piece look a bit more abstract and less on the nose. I settle on a design that was supposed to look like two hearts intertwined that could also been seen as an embrace. If I was to change anything about this project, I maybe would have drawn this symbol on the top of the box instead of writing the words ‘Identity’ across the front as looking at it now it would have given the lid a much cleaner look. I tried to make the box appeared to be mirroring itself by drawing the same image on the opposite side to each other and I really like how this turned out, it gives the box an almost trippy effect.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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Comparison Essay

For this essay I have chosen to look at the piece “Self portrait with a bandaged ear” by Vincent Van Gogh. The two analysis’s I have chosen are Martin Bailey’s “Van Gogh’s Portraits: What do they really reveal?” (2021) written for ‘The Art Newspaper’ and Helen Jones’s “Self Portrait with a Bandaged ear” (2019) written for ‘Personal Interpretations’. I have chosen this piece as I think it ties in really well with the theme of Identity because each of Van Gogh’s pieces tell an interesting story about his life and how he saw himself. A lot of his work centres around him and what was going on in his mind.

In Bailey’s analysis of the painting he says “the artist is probing his inner self and presenting a facet of his life. Painted just under a month after he mutilated his ear, he does not shy away from the trauma he had suffered”. He presents the piece as being very personal to Van Gogh, implying that his art is a place where he feels free to be his most authentic self and not leave out any details of his life and suffering as his work would be for his eyes only. On the contrary Jones’s presents his art work as a way of Van Gogh attempting to reach people or even call for help “ This was clearly a time when Van Gogh was more than usually concerned about this artistic identity. His identity as a human, and his identity as an artist, here, as so often in his work, becomes intertwined”. This is an interesting distinction to make as through Van Gogh’s work we can tell how unhealthy he was and just how much pain and suffering he went through clearly expressing that art may have been a very therapeutic for him. This piece is a great example of that as it was painted shortly after Van Gogh was discharged from the hospital after cutting his own ear off also slicing an artery in his neck, a lot of his pieces can almost create a timeline of suffering so it’s interesting to see people speculate over if it was a cry for help and a way to realise his pain.

Both analysis's mention the inclusion of the painting in the background, the piece is a Japanese print which was said to be one of Van Gogh’s biggest inspirations for this work as seen in this piece titled “Almond Blossoms”. In Bailey’s analysis he says “On the other side of his head hangs a Japanese print (one which he had with him in the Yellow House in Arles). This represents an homage to the art of Japan, which was such an inspiration for him”. Bailey’s mentions the blank canvas behind him implying that the inclusion of both of these components have a deeper meaning, as if to imply the gap between where Van Gogh views his own art vs the art he looks up too. Jones however doesn’t seem to think that the pieces in the back have a significant meaning “We don’t really get much from his canvas on the easel. It is almost just a freshly prepared canvas, ready to be used to create a new piece. What we do see prominently, perhaps in place of a work of his own, is the Japanese print. Though his style is so different to these works, Van Gogh, like the Impressionists before him, was highly influenced by Japanese perspectives, compositions, and even subject matter, and his paintings owe much to these works. The one we see here is a slightly altered copy of a print by Sato Torakiyo, which Van Gogh had pinned to his studio wall”. She implies that he just simply drew what he saw or just wanted to surround himself with things that he enjoyed and celebrated.

Both of these analysis’s where really nice to read as I enjoyed seeing the differing opinions of two artist’s expressing what they see in this iconic piece.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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My Object

The object that I chose to present for the theme of identity was a necklace given to me by my Great Granma. After my Granma died in 2009 she left this necklace to my mother who later passed it on to me and I have little knowledge of it’s origin before it ended up with my mother. I was very drawn to it’s design as I had never seen anything like it being sold today and it became my most worn piece of jewellery during my teenager years. I even wore it too my Prom in 2018. It is very special to me as it has been in my family for years and always makes me think of home and where I came from.

The piece relates to the theme of identity as it has heavy ties to my family through several generations, my sister also has a necklace from our Great Aunt (our Great Granma’s sister) so it has an extra layer of meaning to me. I plan on incorporating it into my final piece somehow as I plan on having heavy themes of family throughout the piece as family is a very big part my identity.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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Questioning identity Essay

In Kath Woodward’s book “Questioning Identity” she talks about what an identity is and how it defines us as people. She talks about the parts of our identity we choose such as the activity we partake in and what we choose to associate with, as well as the parts of ourselves that are predetermined when we’re born and are influenced by society. In the first chapter Woodward talks about what an identity is and talks about how the world may see you vs how you see yourself “Young people noisily coming home from the club in the early hours of the mourning may be seen as trouble makers. Think of some of the ways in which how you see yourself may be at variance with others perception of you”. This part of the text raises the question if the world see’s you as you see yourself.

In another chapter titled “who are we?” Woodward presents the question why is identity so important to us and how does the way we identify effect our lives “Stop and think for a moment about some of the differences between your own life and that of your parents and grandparents. What social changes might these experiences represent? What are the differences in terms of family, marriage, divorce, parenting, work - paid, unpaid?”. As an example Woodward explains the difference in which you would be treated during the 1950′s and 1960′s if you were married vs if you were unmarried as well as if you had children or not. Having a child out of wed lock was extremely frowned upon and would greatly affect your reputation and how people saw you.“All of these social changes, economic, social and technological, present questions about identity. How do we construct ourselves, for example as parents or as workers, when societies expectations are changing and new technologies create new, hitherto unthought of, possibilities?”

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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City Project - Final Outcome

For my final outcome for the city project I decided to try and make something a bit more creative and i decided to do some social commentary on the city and how it has over taken and destroyed the natural world. My idea was to find a map of London and draw flowers and plants over the top making it look as if they are all made of plastic and other waste materials. The particular reason for that is because plastic waste has become a growing threat to our climate and as of recent years finally been addressed as a problem to big to ignore, certain companies have taken small steps to cut down on their plastic waste such as swapping out plastic straws for paper ones and changing the packaging to cardboard and paper. However, as plastic takes decades to break down naturally, the problem continues to grow every day. That’s why I wanted to take a different kind of approach to this project and try and make a statement with my piece.

I’m pretty happy with the piece overall although if i could go back and do it again I’d try and find ways for the plants to look more like they are made from plastic as I feel right now it takes some time to fully understand what you’re looking at especially if you didn’t know what the task was.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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Creative Writing Essay

The life in the city starts early. The sound of buzzing car engines, the feeling of ice-cold air stinging my cheeks, the smell of gas pollution and chemicals. always the same. The thick grey clouds cover the sky like a blanket, blocking any sunlight from seeping through and brightening up the dull repetitive life down below as a sea of desperate people start their daily commute to work. The streets are as claustrophobic as ever with people shoulder to shoulder, zipping past one another without each looking up to see their face, just another part of the crowd. Hundreds of people tightly packed in the metal frame of a lift or the cramped hollow cylinder of an underground car, they will start their workday once again.

The blaring screech of a car horn jolts everyone awake as the cars pile up along the road, a mile long line of inpatient people grows longer by the minute. Each one zips by slapping me with a cold breeze as it drives off into the distance. I can see the frustrated drivers inside, already late for work bellowing at ever changing traffic lights as they desperately attempt to make their way to where they need to go. As always, we are watched over by the towering skyscrapers which are forever watching over the city and its people, what a view they must get from up there.

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amyhendry-contexualstudiesyear3 · 3 years

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Artist Essay: Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson is an UK born artist who specialises in oil paintings which he describes to be “textured abstract landscapes”. I was first drawn to his work by the unique way he approaches his landscape pieces such as his use of bright unnatural colours and how he uses them to create the effects of lights and shadows, or the geometric finish he applies to each piece which gives his paintings a stained-glass effect.“ I feel stained glass taught me to break down subjects into precise blocks of colour - so now when I paint I like to celebrate my colour choices with bold impasto daubs of oil paint…It also helped me understand how light expands – as you work backward in stained glass (i.e. removing the paint to let the light in)” Visual Atelier 8, 2020. Anderson also said his work was heavily inspired by artist W.H. Turner and Gustav Klimt. Before he discovered his style Anderson used to paint photo realism and specialised in portraits of both people and pets, he also used to paint his landscape paintings in this style too before he went in this new direction. The majority of Anderson paintings are of the urban world with countless pieces depicting the city skyline and tall skyscrapers contrasted with the sunset, his work is very relevant to this project.

In 2019 Anderson was commissioned to create the cover art for the song ‘Everything I Wanted’ By singer and song writer Billie Eillish, this was how I discovered his work. The song was written about a dream the artist had where they committed suicide by jumping of the Golden Gate Bridge which is what is depicted in the piece. “I was so overjoyed when I was approached to do a painting for Billie Eilish’s cover (...) I try to paint intuitively and not think too much about what I am trying to achieve. So Billie gave me some direction and the rest just evolved” Visual Atelier 8, 2020. This was the piece that really made me fall in love with his artwork, I love how abstract the piece is yet it’s so legible and easy to read and recognise, it was such an original take on an otherwise simple subject matter.

Another part of Anderson’s work that I enjoy is the way he plays with light, I love the way he creates an almost lens flair effect by dragging the vertical lines up the page to emphasise the brightness of the light source. Also the way he paints the light reflecting of the water helps give the piece so much depth and dimension, it just makes the piece that much more breath taking. “ My abstracts are inspired by the amazing landscape we have here in the UK (...) In my paintings, I like to suggest our relationship with nature (in the form of buildings or a harbor) that exist in between a radiant, imposing sky and its reflections. I also want to paint a landscape, that isn’t bound to reality and where ‘everything can happen at once’…i.e. using the entire spectrum to create light against the dark, texture blending into smoothness and form within obscurity” Visual Atelier 8, 2020.

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