Design Project 1:
Workshop 1B: 7th October 2021
1. In the first instance, we were given a basic introduction to the functions of InDesign and how to create an aesthetically pleasing concept book, for the first segment of this design project.
2. We were introduced to the importance and impact of typography and how imperative it is to choose a type style that aligns with our topic, aesthetic and the art movement that we are inspired by, (DaDa in my case).
3. We began to explore the concept of "editorial analysis" looking at brochures, books and magazines found around the house, to understand and analyse their aesthetic, layout and the manner they visually communicate through images, collage, typography and layout.
4. We commenced a photography workshop towards the end of the class, and analysed and discussed the many different ways photography can be used to capture a scene, person or object.
We discussed the use of reflection, shadow, colour and perspective to name a few.
I experimented with 5 photos that I took spontaneously, deliberately with little planning, on things I observed around my surrounding environment of my home. I experimented with things such as reflection, (see figure 1).
Figure 1 Reflection
I also played with shadow, as I wanted to add symbolic meaning to my photographs, relating to my topic of religion's corrupting influence over our government and society. (see figure 2)
Figure 2 Shadow Play
I also wanted to try and capture things in my house, I myself would not be able to see if it weren't for the camera, such as the symmetrical shape of the dining room chandelier, (see figure 3).
Figure 3 Chandelier
Perspective and context is important and I attempted to put both in a photograph, utilising depth perception, foreground and background. (see figure 4).
Stimulus Analysis: Jeanne and Christo Claude (Wrapped Trees & Buildings)
8th November 2021
Whilst Christo and Jeanne Claude are famous for many artworks, using a variety of mediums; their most profound and well-known series is “wrapped trees” together with, their project of wrapping famous landmarks internationally. The Claude’s wanted to create a surreal environment which would capture the imagination of passers-by and provoke thoughts. They strove to achieve beauty through simplicity. The idea of wrapping trees and buildings in a fabric is, although a novel and original idea, quite a simple concept in the making; and yet it yields immense symbolic weight and commentary on society.
In relation to my project concept, the separation of church and state, and the corrupting role of religion on government and society, the Claude’s practices stimulate many ideas as to how I can address and visually represent my issue.
The idea of covering buildings, such as the Reichstag and l” Arc de Triomphe, in a concealing fabric can be seen as symbolic of hiding, obscuring and disguising things. Or perhaps it could be seen as a method of exposing and revealing evil underlying secrets.? When considering my chosen issue of exposing the corrosive, hidden religious control impacting on government and society, this form of artistic expression is exactly the tool I need to covey my ideas.
Re-visiting exprimental photographs in relation to my topic:
My photograph using shadow play (figure 2) is by far the most interesting experiment I have done so far. The obvious christian imagery in this photograph demonstrates the hidden religious powers in certain governmental organisations. I have been contemplating taking a photo using the same shadow play, however properly staged and using my grandfathers N.S.W Law Almanac (1992) as the book that casts the crucifix shadow. This book is a significant part of my photograph as it is a representation of Australian law. In addition, my grandfather had to swear on the bible whilst he received this book and entered into the Parliament. Showing the obvious religious permeation of a so-called "separated" church and state.
Review of Week 1:
Overall, Week 1 was an interesting experience, being introduced to a wide variety of art forms, art mediums and social justice topics to explore. Over Week 1 I found that photography as a medium is an extremely useful and interesting vehicle to capture the topic and design explorations and developments I was experimenting with. I will continue to add more photographic experiments as I go along, into my concept book.
Workshop 2A: 12th October, 2021
During workshop 2A we focused on the concept of a "manifesto" and the many ways in which one can be written and expressed. Through watching multiple video stimuli of examples of manifestos from famous designers, we were encouraged to create a manifesto that encapsulates the position of us as designers, and the passionate social justice topics we wish to explore, and further, how to showcase our views on those matters.
We also had an activity of using our names as acronyms, to encapsulate our design perspective and ambitions so as to refine exactly what we wish to be as designers.
My Manifesto:
My position as a designer is to inform and capture the imagination of all who engage with and view my design works. I believe my role as a designer is to create and produce designs that remain in the memories and imaginations of those who see them. My main objective is to send powerful messages and enlighten people, through my design and style, and highlight the views that I am most passionate about. I would like to demonstrate to my viewers the power of design and how it can convey a big message, about the reality of life. The impact of design on people’s everyday lives and its magnificent ability to inform people needs to be appreciated and this is what I endeavour to do.
The way that I intend to convey my ambitions, goals and position as a designer will be through the artistic expression of a social and political justice issue, that I am very passionate about. The subject I am most passionate about, is the lack of separation between church and state in Australia. Religion, although a valued and important concept, has no place in democratic governments such as the government of Australia. Although not always apparent, religion shapes much of the decision making in parliament and is affecting those in society who would like the church and state to be separate. It is imperative to expose the underlying influence of religion (primarily Christianity) in our governmental systems so as to strive for a more equal, accepting society, free of religious prejudice and oppression.
As a young aspiring designer who is interested and passionate about the importance of politics; this social justice issue is very close to home for me, and an issue I wish to expose and shine the light of truth on. I find religious (prejudicial) influence within the Australian government unjust. As I am personally motivated by this issue, I will endeavour to create designs that capture the imagination, and eyes of any passers-by or viewers, to showcase my belief and concern about what is a corrupt and unjust influence in our government, that affects us all in society.
I have a direct personal connection to this issue as my grandfather was in the New South Wales Parliament, many years ago as Minister for Justice. He was concerned with concepts of equality and objectivity in government and was bothered by the concerning level of religious influence in the government and to some extent the justice system. My mother and father are both lawyers who value objectivity and equality in the administration of justice and government. My father is a staunch atheist who believes that the justice system should have no religious influence, along with any other potentially corrupting bias. These personal and emotional connections to this controversial topic is what drives me to express my passionate views through the endless possibilities in the realm of design.
Workshop 2B: 14th October, 2021
This workshop was focusing on the amazing practice and medium of collage. I'm very glad that we experimented in this field and were introduced to it, as my chosen art form is DaDa, which focuses mainly on collage works!
We looked at a variety of DaDa collage works, which greatly inspired me to create and combine this medium with my topic and stimulus. I spent the last hour of this workshop creating my first collage experimentation.
Collage Experimentation:
1st Iteration:
My first iteration was simple experimentation with collage, i found it interesting to look through magazines throughout the house and cutting out any images or words that were of interest.
As I chose DaDa, I wanted to add a level of pop culture and vintage photographs, as I think this brings the "DaDa" aesthetic to the collage and also creates a nostalgic and eye-catching scene.
My Second Iteration:
My second iteration, like the first, is a continued explanation and experimentation of DaDa and collage, but in a portrait format. Popular culture, historical culture and wordplay is prevalent in this second iteration, and I enjoyed experimenting and playfully manipulating cut-out images and words, to create an entirely new work of art.
Third Iteration:
I began to focus on my topic of the separation of church and state in Australia, for my third iteration, and attempted to find as much religious material in magazines as I could. I found that I was quite successful in this, but I think this collage is lacking in material and complexity, something I will work on improving for my fourth iteration.
Fourth Iteration:
I attempted to add more "content" to my collage this time, mixing both religious and government imagery from magazines, into the collage. I also attempted to stay within the DaDa aesthetic, by adding popular culture references together with seemingly unrelated images and text, so as to create a layer of openness but also confusion, to allow a wide variety of interpretation by viewers. It may be, however, too confusing! I will attempt to curb this "confusion" in my final iteration of my collage experimentation.
Final Iteration:
My final iteration combines all of the important factors in my project, the topic of separation of church and state, the aesthetic of the DaDa movement as-well as my stimulus of Jeanne and Christo Claude's wrapped trees and buildings. To add some satire and criticism, so as to uphold the values of DaDa, I pasted individuals such as Hitler staring at a thought bubble saying, "my Daughter's a Lesbian", this being a cutout from a far right Christian magazine. This adds a level or absurdness, whilst still delivering a powerful message about the constraining force of religious doctrine on human justice.
Workshop 3A: 19th October 2021
This workshop was a little busy, with both classes combined together, so slightly hectic! In the beginning half of class, we were given important reminders of what to include in our documentation on Behance and what to include in and how to present out concept book. In the second half we were able to gather in small groups and discuss and share each-other's works, mainly collages; this was very informative and inspiring for me, seeing a wide variety of people's work and how they uniquely approached the method of collage.
I also had some extra time to work on my concept book and annotate my collage works and review my iterations! which can be seen above.
Workshop 3B: 21st October 2021
Firstly we began to experiment with the "design" and "form" of written words and the different ways we could portray them to represent what the word itself means.
I focused on two words pertinent to my topic; "merge" and "Suffocate". Below are my experimentations with the word "merge".
You can see below my experimentation with representing the word "suffocate" which I attempted to relate to my stimulus "wrapped trees".
We also began to experiment with "still life". I had already been exploring this medium through my photographing of the installations I composed for my topic and concept book. However, I decided to continue experimenting by getting back to basics and photographing simple objects in my surroundings to refine my skill of photography, frame and composition.
10 of my experimental still life photos can be seen below.
Collage Development: 23rd October - 25th October 2021
After receiving feedback from Amy in 3B regarding my collages, I decided to start entirely over again to produce three final collages to be placed in my concept book.
The main feedback given to me by Amy was that, although collages do need to be busy (especially DaDaist collages); mine were far too complex and busy to convey such a deep and far reaching subject such as the separation of church and state.
Her recommendation was that I focus on each aspect of my topic individually, in separate collages. Below are the two seperate collages that I composed, based on this advice.
This first collage is focused entirely on religion and its overall influence in our contemporary culture. The centre figure is an ancient bust with the top of the head being a pool that represents the "fountain of religious knowledge"which sprouts out into our society. Words such as "slave", "forever" "the delights of Darwin" and "Devil" are scattered across the collage to represent a critical and satirical representation on my viewpoint of the biased influence and control that religion has on us today. This style is very much influenced by the DaDa movement.
This second collage focuses entirely on politics and government. Common and recognisable politicians in Australia, especially NSW can be seen throughout this collage, such as our PM Scott Morrison and our former Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Cut outs from current headlines in newspapers and magazines litter the collage to provide an atmosphere and commentary on the current political climate today, especially the issues of religion in the state.
My third collage is a mixing of the two. As Amy suggested that placing everything together one on top of another was too confusing and complex. I segmented the collage page into two corners. one corner for church and religion and the other, government and politics. Down the middle as a "dividing line" is the phrase I cut out from a magazine, "DON'T PASS IT ON". This dividing line is to represent my view that, neither side should interfere with each other. We should avoid combining religion and government into one hybrid mess, which is where our current political climate in Australia is currently trending towards.
Shadow Play Photography: 23rd-24th October 2021:
I decided to continue to experiment with the technique of shadow play. The two images I composed are ones in which I am extremely proud of and will absolutely include in my concept book.
The first image is an improvement of my first shadow play photo using the book to create a cross. This time I used a Law Almanac which is a judicial symbol and refined the light to show a dark background on an archaic wooden table to enhance the atmosphere of the photo and bring out the shadow moreso.
The second shadow play was directly inspired from my stimulus of Jeanne and Christo Claude and their "wrapped tree". The visual symbol of suffocation, concealment and restriction is perfect to showcase on a bottle of "communion wine" as it represents the constricting values and practices of religion overall, and it's suffocating place in government.
The shadow of a mysterious judge's gavel adds a level of criticism, showing what should be done, that is the "gavel of justice" needs to be reigned down upon religion to stop its influence in our justice system.
