Subculture in Britain - film

I really enjoyed today's film. I think it is interesting to see how proper subcultures don't really exist among youth any more due to the internet age (and it's pretty sad). Some of it could be relevant to my essay if I apply it in the right way; for example, the Northern Soul movement or the class differences.

Notes:

• Subcultures begin as symbolic challenges and eventually end up being sucked back into mainstream society, therefore becoming conventional and leaving room for a new subculture.
• After conscription ended, Britain's youth suddenly had much more freedom over what they could wear and often chose statement clothing so they fit into certain social groups, for example the Teddy Boys.
• Working class backgrounds often went for a tight and rehearsed look, whereas middle classes went for more of a casual and laid back look (the opposite of what they probably were; they could experiment and project a new kind of identity. 

• Northern Soul - "Soul Boys" - there were differences between northern and southern soul subcultures. Northern was more focused on old soul and sourcing rare old records, swapping and comparing them. Southern was more focused on the new soul being made. The clothes worn were clothes that you could easily dance in; oversized and comfortable. Started in a club in Wigan, and spread down the country to Essex; these where the northern and southern soul capitals of England at the time, with the biggest infamous dances. It was overlooked by mainstream media for longer than other subcultures (find out why). 

Cop Lecture 5 - Panopticism

This lecture was my favourite so far - full of really interesting stuff and could be relevant to a wide variety of topics, even within what I am thinking of looking into. 

Panopticism - modern disciplinary society. Panopticism is about institutions and institutional power. 

The Great Confinement (late 1600's) - houses of 'correction' were put in place to curb unemployment and idleness. The people who didn't work, e.g. the loveable 'village idiot' were segregated and there became a distinction between the mad and the sane; before this, no one had that much of a problem with it. These houses of correction were workhouses and similar to prisons; types of people who were sent there were the deemed mad, criminals, the homeless. These workhouses are often referred to as the 'birth of the asylum' and they later developed into specific institutions for particular corrections, and thus came a society that disciplines by force rather than persuasion. 

The asylum brought around new forms of knowledge and specialisms, e.g. psychiatrists, doctors and refined practices of medicine. It also brought around other types of institution such as hospitals and schools. 

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) - institutions alter our consciousness and by making us act certain ways. "Discipline is a technology [aimed at] how to keep someone under surveillance and control their conduct, behaviour, aptitudes, how to multiply his capacities etc."

Jeremy Bentham - designed 'The Panopticon' in 1791, a building designed to maximise the effectiveness of what ever institution it is being used for (a prison, a school etc). A good example was Millbank Prison (now the site of the Tate Modern) in London. The idea was the maximise surveillance and visibility; you are literally left staring into the face of the person who is enforcing the 'correction' upon you, while they can see whatever you are doing at all hours of the day, every day. This made the correction faster and made people more productive in the workplace, criminals correct their ways and enhanced self-regulation. 

Western societies changed from having rules imposed by a ruler e.g. a king, to a new mode of power; Panopticism. A good modern examples are open plan offices, where your boss and co-workers can see you at all times, so you can't sit around on Youtube all day; fear of being caught will make you do your work and do lots of it. Another is Google Maps (constant surveillance!)

This creates 'Docile Bodies' (Foucault 1975) - self-monitoring, self-correcting, obedient bodies. A perfect example is a soldier in the army or a teachers perfect student. You just do exactly as you are told. 

"Where there is power, there is resistance" - power is a relationship that we can play, to get the most out of it for ourselves. 

Art Example - Vito Acconci "Seedbed" (1972) - super creepy.  

Cop Lecture 4 - Identity

Essentialism - our biological makeup makes us who we are (an old theory) - phrenology and physiology.

Pre-Modern Identity - institutions defined who you were, e.g. the church, school, where you worked etc.

Modern Identity - 'flaneur' (gentlemen stroller). You went out to look and be looked at, and how well you were dressed defined your personality and what sort of person you were. Emulation, distinction, the 'mask of fashion'. Georg Simmel - people can have money and be successful, but it doesn't make them happy. 

Post-Modern Identity - discourse analysis. Factors like age, class, gender, race/ethnicity, home, education, income etc. define who you are. 

Humphrey Spender/Mass Observation, "Worktown Project" (1937) - set up by London based upper-middle class men. They chose and observed Bolton as a northern working class town, photographed it and wrote about it. The published photographs seem quite derogatory when you look into them and regard who published them, e.g. only about six people in a theatre performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', insinuating the residents are uncultured. 

Martin Parr - New Brighton, Merseyside, "The Last Resort" (1983-86). Photographs taken of a working class northern holiday destination and the people that holiday there. Parr also published a photography project called "Ascot" (2003), picturing people of a lower class 'playing at being upper class', in ill fitting and unfashionable dress at Ascot. These photographs would have been published in expensive coffee table type books that stereotypically only the middle to upper classes could afford and potentially be interesting; was this Parr's point?

Alexander McQueen - "Highland Rape" (A-W 1995-6). Depicted models staggering around the catwalk in ripped tartan garments as if they had been drugged and attacked. People criticised McQueen but he explained the idea as being the rape of Scotland by the English in the 19th Century, rather than the attack of the models themselves. (He has Scottish heritage but identifies as English). 

Vivienne Westwood - "Anglomania" (A-W 1993-4). Models again wore tartan but they name of the collection gives a controversial take. Is it all about England?

*Research into Zygmunt Bauman.

Task 3: Establishing a Research Question

I find it very hard to pull an idea out of thin air to start working on (which is what it feels like we are being asked to do); this is what I really struggled with last year in COP. I need to research around the themes of Culture/Social before I can even think about forming a question. So for now, I am going to collect together sub-themes I am interested in, expand them and decide which one I want to research into. 

At the moment I am liking the idea of researching into the differences between the North and South of the UK, if they actually exist, the political and economic history behind it and why the stigma still exists in the younger generations. Being a Southerner at a Northern university, I never used to think there was that much of a difference between the North and South, apart from slightly cheaper pints. Since coming it has opened up my eyes that people really do believe there is a massive cultural and social difference, something I never believed in myself but I am interested in why this has arisen. I've been told a couple of times since coming things like "I never thought I'd like a Southerner", which I suppose is a backhanded compliment, but I really do want to know why people would think that and where it has originated. It's not offensive, I just find it really interesting! 

Task 2: 500 Word Analysis

Barthes is trying to explain that if the author is not present, the passion, ideas and feeling goes out of the work. The author will always have a link between themselves and their writing, like a "father to a son". He believes that the reader is as important as the writer themselves, as the reader you can interpret that writing in any way you want. He states that the reader can never truly know what the author is trying to say; you can only speculate and the work should be free to interpretation. Writing is created for an audience, to give understanding and for them to develop their own opinions and ideas . He also believes modern writing is an accumulation of that culturally already exists; "a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture". We can only create new writing and ideas based on what we have learned before, as you can only ever bounce off what is already known. It is impossible to write something completely original and that why the "death of the author" has arisen.

This relates to us, as illustrators, because if our work has nothing to say then it simply isn't illustration. Our authorship over our work is the most important thing we have. If Barthes believes that if writing without passion, ideas and feeling doesn't deserve to have been created by an 'author', then imagery without passion, ideas and feeling doesn't deserve to be created by an 'illustrator'. We need to be able to communicate with our work and if we can't, then we have fallen at the first hurdle and can never truly be illustrators. Illustrators pull together pre existing ideas and inspiration as research to create something new, as Barthes believes modern writers do; we comment on articles, create visual worlds for stories and give a new way of looking at things we see every day. 

In contrast to Barthes beliefs, Editorial illustration could be viewed as a good example of how something can have little authorship but still have a large and lasting impact on the viewer; not to say that Editorial work has not been created by a 'proper' illustrator, but that it is more centred around the content rather than who it was created by. Examples of Editorial illustration can be found in newspapers, magazines and online journals, all being regularly updated, packed with news and entertainment for the ready consumer. Interestingly, Steven Miles  in his work "Design for life or life for design?" reflects upon that "whether a consumer culture encourages individual freedom or expression or whether it serves painstakingly to construct the parameters within with people consume". This in a way supports Barthes point; that lack of authorship leaves only little for  inspiration or new discoveries, but also extends it to creativity and supports his view that it saps personality. With their theories applied, Editorial work  can be seen as created  not for the author or illustrator, but just to be made for the consumer without any heart going into it. It shines a controversial light onto the discipline, but does it really matter? Illustrations in a newspaper have more of a universal language than the text of the actual article, so surely this is of more importance than who actually made it? Or does this voice come from the hand of the well practiced illustrator themselves, who has complete authorship over what they have created?

Lecture 2 - The Flipped Classroom

This was a pretty interesting lecture, touching on ideas of education but in a not so diagram-happy way. It compared old traditional methods of teaching to newer, more involved methods which are believed to have better results when it comes to engagement and learning. 

It is about flipping the hierarchy within a classroom, and as a result there is no longer any hierarchy. Students are more in charge of the learning than the teacher. They aren't told what to do in the traditional way of teacher standing and telling them what they should know, resulting in the sharing of ideas and group self-prompted learning. Collaborative and self-initiated work helps information sink in and students to actually enjoy what they are learning about. 

The student revolts of 1968 in Paris were also referenced and the more recent protests about cutting art foundations at UAL. The point of these protests was that higher education was becoming/is more elitist and students wanted education for everyone, not just for people to have to be spat out into the workplace after. Education isn't about learning for the beauty of learning, it's just constantly setting you up for a 'good job'. The uprising against stale old methods of teaching links to the 'flipped classroom'. 

• L'atelier Populaire - the occupation of art schools and print rooms, where the protesting students made posters and banners to support their cause and spread their message and ideas.

Death of the Author - Analysis and Ideas

Reading and understanding this text was a bit of a chore, but after a few times the message of what Barthes was trying to communicate started to sink in. Texts like this will have to be read in order to collect academic research for the upcoming essay and dissertations, so I may as well get used to it now (he could work on shortening his sentences though). 

My definition of an author before we read the text:
"Someone who writes something with thought/ideas behind it. They own it as they created it".

What we concluded from the text:
Barthes is trying to explain that if the author is not present, the passion, ideas and feeling goes out of the work. The author will always have a link between themselves and their writing, like a "father to a son". He believes that the reader is as important as the writer themselves, as the reader you can interpret that writing in any way you want. He states that the reader can never truly know what the author is trying to say; you can only speculate and the work should be free to interpretation. Writing is there to be read and to be decided on, whether it is simply figuring it out or having an opinion on it. He also believes modern writing is an accumulation of that culturally already exists; we can only create new writing and ideas based on what we have learned before, as you can only ever bounce off what is already known. It is impossible to write something completely original and that why the 'death of the author' has arisen.

This relates to us, as illustrators, because if our work has nothing to say then it simply isn't illustration. Our authorship over our work is the most important thing we have. If Barthes believes that if writing without passion, ideas and feeling doesn't deserve to have been created by an "author", then imagery without passion, ideas and feeling doesn't deserve to be created by an "illustrator". We need to be able to communicate with our work and if we can't, then we have fallen at the first hurdle and can never truly be illustrators (owch). We also do pull together pre existing ideas and inspiration to create something new, as he believes modern writers do; we comment on articles, create visual worlds for stories and give a new way of looking at things we see every day. 

I don't know if I agree with everything Barthes says; I think he makes many good points, but original ideas can still be created and modern writers still completely have the right to be classed as authors. If writers from the middle ages can be authors then why can't we now; surely they were only writing about what they already know, they were just the first to do so? And if an illustrator creates a completely unheard and unseen world, or way of working, surely that is original? Of course its harder to come up with something truly original, as you are subconsciously influenced by everything you see and do, but definitely not impossible. It's like when your grandma doesn't like MTV because she grew up with the radio. I think he might be a bit stuffed up.

Linking pieces of the text to the theme of 'Culture':

"Text is not a line of words releasing a single theological meaning but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture". 

"The image of literature to be found in ordinary culture is tyrannically centred on the author, his person, his tastes, his life, his passions". 

"In ethnographic societies the responsibility for a narrative is never assumed by a person but by a mediator, shaman or relator whose 'performance' - the mastery of the narrative code - may possibly be admired but never his 'genius'."

Other points to consider:
Hierarchy in culture focuses on the most well-known and respected members of that society; so are people considered 'authors' just because they are better known? For example, J.K. Rowling is an author, and if I write a little unpublished story I am not? It depends on what you believe in - J.K. Rowling definitely deserves to be called an author more than myself (it is her profession) but that doesn't mean that I'm not, if someone reads my little story and is somehow affected by it. We both have equal ownership over our writings, just hers are better known. 

This hurts my brain!

Lecture 1 - Research and Epistemology

This lecture did boggle my mind and I had to go away and let it sink in for a bit afterwards. I don't find diagrams very enthralling so it was pretty hard to concentrate and follow. However, I do understand the relevance of what was said and as I sometimes struggle with research it was important!

Things I took away from the lecture:

"Process is more important than outcome".

"Success comes from having brighter ideas closer together".

"Lots of fast possibilities rather than one precious idea".

The more outings I go on, books and blogs I read, galleries I visit and stuff I watch and listen to, the better; ideas will come easier if I am absorbing more. 

Combine systematic, intuitive and stimulated approaches of research to get a really good outcome; get lots of inspiration, then narrow it down and begin to systematically research.

Variety and quantity of ideas is important!

Quantitative research: data, numericals, stats etc.
Qualitative research: beliefs, feelings, opinions, subjective abstract concepts etc. 

You are researching because you want to find out about something new! 

Study Task 1 - Definitions, Quotes and Images

Social  
1. Relating to society and its organization
2. Needing companionship and therefore best suited to living in communities.
3. (Noun) an informal social gathering, especially one organised by the members of a particular club or group. 

Historical 

1. Of or concerning history or past events. 
2. Belonging to the past.

Cultural 
1. Relating to the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a society.
2. Relating to the arts and to intellectual achievements. 

Technological
1. Relating to or using technology. 

Political 
1. Of or relating to the government or public affairs of a country. 
2. Relating to the ideas or strategies of a particular group or party in politics. 
3. Motivated by a person's beliefs or actions concerning politics. 


I can't decide between social or cultural as my theme for this years Context of Practice module; I don't have a clue what to focus on yet, and I feel these two will give me the widest variety of subjects to choose from! Social matters have always and will always be important, with lots of past social circumstances to critically reflect on as well as thinking about potential future ones. Focusing on cultural could give me more of a chance to talk about music or the arts, which might be more enjoyable in terms of research. 

UPDATE LATER ON: I am going to choose cultural, after thinking about it some more and realising I can talk pretty much the same amount about people as you can in social subjects; culture is not just art and music. There are also lots of interesting cultural issues hanging around at the moment which could be good starting points. 


Quotes:

"Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first they have to understand that their neighbour is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions." (Paul Coelho)


"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for." (Georgia O'Keefe)


"Musicians from the beginning of time have been there to express the mood and the musical feelings in the air for whatever's going on in that particular culture. It's the greatest joy as a musician to be able to translate that, be part of something and watch the scenery around you." (Trey Anastasio) 

Spice markets in Istanbul

Terrorist attacks in Pakistan

Siouxie Sioux (Punk)

Oliver Kugler

Paul Peter Piech

Gustav Klimt

OUIL401 End of Module Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I feel as if my ability to research and collect relevant information to put into a project has improved; I now understand where to find academic resources, and what research would be useful, rather than just finding loads and using it all without having a focal point. Before, I would just research and find anything that would be of even slight use - the essay required us to dig properly and narrow down what would be applicable and informative. I feel like I have applied these fairly well, but it took a while to understand what would be useful and not just create a essay full of irrelevant research that rambles. I have also learned how to properly Harvard reference, a tool that will no doubt be useful in the future.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes?

After scouring the internet for useful material for a while, I found that online journals and newspapers are very useful for research, as they are often opinionated and gave something to oppose or agree with in the essay. I also enjoyed going to the library and finding academic papers and books that could possibly relate to my chosen subject; I found some really useful and interesting writing that then further shaped my ideas and made me question what I was writing about even more. Research has been undeniably important in this module, not just for the essay but for the visual diagram, where I was inspired by other pieces and illustrations that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

3. What strengths can you identify within your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I feel I have been able to look at another practitioners work and successfully analyse it, from referencing its purpose to  how effectively it has been made and how successful it has been as a result. This is important as it has furthered my ability to be able to break down my own work, think about what it is saying and how I can help it communicate. I also feel  that my visual diagram is relevant to my research and does communicate an idea, something I have struggled with in the past, and it is probably due to the amount of research behind it. I will continue to research more to inform other projects and hopefully they will have the same outcome.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Looking at my work, I feel as if the concept for my visual diagram was initially a bit vague and I struggled to narrow it down to something informative and interesting. Although I am pleased with it now, it could definitely have much more to say. I also found it very hard to work out how I was going to turn my essay into something visual, and I think this contributed to why the transition was a bit all over the place. Next time I want to choose a subject that has lots of obvious paths to go down with lots of research behind it and hopefully I will be able to create a volume of work that has much more to give. I want to give people something to think about with CoP, not just spell out what we already know, which might be all I have done.

5. Identify 5 things that you feel will benefit you during next year's context of practice module?

1. Not to put this module to this side and leave everything to last minute; just because it is drawn out does not mean it is ok to leave it! This will hopefully mean I am more interested in what I am doing.

2. Blog more often; I found it hard to understand what to blog for this module, as I thought it would all be repetitive, but now I understand that seeing my thoughts written down can unscramble my head when I get stuck for ideas.

3. Find a subject that I am really, really interested in; this year I picked something and just thought 'yeah, that'll do' - not a good idea for motivation at the end of the year. I want to write about something I feel really passionate about and I think it will come across more in my work too if I am.

4. Talk to tutors and peers if I become overwhelmed and stuck; this has been the hardest module to make sense of and I think talking to people would help me realise what I am trying to do myself much earlier on in the year.

5. If I read anything interesting, make a note of it; you never know if it could come in useful later on when looking for references or inspiration.

Final Visual Diagram

Considering I have been struggling with how to turn my research into something visual, I am really happy with how this has turned out. After asking a few people what they thought, I decided to call it 'A Guide to our Future Selves', to sort of spell out the idea I am trying to get across (that we all might regress into back creepy monkeys who are more glued to their phones than we even are now). I am planning to print it on semi-gloss to make it look like a proper poster, and might do another on thick matte to compare. I was unable to screen print due to there being too many people with higher priority in the print room, but I tried to keep the colours flat and bold as if it were a screen print - plus, I have been able to add more colours than if it had been screen printed anyway. 

Positives:

1. I am happy with the composition.
2. I am happy with the colour scheme.

3. I am pretty happy with the type (something I'm usually completely rubbish at).

4. I am happy with the concept! Again something that usually isn't my strength - after double checking with other people I know it gives across the message I want (a sort of comical exaggeration of how much we sit on our phones).

Negatives:

1. Maybe could have practised a bit more at using the grey pen; in places in the front monkey with the yellow phone it looks a bit weird, and it didn't fit in when Photoshopped.

2. Bottom right corner annoys me a bit where the white space is (but just being picky). 

3. Could be argued that we are already like this, and it's not the future?!

Final Essay

Are Gig Posters still Relevant to the Promotion of Music in the Internet Age?

In the current social and historical climate, it is almost impossible for most people to go a day without looking at some sort of screen or digital device, whether it be mobile phones, tablets or laptops. These devices give us twenty four hour access to the latest news and events via apps and social networking sites, saturating us with the latest relevant information designed for us based at what we have been looking at. A big part of this information is now visual, in the form of videos, photos and illustrations, most of them commissioned and made specifically for screen viewing. The demand for this is increasing every day, as new apps and websites are being created, and we are getting more and more used to looking at images in this form; it is the go to way of finding pictures. Photo and picture sharing websites such as Instagram and Pinterest lead the way alongside search engines like Google Images, giving us access to thousands of the same version of one image. However, amongst all this instantly communicable and reproducible imagery, the desire for tangible pieces still exists, and is even on the increase.

To focus on one industry which processes masses of imagery digitally, the music business has seen a massive comeback in the past few years of consumers wanting tangible artwork, in particular posters and vinyl cover designs, that they can keep and collect for themselves. Why would this be, when a lazy generation can find any picture or music video they want from device in their pocket? It’s not like the music industry needs physical imagery to get noticed when it dominates are large portion of the internet, from Top 40 lists to sites dedicated to new bands and releases. Many would argue that it could be an oversaturation of the digital; people turning away and wanting to go back to how it was before, when posters and flyers were used to advertise music events and bands. This would be more easily explainable for the older generations who have not had internet access their whole lives, but the younger are also showing a massive interest in owning these physical designs. Has digital given value to “the hand-made, the detailed and the patiently skilful over the instantly upgradeable and the disposable"? (O'Hagan 2011).

It has been argued that posters are like a kind of affordable ‘gateway’ art for consumers, “street level, accessible art” (Hasted 2012). Owning your own artwork is usually something most people cannot afford to choose to spend their money on, but now this is changing. Even limited edition hand printed posters only sell for around $75 maximum original price; it’s like the designers are trying to give people the option to have these pictures. Bands “don't have a 12-inch gatefold sleeve now; they have a 600 x 600 pixel picture on iTunes” and “posters give them an outlet” (Hasted 2012); they are commissioning more and more artists and designers to create them one-off artworks for gigs tours, therefore giving the consumer a much wider selection of pieces to hang on their wall. Bands are wanting to have great, one-of-a-kind gig posters, and are using the limitations that come with digital sales to create newer opportunities.  All of this in combination with that we now look at pictures all day every day means that music posters are flying off the shelves, from mass produced re-printed ones to hand crafted originals. The poster scene is “a way of bringing back something beautiful into a digital world” (Hasted 2012) and everyone can be a part of it.

Bands are also using the increased interest in gig posters to give themselves more of a niche, or a sense of style; “iconography is visual” (Hasted 2012) and it is not just about the music any more, it is the visuals which go with it, and the right poster could promote exactly what they want the consumers to see them as. At the end of the day, gig posters are an advertisement, and a great one could be the difference between a make or break gig for bands just starting out. Jean Paul Gaultier has been known to state “Sometimes I have chosen to see films just by their posters”, and the same could apply to many for gigs instead. For example, the Arctic Monkeys in particular have developed a massive following for their collection of gig posters, now some of the constantly most desired by fans and collectors. Even if you weren’t a fan of their music, you could be a fan of their poster and want to be a part of their style and potentially even attend the event, giving them more exposure.

A good example of how the Arctic Monkeys use posters to give them something extra is the poster created by Dan Stiles (2014) for a gig at the Artpark Outdoor Amphitheatre in Lewiston, New York. It would have been a massive event, as the Arctic Monkeys are currently one of the worlds most popular and well known bands, especially in America. It is also very current, as it was made in the summer of last year. The target audience for this poster is very wide, as the popular tour it was created for had seats for thousands of people per gig. It appeals to both male and female viewers of a wide age group, by depicting the silhouette of an attractive lady in psychedelic, sixties looking colours and patterns. The majority of the lyrics within the bands songs are based on women, so the poster is literally visualising what the band is 'about'.  The vintage connotations also link directly to the band, as they currently have taken on a more old fashioned look themselves, and gives the poster a more fashionable edge. This would also help the appeal towards the female audience; the only detail on the silhouette are a pair of vintage sunglasses and pouty lips, looking like the kind of editorial illustration you would find within a fashion magazine. The male audience would be (more obviously) drawn into the bold image of a woman with a sexy figure. The graphic look of the poster enhances this, drawing attention to how she has been designed with an exaggerated hourglass figure; what men historically deem as ideally attractive.

The colours involved within the poster reflect the time of year when it was published; sunny yellows, hot pinks, bright blues and clear greens all hint at the idea of summer. It is a feel-good poster, probably even drawing in the eyes of passers by who are not fans of the band. It is an image of mass communication about the band; bright, bold and relatable. The poster has been very well designed, as it does it's job perfectly as a bright and eye catching advert, linking directly and indirectly with the music and look of the band, and the fashionable themes of 2014.

This poster exists physically in a series of 130 limited edition screenprints, bringing back the essence of handmade quality for the more passionate fans and collectors (of the band and artist alike). "Today, our lives are so taken up with tweeting, blogging, browsing and networking that the time it takes to master a trade or a musical instrument, is time many of us think we can no longer afford.” (O’Hagan 2011) Does this mean we are appreciating the skill behind creating beautiful images more than we did before, in analogue methods that are less widely used? Combined with the musical element of the band the hand made posters are advertising, it makes the whole image a representation of skills to be admired. It can be easily argued either way whether the digital age has provoked a backlash into using these analogue methods again, or if they were never stopped being used and the internet has just given us a gateway into promoting the older ways; many popular poster artists, such as Drew Millward, create work digitally but still distributed physically as limited edition prints and are equally in demand for commissions. Perhaps it is a combination; “The poster, with its mix of both low-tech and high-tech, of old and new, has become a cornerstone of 21st century advocacy" (Reznick 2013). Images now will always be able to be accessed anywhere, so what is it that is the difference with these posters - compared to a piece of clip art made in five minutes, a wonderfully crafted poster with hours and intent put into it gives it something extra, and that is what people want.

Many believe the internet has fully helped kickstart the new poster age rather than replacing the need for physical posters, by just doing what the internet does - making sure everyone using it sees them. Popular websites and blogs such as GigPosters.com, created by Clay Hayes, ensure the growth and accessibility of being able to view the newest and most popular works, by the most renowned poster artists. A great example would be Leeds based Drew Millward, whose popularity has soared globally thanks to fans of the bands (his clients) sharing his work on social media. "With the steady growth of broadband connection, a full-color poster can be created as a digital file small enough either to send by email or to download from a website set up for the purpose, and printed by the recipient in as many copies as necessary or simply passed on digitally.” (Reznick 2013). We now indeed have the modern ability to be able to share things that catch our eye to the world in a matter of seconds, but why has this resulted in an increase in the demand of physical prints? Again, it must be due to the allure of craft. A person can view a poster on their screens, but it will never be the same as the original production; now that more people can view a thumbnail image and browse online libraries such as Gigposters.com, they want the real thing, or as near to it as they can get. However, just because a poster is being viewed on a screen does not mean it isn’t a poster, and the demand is still there; “digital production technologies has expanded the poster's role well beyond the limitations of the printed surface." (Reznick 2013).

It isn’t just modern music posters that have made a big impact; the original Woodstock Festival poster has becoming something iconic. Designed in 1969 by Arnold Skolnick, it is quite basic compared to the stylised posters of now, with much more text involved. It is interesting to see the difference between this poster and the ones that have been created after the invention of the internet. It has been made for printing, not screen, and it shows in how the colours come out before editing; it looks dull and lacks in contrast. It portrays a dove sitting on the neck of a guitar, next to the text ‘3 Days of Peace and Music’; basic but communicative symbolism to get the intent and feel of the festival across. It is clear, bold and graphic, and very obviously of it’s time, with the block shapes and bright colours. It has an air of authenticity, and when knowing what Woodstock became afterwards, a sense of nostalgia. The philosopher Walter Benjamin stated “The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to it's testimony to the history it has experienced. Authenticity is jeopardized by reproduction when substantive duration ceases to matter" (1999). It is the reproductive nature of the internet that arguably devalues a piece of work, and again why the limited printed editions are seen as more worthy and desirable. In reproduction and printing you loose elements of the original piece, such as textures or exact colours, so even mass produced versions of iconic posters will never be as beautiful. The Woodstock poster is authentic because of the history behind it, something the average Instagram photo of somebody’s dinner does not have. Consumers now want to see authenticity.

"We haven't lost romance in the digital age, but we may be neglecting it. In doing so, antiquated art forms are taking on new importance.” (Kutcher, 2014). There is something about the ideals of romance that can be linked with authenticity; a hand written letter, or an original, sepia-toned photograph, both romantic yet authentic. Is this also the underlying appeal for a beautiful and original screenprint - old methods, combined with a one-of-a-kind piece, made with the artists own hand? These pieces feel more honest, with analogue methods leaving room for mistakes that cannot be instantly undone. When a piece of work has a sense of the artists soul about it, or ‘Aura’ as Walter Benjamin calls it, it becomes more precious and strangely romantic, and again authentic. Digital communications are often openly laughed at for being so unromantic and antisocial, with newspapers satirising scenes such as people texting and checking Facebook on a dinner date, or creating pieces about ‘hookup’ sites such as Tinder; it’s not surprising that people are calling todays world unromantic. As a result, in this world where we can interact with so much that has so little soul, are we finding new ways to satisfy cravings by turning to these affordable and accessible artworks, that someone has put their mind, opinions and talent into creating?

In much more recent times, the band Ok Go commissioned a poster for Alex Todaro for their Lincoln Hall, Chicago gig, which is interesting to compare to the old Woodstock poster. It is very different in that it features almost no type, just the four faces of the band members with the name wound into them. The colours are also different; a white background with rainbow shades leaning towards pastel. However, it uses the same simple approach to image making as Skolnick’s poster; basic shapes, arranged to make an image, and kept very graphic. It is like a modern twist on the old posters in the Woodstock era, but keeps the authenticity by reflecting vintage style; new ideas with a nod to the old. Ok Go are a band who widely use the internet to promote themselves, by creating original and very visually interesting music videos that go viral. They put time and effort into these videos so it is fitting that they have created a set of beautiful posters to go with them; launching themselves from two very different types of platform. To see this kind of highly crafted gig poster produced in limited edition prints again suggests that it is a combination of the old and new working together to kickstart this surge in interest in poster artwork.

It is difficult, and possibly too early, to properly argue one single point as to why the demand for handmade, limited edition music merchandise has taken a sudden soar in popularity. There are many reasons not even touched upon in this essay that don’t really relate at all to the digital uprise; for example sub-cultures like ‘hipsters’ ever expanding who collect and show off their one of a kind pieces to each other, or the growing popularity of the music and arts scene in towns and cities, who didn’t especially have much of one before. However, from researching modern newspaper articles, online journals and referring to older philosophers writing, it is apparent that people will not always completely take to new digital advances and have a certain amount of wanting it back like it was ‘in the good old days’, whether it be the smartphone-obsessed population of today, or the phobic of the new moving image back in the early twentieth century. We should all take advantage to explore and enjoy the wonderful art and music that is being created around us every day, where there is something for every taste and genre, and many people seem to realise that; and after all, the affordable and accessible poster “universally communicates, connects and delivers its message to anyone in any country" (Lewis, 2012) - a new way of connecting to each other, without doing it digitally; a universal language without using Google translate.

Bibliography

• Fig.1, Skolnick, A. (1969) "1st Printing Concert Poster" [poster] U.S.A, RecordMecca. (http://recordmecca.com/item-archives/woodstock-festival-1st-printing-concert-poster/)
• Fig.1, Stiles, D. (2014) "Artpark Outdoor Ampitheatre Poster" [poster] U.S.A, Gigposters.com (http://www.gigposters.com/poster/168262_Arctic_Monkeys.html)
• Fig.1, Todaro, A. "Lincoln Hall Chicago Poster" [poster] U.S.A, Gigposters.com (http://www.gigposters.com/poster/169025_Ok_Go.html)
• Hasted, N (2012)  "Ultimate Pop Art; Why Gig Posters are a Sound Investment" [internet] U.K., The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/ultimate-pop-art--why-gig-posters-are-a-sound-investment-7827640.html)

• O'Hagan, S. (2011) "Analogue Artists Defying the Digital Age" [internet] U.K., The Guardian. (http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/apr/24/mavericks-defying-digital-age)
• Reznick, E. (2013) "How Posters Survive and Thrive in a Digital Age" [internet] U.S.A, Phaidon. (http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/design/articles/2013/july/15/how-posters-survive-and-thrive-in-a-digital-age/)
• Gaultier, J.P. (Date Unknown) “Poster Quotes” [internet] U.S.A, BrainyQuote (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/posters.html)
• Kutcher, A. (2014) “Digital Quotes” [internet] U.S.A, BrainyQuote. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/digital.html)
• Lewis, A. (2012) "What is Social Poster Design?" [internet] Athens, Greece, Graphic Art News. (http://www.graphicart-news.com/what-social-poster-design-is-7-significant-poster-designers-advice/#.VH7_8FbN7fU)
• Benjamin, W. (1999) "Illuminations; The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction", 2nd Ed., London, Pimlico. (pg.215, 218)

Pecha Kucha Slides and Feedback

Feedback from the presentation

Positives:

1. People seemed to find it funny and not boring, which was my primary concern, so hooray!

2. Relevant to todays issues.

3. Good reference to other practitioners work and contextual stuff.

4. Good drawings, even if they are rough; exploring ideas. Images are interesting!

Negatives:

1. Is it too obvious, like the stuff we laugh about on a day to day basis? I have to find a way of making it new, or how to really get a concept across. What am I trying to say?

2. Not narrowed down quite enough; I need to decide which idea I am going to focus on and take forward. Stop waffling!

3. Keep it simple; don't overwork it.

THE FIRST THREE: My favourite examples of gig posters that I came across during my research. Briefly explain my intent/what I found out in essay and why it is interesting. 

MAP OF UNDERSTANDING: How I further broke down my essay, favourite bits and how I split each bit into one of two categories; either POSTERS or DIGITAL (I said internet but same thing.)

THE DIGITAL FOUR: Finding examples of illustrators who have done pieces on the Digital age, and explaining why they are relevant to my essay/how I want to use them for inspiration.

MY OWN DRAWINGS FROM SKETCHBOOK: Exploring ideas, drawing things like awkward places to ask for wifi passwords, diagnosing yourself on the internet, old people trying to catch up with the new technology e.g. iPads, physical and social repercussions. Why I am tasking the comical route and how I think this could work in a visual diagram.

COMPOSITION IDEAS: Pretty rough, but the kind of thing I have in my head; filling the space with ideas that I have come up with. 

Illustrations to support presentation

Jesse Lefkowitz

Rebecca Mock

Rebecca Mock