OUGD601 - Context Of practice Practical - visual research

Punk

Rick Poyners book 'No More Rules' looks at graphic design within the post modern era. Poyner gives looks at the Punk subculture and explores the different creatives behind the movement. Notes taken 

- Punk is part of British cultural heritage, even now 40 years on 

- Punk is inseparable from out national identity as the long serving Queen it once dared to skewer with a safety pin - "That anti-establishment gesture looks almost lovably eccentric now. Like a warped kind of affection"

- Punk gave the UK a vigorous and necessary shaking. Its 'blast of DIY anarchy' allowed a whole new creativity to burst into the culture of the country. The creativity spread from music (though punk music was never only about the music) into the arts, fashion an media worlds of the 1980's and beyond.

- Modern culture sees punk differently than how it was seen during the height of its popularity in the late 70's and 80's. Today - a year long programme of events titled 'Punk London' - supported by the lord mayor's office - celebrating 'the supposedly catalytic influence of punk in all its ragged glory'. A house on Denmark Street where the Sex Pistols once lived has been awarded listed building status on the advice of Historic England. Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClarens son Joe Corre, was in the news recently threatening to burn his collection of punk memorabilia in protest against these signs that a movement that despised bloated convention had been stripped of its offensive barbs and repackaged as a cosy landmark moment in national pop culture.

- Looking at how the works of punk and anarchy design can be arranged and how to 'apply yardstick' is complicated, depending on the different status' of the items. Only a number of designers within the movement are known by name, notably: Jamie Reid, Barney Bubbles and Malcolm Garrett - all regarded as key figures in punk movement.

- Pieces created for record companies by non-punk designers with professional experience of all kinds of music packaging.
- Other industry designers are uncredited.

- Reid was the "ultimate punk auteur" and by far the most inventive British designer working in the punk idiom.

The design that came out of this movement was radical and unique, it saw a rejection of widely accepted techniques within design and a return to more primitive techniques of design, such as collage and photomontage. One thing that defines the punk movement is the DIY style fan zines, these would be hand made designs with hand written type and a cut and past technique which was then photocopied to produce more in a cheap way, these would often be made by teenagers and or fans of the movement who would have comeplete creative freedom making them, the design of the manifesto takes influence from the visual styles of the movement.

OUGD601 - Context of Practice practical - Initial Research - Relating to essay question

Dada - The Dada art movement formed in 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. A number different creatives and literates came here to find escape from the First World War, together they started the Dada art movement, the Dadaists were built on rejection of a number of things happening in the world at the time, for example they rejected the war and criticised the stupidity of it, and the rejection of art or the art scene in the west, criticising it for being just something for the bourgoise (Higher classes and elites). The Dadaists voiced this rejection through programmes and art work which Having looked at within the contextual will help to influence the practical outcome of a manifesto. Here are a number of influences which will help to achieve my practical outcome;

Tristan Tzara - The Dada Manifesto - Written in 1918 Tzaras manifesto is seen as the most important of the Dada movement, especially of the early years in Zurich. Tzara was a poet and writer who became the editor of many of the Dada programmes. It outlines the personal and collective ideas of the group in unique ways, using poetic verses and non-sensical explanations of the movement, this was a tactic which was popular amongst the Dadaists, using tactics to cause confusion and obscure understanding, this was all in an effort to annoy the bourgoise classes they dissaproved of.  Through examining Tzaras work I found quotes and ideas within which helps to understand how manifestos can be formed, and how ideas can be put in unique ways.

Quotes -

"To put out a manifesto you must want: ABC to fulminate against 123" - this is an interesting metaphor the ABC Tzara refers to is a set of ideas and aims you have and the '123' is something to protest against. Tzara believes that a manifesto needs something to be agaisnt, to reject, and through this the personal manifesto can be effective.

"And so Dada was born of a need for independence, of a distrust toward unity" - Tzara here credits the desire for independence as a reason for the Dada movement beginning, this is unusual as movements normally are shared collectives and this is true of Dada but Tzara here means the shared intentions of the group to keep there individuality and freedom, each member being from different backgrounds and occupations (writers, artists, poets). This is evidence that a collective of people can come together with different ideas, influences and styles and still work under the same umbrella of thought.

"Here we cast anchor in rich ground. Here we have a right to do some proclaiming" - Tzara speaks here of the freedom which Dada offered, it was a platform for them to speak about issues and ideals within what they did, it was a movement in which each member explored there creative freedom.

Raoul Hausmann -

Art Critic - is a 1919 photomontage piece by Raoul Hausmann. Hausmanns work uses one of his poster poem pieces as background, ink, newspaper clippings, a bank note, a stamp and markers of style such as spats and brogue shoes. These elements connect the art world and capitalism, Hausmann held strong veiws on this topic which he used satirically a number of times. Hausmanns veiws were the center piece for how he worked, this shows how he implememnted his own manifesto to his work.

ABCD - Hausmanns 1923 peice is a summary of his Dada activities and interests, constructed after the members of Club Dada had gone there seperate ways. It promotes a number of countries which the Dada group visited and toured to, aswell as his own interests and styles. 

Francis Picabia -

l'oeil cacodylate - (The cacodylic Eye) This piece by Picabia from 1921 is an oil and collage piece which uses the title within its work, the work refers to the harsh treatment of eye disorders, the work also contains Picabias signature and small portrait. Once finished Picabia set the peice up in his home and allowed friends and colleagues to then complete it. More than forty people added there signatures and other things to the peice. This piece started off as Picibias work on the treatment of eyes, though him allowing for many others to add details and such the message has been changed and warped, creating a much more unique peice. This is peice was achieved through collaboration, an aspect which should be touched upon within the proposed manifesto. 

George Grosz -

Germany Shirtless is a 1919 collage by George Grosz, which uses the chaos of words and photographs thrown together to represent how mass media forms the soul of the bourgeois. Grosz's collage uses paper clippings and imagery to undermine the german government at the time, in an obscured attack on nationalism in Germany. Grosz peice voices opinions and ideas through collage which is full of irony, Grosz was known for his political, satirical work which manifested it self in a number of ways. 

Supporting Dada Art work (Style and Design Influence)

Raoul Hausmann

Hannah Hoch

Dada Publications

OUGD601 - Context Of practice - Practical Brief

Brief - Practical


Background information  - Through the research undertaken within my essay I have been looking at a number of manifestos, many of which related to the Dada art movement and others which hold relevance to the subjects within my essay.
A manifesto is a public declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of an artist or artistic movement. The Dadaists published many manifestos of there beliefs and opinions aswell as outlines to how they approached creativism, there styles and belief systems were often seen as anti-art. Through looking at the Dada manifestos it became evident that a manifesto, even when under the guise of a movement or collective can be very individual peices, Dada is built on these individual manifestos, which showcase both the style and ideology of the movement. More modern manifestos such as the 'First things First' Manifesto produced by Ken Garland in 1964 is more a declaration of how to work for the good of the design industry and society at the time, this manifesto was signed by a number of other professionals and students who agreed to these terms of designing.

Taking heavy influences from these topics mentioned the practical brief will hope to investigate how a modern day manifesto can be formed today and how it can be implemented and broadcast to the public.

Concept - Show understanding of the importance of a Manifesto and how it can be applied in contemporary design.

Aims -
To produce a manifesto of ideas and aims. The main aim of the manifesto is to encourage creatives to use there skills to be creative, outspoken and critical, this can be in the form of personal art work, political work, publications, anything that expresses the excersising of creative freedom. The work which is being asked for should be personal work and can serve as visual manifestos of the creators.

Creating a Manifesto supporting evidence based on the research undertaken for the contextual element of the module. The manifesto will have opinions, aims and goals it will be used as a promotional piece to challenge creatives to look at there own practice, and encourage the target audience to excercise creative freedom that is individual to them.

The Manifesto will be part of a wider idea which aims to bring creatives (initially of Leeds Art University) together through a number of ways. Providing platforms to showcase creative freedom, the manifesto will be published online in a call to arms, accompanying promotional material will lead the audience to online accounts which will contain the manifesto and accompanying work.

Target Market - The target market is creatives - focussing the aim on creative students - though through careful consideration it appears that the best route to take is aiming it first at the students of LAU, this will guarentee that the correct people will see it and submit there work. Once enough work has been collected and put on social media and in the form of publications and exhibitions, the project can be expanded to a wider market, gaining popularity and continuing promotion is key.

Deliverables - A manifesto of aims and ideas. Supporting promotional work. Online platform to release to.