...Postmodernism: Janelle Monáe...

After being extremely confused about this topic for a long time I decided to talk about it involving music... seeing as I love and understand music.

Modernism as I understand it is a very broad and over theorised term to describe a very old art movement. Postmodernism as I understand it is a reaction to the work of modern philosophers. Modernism was replaced by Postmodernism : which one can not even talk about in a dictionary. Basically saying that everything original has already been done, and that anything that is made now is just a copy or an influence.

"Music: An art form that has the potential to change the world"

Im going to talk about a music artist called Janelle Monae. Born December 1st 1985 in Kansas, Janelle Monae Robinson, moved to New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She later changed her plans to preforming on broadway to creating music, an art she had a true passion for.Her music has been described as Grippo: A type of music that combines styles from a wide and varying list of genres and combines them into one almost genre-less sound, music that has no borders or race whatsoever .

Her albums tell a futuristic sci-fi story of a cyber-girl named Cindi Mayweather who has been programmed not to feel any emotion. However she falls in love with a human, which is against the law, and she then goes on the run. The reason she is doing something new but is seen as postmodern is, even though she is defining herself while many other artists are letting the "era" define them, she has been influenced by many things. Listening to her music you can tell that she knows her musical history. With influences from Led Zeppelin, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and even Elvis. All the while keeping in with her own style and her own vision, telling her own story.

References -

• http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=postmodernism
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6qYbkJb9U
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c

...Semiotics: Banned Aids Awareness...

This image that I found is a real life AIDS campaign poster that was released in France. As you can see, it shows a man having sex with a large scorpion and a woman receiving oral sex from an enormous tarantula. Sexy right?

I decided to talk about Semiotics with this poster, as I think the semiotics in this photograph are negative. The posters main point is to bring awareness to AIDS with shock value. The grotesque image of humans having sex with arachnids sticks in the mind of the viewer, but may not do the job that the advertisement was made to do. While it does its job of shocking the viewer the whole idea of using a large tarantula and scorpion is to show something that is poisonous and therefore dangerous to us and is something we want to avoid. The huge spider and scorpion register in our mind as something bad and frightening. But are people who have AIDS like this?

The poster uses little words to get is message across, only a small print at the bottom that translates to : "Without protection, you are making love to AIDS. Protect yourself", and itself could be considered propaganda as you could argue that while bringing awareness to AIDS it is also showing people who have aids in a bad light. Yeah they may have AIDS, but is having sex with them the same as having sex with a scorpion?

I personally feel that the intention of the poster is good, as it is bringing AIDS into the light in a way that people will remember, but at the same time, is saying that people who do have AIDS are poisonous, dangerous and essentially walking death. It reminds me of the old AIDS campaigns of the 80's which described it in such a way that made people believe that even being in the same room as an AIDS sufferer would be enough to pass on the disease.

References -

• http://www.wired.com/table_of_malcontents/2007/05/french_aids_cam/

...Banksy? Art or Vandalism?...

"In a world with no rules....one man broke them all"

Contemporary graffiti artist Banksy, (whose identity has been never been revealed), has become alot more popular over the last few years. His ironic, outspoken and often funny works have gained alot of attention, and have caused many arguments with critics, mainly "Is it Art? Or is it just vandalism?"

I find his work very inspiring and interesting as he says what many people are thinking and don't want to say. It also sends a powerful message to people with a shock value that many other artists don't have. I love graffiti as art and Banksy is defiantly my favourite graffiti artist.

His work has appeared all around London, and even in other places around the world. He uses his own unique style of graffiti, often using stencils mixed with well know artworks, to promote aspects of politics often ignored by mainstream media. His most identified pieces are his rats which can be seen holding signs saying things like "London Doesn't Work", ""You Lose" and "Go Back To Bed". He has also added his stencil touch to "Water Lilies" by Monet (Entitled Show Me Monet), the famous picture of the 9 year old Vietnamese girl running by Huynh Cong Ut (having her run with Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald) and even Queen Victoria. He has managed to hang a piece of his own work inside London's Tate Modern and also in New York's Museum of Modern Art and American Museum of Natural History.

On March 5th 2010, a humorous and ironic film documentary about street artists, including Shepard Fairey, Thierry Guetta and Banksy was released. Banksy's face is never revealed and his voice is distorted through out the film to hide is identity. I have yet to see the film, but as it more ironic and not based on the real life of banksy i'm not really in a rush to see it.

References -

• http://www.banksyfilm.com/
• http://www.banksy.org.uk/
• http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/banksy/Banksy_photos_thumb_011.htm

...Edward Burtynsky...

Edward Burtynsky is a Photographer and artist born in 1955 and has since become one of Canada most respected photographers. He mostly does documentary photography that shows how man/manmade industry has affected landscapes. He studied Graphic Art at college and then went on to become a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Photography at Ryerson University and then became a lecturer on photographic art. He has hosted alot of exhibitions including Before the Flood (2003) and China (2005-2008), which have been shown not only in Canada, but across the States and also in Europe.

His images are technically perfect showing alot of depth and detail, usually of landscapes that have been affected by industry, such as shipyards, mines and scrap piles. His photographs are taken on a large format field camera, usually 4x5, and a printed to become high resolution pictures. The reason i chose to blog about him is because I find his images very powerful as they show a man Vs nature theme, and even in the images that show scrap heaps there is a certain beauty about them. The above image of his is my favourite of his. I love the contrast and the impact it has. The framing is great too, and i like how the lava at the front of the image looks hot, while the trees in the distance seem cold.

He has recently came out with a exhibition that was released as a book, titled Oil (2009), that shows a decade of photography that explores the subject of oil and its uses. I tried looking for the book but I couldn't find it :(

References -

• http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/
• http://www.lensculture.com/burtynsky.html
• http://www.kochgallery.com/artists/contemporary/Burtynsky/index.html
• http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/Sections/Statement_CV/Bio.html

...Lee Friedlander...

"Central Park, 1992" - Lee Friedlander

Ok, so this my attempt at a blog entry, and i'll start by talking about one of my favourite photographers: Lee Friedlander. I enjoy his style, and the mystery and mood that is present in his photographs is something that I try to create in my own.

Lee Friedlander was born in 1934 in Aberdeen Washington and first started photography taking pictures of Jazz Musicians for album covers. His early work is known for his self-exploration that can be seen not only in his cultural statements but also his self-portraits. He has said that his biggest influences are Walker Evens and Robert Frank. He has used many different cameras in his time, from a Lecia M Series 35mm camera to a Hassleblad Super-wide Medium Format Camera. Because of this, Friedlander's style has changed somewhat. 15 years ago his photographs reflected his knowledge at the time: he would use fences to frame his images, showing that he would chose and carefully plan to structure his framing. Bu his images would still come out great. Nowadays his images are more luminescent and naturally structured.

He created a series called "Stems" while suffering from arthritis. He was housebound, and had to do what many other artists and photographers do and make use of the things around him. (I recently had this experience myself). He took pictures of flowers his wife would place around the house, but was allot more interested in the stems. It was published before having his knee joints replaced since his "limbs" reminded him of stems. These images where said to be less textured than what is seen in his older work, but shows a strange period during the photographers career. He was sat in his chair at home rather than out in the city streets, woods, road or at parties.

References -

• http://www.fotopriority.com.au/2009/09/quote-a-day-lee-friedlander/
• http://www.schaden.com/book/FriLeeSte03006.html
• Lee Friedlander - The museum of modern art