Art and Ownership: Banksy's "Shop 'til You Drop" (Blog 2/6)

http://hypebeast.com/2011/11/new-banksy-works-in-london-shop-till-you-drop/

There are many words to describe Banksy's work. Culture jamming and graffiti art are probably among the most fitting. I wonder, what is the extent to which this work can be deemed art? I expect that most of the class has heard of Banksy, however, the main point of his anonymous work is to counter the corporate media's influence. Banksy uses public spaces like sidewalks and ATMs and turns them into a piece of "art". The image above features a woman dressed in a skirt and high heels plummeting from a building at least six-stories tall. The image appeared in mid-November before the holiday season in London, England. The woman is faceless and shadowed, depicting her ignored identity in the face of advertising and consumerism. The goods in her shopping cart seem to be dragging her down. Nevertheless, she maintains a tight grip on the cart and the goods it carries.

The reading from class today, “Definitions of Art and the Art World”  by Mulholland, discusses the historical notion of art. The reading discusses two of the recurring themes of the class that relate to Banky's questionable art form. Two aspects of art that determine its merit have historically been ownership and whether it prioritizes form or function.  

Banksy presents a complicated case because he does not seek to claim ownership of his work. The Mulholland reading explains that Michelangelo's work on the Sistene Chapel was artful due to the authority that Michelangelo maintained through controlling the intellectual content he produced.  In Banksy's case, his style of anonymous street art is frequently copied. If you Google nearly any of Banksy's graffiti art pieces there is at least one source that claims that the piece is not a Banksy original.

Banksy's anonymity says a lot about his philosophy of what constitutes art, which brings one to question whether his work prioritizes form or function. For Banksy, clearly the message, or function, of the artwork is what matters. Publicity is central to the works function, which is to influence and have power over the mainstream media. Interestingly, this is done by trying to get the attention of the mainstream media with dramatic graffiti art, like the one pictured above. I definitely believe Banksy's work to be artful, despite t-shirts and posters that profit from his anonymous cause. Do you consider the image pictured above art or vandalism? If you have not seen Exit Through the Gift Shop I highly recommend it! 

Topic Proposal - Rhetorical Analysis #1

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/11/18/a-month-of-good-lgbt-comics-fun-home-a-family-tragicomic/

The cartoon I've chosen to analyze is from a graphic novel called Fun Home by Allison Bechdel. The graphic novel has been labeled a 'tragicomic' by the author as it is a recount of her convoluted relationship with her father. The purpose of this strip is to convey the distance felt between each family member. In my essay I plan on interpreting the purpose of the composition of this piece which works to support the written dialogue of the strip.

Another very important aspect of the entire graphic novel, and this strip in particular is the colour and shading used by the author/artist. The blue colouring and dark shadows set the tone of the graphic novel. The perspective of the comic is very distant, giving the audience an all-seeing advantage. However, the audience reads the strip from the main character's perspective. My analysis will give a brief summary of the graphic novel to give context to the strip and to explain the nature of cartooning that Bechdel feels most drawn to.

Images like this one were extremely impactful on the LGBT community, which made Fun Home an influential work of art. I selected this image as the most effective in conveying the feeling of separation visually. In my essay, I will explain the intended audience of the graphic novel and how I think such an image would be received by both members and non-members of the LGBT community.

I will argue that this is an extremely influential comic due to its appeal to pathos and use of colouring and composition. Furthermore, the most culturally significant aspect of the comic is the connection it successfully makes with the audience. The argument of the text is that we must understand differences in others, and embrace differences in ourselves. I will outline how this image sheds light on this.

Celebrity of Interest - Lindsay Lohan (Blog 1/6)

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2011/12/09/lindsay-lohans-playboy-covers-leaks-online/

This image brought me back to our class lecture on assumptions about high and low art. This image of Lindsay was published by Playboy in a kind of last attempt to save the printed form of the magazine. Magazine sales have suffered since controlling the leak of images to the web was nearly impossible. Sales of the issue have been extremely high, despite the leak of images online.

Needless to say, this was a big issue for Playboy, and what better way to 'go big' than to use illusion to reference Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo shoot. I thought this was an especially interesting image to dissect because the image is arguably very tasteful for Playboys usual style. Lindsay remains unexposed. I thought it was worth dissecting why this image, is so very different from the image to which it is self-referential. For one, the image is associated with Playboy, thereby marking it at low culture to most. The image is undoubtedly artful, but not in the same way the professional photographs of Marilyn were regarded.

Most notably, however, are the values attached to Lindsay. Being linked to tabloid culture, she re-interprets Marilyn's iconic image making it something new. Still, the illusion to the Marilyn is undeniable, which makes the message that the image delivers all the more powerful. Lindsay breathes a fresh sex appeal into it the Playboy brand, while also marking the magazine as classic, even timeless. I thought the image was a very artful use of celebrity culture to make Playboy into so much more than a men's magazine. For me, the reinterpretation was brilliant.

Topic Proposal: Personal Narrative Essay

At first I wanted to avoid representing myself with images because the task of narrowing my identity down to 5 images seemed so daunting. There's still so much I'm unsure about. Upon perusing my iPhoto to music, as I so often do, I decided that there is a definite backbone to my identity that widely determines every other aspect of my life: The women in my family.

I will prepare a kind of timeline that represents the changes in my life in accordance to the changes within our family dynamic.

This photo, taken when I was five, is when we were all together at the beach house in Trinidad where my Dad is from. 

When I was seven my parents took my sister and I out of school to live in Germany with my Grandma and Opa so that we could experience Europe. I cried and screamed everyday because I wanted my Mom. My sister took this photo on the only day I was happy when we were playing dress up. 

http://starshollow.tumblr.com/

We watched Gilmore Girls every Tuesday for seven years. 

After a combined six years of separation with my sister and I attending different schools, my sister set her sights on Asia to teach English for two years with her boyfriend. This is her with their Asian IDs and the last I've heard from her. 

This is a picture of my Mom and I in the summer having a spot of lunch at home and missing Nat! 

Since these photos encapsulate my entire lifespan, there's too much to say. What I'll primarily be focusing on, however, is the relationship I share with these two VIPs in my life. I'm going to focus on the impact images that my sister has sent me from Asia have had on the perception of her new life overseas. I've had an entirely foreign experience alongside my sister, as I try and construct an idea of the kind of life she is living so far away from us. The few images she sends us are all I have to understand how far away from home she feels, and how different South Korea is. Witnessing my sisters fearlessness not only in moving, but also in the investment she has made in her relationship has led me to realize a lot about myself, namely, that we are more different than I ever thought. In the past year alone I can see how much we have both grown and changed being so completely separated. 

To reiterate, these images represent the personal and intellectual growth I've had in accordance with adaptations to my core family relationships. Each photo represents a point in time in which my self-concept was altered. For this reason I'm still unsure about my holistic identity, but am certain of the impact these changes have had. 

Thanks for reading and suggestions are much appreciated! 

Introductory Entry

Hi Everyone,
I'm Johanna and I'm a fourth year Honours MIT student with a passion for creative writing, therefore I'm also working toward my writing certificate. I'll be keeping this blog to analyze various images that impress a certain feeling on the viewer. The purpose of the blog is to take a close look at the meaning of images that impact our daily lives and to dissect the arguments that lie behind them. I seek to understand the emotional reaction and lasting impact images can have on people and to locate the root of such responses. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/256705247479830499/


This image, from pinterest.com, immediately reminded me of home. I think the image does a great job of depicting the beauty of solitude. While the place I call home is uncommonly secluded much like this, it is the place I best understand myself. At the same time, solitude is the thing I most struggle to find peace in. When my parents moved me from the city in the middle of grade 8 I could not understand their appreciation for such a place. It was not until I spent this past summer in Europe that I began to appreciate the simplicity of home. 


For me, home is a place just like this one, only the water is only a small river that is located acres away. The only neighbours I've ever seen are deer and the trees are equally as beautiful in autumn. The river in this picture reminds me of a Group of Seven painting that captures the beauty of Canada. 


I always considered myself a kind of welcome alien in my family. Being a hyper-active, outgoing, type-A personality I've always been dumbfounded by the number of hours my family can sit reading or spend outdoors. I felt the urge to travel, live amongst friends and meet endless amounts of new, interesting people. This image best depicts my personal revelation in the past year. I saw a great deal of the world and had an even better experience than I had ever anticipated, yet interestingly, the most life altering thing I learned was that it's okay for life to sit still. While I never expected to take such a lesson away from the trip, it was a pleasant surprise. I based the title of my blog on this to emphasize the way meanings can change and surprise us. While this blog will track my interpretation of imagery, these images are always available for a closer look, and I hope my readers will offer up counter-readings. This image, the still lake and the not-yet fallen leaves, best depict my current self at a welcomed standstill. 


Thank you for reading!