Study Task 5 - Research Proposal and Essay Plan

Title

From looking at aspects surrounding 'Britishness', I have decided to focus my essay on the complexity of British identity in the 21st century. I feel this would be an interesting topic to explore, both visually and academically. However, from my research I have found that this topic is alot more vague and complex than I originally thought. There are many current debates about British Identity,  and if it's multiculturalism should have an impact on the way we define it, and so I intend to do more research into the topic before choosing a title.

Does being a multi-cultural society mean we lose our national Identity?

How has the idea of British identity changed in the last 50 years?

Significance

Primary & Secondary Sources

Condor, S (2011). Rebranding Britain? Ideological dilemmas in political appeals to “British Multiculturalism”. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Martyn Barrett, Chris Flood, John Eade and contributors. 

Kingsnorth, P. (2009). Englishness Is A Cultural Identity. Available: https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom-theme/paul-kingsnorth-1/2009/05/07/response-to-a-jigsaw-state-breaking-up-britain. Last accessed 3/12/2014.

Methods

Limitations

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Essay Plan

Introduction

Main Body

Visual Examples

Wilbur Dawbarn

Wilf Scott

Conclusion

COP Group Tutorial

After taking part in a tutorial about the progress of our essays, I have received some suggestions about more direct themes to explore. I was recommended to look at the term 'Hybridity', and the idea of British Identity in the 21st Century, and how since the turn of the millennium, British Identity has become more of a complex thing to define. 

The Singh Twins, the artists that have influenced my project, can be described as having a Hybrid identity, which is a mixture of different cultural backgrounds. This ideology can be used to refer to a  large portion of people in the UK, leading to the question, what does the term 'British Identity' mean? There are obvious traditional discourses surrounding Britishness, which in some ways are highlighted by the BNP political party, as dated as their beliefs may be viewed. However, in modern British society things are alot different. 

The link below is to an article that I found quite interesting and relevant, which covers what people in todays society believe to be British.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7577539.stm

After discussion in my tutorial, I have decided to focus on the subject 'The Complexity of British Identity in the 21st Century'. I think this is a really relevant idea for my initial research, and is something that is very relevant to society today. I feel that not only would this question be interesting to research, but also it is an interesting theme to be explored visually. 

Harvard Referencing

Here are some useful quotes that I have found relating to my theme  

"The sisters like to challenge western concepts of Individuality"

Bhandari, A (2012) 'Twins specialise in Indian Miniatures with a twist' [internet] UK, The Globe and Mail. Available from <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/twins-specialize-in-indian-miniatures-with-a-modern-twist/article4179348/>[Accessed 29/10/2014]

Discourse Analysis (Feedback)

In the previous COP seminar, I took part in a peer critique on the first draft of my Discourse Analysis essay. We gave eachother feedback using forms that pinpointed certain elements needed for a successful essay (7 stages). 

Critique 1

Critique 2

I found it really useful to receive feedback on my written work, aswell as receive ideas for themes that I have not yet explored in my essay. I also enjoyed reading my peers essays as it gave me a fresh perspective on how to go about writing my analysis. The majority of feedback I got was to go into more detail about certain points I made in my draft, e.g explain why the artists work in that certain style. 

COP Seminar: Discourse Analysis (Draft 1)

This image by The Singh Twins, "O Come All Ye Re-eds", was created in 2000 as part of a collection called 'Painting the town Red'. Throughout their extensive collection of work, there is a consistent theme of observing society and translating it through their style of artwork, which introduces aspects of Indian miniature tradition within modern art practice. 

Amrit Kaur Singh and Rabindra Kaur Singh, also known as The Singh Twins, are sikh sisters who immigrated to North England from the Punjab in India when they were very young. Since growing up they have always had an interest in Art, developing a more defined interest in iconography and religious paintings, whilst studying at roman catholic school. Throughout their academic career, The Twins faced prejudice towards their religion and ethnicity and felt that they were challenged alot because of it, inspiring them to go on and create art work that reflects their dual cultural identity.

Staying true to their Indian heritage, the twins employ production techniques of traditional miniature painting, which involves painting on a very small scale, used to create intricately detailed pieces. Simply, they use Poster colour, gouache and gold dust to create their pieces, to mirror traditional Indian techniques in a modern day Britain. 

This piece in particular depicts a football match, located in the heart of liverpool, displaying iconic Liverpool landmarks to create an understanding of the Twins' background. The mixture of British and Indian influences in the piece subvert the stereotypical discourse of modern day British culture. By using an iconic image of a football match, quite a stereotypical british aspect, the  twins have been able to create an interesting contrast between cultures, yet still maintaining an element of harmony. The use of a decorative floral border once again reflects the Indian heritage in the piece, by making a connection to traditional indian art works. 

Discourse Analysis

'Foucauldian discourse analysis is a form of discourse analysis, focusing on power relationships in society as expressed through language and practices, and based on the theories of Michel Foucault.'

In this seminar, we looked at the practice of analyzing discourse in Illustration. 

Some notes from the lecture:

• Meaning is formed behind brush strokes/ lines/ colours/etc.
• Identity is formed through discourse/ society/ attitudes.
• Analysis of the social world, expressed through language and visual language, is created out of these discourses also.

 In order to analyse discourse effectively, it is important to address the 7 stages. 

Establish Context

Explore the Production Process

Describe the Image

Explanation & Interpretation

Identify Cultural References

Identify Visual, Linguistic and Rhetorical Mechanisms

Write up your argument

Ive decided to focus on the theme of culture shown through illustration. This particular poster compares different heritages from different cultural backgrounds.  


The Singh Twins - date n/a

Study Task 2

Keyword Choice

After the 'Some Thoughts Concerning Illustration' seminar, I felt really inspired by the Culture and Society genres of Illustration. I particularly liked the New Yorker Cover by Adrian Tomine, as I really liked, not only the style of the illustration, but the subtle narrative that comes through. The image is based around the idea of having that instant 'love at first sight' connection with someone, and how it can instantly disappear into the depth of the city. I think that the faded use of colour creates an interesting contrast between everyday life and the euphoria of 'love at first sight'. Although this image could be classed as society illustration, I feel that there are themes of Culture, e.g the culture of commuters in a city. 

I like the idea of exploring culture as a theme in my written work, because of how culture is such a broad theme, explored by a wide range of artists. When exploring the theme of culture in Illustration, I found a number of artists that reflect cultural aspects in their work.

                                               

                                                Ale Giorgini          The Singh Twins

                  Fab Ciraolo                         Bruce McCall         

Andy Warhol

Some Thoughts Concerning Illustration

Fight The Nothingness

Lawrence Zeegen - Creative Review (March 2012)  

- Lawrence Zeegen is a commentator on the world of design and illustration.

- The world of fine art is attempting to engage with the world/society, and make work that changes it. 

- Zeegen sees work of Illustration perpuating nothingness (empty meaningless work)

- David Shrigley's work could be seen as a wake up call to the world of Art and Design.

- He implies that 'Illustration' as a platform is nothingness, and is resorting back to it's former title as the 'cottage industry' of the creative world. 

The 'First Things First' Manifesto from 1964, expresses the desire of a number of graphic designers, illustrators etc. to move away from meaningless commercial work for advertising, describing how their time and effort is being wasted on such things.

As part of the seminar, we looked at a number of artists relating to the themes of:

CULTURE

HISTORY 

SOCIETY

POLITICS

TECHNOLOGY

The main themes I felt inspired by from this seminar were Culture and Society.

Culture

Culture in Illustration explores the shaping of society. They are often based on observations of society and attempt to challenge/overthrow certain cultures. 

David Shrigley Art Lovers

This image was created by David Shrigley as a humorous attack on the pretentiousness of elite Art culture. It's careless, cartoon like style, including details like speech bubbles, further creates the humorous aspect, which is a running theme throughout Shrigley's work.

Society 

These images reflect issues from the society of the time they were created. They are often a window into the attitudes felt surrounding issues of the time, and a reflection on the attitudes of the artist. 

The New Yorker Cover (Adrian Tomine; Left) (Art Spiegelman; Right)

Norman Rockwell The Problem We All Live With

Context Of Practice - Lecture 2

Language Of Visual Culture

Why are we here?

• Our job is to communicate through type, image and motion
• Have an interest in words, language, message and meaning.
• The ability to construct meaning.
• Communicate message

Visually literate people need to be able to understand.

The ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from an image.
For language to exist, there needs to be a shared agreement of what signs, symbols and gestures will stand for.

Syntax

Pictorial structure and visual organisation of elements. also known as the formal elements of 

Semantics

The way an image fits into a cultural process of communication. It includes the relationship between form and meaning. 

Semiotics 

Study of signs/sign processes (semiosis)/ indication/designation/likeness.

Symbol - e.g Logo

Sign - e.g identity

Signifier - e.g brand 

E.g Apple inc.

Symbol - Symbolises an apple

Sign - It is a sign for an apple product 

Signifier - It signifies quality, innovation, creativity etc.