Confrontational Art

Creative Work by Michelle Davey

When I asked for feedback from my classmates on the G+ community regarding whether they think activism that is being demonstrated live (in-action) or as an art piece, such as a graffiti or sculpture, is more effective in terms of conveying their message the overall consensus was that of a live performance. The more “in your face” the art is, the more impactful it will be. Visual activism through art is a way for the artist to convey their feelings or opinions in a non-confrontational way that allows the audience to see their view and decide for themselves what they want to believe. Art has the ability to create an emotional experience with the viewer. Art is fluid in the way that it connects people who may live in different countries or continents. The topic of animal cruelty is a universal one that many artists are cognizant of.

Throughout this assignment I have been researching many different artists and the mediums they use to showcase their opinion on animal cruelty. I have shown artists who use photography, paintings, books, and art in a more comedic, subtle way to show the consequences of animal cruelty. For my creative work I decided to use a program called Emaze as a way to show what I have learned throughout this project concerning visual activism.

In this final blog post I am going to explore more in-depth some artists whose work I believe to be the most effective. One organization I find to be most influential is PETA. On their website under the category “Why does PETA use controversial tactics?” They replied with “We will do extraordinary things to get the word out about animal cruelty because we have learned from experience that the media, sadly, do not consider the terrible facts about animal suffering alone interesting enough to cover. It is sometimes necessary to shake people up in order to initiate discussion, debate, questioning of the status quo, and of course, action” (PETA, 1). There is no shortage of activism videos in PETA’s playlist but the one that I will be focusing on is a protest outside of a Louis Vuitton store that exposes the violent skinning of crocodiles in Vietnam who are being killed to create these leather bags. Three women whose bodies were painted to look like bloody, dead crocodiles draped themselves over an oversized crocodile-skin bag. With this grotesque image PETA has no doubt captured the attention of onlookers as well as the media. Their message to urge shoppers to buy vegan alternatives is clear.

Another artist whose work captured my attention is Sue Coe. Sue grew up next to a slaughterhouse that is the inspiration for many of her graphic paintings and drawings. Her art can be described as dark and nightmarish yet very impactful. It reveals the harsh truth behind how we obtain our meat. Anyone who views her art will undoubtedly feel her impassioned fury behind these works and while it may not change your mind, it will show you a powerful new perspective.

PETA and Sue Coe are just two of the amazing artists using their creative works as a tool to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. They challenge our perspectives on an issue that a lot of us just choose to ignore and put to the backside. I am finishing this blog post with a quote from Nicholas Mirzoeff, “Once we have learned how to see the world, we have taken only one of the required steps. The point is to change it” (298).

Painting from artist/activist Sue Coe

PETA ad exposing cruelty behind crocodile skin bags

Works Cited

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to see the world. Great Britain: Pelican, 2015. Print.

“Why Does PETA Use Controversial Tactics?” PETA. PETA, n.d. Web. 29 May 2017.

Officialpeta. “Body-Painted ‘Crocodiles’ Protest Outside Louis Vuitton Store.” YouTube. YouTube, 10 Feb. 2017. Web 29 May 2017.

Yeung, Peter. “The Artists Pushing Animal Rights Further.” Dazed Digital. Dazed Digital, 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 May 2017.

Activism Responding to the Impacts of Animal Cruelty

Painting by Dana Ellyn  

Moving from the general to the more specific issues concerning animal cruelty. I will be looking at why this topic is important and affects all of us and that this is why so many visual artists and activists are incorporating anti-animal cruelty into their works. Why do people abuse animals? Animals are innocent creature that Mother Nature has created. They are here to co-habit with us. They are not here for us to abuse, neglect, or rule. Every living creature has the right to live in peace. It is our social and moral responsibility as human beings to ensure that no living being is abused and neglected, human or animal.

Many individual artists know this and incorporate animal cruelty into their works. There are even whole organizations such as PETA who have activists dedicated to this cause. This activism is done in a number of ways. Through visual protests, campaigns, posters, photography, etc. Sometimes activism done through art can have a more profound effect on people than by simply lecturing or giving facts about the cause, especially if these artists and activists have agency within the community. Viewers are able to visually see the effects without the message being too overbearing and are able to interpret the message for themselves as well as feel the impact. I have researched many ways in which this can be done. Through graffiti, public protests, artwork, and art installations just to name a few. Nicholas Mirzoeff in Chapter 7 of How to See the World tells us “Graffiti is a way to reclaim public space for discussion. It can reach people who might not see mainstream media let alone go to an art gallery (264). A very informative website that I found, OneGreenPlanet, showcases many artists and their works of activism, such as Gale Hart who is a sculptor, painter, and multimedia artist. In 2010 Gale released a collection of work titled Why Not Eat Your Pet that focuses “on the hypocrisy of human treatment of food animals.” PETA also has a link on their website that highlights artists such as Jo Frederiks, Dana Ellyn and Banksy just to name a few who use pictures and art to speak up about animal rights. In my final post I will go more in depth with the mediums and strategies used by these artists to communicate this global issue.

 

Works Cited

“Art and Activism: A Spotlight On Animal Rights Activists (Part 1).” One Green Planet. One Green Planet, 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 May 2017.

“Picture Perfect: Artists Speak Up for Animal Rights.” PETA Australia. PETA Australia, 15 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 May 2017.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to see the world. Great Britain: Pelican, 2015. Print.

Animal Rights Activism

These billboards are featured as part of Jonathan Horowitz’s Go Vegan! Campaign

This image was taken from http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23203/1/the-artists-pushing-animal-rights-further

 

This week I focused on finding examples of visual activism pertaining to my topic, animal cruelty. This is a global issue that has an effect on virtually every country. Whether it is a beloved family animal or a creature in the wild all animals are intelligent creatures that should be treated with respect and not cause them any unnecessary suffering or pain. I am researching how artists and designers have represented animal rights through images of art and design in America as well as in other countries. I will also be looking at animal rights laws in these countries and how they might pertain to the activism being done in those countries. One of the animal rights organizations I will be looking at is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which is an American organization that is known for their controversial advertising tactics. The slogan from their website is, “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” I will be looking at some of their print media and commercials as well as what activists have done in a public speaking format. I will also be showcasing artists who through their projects show their opposition to animal cruelty. Some of these artists are Jonathon Horowitz, Banksy, and Rubi Roth. I will be analyzing their works and the effect that they might have on the public. I believe an effective format for my creative work would be to do a screencast consisting of all of the artists’ works and a short glimpse of my thoughts on each artist and a general theme if one in fact exists.

Te Ao Hurihuri: Animal Cruelty

Te ao hurihuri identifies the current moment as a part of a series of events that began with first contact and settlement and continues until the present moment. It acknowledges how contemporary shifts in technology and cultural development are located in relation to wider historical influences and connections and affects future social, political and cultural structures and discourse.

For this project we are asked to investigate and respond to a social, cultural, economic, political or environment issue of our choice. I have decided to focus on animal cruelty and animal rights specifically in the United States. I believe this topic is current and relevant and I will be able to find numerous visual elements I can utilize. I have already found several artists that have dedicated entire projects and pieces of work to animal cruelty. Through this type of visual activism they have the ability to get their message out to a wider audience in a creative way. I will be focusing on animal rights laws in the United States, if those laws are actually being followed and on a wide variety of people’s opinions on this critical topic. One idea I have in mind is to showcase the evolution of visual activism with the advances and changes in technology and how this has influenced the way people are able to portray their opinions on social issues as well as what is now socially acceptable to show which might have been too extreme in the past. I am looking forward to delving further into this topic as well as seeing what my peers have chosen and being able to help and provide feedback on their work as well as receive constructive feedback on my work.

Independent Study

This week for independent study we were asked to review videos from Resources for building a visual and contextual analysis. I watched The power to tell the difference: visual literacy in a visual age and John Berger/Ways of Seeing, Episode 1 from the section Making an analysis of a visual work—Visual Literacy—Contextual and Critical Analysis. In the first video I thought that the idea of “the more convincing the imagery, the gap between fact and fiction blurs” was very interesting. That because of all the advanced technology we now have and the way we can make a fabricated reality with visual and auditory experiences seem like actual reality is profound. Visual literacy requires critical thinking and awareness; we need anchors to be able to tie ourselves down to what’s real.

John Berger made some valid points when discussing how the invention of the camera has changed not only what we see, but how we see it. He back this idea up by stating that looking at painting used to be a unique experience, but now they can be seen in a million different places at the same time. I agree with this notion of how seeing an amazing work of art used to be a privilege only experienced by few and now you can just type it in on Google and see it for yourself at home. I think, in a way, this does detract from the experience of going into a museum and witnesses firsthand an artwork. “Paintings now lend themselves to easy manipulation. They can be used to make arguments or points which may be different from their original meaning.” I fully agree with this notion that people can interpret art and spin it’s meaning however they want to benefit their beliefs. In our society today we are taking things that are supposed to be unique, wonderful experiences and making them easily transferable digitally for the masses to see.

From the Visual Analysis Meaning making and “Truth Value” section I viewed A Photographic Truth. Photographic truth is characterized as a myth. This is because everyone has his or her own truth when looking at an image. Also, more often than we think those “candid” shots that photographers are always seemingly able to capture can in fact be purposeful manipulation. I thought this video gave great insight to the process behind pictorial manipulation and why we shouldn’t always take things as factual just because it’s an amazing photo in a popular magazine.

Lastly, I watched World Views vs. Western World Views. I was aware of the different viewpoints from western and indigenous people, but to see the animations and facts in this video that go along with it make these two different views even more obvious. The way of thinking is opposite in almost every element, from how we think about nature, the community and the market economy. In the western market economy 40% of the Earth’s resources are owned by 1% of the population. How does that make any sense? We have a terrible sense of community that is just driven by competition for personal gain. In my opinion, the indigenous people have the right idea about how to view the world.

Climate Change Images

This is a 2014 chart from The National Climate Assessment that shows the impact that climate change will have on our water sustainability. The Assessment is the product of hundreds of experts and scientists, organized by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. They claim it’s “the most comprehensive, authoritative, transparent scientific research report on U.S. climate change impacts ever generated.” I am planning on using this image for my topic because it shows the current and future climate change impacts for the U.S. and it comes from a valid source. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry, Terrence. “More Drought, Heat and Water Wars: What Climate Change Already Means for Texas.” State Impact NPR. NPR, 6 May 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

This diagram shows some of the effects that climate change has already had on our planet as well as some solutions that have already been implemented to help slow down this process. This image comes from the Pew Center for Global Climate Change. It is based on data from 2008-2012. I will be using this image for my topic because it comes from a reliable source and shows the effects as well as the solutions for climate change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Director, Kelly Trout Communications. “Climate Change.” Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Chesapeake Climate Action Network, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

This is a sequence of four time-lapse photos of Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park and how much it has receded from 1938-2006. This image is from the United States Geological Survey. I will be using this image for my topic to coincide as evidence with some of the points given by Nicholas Mirzoeff in his chapter pertaining to climate change from his book How to See the World.

Butler, Bill. “Is Global Warming a Hoax/Fraud/Scam?” Is Global Warming a Hoax/Fraud/Scam? N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

 

 

How do we shape the natural world?

For our second assignment I picked Topic 4: “How do we shape the natural world?” After skimming the other topics and their corresponding chapters, this one stuck out to me the most. Namely, the impact we as humans have on the environment. In chapter 6 “The Changing World” from the book How to See the World Nicholas Mirzoeff discusses climate change and the impact that it is currently having on our world and as well as its future impacts.

Mirzoeff talks about one way in how we try and show the visible changes that climate change is having on the Earth is through the use of comparative formats such as time-lapse photography (215). This type of photography for example shows how rapidly the glaciers and ice are disappearing due to the warming of the Earth. Later in the chapter Mirzoeff shows how we as a whole have let ourselves be anesthetized to the effects of climate change and have accepted them as normal. For example, George Wesley Bellows painting Forty-Two Kids (1907) shows a group of naked children getting ready to swim into the black water of the East River in New York. At the time of this paint the bodily waste of 6 million people living around New York Harbor was being piped straight into the water. Mirzoeff proposes that “the desire to live in the modern city was so great that it anesthetized the sense, or at least allowed people to disregard what they saw and smelled in the water” (234). The idea of our society being anesthetized to climate change never really occurred to me prior to reading this chapter, but now reflecting on our world I can see how it is a reoccurring theme.

One of the additional resources I chose was the video of a workshop led by Nicholas Mirzoeff: “How to See Climate Change.” I thought it would be interesting to see how he relates what he writes in his book to what he discusses in person. In his lecture, Mirzoeff brings up the idea of the visual commons and how it is a commons because nobody owns it, it is a common sensation or view. Visual commons is not abstract; it requires you to be there (perezartmuseum). Because of this visual commons we all have a mental picture of what Earth looks like from outer space. Mirzoeff is referring to the “Blue Marble” photograph of Earth that he also talks about in the first chapter of How to See the World. This is the most downloaded and reproduced photograph of all time. Mirzoeff refers again to anesthesia and how it was done with the black water in New York as well as the smog in London. People just accepted the change in the physical environment and expected it to be that way. I believe that we as a society will most likely always be anesthetized to the changing climate and the repercussions that brings because we want to be blind to the fact that it is all of our faults.

I also viewed the video by CEPImperial: “Climate Change in the Anthropocene.” Anthropocene is a word that I heard throughout Mirzoeff’s lecture but wasn’t able to grasp a concrete definition of until watching this video. Anthropocene is the new geological epoch that we have entered, one that is dominated by humanity (cepimperial). Similar to the idea of our society being anesthetized it is discussed that we now have a “new normal.” How the current dramatic weather events such as storms, droughts, and fires, all due to climate change are considered normal. I know personally that I don’t question when there is an earthquake or tsunami, I just assume these are part of Earth’s natural process. However, we are in fact altering Earth’s natural cycles so much that we have made a whole in the ozone layer. A solution given is that we all need to bear in mind both the current and future impacts of climate change.

I am looking forward to delving deeper into this topic and doing some outside research of my own as to how climate change is currently affecting Earth, how it will affect Earth in the future, and what we can actively do to save our planet.

Works Cited:

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to see the world. Great Britain: Pelican, 2015. Print.

Perez Art Museum Miami, FL. “Workshop Led by Nicholas Mirzoeff: “How to See Climate Change”.” YouTube. YouTube, 21 July 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

CEPImperial. “Climate Change in the Anthropocene.” YouTube. YouTube, 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Looking with fresh eyes: A New Endeavor

Three weeks ago I read in the course guide that we were required to attend the Cindy Sherman exhibit at the City Gallery Wellington. I typically think of exhibits as uninteresting. I pictured myself with a group of my peers standing in front of various art works, not really looking at them, just giving the illusion of analyzing the art.

On the day we were to attend the exhibit I found myself standing outside the gallery with my class, wearing a blue band that granted me all day access to the gallery. I made a decision before entering that I was going to try and let myself really experience an art exhibit for the first time.

I walked straight into the enormous mural showcasing a multitude of different characters being represented by Cindy Sherman. This main room was full of other students and visitors all trying to get intimate with the photographs as well as attempt to digitally capture a sole image of the photograph without any outside interference. I knew with the crowdedness I would not have an adequate amount of time to analyze the mural. In Isaac Kaplan’s blog he writes about how generally as a whole we are not looking at works of art long to fully experience the work and for it all to be consumed thoughtfully (Kaplan).

I was intrigued when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of a ridiculous photograph of what appeared to be a clown, followed by a storm of color from the room to the left of the mural. The explanation of Art the Clowns series revealed to me that Sherman created it after the 9/11 attacks. The clowns’ expressions represent the various emotions felt by everyone. These photographs ignited a memory of me leaving school early that day and my mother anxiously waiting for a phone call from New York, for my father to tell us that he was safe. The exhibit elicited a surprising amount of emotions from me as well as a new connection between the visual art and the outside world.

After the exhibit I thought of the introduction from the Mirzoeff book as well as the reading by Michael Clarke and their discussion of visual culture. Mirzoeff explains that how through social media and technology, we have altered our idea of visual culture (Mirzoeff, 13). Because I was able to personally experience the gallery I know that I would have had a much different reaction to the exhibit if I ‘d looked up the images online. Clarke recognizes that an interpretation is never simple and can never be conclusive (Clarke, 26). Someone will presumably interpret the Clowns series and its representation differently than I do.

Reflecting on these past three weeks since the course began I have a new perspective on how art and design can play an important role in my life, and my connection to the visual world. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the semester holds for this class.

Photograph taken by Michelle Davey (myself) is part of the Clown series in Cindy Sherman exhibit at the City Gallery Wellington. I thought that this photograph most accurately showcased the many emotions felt by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Everyone reacts to tragedy in his or her own way.

 

Works Cited:

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to see the world. Great Britain: Pelican, 2015. Print.

Kaplan, Isaac. “Https://Www.Artsy.Net/Article/Artsy-Editorial-Long-Work-Art-It”. Artsy Editorial. N.p., 2017. Print.

Clarke, Michael. “Language and Meaning.” Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. 20-27. Print.

Linking Cindy Sherman

 

The first image is one from Cindy Sherman’s Clowns series in the City Gallery. I appreciate this photograph in particular because of all the psychedelic, melting colors that are used to create sort of a “down the rabbit hole” type of feeling. The three clown faces, all expressing different emotions immediately reminded me of the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space. This film has over the top creatures and is always thrilling to watch. It coincides with the quote from the Cindy Sherman lecture: “Through her skillful masquerade, she has created an astonishing body of work that amuses, titillates, disturbs and shocks. The background in this photograph is dissipating away just as the World Trade Center did. This photograph to me shows that we as humans feel an infinite array of emotions and that they can shift from one to another in a split second and that in the face of tragedy we all react differently.

The type of art that really interests me and captures my attention is art that isn’t obvious. Art that makes you think and re-think. I love art that is out of the ordinary. Anything that stimulates the mind. Cindy Sherman does a great job of this, especially with her Clowns series. Her art communicates to me that while she is completely aware of what she is doing and what she wants to say, she lets the audience find their own meaning within the madness. She does this by not putting descriptions under a lot of her photographs and simply leaving them Untitled #…

Reflecting Cindy Sherman

The moment that I saw the clown double photograph that I previously described in “Experiencing Cindy Sherman” was the most significant experience that I had throughout the whole exhibit. Before that moment I was mindlessly wandering through the gallery just taking pictures, not really reading the descriptions or looking for a deeper meaning behind the photographs.

After going back and reading the description on the wall about why Sherman created her Clowns series and what it represented, it touched me even more. These were her first creations after the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. The clowns through their body language and facial expressions convey all of the different emotions that were felt by this tragedy. The photograph resonated with me even more because even though I was young, I remember that day very well because my Father was in New York at the time. I remember being pulled out of school early and my Mom frantically calling my Father until he answered and assured her that he was safe. It took him four days to rent a car and drive back to our home in Texas due to no planes flying in or out.

After my experience with those peculiarly wonderful clowns I walked around a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective. I began to really look at the photographs and compare them to what I thought Cindy Sherman was trying to portray. I wanted to take my time going through the rest of the rooms and even found myself in the upstairs library area listening to a tape of Sherman talk about all of her galleries her process and influence for her creations. This experience showed me that even though my coming there was for a school assignment doesn’t mean that it can’t be an enlightening, enjoyable experience. It gave me more of an appreciation for artwork and how a simple picture can say an endless amount of things and have a much greater influence than I initially thought. I enjoyed the gallery much more than I initially thought I would and look forward to returning soon.