This project illustrates the relationship of humanity to its world, or base foundation and how the concept of time reduces both humanity and its world to finitude. Looking closely at society and our efforts to achieve human immortality through technology, it is obvious that the human being has attempted to pervert the world into its own vehicle but is thwarted by the changing hand of time. This is ultimately the final change.
Category: Stage 2
Objectives: – · To explore the impact of sound recording on the way we interact with music. In the past, people experienced music solely through live interaction: performances, concerts etc. Now music is widely available in recorded form, also through the mass media outlets of radio, television, the Internet. Does this devalue music, simply making it more disposable, or does it transform the potential role of music in a society where traditionally defined boundaries are shifting and collapsing in upon themselves? · To look at the effect of new methods of creating music, such as synthesis and sampling, both on the audience and on the creators of music. Through sampling, music is being made both by recycling and re-contextualising music that has come before, and by reclaiming sources previously dismissed as ‘noise’ to be placed in a musical context. Through sound synthesis, on the one hand acoustic instruments are being mimicked electronically with increasing authenticity. On the other, electronically generated sounds which radically diverge from our traditional sound palette seem increasingly commonplace in a world that is similarly transfigured. · To investigate the way these new techniques reflect the changes in our human/social condition- our relationship with technology, the mechanisation of society. To what extent do changes in musical creation and consumption come about as a result of these social changes, and to what extent do they actually inform the changes. Concepts: – · Mechanisation of society. Simulation and the hyperreal. The shifting role of art in a mass media culture. Territory: – · Western music and culture from the early 20th Century to the present. Sources: – · Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation. Roland Barthes, Image-Music-Text. Peter Manning, Electronic and Computer Music. Numerous recorded musical sources ranging from early forays into musical experimentation with sound recording, through to contemporary examples.
A philosophical inquiry into the architects new best friend: a discussion regarding the use of space in relation to design. Territory and field of exploration. Modern and contemporary interior design and interior architecture, specifically the trend in open-plan ‘new york’ style penthouses and lofts. Closer to home the recent trends in Newcastle’s slick and stylish quayside developments. Key concepts and ideas to be investigated. – Architectual space-in relation to the object and process of design – Concepts of purpose, function and place in relation to design – Minimalist approaches to design, style and manipulation of space. “Architecture is like clay held between the fingers of both hands- recording their movements. One hand is the human will, the other is the condition of the environment, architecture is the record of this conversation between the two- it is the medium to reunite them”. My project will aim at showing how the acceptance of space as a valuable architectual tool bridges the gap between humans and the things they witness around them- this space can then be shaped and sculpted by the process of interior design and the placement of objects- drawing the architect and the object closer together in a relationship previously unseen in interior design. My project will also try and identify a clear and distinct change in architectual intentions- the shift from purpose to design and the notion of design for the sake of design.
Objective: · To investigate the philosophical concepts that determined the notion of ‘womanhood’ in society. · To establish if these philosophical concepts underpin the norms that determine the notion of womanhood in Victorian and Modern society. · To determine to what extent these norms have changed from the Victorian period, through to the Modern period. Part 1: This section focuses on dualism. Dualism exists due to a denied dependency on an inferior other and it is through this, that a domination/subordination relationship is formed. Through looking at dualism’s such as: public/private, human/nature, rationality/irrationality, one can see that all those on the left, superior side relate to masculinity and reason and all those on the right, inferior side relate to femininity and nature. In order to ascertain why women are perceived as inferior and subordinate to men, and furthermore why they are associated with nature, one will examine the key dichotomous relationships: human/nature, rationality/irrationality and public/private. The purpose of examining philosophical concepts is to understand the norms that determined the notion of ‘womanhood’ and to then analyse to what extent these norms have changed from the Victorian to the Modern period. Sources: L McDowell and K Pringle, Defining Women: Social Institution and Gender Divisions. Morwenna Griffiths and Margaret Whitford, Feminist Perspectives in Philosophy. Val Plumwood, Feminism and The Mastery of Nature. Part 2: This section focuses on the norms that determine the notion of ‘womanhood’ in Victorian society. It analyses to what extent the philosophical concepts mentioned in the first section are apparent in the Victorian period. Women’s association with nature is a prominent theme, suggesting that women were in more in tune with their bodies, hence, more emotional and irrational. Women’s relation to the home was a fundamental feature of the nineteenth century. Women were placed in the private sphere due to their association with nature and irrationality, whereas men’s association with intellect and reason placed them in the material world, in the public sphere. An example of a Victorian woman is provided. Florence Nightingale is discussed, showing how she can be seen as reacting against the norms that determined the notion of ‘womanhood’ in Victorian society. Sources: Duncan Crow, The Victorian Women. Ema Olatson Hellerstein, Leslie Parker Hume and Karen M Offen, Victorian Women. Gordon Marsden, Victorian Values, Personalities and Perspectives in Nineteenth Century Society. Cecil Woodham Smith, Florence Nightingale 1820-1910. Julia Swindells, Victorian Writing and Working Women. Part 3: This section concentrates on the Modern period. Along with the Modern period came feminism. This ideology could be seen as replacing the ‘woman movement’ of the Victorian period. A change is evident in the Modern period regarding the dualism’s which are present in the Victorian period. During the twentieth century women were becoming more independent and could be seen to be turning their back on the domestic sphere, hence women’s place in the private sphere was not so rigid. Also, through sexual expression women wanted to make themselves equal to the male. In order to highlight the norms that determine the notion of ‘womanhood’ in Modern society, one focuses on an example of a Modern Woman, Hannah Arendt. Sources: Nancy F Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism. Elzbieta Ettinger, Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger. Elizabeth Gross, Knowing Women, Feminism and Knowledge. Part 4: This section establishes the changes that occur from the Victorian through to the Modern period. It concentrates on the key dichotomous relationships, public/private, rationality/irrationality, human/nature. It focuses on women’s association with nature, irrationality and the private sphere which characterise the Victorian period, and examines to what extent these philosophical concepts have changed by the twentieth century. Sources: Nancy F Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism. Morwenna Griffiths and Margaret Whitford, Feminist Perspectives in Philosophy. R Minsky, Knowing Women: Feminism and Knowledge. Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature.
To show how a world based and run on reason, deals with the un-reasonable, and keeps reason in the minds of the many. (Starting off looking at paradigm of how the views on life and madness evolved throughout the Age of Reason and in the Early Modernism period through to now and then moving in to a sociological thesis of part design history with philosophical interpretations concerning itself with our suspect, over corporate, multinational mindset times.) Part 1: Theory; Early Modernity’s Concept of Life Reduced to Reason and the Model of Madness. (Additional texts: Foucault’s ‘Madness and Civilisation’ and works of art relative to particular time to emphasise conclusions) Part 2: Society’s presentation of life as reason with no other alternative. Study looking at Klein’s text in ‘No Logo’ of application of marketing and end product of capitalist selling exposure upon the human psyche of life, reason and sanity giving the mob the need for money and the drive needed to earn it. Part 3: My generation. Examination of peers and show of self-perceptions and wants and intentions. Visual examples (photos of individuals and what is characterised as attractive within context of places, objects and life styles) Social attitudes (interviews concerned with thoughts on madness, society and destiny) Essentially, what I’m trying to do here, is show how the conception of madness that we have now came about and how it was used for the benefit of the government and for capitalism in its early days, against those individuals who didn’t want to ‘get with the program’. I’m then going to move to contemporary times and look at how through the judicious use of effectively marketing, today’s corporate giants are in effect doing the same thing, controlling the public through the images that they promote and label and either condone or don’t.
Project Title: ‘A Study of the Rise of Twentieth Century Popular Music, And its Subsequent Relationship with the Public Consciousness’. Concepts and Key Words: Music as Entertainment vs Music as Education. Music Defining Morality. Music as a Political Power. Generation Gaps. Music as a Conspiracy of Hope. The Decline in Instruments and the Rise of Machines. Music Reinventing itself. Objectives: 1. To view the effect that music has had on determining the public consciousness from before the Second World War throughout the following decades to today, and vice versa. 2. To understand why popular music has changed so much in such a relatively short period of time, and to establish the influence of world events (such as the Vietnam War) and cultural variations in light of these changes. How music reflects the changing nature of humanity and different times in a postmodern age. 3. To study how music has become more universal since the 1950s. For example, to view not only how has music become less specialised for each listener, but how different genres of music have merged to create new styles altogether, becoming universally popular in the process. Of course, in the midst of all this, we have the effect and the parallels of the public consciousness running alongside these changes. 4. To estimate how the relationship between music and the public consciousness will develop in the twenty first century, based on the signs of today. Will there be another select group of individuals who will be capable of changing popular music as we know it, reflecting again immense change in the world, or will the predictable rise in technology simply overtake man’s capacity to create music in an original way to mirror these developments? Sources: Assorted books and magazines from personal collection, as well as extensive material from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne library. In addition to this, research has and will be taken from the internet (individual group and general websites), as well as video and newspapers. Project Territory/ Field of Exploration: With such a broad and worldwide study area, it is difficult to locate a precise territory, but the focus shall primarily be on the contrasting and comparable changes and effects of/on music between Great Britain and the United States. The Gap Between Humans and Things: A distinction will be made throughout the project between humans and the outside events that influence and determine their lives. It is music here that is often able to bridge that gap; it is able to play such a large part in the life of the individual that it creates a route to a better one. While humans have remained the same in the years covered by the project, the changes seen in the life of popular music are quite dramatic.
Objectives: ~ To Outline the origins of the photo ~ Explain how it has developed and evolved and how its roles have changed alongside society ~ Investigate its classification as an ‘artform’ ~ Look at its change from traditional to modern Project Territory/field of exploration: ~ The Photographer Mario Testino-National Portrait gallery ~ Magazines ~ Own Photo’s and Photo’s of Brooke Shannon The ‘photo’ has infiltrated gradually nearly every aspect of society today. It is in constant use as a form of proof, enjoyment and as a means of controlling our ever mobile population and world. How has this apparently simple object managed to permeate so significantly into our world, bridging the gap between the ‘real world’ and that of images, bridging the gap between humans and things? This contribution to the ‘book of change’, is essentially a subjective interpretation of the contribution of ‘ The Photo’ to this world, highlighting its impact and evolution, is the photo the world outside Plato’s cave or the shadows that we watch inside the cave?…….
OBJECTIVES 1. To study the meanings and interpretations of myth, what it means to man 2. To look at the changing attitudes towards inherited truths and traditions from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment period where superstition and faith were seen as unreason due to the advancement in science. 3. To examine the effect that the Enlightenment had in initiating the existentialist movement and to discover why myth was rejected there also. 4. To study two men, famous for reinventing myth in the postmodern era, both realising that myth is needed to restore coherence in society in order to enhance the experience of mankind. These two men are Car Jung, the psychoanalyst and Richard Wagner the composer. SOURCES Books borrowed from the library of the university of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, various internet sites, newspaper articles, magazines and CD’s. FIELD OF EXPLORATION I am going to loo at the history of theatre and entertainment trough the ages, drawing on three examples. The first will be a look at Greek tragedy in the time of Euripides where going to watch one of these performances was essentially a ritualistic act. The second example will be Racine and his attempt to please the court of Louis XIV and finally, examples taken from Ionesco, a renowned figure of the theatre of the absurd, which forces the question of whether there is any meaning to existence. CHANGE Throughout the project there will be a strong element of change. I am hoping to illustrate the shift in the beliefs from the colourful myth embracing era of the Middle Ages, through the revolution in thought and discovery of the Enlightenment to the existentialists who believe that man must choose his own way without the aid of universal, objective standards. THE GAP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THINGS My aim here is to show how, through exploring my project territory, man was separated from myth initially and then actively dismissed it as fantasy, later being reunited with it through the fields of psychoanalysis, opera, literature and theatre.
OBJECTIVES:- To look at the major changes – thankfully not all disappointments on the pitch that the club has gone through which mirror the changes from modernity to postmodernism. INSPIRATION:- Stadium of Light – & 22 years of solid devotion to the club!!!
Whether its freedom based on John Locke’s natural justice, reflected in Goya’s work, or Sartre’s existentialist and progressive notions, evident in Picasso’s work, the Modern period has done much to influence the contemporary concept of what it is to be free. Both artists were Spanish and these works portray the violent political turbulence of their times. Locke theorised that the state played a major role in determining an individual’s freedom and hence put forward a theory for the reformation of the legal system, as a means of according the ordinary man with freedom. This concept culminated in the theory of natural justice, which formed the basis for the civil rights movement and ultimately the contemporary English legal system. Underlying Locke’s theory was a Modernist faith in reason and the drive for progress. The modern individual was actively involved in this progress and was more reasoned in their judgement of the world. Early Modernity brought a greater emphasis on reason in all aspects of life and freedom was achieved through rationality, as the rational man was free to determine his will. Goya clearly demonstrates such values in his work. He was progressive, both in his technique and in his subject matter. Ordinary people became the subject, reflecting Locke’s conviction in their importance and, as is evident, the way politics affects their basic liberties. Which Freedom? Towards the end of the nineteenth century there was a shift in thinking which rejected some of Modernity’s earlier values, this mood was lead by Sartre and captured by Picasso. Sartre probably captured the general mood of High modernity with his existential theory. He did not believe that there was a fixed universal nature of man like Locke therefore man must decide his own nature and existence-how he lives. Man may feel some angst at the responsibility of freedom but we must make a conscious choice to create meaning for our lives and as there is no universally morality then our decisions take on a greater significance. The only foundation for human values is human freedom and absolute freedom constitutes absolute responsibility. Picasso reflected such tendencies, towards the individual’s mind and the deconstruction of previous theories, through his highly progressive work. He focused on representing the feeling that his subject gave him, as opposed to the reality, like Goya, whilst deconstructing the form. The liberty Picasso utilised in his work is, perhaps, the ultimate proof of Modernity’s contribution to individual freedom.
How has communication become the driving force? Concepts/Key words: · Communication-from the spoken and written word to the electronic text · Self- from the Cartesian self surrounded by objects to being surrounded by computers who are subjects Objectives: · Examine the paradigm shift in communication-from Modern to Post-modern, from printed to electronic · Analyse the changes in the self-stable Cartesian self (modern individual) to fleeting and transient (post-modern individual) · Describe the lack of authenticity in electronic communication-no trace left by an author · Outline how communication is the driving force in society world revolves around computers, e-mail, Internet… Project Territory · The internet- examining how the language game of electronic communication is used to screen individuals
Aims and Objectives: To investigate the philosophies behind the creation of and interaction with places from the baroque period to the present day as well as presenting a personal view of interaction with place. Outline: Part one traces the development of ideas and attitudes towards place from the baroque to the contemporary. The second part contains my diary of experience in Prague. The third part analyses the diaries in relation to philosophical theories on space as well as taking references from contemporary literature to express specific theories. The final section is the conclusion in which the achievements and ideas of the project will be summarised and assessed. Description and Background: The idea for the project began as a basic investigation into places and the way in which they affect our being. When an opportunity arose to spend some time in Prague as part of the project, my approach to the topic changed. I wanted to make it more personal and as I was going to be experiencing a new place myself, I thought it would be interesting to use this experience within the project. As well as charting the shift in attitudes towards place from the baroque period, the project includes a diary of my experiences in Prague. The diaries were written purely from personal ideas and experience and have provided a good text for analysis. In this analysis, the fundamental theories and philosophies on space can be discussed. The project also contains references to modern novels and the authors, such as Michael Ondaatje’s ‘In the Skin of a Lion’ and ‘The English Patient’ approach to place.
Objectives – Show how we became mass consumers for our mass production – Trace the role of the advert and media in safeguarding our ‘culture of consumption’ – Expose the inner workings and sinister nature of ‘the advert’ – Show our true relation to our ‘stuff’ ‘Texts’ used: David Harvey – The Condition of Postmodernity 2000 Pierre Martineau – Motivations in Advertising 1957 Jean Baudrillard – Selected Writings 2001 Roland Barthes – Mythologies 1973 Christopher Lasch – The Culture of Narcissism 1979 Umberto Eco – Travels in Hyper-reality 1986 David Collis – The Abuse of Consumerism 1999 Guy Debord – Society of the Spectacle 1983 Milan Yaros – PHY288 Lecture Notes Naomi Klein – NoLogo 2001 Frederick Jameson–Postmodernism/The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism 1991 Judith Williamson – Decoding Advertisements Douglas Holt – Postmodern Markets BBC Documentary (the name of which I have been unable to find out after only managing to record the middle of it!) Harvard Business review – July 1992 Sources used: Photograph of billboard taken 04/02 Adflip.com online poster advert archive Fiat enthusiasts club, advert archive ITV and Channel 4 television adverts Across the fields of psychology sociology, linguistics, semiotics and economics, this project shows how the advertising and mass media techniques have changed alongside the cultural paradigm shift that was postmodernity It shows our relation to the things we surround ourselves with and what they have come to mean to us Hopefully it will invoke a sense of concern about the abusive nature of our relation with our consumer society