Tuesday, August 30, 2011

week 2 reading notes

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POINTS OF INTEREST


graffiti started with the romans.


visual prints in 1400s showed hangings - made the peasants rebel


gutenburgs press and lithography helped communicate to masses


satire was big in 1800s


artists showed not glorious battle scenes, but grew some realities.


french satire newspapers became all the rage. the artists involved were very witty.


newspapers were important because they were a catalyst for political discussion among the public.


Nast was a NY graphic artist hero - he exposed the corrupt tweed politition by publishing a worsening visual image of tweed every week which eventually led to his downfall when the public turned against him. "Them Damn Pictures"


modernist manifesto was the beginning of modern era — contructivism brought forth a new vis lang.


films, posters, ads were being used. — the propaganda tools of post WWI were very effective — ROSTA (telegraph agency) made very simple posters (with #d panels like a cartoon) for the illiterate public. every week or so, a new one would be produced (by families with the stencils which would be shared by dif. communities)*** [they didn't pass around the stencils but its a good good idea…!] and put up in shops, railway stations, businesses and such.



interesting that stalin outlawed abstract art & design and this led to socialist realism.


the suffragette movement was one of the first to utilise the beauty of the simplified modern art of the early 20th century (Nouveau). They look of the woman in the nouveau helped to dispel to the public the idea of the 'ugly feminist suffragette. — the new beautiful nouveau look battled the cartoony propaganda of the satire publishings. the posters were a more diplomatic and less aggressive yet assertive, communicative and persuasive way of persuading the (male) public rather that actual confrontation. — in all a good tactic.


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the blank panther was a paper that supported the complete liberation of the blacks in the US.


Douglas started working with the paper early on — he used evocative imagery (like they did with the propaganda int he wars) but he made energetic drawings that showed respect and affection — he maintained poor people's dignity while graphically illustrating harsh situations.


Douglas waged war with the FBI and oppressive US not through terrorism, but through his imagery which proved to be very effective and gave "all power to the people"


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"…Visual dissent is shocking, clever, even funny in a grim sort of way — and its meaning is intelegable instantly". dangerous and forbidden. evocative. juicy scandalous and subsequently impactful. (just look at the example of the arch duke with his belly being stabbed by a baynette and grain coming out. It invokes passion and subsequently action— the wake-up call of the oblivious masses.


freud says that when the repressed returns, it does so with great force.

human need summoned up the messianic moment - at least some of the time it does.


"one ought to be careful for claiming too much for art — but fires do die for lack of kindling.


interesting: we can become discouraged by how much we know of how little we know and this takes away our passion… but this art has a restorative power.


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dissent is something that questions and challenges an existing regime that is deemed by the collective dissenters to be unfair


reasonable speculation: fairness is a concept that is biologically wired into us in order to preserve our species by promoting a sense of community… this idea is exemplified by the monkey project.


Subsequently unfairness provokes dissent. "dissent promotes democracy" Milton's button.


what is good dissent and what is bad dissent? — opens up a broad philosophical debate …


dominance over another species (a class system is evident in almost all cultures) is just as prominent in our human nature as dissent.


dissent should be positive. it is something that can easily be miss-used.


ghandi and martin luther realised that peaceful dissent is very effective. — in many situations much more more effective then violent dissent.


I think fundamenta lly, the peop le whom I know

who are dissen ter s have a sense of justice; they care

about the natu re of society


the role of the

designer as a propagato r of dissent. True dissenters are

activist s. Is creating a poster, button. or ad campaign

real activism?


Are you saying we don't need all that formal

rrnining to successfully make grap h ic disse nt?



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