'HOW DO ARTISTS CONVEY A MESSAGE IN THEIR WORKHARRIET NEWMAN

In this personal study I am going to investigate body language and how artists can convey a message through this and their chosen subjects and model in their artwork. I hope to really discover how artists explore human emotion using mainly digital media and lens based technology. I believe that one way they do this is by focusing on body language.

I believe that body language throughout art history has been iconicity idolized to express, contrast, visualize, and explore human emotions. The way in which we (us humans) portray ourselves whether it be in different social situations or how our various moods change the way we portray our body language and how artists capture this.

As you read through my personal study, to me, it has become that of like an accor-dion. As you start to read through and stretch open the accordion to let it breathe its like its taking in new ideas and totally different strands of information that just gets soaked in. Which is then squeezed out into the refinement of my conclusion.

I will focus on contemporary artists such as Kako, Sam Janssen and artists like Eugene Delacroix. I, myself, find these artists to be inspiring when I consider my own working practice. I also want to explore how they use their mediums to ex-plore body language and then possibly draw comparisons between them. These comparisons initially will be based upon the differences between the time periods that these paintings were created.

INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER ONE2

CHAPTER ONE

In this chapter I am intending to look into some ways the way artists have shown a separation of people hasnt changed.

The art of the past no longer exists as it once did. Its authority is lost. In its place there is a language of images. What matters now is who uses that language for what purpose.

The ways of seeing - John Berger

In this quote John Berger is making a generalization and is saying about how what were once the conventions of art pieces, its changed, and in the process certain things have lost its authority. This quote isnt in reference to a piece of work however it is from a book entitled Ways of seeing by John Berger. From this quotation I can start to understand the way of how to begin comprehending how artists in the past and in the present use emotions to convoy body language and additionally why they use it. Because In paint-

ings such as A Passing Cloud by Marcus Stone you can see there is a distinct distance and difference between the two figures. Stone conveys this through the use of chiaroscuro, contrasting dark to light in conjunction with this the use of perspective aids the narrative within piece. The woman is unsettled and alone. She is looking weak and in need of support, but the man is sitting with his fist clenched. In contrast there is a significant difference in the way Stone in 1891 has chosen to use body language of the two figures clearly in some argument, than in that of some contemporary pieces placed onto the internet that may not contain any or little to no meaning behind them. For instance Sam Janssens work is a huge impact on my own visual work however the reasoning behind his work is that he was trying to find the balance between realism and abstract (A quote from a publication in the Tate modern whilst his work was exhibition-ing).

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The book Ways of Seeing explores the ways in which we see things and then how they were intended to be seen (by the artist). In the opening chapters it really explores the movement in nudity paint-ings. The writer expresses his ideas, especially in page 59 'the loss of mystery occurs simultaneously with the offering of the means for creating a shared memory'. I believe what he's trying to convey in this quote is that with the age of 'the naked form' being exposed publicly evidently growing the 'quirk', if you like, of seeing these 'sights' is slowly fading. Which means that how we, as the audience, is seeing the piece, and in general art, is ever changing and our 'ways of seeing' for the artist are constantly changing and the artist must keep up with this fact. Otherwise the art may die.

When looking back at my chapter I have set an intended outline I be-lieve I have proven my argument. In some ways the way artists have shown a separation of people hasnt changed, for example they still may use space of two characters to show this and the emotions on their faces will be distraught however I think It is the way in which they use their mediums is how the change has become significant part of my study.

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A Passing Cloud by Marcus Stone A Passing Cloud by

Marcus Stone

CHAPTER TWO - LONDON3

LONDONTo further my artistic knowledge and explore my theme i took my-self on a adventure into London. Through my time in my adven-ture trip in London, I did not only see specifically certain things that inspired me and my theme at galleries I attended, but things that I saw on the streets. When I say this I am referring to the ac-tivity which can be commonly known through the phrase People Stalking. Although invasive as it is, it was in the interest of my per-sonal study. So whilst in London I tried to conduct my own investi-gation or some may say experiment. This study was about ob-serving the way people around me did certain things, I wanted to explore how people interact with each other and behave in cer-tain situations - these were things such as:

Walking (paces)

Talking in groups (or twos)

People eating lunch

People looking at art installations/imagery/sculptures

etc...

What I found from looking into these things was that people tend to change their whole image when somebody else comes into the picture. Before you ask yourself, what have I just read?!, let 6

me explain. Take yourself for example, you are sitting waiting for some-one in a room, unexpectedly they come into the room and when you greet them you may adjust your shirt; or fidget within your self. Now ask yourself why did you do that. Did you do it because you were plan-ning to do that long before they came in, or where you uncomfortable and had to try and regain you comfort in the situation? I believe that from my findings while in London people would apply this concept to whilst they were out. Im not trying to state that this is a bad thing for people to do. However I digress, This quick study I looked at whilst in London was that of reflective of the Selective Perception theory that has been demonstrated through asking a audience in 1973 and then again in 1980 by Morley. This theory contains three main ideas. These ideas relate to how the audience can perceive a text. The three catego-ries are broken up as such:

When you read a media text you can either be:

DOMINANT - agree to text as reasonable

OPPOSITIONAL - Audience Stuck to their guns when respond-ing

NEGOTIATED - Audiences came to a middle grown within watch-ing the piece.

The reason why I am interested in these theories is well because, a) I agree with them, and b) they are an interesting observation as to how we can look at art. Myself, I like to be quite stubborn so I could be considered a oppositional viewer however, I could explore my opinion of me being a negotiated viewer. As I am making my study I have taken pieces main ideas but then twisted these staple ideas to manipulate it be what I want to hear and take away from the piece. These theories I have researched

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into help me understand why artists would not only just make there work but also the meanings behind their work.

Throughout my time in London I viewed a lot of different kind of mediums through art. These were ranging from animation to in-situ street art. A main part of what I saw was at my visit to Frieze London which featured diverse pieces. Nicola Lees is the curator of the Frieze Foundation, she birthed a new program including commissions that centers around ideas of play and governance, which then led onto focusing on how these exchanges can be brought to light through these contemporary art practices. A few things caught my eye straight away whilst my first walk around the site. A piece that one of my 10 hour pieces was based around was a piece by Ryan McGinley entitled You and My Friends 4. It includes 48 c-prints which is hung 4x6 frames land-scape. This piece is a complete opposite to a piece by Rob Pruitt which includes a flock of fluorescent orange safety cones which was composed with a various amount of goggly eyes and punk hair-styles. Some of the sculptures are expressing shock, some are glum, and some look very confused. Back to Ryan McGinleys piece, which revolves around 48 portraits of young persons play-ing. Some are expressing joy, and on the other hand some are not. However within all of this none of them are looking directly into the camera. The images are brightly coloured and a collec-tion of boys an girls who are smiling and not, are eager and with wet or dry hair, head to chin in makeup. Conclusively they all have one thing in common - they are basking for your attention. This is something that came into play for my Final coursework piece as I juxtaposed this idea.

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London Image Gallery

CHAPTER THREE - INSPIRATIONS4

CHAPTER THREEThis chapter is all about my in my main inspiration that I take from my chosen artist. My main inspiration for my personal study in the first place was because of innovative pieces of work that did not have a specific meaning placed upon them however I can take away my own ideas from the pieces. Justin Bower does this in his piece Panic Room. This incredible piece of work uses repetitive textures and a a range of colours that link together the idea of technology and the human form. His work links back to the origi-nal idea within his work of Cubism.

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My post-human subjects play with the boundaries separating the organic/mechanic, human/non-human, interiority/exteriority, and self/other binaries.

-Justin Bower -Artslant

The simulacrum is neither that which con-ceals the truth, its is the truth which revels theres is none.

-Jean Baudrillard

His work does have a deeper meaning - looking into some theories that Jean Bau-drillard has additionally. These are that we as a culture have become one with media and the line is now increasingly blurred be-tween what is real life and projected (Real life and online persona). Now its im-portant to note that this idea of looking into Baudrillards ideas is useful because the modern day interpretation of this idea of body language and how we portray our-selves. An idea like this would not have ex-isted at the time of where I would have started my timeline of looking into Body lan-guage in the 20th century as technologies like these portrayed in Bowers work would not have even been invented.

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Either tap, swipe, pinch to zoom in or out to view these image in this interactive gallery

GALLERY 4.1 Justin Bowers Work Examples

My own work has developed significantly whilst investigating into my title of how do artists convey a message in their work. The rea-soning to why is because by me looking into the reasoning why Justin Bower does his work and therefore his main dedication to doing his work is because of the theories and the message he is trying to reiterate. What I believe that he is doing is show casing his beliefs and putting those onto his work. I can explain the ways this study has increased my development because it has added understanding, context, grounding, and even a new level (which I didnt even know about) which is a education of theories that as a audience of media, surround us. This has resulted in me giving whole heartedly more passion into my own work - because I am making my own work include these features.

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The opening sequence for my final coursework piece

This is some of my own work that has been inspired by the topics explored by

Kako and other artists I have looked into.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSIONWhen I first set out to write my personal study I set myself a goal of exploring into how artists convey messages in their work conclusively, throughout my personal study my ideas have drifted through main ideas but my study still stayed the same, trying to find something that inspires people on a different level. Whether that be through the works message, or how it was composed (through digital technologies etc.). There is also another level of theories that I have found whilst creating my Per-sonal study which have fascinated me. These theories lead from research into stan-dard media vocabulary and terms, but have become relevant to me and this inves-tigation because of the links that my main artist, Justin Bower, has made. When I first set out to write my personal study I set myself a goal of exploring into how art-ists convey messages in their work conclusively, throughout my personal study my ideas have drifted through main ideas but my study still stayed the same, trying to find something that inspires people on a different level. Whether that be through the works message, or how it was composed (through digital technologies etc.). There is also another level of theories that I have found whilst creating my Personal study which have fascinated me. These theories lead from research into standard media vocabulary and terms, but have become relevant to me and this investiga-tion because of the links that my main artist, Justin Bower, has made.

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The ways of seeing - John Berger

http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/trippack/activity_pre_bodylanugage.html

http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/body_language/

http://caguas.mc.man.ac.uk/assets/files/discover-mag-unspoken-trail_aw.pdf

"Starting on a new project is like going into a dark room where you don't know where the light switch is, but once you find it, you know that it's right"

-Simen Johan

Artbox Magazine Jan/Feb 2012

(In his ongoing seriesuntil the kingdom comes, Sien likes to explore the human fondness of fantasies and dreams.)"The Only person you should worry about pleasing is yourself"

-Dominique Falla

Artbox Magazine Jan/Feb 2012

(Also look at her work called 'Creativity is like, Totally awesome'. In-spired by Stefan Sagmeister's "Things I have learned in my life).

(http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/124884-justin-bower)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/44969049@N06/

http://www.widewalls.ch/justin-bower-interview/

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81eJYBSWYcL._SL1500_.jpg

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UNTITLED7

A2 - PERSONAL STUDY:

'HOW DO ARTISTS CONVEY A MESSAGE IN THEIR WORK?

HARRIET NEWMAN

HARRIETJNEWMAN@ME.COM