Friday 11 August 2017
Theory Into Practice: Study Task 8 - Rationale
The main theme of my work is the concept of pastiche vs parody and replication vs referencing within modern contemporary practice. By this I mean to explore whether or not contemporary practice, existing in a post-modern era, simply reproduces and copies what has come before it or whether or not, despite drawing from pre-existing reference points, practitioners can establish a unique voice visually through how they choice to combine, interpret and build upon these points of reference.
The main theorists I have referenced are Walter Benjamin and Mark Fisher for their writings on the effect of technological developments on creative practice and culture. In particular I was interested in Bejamin's focus on how technological mass production had removed 'aura' from artists and their process as well Mark Fisher's notion that a post internet world had led to popular culture succumbing '...to its own inertia and retrospection.'.
To me these theories opened up a dialogue of whether or not modern contemporary practice is simply a process of blindly copying what has come before (pastiche/replication) or whether or not it is about how different points of reference are combined and built upon to create something new (parody/reference). This line of thought also led me to consider the idea of lineage and progression within the arts.
Visually I decided to explore these concepts through the use of collage, both traditional and digital. This is because, given that my project was all about the role of past work/points of reference impacting the work of contemporary practitioners I thought the re-appropriation of pre-existing iamges was the best way to explore this.
After some initial experimentation I landed upon a process of combining and altering the same set of elements within a series of pieces to create a different final outcome in each piece. This was meant to show how practitioners can draw from the same set of influences and build upon past works/points of reference to create something new and unique to them rather than simply engage in a process of pastiche.
The main theme of my work is the concept of pastiche vs parody and replication vs referencing within modern contemporary practice. By this I mean to explore whether or not contemporary practice, existing in a post-modern era, simply reproduces and copies what has come before it or whether or not, despite drawing from pre-existing reference points, practitioners can establish a unique voice visually through how they choice to combine, interpret and build upon these points of reference.
The main theorists I have referenced are Walter Benjamin and Mark Fisher for their writings on the effect of technological developments on creative practice and culture. In particular I was interested in Bejamin's focus on how technological mass production had removed 'aura' from artists and their process as well Mark Fisher's notion that a post internet world had led to popular culture succumbing '...to its own inertia and retrospection.'.
To me these theories opened up a dialogue of whether or not modern contemporary practice is simply a process of blindly copying what has come before (pastiche/replication) or whether or not it is about how different points of reference are combined and built upon to create something new (parody/reference). This line of thought also led me to consider the idea of lineage and progression within the arts.
Visually I decided to explore these concepts through the use of collage, both traditional and digital. This is because, given that my project was all about the role of past work/points of reference impacting the work of contemporary practitioners I thought the re-appropriation of pre-existing iamges was the best way to explore this.
After some initial experimentation I landed upon a process of combining and altering the same set of elements within a series of pieces to create a different final outcome in each piece. This was meant to show how practitioners can draw from the same set of influences and build upon past works/points of reference to create something new and unique to them rather than simply engage in a process of pastiche.
Theory Into Practice: Lineage
With a shift in the focus of my work I thought it would be good to try to better demonstrate this idea of practitioners coming from the same visual or conceptual starting point but ending at something completely different based upon what other experiences,references and processes they may also apply to their practice.
Therefore I experimented with producing two, five image series where by each series both starts at the same image that is gradually worked into and altered into something different. The idea was that both sets would still contain elements of the original image but would be drastically different from each other and would have reached their final form through a different set of applications.
I further tried to reinforce the concept by making the start image for both a traditional ink drawing from China that was then worked into digitally so as to show the idea of tradition and lineage and how this is referenced and altered in contemporary visual practice.
Geographical Location
So far I had only explored the idea of pastiche vs parody/ replication vs reference through the use of drawing from past influences/the work of others. However I thought it would also be worth exploring how technology has closed geographical distances as well meaning that practitioners can drawn from and reference work from all round the work to create something new.
Therefore I began creating a series of collages that combined traditional Chinese prints with drawings of Greco-Roman statues show as to show this combination of influences from different geographical locations.
With a shift in the focus of my work I thought it would be good to try to better demonstrate this idea of practitioners coming from the same visual or conceptual starting point but ending at something completely different based upon what other experiences,references and processes they may also apply to their practice.
Therefore I experimented with producing two, five image series where by each series both starts at the same image that is gradually worked into and altered into something different. The idea was that both sets would still contain elements of the original image but would be drastically different from each other and would have reached their final form through a different set of applications.
I further tried to reinforce the concept by making the start image for both a traditional ink drawing from China that was then worked into digitally so as to show the idea of tradition and lineage and how this is referenced and altered in contemporary visual practice.
Geographical Location
So far I had only explored the idea of pastiche vs parody/ replication vs reference through the use of drawing from past influences/the work of others. However I thought it would also be worth exploring how technology has closed geographical distances as well meaning that practitioners can drawn from and reference work from all round the work to create something new.
Therefore I began creating a series of collages that combined traditional Chinese prints with drawings of Greco-Roman statues show as to show this combination of influences from different geographical locations.
Theory Into Practice: Media Experimentation - Digital Collage
Having now set out on a line of investigation that I was finding far more productive than my original practical work I decided to try the same principles using digital collage. This is because as a practitioner I work mainly with digital media to produce my finished pieces, therefore I felt it appropriate to mix that aspect of my practice in 501.
Furthermore given that my initial research had focused on how technological advances had affected the production and development of art it seemed contextually relevant to produce some of my work digitally.
As with the previous pieces I began compiling a variety of different elements, such as my own own drawings, found imagery and textures into a variety of different compositions. Digital media gave me a lot more control over the process due to being able to continuously edit which pieces went where.
This gave me a far more varied set of practical experiments that I believe better represented the idea of artists/practitioners drawing from the same references but combing them with their own thoughts and process to create something dramatically different.
Although the original start point for this project was pastiche I now think it has moved more towards words such as lineage, progress and reference. This is in that my main visual argument seems to be that, although you may draw from the same influences as other practitioners and reference ideas that have already been done, you build upon them and combine them with others in a way that is unique to you.
Having now set out on a line of investigation that I was finding far more productive than my original practical work I decided to try the same principles using digital collage. This is because as a practitioner I work mainly with digital media to produce my finished pieces, therefore I felt it appropriate to mix that aspect of my practice in 501.
Furthermore given that my initial research had focused on how technological advances had affected the production and development of art it seemed contextually relevant to produce some of my work digitally.
As with the previous pieces I began compiling a variety of different elements, such as my own own drawings, found imagery and textures into a variety of different compositions. Digital media gave me a lot more control over the process due to being able to continuously edit which pieces went where.
This gave me a far more varied set of practical experiments that I believe better represented the idea of artists/practitioners drawing from the same references but combing them with their own thoughts and process to create something dramatically different.
Although the original start point for this project was pastiche I now think it has moved more towards words such as lineage, progress and reference. This is in that my main visual argument seems to be that, although you may draw from the same influences as other practitioners and reference ideas that have already been done, you build upon them and combine them with others in a way that is unique to you.
Theory Into Practice: Practical Response
After my initial research I decided to begin by creating visual representations of pastiche. This was because although I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go with project it seemed best to start with one of the key words that I had picked out from before. In particular I decided to choose pastiche due to its pertinence to my essay (although i realise this isn't simply meant to illustrate studio brief 1) as well as the writings of Benjamin and Fisher.
Naturally I felt that collage rather than drawing would be the best process to focus on visual due to the fact that the key words I had listed all involved borrowing from and re-appropriated images and ideas. Therefore I began using collage to try visually represent pastiche purposefully choosing pop culture figures such Marilyn Monroe and Jean Michel Basquiat to enforce visually this notion of copying from past artistic movements.
Breakthrough via Practical Research
Although it was a start, this felt too simple and poorly thought out to base a whole project around and I felt that it would soon become quite stale. However In the process of making this initial 'pastiche' collages I managed to move my visual research into another direction.
Given that I had wanted to try a few different compositions out with each image, I had photocopied multiple versions of the same image but applied them into different images. What this resulted in was pairs of images that, whilst being comprised of the same pieces, were drastically different in their final position.
To me this seemed to visually represent the ongoing debate that I been looking at of parody vs pastiche/replication vs referencing given that it showed how different outcomes can be made despite being sourced from the same original pieces or points of reference. Therefore i decided this process was something on which I could base the rest of my project on and see how far I could push it.
After my initial research I decided to begin by creating visual representations of pastiche. This was because although I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go with project it seemed best to start with one of the key words that I had picked out from before. In particular I decided to choose pastiche due to its pertinence to my essay (although i realise this isn't simply meant to illustrate studio brief 1) as well as the writings of Benjamin and Fisher.
Naturally I felt that collage rather than drawing would be the best process to focus on visual due to the fact that the key words I had listed all involved borrowing from and re-appropriated images and ideas. Therefore I began using collage to try visually represent pastiche purposefully choosing pop culture figures such Marilyn Monroe and Jean Michel Basquiat to enforce visually this notion of copying from past artistic movements.
Breakthrough via Practical Research
Although it was a start, this felt too simple and poorly thought out to base a whole project around and I felt that it would soon become quite stale. However In the process of making this initial 'pastiche' collages I managed to move my visual research into another direction.
Given that I had wanted to try a few different compositions out with each image, I had photocopied multiple versions of the same image but applied them into different images. What this resulted in was pairs of images that, whilst being comprised of the same pieces, were drastically different in their final position.
To me this seemed to visually represent the ongoing debate that I been looking at of parody vs pastiche/replication vs referencing given that it showed how different outcomes can be made despite being sourced from the same original pieces or points of reference. Therefore i decided this process was something on which I could base the rest of my project on and see how far I could push it.
Theory Into Practice: Initial Ideas and research
Having completed my essay entitled: 'To what extent is pastiche and inevitable and integral part of contemporary creative practice' that explored ideas of authenticity, authorship and originality within modern contemporary practice I began to think how I could explore similar themes visually.
I begun this by compiling lists of words that seemed most imported to these concepts. The most important of which seemed to me to be be:
Pastiche
Parody
Replicate
Homage
Reference
I have highlighted these words as being the most important for my initial research as half back up the idea of intentional and stagnant recycling of ideas and motifs within the arts (Pastiche, Replicate, Homage) where as the others (Parody and Reference) suggest the use of past ideas/motifs as being essential in the process of creating new works through building and taking your own stance on what has come before.
The two main theorists I was drawn when exploring these themes were Walter Benjamin and Mark Fisher.
Walter Benjamin
Benjamin's ideas relating to how mass reproduction had radically altered both how art was produced and how it was viewed seemed central to the notion on pastiche vs parody/replication vs referencing within contemporary practice. This is because it has allowed for anyone to draw influences from anywhere whilst simultaneously removing the 'aura' from contemporary arts.
What is meant by this is that the notion that art and the person who has created it is on a higher level of creative or philosophical thinking has been removed and that the process is now open to anyone as is the understanding of how work is made. Therefore it could be argued that the process of looking backward and drawing from the past has always been aprt of the artistic process but only recently in the late modern and post modern era been made obvious to the majority of society.
Mark Fisher (aka K Punk)
Much of Fisher's writing relates to how the internet has altered the way in which artistic movements begin and develop. He mainly argues that we are now living in a 'post-everything world' due to vast amount of resources and references we can now draw on due to the onset of the internet. In particular he argues that now popular culture has 'succumbed to its own inertia and retrospection'.
Having completed my essay entitled: 'To what extent is pastiche and inevitable and integral part of contemporary creative practice' that explored ideas of authenticity, authorship and originality within modern contemporary practice I began to think how I could explore similar themes visually.
I begun this by compiling lists of words that seemed most imported to these concepts. The most important of which seemed to me to be be:
Pastiche
Parody
Replicate
Homage
Reference
I have highlighted these words as being the most important for my initial research as half back up the idea of intentional and stagnant recycling of ideas and motifs within the arts (Pastiche, Replicate, Homage) where as the others (Parody and Reference) suggest the use of past ideas/motifs as being essential in the process of creating new works through building and taking your own stance on what has come before.
The two main theorists I was drawn when exploring these themes were Walter Benjamin and Mark Fisher.
Walter Benjamin
Benjamin's ideas relating to how mass reproduction had radically altered both how art was produced and how it was viewed seemed central to the notion on pastiche vs parody/replication vs referencing within contemporary practice. This is because it has allowed for anyone to draw influences from anywhere whilst simultaneously removing the 'aura' from contemporary arts.
What is meant by this is that the notion that art and the person who has created it is on a higher level of creative or philosophical thinking has been removed and that the process is now open to anyone as is the understanding of how work is made. Therefore it could be argued that the process of looking backward and drawing from the past has always been aprt of the artistic process but only recently in the late modern and post modern era been made obvious to the majority of society.
Mark Fisher (aka K Punk)
Much of Fisher's writing relates to how the internet has altered the way in which artistic movements begin and develop. He mainly argues that we are now living in a 'post-everything world' due to vast amount of resources and references we can now draw on due to the onset of the internet. In particular he argues that now popular culture has 'succumbed to its own inertia and retrospection'.
Critical Analysis: Study Task 2 - Establishing a Research Question
OUIL501 – STUDY TASK 1 – ESTABLISHING A RESEARCH QUESTION
|
Suggested Research Question.
This can be a topic or theme, but please try to be as precise as possible.
|
Authorship
Orionality
Pastiche
|
Which Theorists Related to this question?
You can find these on eStudio - Try to list at least three.
|
Walter Benjamin
Mark Fisher
Fredric Jameson
|
Which Academic Sources Are Available On The Topic?
What examples of practice / practitioners / images have you discovered?
Include a Harvard Referenced bibliography of at least 5 possible sources.
|
Benjamin, W, 2008, The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological
Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media, 2nd ed, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Harvard University Press
Collins, Jim, 2009, ‘Genericity in the nineties’, in Cultural theory
and Popular Culture: A Reader, 4th ed, edited by John Storey, Harlow: Pearson
Education
Fisher, M, 2012, What is Hauntology?, California, University of
California Press
Jameson, Fredric, 1984, ‘Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late
capitalism’, New Left Review, 146.
Jameson, Fredric, 1985, ‘Postmodernism and consumer society’, in
Postmodern Culture, edited by Hal Foster, London: Pluto
|
How Could The Research Question Be Investigated Through Practice?
What types of illustrations would you make in response to this, and why? Think about processes too.
|
Illustrations drawing from and combing various pre-existing images most likely through collage. Naturally collage invokes questions of originality and authorship within a practitioners work and therefore seems the most appropriate process to my proposed line of investigation.
|
Thursday 10 August 2017
Establishing a research Question: Initial Thoughts
Having spent a long time struggling over what to focus my essay on I decided to base it primarily on the ideas of authorship and originality within the artistic world. This is because being a student at an art school I think that trying to define these two things and establish them within my own practice is is one of the main challenges I face. This often results in an interesting juxtaposition where by you are simultaneously trying to carve your own niece fro your practice whilst also looking at the works of others including both past and contemporary practitioners.
Therefore the main focus of my research will be exploring whether or not you can have a true sense of authorship and originality within your work in a post-modern 'post-everything' era. In particular I am interested in looking at how the exchange of information that has been vastly increased due technological developments, most notably the internet, has affected this.
Having spent a long time struggling over what to focus my essay on I decided to base it primarily on the ideas of authorship and originality within the artistic world. This is because being a student at an art school I think that trying to define these two things and establish them within my own practice is is one of the main challenges I face. This often results in an interesting juxtaposition where by you are simultaneously trying to carve your own niece fro your practice whilst also looking at the works of others including both past and contemporary practitioners.
Therefore the main focus of my research will be exploring whether or not you can have a true sense of authorship and originality within your work in a post-modern 'post-everything' era. In particular I am interested in looking at how the exchange of information that has been vastly increased due technological developments, most notably the internet, has affected this.
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