Abstraction: Imagine a supermarket with aisle upon aisle of purchasable goods appealing to each and every appetite, whim, or fancy. Purchasable for a limited time only, that is, until their ‘sell by date’ runs out, then the shelves are restocked and it is on to the freshest goods and the newest fads. In my project I will investigate whether this is an accurate and justifiable account of contemporary art, and if so, why? Section 1. Modernism, The Search for Ambrosia Enter the intellectual avant-garde, the revolutionaries, pioneers, map readers and guardians of high taste, searching for that which is guaranteed to satisfy. Transgressing old, outdated traditions and paving the way for a new and better future, waiting for the rest of society to follow suit. The Bitter Taste, The Crisis of Modernity: The failure of the artist as the modern hero but his/her brilliant success at becoming an icon. Political incompatibility, the dawning limits of the experimentation and exploration, and the absorption and assimilation of elitist avant-garde artwork by the mindless masses. There were no successful conversions; the artwork was absorbed while the ideologies behind them were not. Section 2. What is a Hot Dog?: Postmodernism, (…is elephant dung the secret ingredient?): Prepare yourself for a scandal. Virtual realities, simulation, canned culture, a schizophrenic way of life abundant in choice. The power in art is no longer found within its creations but the prices they command. Certain lengths are carried out by the artist in order to stand out in this overcrowded artistic stage and thus extend his/her shelf life. No battles, no obligations, no crusade, no spiritual journey, no brotherhood, no notion of linear progression. The task now is keeping fresh and well within your ‘sell by date’. ‘Back of the Net’ Objectives: 1. ‘Subsidence’: The Politics of Post, I shall investigate the ‘gradual shift’ that happened in the attitudes towards art in western civilisation during ‘modernism’ and ‘postmodernism’ in the twentieth century. 2. ‘Mirror Image?’: Reflections of Society, does in any way reflect society and if so, does it follow that because contemporary art is superficial that so too is society? Explore the connotations this might have. 3. GM Free: Commodification Verses Purity, was art always destined to become a commodity? Or was there any real possibility that it could be anything else? 4. When is ‘Shit’ really ‘Shit’?, investigate how defecation has become the marketable medium? The power of shock and the spectacle in a postmodern society. The necessity of extending the artists’ shelf life. Sources: The sources for this project are very extensive and include information obtained from the National Records Office in Kew, newspapers, galleries (specifically, Tate Modern, London, and the Baltic, Gateshead), a numerous amount of books (both from my personal collection and borrowed from libraries) and the World Wide Web. The Philosophical Anchor: In this essay I wish to break through the elusiveness of art and relate it with the human experience. The story of art can go some way in revealing or demonstrating the present human condition. I wish to jump over the partitioning rope, disregard the ‘Do Not Touch’, take the picture from the wall, turn the canvas around and read the ingredients on the back…
Category: Stage 2
Aims & Objectives: · To examine the relationship between Public Space and Public Life. · To identify the major changes that have occurred from the 18th century to today in the design and use of public space in the West; and the subsequent effect that this has had on public life. Structure: The first section will be examining the changing philosophies, ideas, and perspectives on public space/place, and public life. In the second section I will be looking at the changing development of space and place in western culture. Section three will be investigating the recent trend in ‘reclaiming’ urban space for public use. Section four will be assessing the reasons why public space and its design are so important to public life. Territory: The physical territory for my project will be Newcastle-upon-Tyne, focusing on particular areas: such as Eldon Square, Quayside, and Bigg Market. To back up and contrast what I find in Newcastle, I will also use specific examples from elsewhere. Sources: Some of my main sources will be Richard Sennett, Jan Gehl & Lars Gemzoe, David Harvey, Bernard Rudofsky. Information collated from Newcastle University library and Newcastle Central library will also be used along with research from various Internet sites.
Objective · Investigating a sense of belonging and its relationship to structure. Territory · In my project I follow the connection between structure in daily life and the structures found within Durham Cathedral. · I was interested in exploring the idea about one’s sense of belonging to a place, and most particularly whether this is affected by our structures, self imposed or otherwise. If a structure changes do we lose our sense of stability? Structure and stability have always been linked but is it these which, when taken out of the literal sense of architecture and put into the personal ideas of life, form the basis for which we shape our attachments? · I have chosen Durham Cathedral because of my personal knowledge and experience of the building and the life within it. · It provides many good opportunities for comparisons to be made between the life as it used to be lived in and around the cathedral over the past 900 years, and how we live our lives today. Because much of the day to day traditions in the cathedral have remained more or less as a constant it can be used as a basis providing useful information to contrast and compare what it is about structure that affects us. Summary · The first half of my project concerns the comparisons between structure and person, and the second half looks at the sense of belonging. As a conclusion bringing the whole project together, the last section looks at whether it is structure that makes us happy, or whether we could live without it. Research/Resources: Historical fact – building of cathedral Personal experiences – those working there and those visiting Works of Kant, Foucault and others
KEY CONCEPTS/ WORDS Enlightenment, Modernity, Rationalizing, Technology, Efficiency, Town Planning, Functionalist. Post modernity, Inspiration, Progression, Shift in systems, Design, Fragmentation, Pastiche, Eclecticism, Existentialism. OBJECTIVES 1. To study the different styles and progressions of architecture in Newcastle. 2. To look at the political and economic forces that have affected the changing of the cities landscape. 3. To analyse social forces that have initiated the architectural changes. 4. To examine prominent architects and philosophers that have altered the direction of modern and postmodern thinking. SOURCES Books borrowed from Newcastle Upon Tyne University Library. Photos taken in the center of Newcastle, visual media gathered from books, internet sites, magazines, leaflets and newspaper articles. FIELD OF EXPLORATION I am going to look at how the fabric of Newcastle’s architecture has evolved over the past one hundred years. By using photographic data gathered in Newcastle I will be able to draw upon examples which can be analyzed with reference to famous architects of the era. The modern and postmodern architecture of Newcastle lends itself to philosophical and sociological interpretation. CHANGE My project will be looking at the progressions that have forced the architectural changes upon Newcastle. I am hoping to illustrate the shift from modern architecture to postmodern architecture and the philosophical themes that have brought them about. THE GAP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THINGS My aim here is to highlight how man has become disenchanted with the Enlightenment project and scientific progress. Disunity of knowledge in the postmodern era has led to a more confusing, pastiche and fragmented way of interpreting society. This incredulity has in some ways widened the gap between humans and things.
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
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