Protest Poster

Shepard Fairey, "Reforma Migratoria Ahora!"

 Shepard Fairey, "Legislative Influence for Sale"

 Barbara Kruger, "I Shop Therefore I Am"

Barbara Kruger, "Your Body is a Battleground"

Adbusters, "Corporate American Flag"

Adbusters, "Are We Happy Yet?"

So, there are some examples of what you're finished piece might look like. But remember, don't feel limited by these examples, feel empowered.

As a reminder of the process I went over in class today...

• Select an issue that matters to you. My intention is not to cultivate any particular political or social perspective in you. Rather it is to encourage you to develop some kind of political or social perspective.
• Research that issue across a range of media. In what ways do the representations of the issue exhibit uniformity and/or unity? Which voices, images, ideological perspectives, information, responses, etc. are included/addressed in these representations? Which are absent?
• Create a piece of 2D visual art--using text and image--to address your selected issue. Be sure that your piece reflects your research of the issue, and your developing perspective on the issue. Remember, the point of this assignment isn't for you to just make media--it's to encourage you to engage with an issue that interests/affects you, develop a better understanding of that issue, and then make something that reflects your perspective on it (and raises awareness of it).
• Then, post it on your Facebook page, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. and engage in a conversation about it with your community online.
• And lastly (as always) reflect on this process. Talk about why you selected your issue, what research you did, what you found, how your understanding of the issue has grown, why you chose to represent this issue (in regards to form and content) in your poster, and what it was like to discuss this piece with your friends online. 

I will be grading you with all of these points in mind. And remember that the same day that you post  your Protest Poster, you will be responsible for posting an artist's statement for the Webspinna in which you reflect on your experience composing and then performing your mix.

And here's a Ted talk from Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie called "The Danger of a Single Story" that addresses some of the negative consequences of the uniformity of media representations and advocates for other, varied voices to be heard and stories to be told. It's worth watching.

Webspinna links

Dark was the night..

I know how to pray

In B flat

Tapestry

Raindrop melody 

Star Wars Soundboard
Darth Blues

Cool Stuff I Mentioned

Here's a video of The Lucky Dragons' interactive concert I mentioned. Here, music truly is all about the relationship between creators, me and you. All the music you hear is produced through the physical contact made by those attending.



Here's a link to the article I mentioned about PhD's in science-related fields presenting their dissertations through interpretive dance. And here's a video just in case you're one of those link-averse peoples.


And another...


And here's a link to an article from Wired Magazine about the Cow Clicker satirical Facebook game I mentioned in class. And here are some cows.

Medium Specificity

As a supplement to today's discussion...

Here's that Pollock piece that I referenced. Pollock might be exploring painting as the process of applying paint to canvas, painting as paint on canvas (not necessary representational), paint as the dynamic relationship between colors, etc.

Jackson Pollock, "Number 6"

Here is the print from Warhol that I mentioned. Warhol is exploring printmaking as demonstrating the infinite reproducibility of art in the modern era and the commodification of cultural icons (like celebrities Elvis or Marilyn Monroe).

Andy Warhol, "Eight Elvises"

And just as a reminder, here is the assignment description:

Each student will choose an artistic medium (film, photography, drawing, painting, medium, dance, performance, graphic design, poetry, literary narrative, etc.) and produce a work which explores the specific elements unique to that medium--like Brakhage or Daren’s films, Pollock’s paintings, Warhol’s prints, Cage’s music, etc. Students are encouraged to consider how their particular work functions as a celebration, commentary or critique of their chosen medium.

 So, I will evaluate your work with the following in mind:

• Did you choose a medium, identify a fundamental element of that medium, and produce a creative work that both conceptually and artistically engages with that element of the medium?
• Did you provide an artist's statement that explains (1) your decision to explore a certain element of the medium and (2) how your piece creatively engages in that exploration? Also, consider (as mentioned in the assignment description) how your project functions to celebrate, comment on or critique the chosen medium.

Social Media Adaptation

So let's review today's discussion of social media as a venue for storytelling. But by request, here is Star Wars Uncut in its entirety. What a great example of collaborative creative online remixing.

Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

As a reminder, here is the assignment description:

Students will work in groups of 3-4 to adapt a ‘classic’ literary work to a social media platform. All students in the group must have read the selected piece of literature, and the instructor reserves the right to determine what constitutes a ‘literary classic.’ Social media platforms may include Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, Flickr,YouTube, Pinterest,Tumblr, and/ or whatever else you want to pitch to the instructor. Students are encouraged to consider how elements from the original literary work (themes, tone, character development, narrative structure, etc.) are translated into the new medium (which may include images, videos, music, sounds, hyper- links, games, etc. in addition to text).

In class, we decided that our adaptations of literary works to social media might acknowledge/take advantage of the following characteristics:

• Social media allow for stories to be told using a variety of media (images, moving images, text, games, etc. etc.) and platforms.
• Social media platforms have particular cultures, conventions and infrastructural limitations.
• Social media often emphasize social interaction (between characters within the narrative and between creators and audiences).
• Social media allow for instant and (arguably more democratic) dissemination of your creative work.
• Social media allow for storytelling simultaneously from multiple perspectives.
• Social media draw attention to the disparity between the constructed nature of one's online persona and their actual perspectives, behaviors, etc. 

That list isn't exhaustive, but keeping this discussion in mind during the creation of your project would be helpful. Also, I'll be evaluating your work with the following in mind.

• Effective retention of elements of the original work and the incorporation of new elements that speak to your (as creators) interests/strengths and contemporary context. (How is Nolan's Batman the same as Bob Kane's or Frank Miller's? How is it new and different? Why is it new and different--what does Nolan bring to the character and how is the cultural/political/social/artistic context of 2012 evident in The Dark Knight Rises?)
• Creative use of those aspects of social media (multimedia, interactivity, simultaneity, etc. etc.) that are unique to them. (What does Twitter or Instagram or whatever have to offer this story?)
• Collaboration among group members. How are the strengths, skills and knowledge of each group member contributing to the final work? How is the labor divided among group members? (This will be evaluated in part by the 'Grade your Group' feedback forms you'll complete on Tuesday).
• Reflection in artists' statement regarding your creative process, how your work relates to class discussions and outside media. (Ask yourselves: What elements of the original work did we find compelling and choose to retain? What did we bring (from our individual experience and contemporary context) to the story? How did we use social media to effectively present this adaptation? What was this collaborative process like for us? What did we gain from it? What was challenging about it? How does this relate to our discussions of and readings on playing, poaching, remixing and adapting?)

Next, how do we turn this in? Well, some content should be included on the blog post itself, whether it's a screengrab of the story as it unfolds on the social media platform. Like this...

...or this....

...OR if you are creating content (images, video, text, etc.), embed that stuff in your post. (Including content on the blog is especially helpful when your social media platform--like Myspace--is blocked on BYU's network).

And finally, because your adaptation is meant to be interactive (at least to some degree), include links to help your audience begin to navigate the narrative--for example, links to the public profiles of your characters (remember to set privacy settings to public to allow us to see your work without having to create an Instagram account and follow each of your characters). Though, depending on your story, and how you'd like your audience to navigate it, other links might be more relevant.

And to include, here are those other cool things we watched in class.

Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo from HitRecord

Morgan & Destiny's Eleventeeth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo from marc daly on Vimeo.

How the Amazing Spiderman Should Have Ended from The Fans.

And here's a collaborative fan-created music video for a post-humously released Johnny Cash song. And it's awesome. (I can't embed it because the video changes everytime you view it.)

"Ain't No Grave" by The Johnny Cash Project

Play

Wow, that was a messy lecture. So, let me follow up with some explanation...

We watched The Gleaners and I by Agnes Varda to demonstrate how our creative process can be understood as assembling source material (Rembrandt, cabbage, cats, one's hands, etc.) and recontextualizing or re-appropriating it (making mold into art, organizing this mess of disparate things into a narrative).

We discussed the process of signification in which our experiences are organized into conceptual categories, that these concepts are referred to with the use of signs (marks on a page, uttered sounds, etc.), that those signs denote and connote certain things. Add to that the understanding that any sign only has meaning when compared/contrasted with other signs, and we see that this process of signification is a rather tenuous one (Think about it--You look up a word in the dictionary and you're given more words which you must look up in the dictionary, etc., etc.) Acknowledging the fluidity of meaning--the gaps between experiences and concepts, concepts and signs, texts and readings--is recognizing the play in language.

We watched Rip! A Remix Manifesto by Brett Gaylor to see the historical precedent for the deliberate acknowledgment and incorporation of play in creative work. Bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Son House took existing songs (or signs or representations), read them in certain ways, reworked them according to their readings, and re-produced them. Their work (and all creative work, if you think about it) is comprised of both themselves (the artists) and their influences.

This week's creative project addresses that, but rather than simply remake something, I want you to use this exercise in play to understand yourself better. So, to be clear, here are some steps to follow...

1. Pick an aspect of your identity--I am a male. I am white. I am a husband. I am a father. I am a teacher. Etc., etc. Pick one that you think will be interesting to you and to us.
2. Find a mediated representation of this aspect of your identity--Representations of masculinity in Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love'. Representations of whiteness in I Love Lucy. Representations of fatherhood in Family Circus comics. Representations of teachers in Frederick Wiseman's documentary High School. Whatever.
3. Now engage with that representation--In what ways does this accurately represent your understanding and performance of this aspect of your identity? In what ways does it not? For example, I might find High School's representations of some teachers as harsh disciplinarians who enforce students' adherence to prescribed gender roles to be problematic. But I also might identify with the English teacher who uses Simon and Garfunkel to illustrate how aesthetic decisions contribute to the communication of theme. Your engagement will have similar complexity.
4. Now, manipulate that representation to illustrate your engagement with how it represents your identity--I'll give you a few examples.

L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp

Duchamp's taken Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, drawn a mustache on it and included the caption "L.H.O.O.Q." (which in the French pronunciation resembles a mild sexual innuendo). Now, why would Duchamp do this? As a Dadaist, Duchamp was interested in questioning the role that art plays in society, and his art intentionally reflects his challenge to the authority of high art (like Da Vinci's). So, while he identified as an artist, he found problematic what the Da Vinci's work communicates about what art is or should be. So, he defaced it--and this manipulation of the image is representative of his engagement with this aspect of his identity.

The Grey Album by Danger Mouse
(FYI, there may be language in the following clip that some might find problematic).

Danger Mouse has taken the Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album and created a series of sample-based songs called the Grey Album. Why would Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) do this? Well, because of his mixed racial and cultural heritage, and the role that both rock and hip hop played in his development as a musician, this approach to music (of genre, culture, etc.) represents his engagement with the hybrid nature of his identity as an artist and as a human being.

Concession by obsession_inc

Take a look at it here.

obsession_inc has authored a fan-fiction novel based on the character Christine Everhart (the Vanity Fair journalist Tony Stark has a one night stand with during the first Iron Man film). Why would she do this? Well, superhero comics and their film adaptations have been generally pretty sexist--female characters are marginalized and/or objectified, often lack power and agency, and are often in need of saving. (As if you need evidence--go back and watch Spiderman 2 and count the number of shots that include screaming women--you'll be amazed.) So, a narrative set in a comic book universe which focuses on empowered female characters is an attempt to introduce some more balanced representations of femininity into the genre.

There you go. Come to class Wednesday with questions about the assignment. I'll be evaluating your projects with these things in mind:

• your selection of aspect of identity, your selection of textual representation
• your creativity and critical thinking in your manipulation of the text
• your thoughtfulness in the artist's statement (re: your selection of text, consideration of representation, aesthetic choices in your manipulation of the text)
• your reflection of the experience sharing your work online
• your having followed directions