Reflective
Practice Essay
The work in
this journal is mainly based on the differences and the compatibility between
commercial art and fine art. The emphasis in the journal is how a piece with
design and fine art conventions can work in one piece to imply that the lines
are blurred between the two. Both are successful in their own way but the
visual research in the journal shows how there can be a harmony between perfect
geometric shapes and tonal sketches.
The
intention of the visual research was to keep the ideas open and strongly
relating to the quote, which then developed into finished pieces of art. 'Once upon a time there was pure art and applied art (I prefer to use
these terms, rather than 'fine' and 'commercial' because 'commercial art' does
not cover enough ground). At all events, forms were born in secret in ivory
towers and fathered by divine inspiration, and Artists showed them only to
initiates and only in the shape of paintings and pieces of sculpture: for these
were the only channels of communication open to the old forms of art.’ (Munari,
1966, p.34).
These two
pictures are pieces in the journal that imply the meaning of the quote above.
The first piece is a selection of shapes which mirror Bruno Munari’s design
work, within these are other shapes which resemble a face or more specifically
Bruno Munari’s portrait. As portraiture was a traditionally favoured subject in
fine art it is a main feature of the piece to collaborate the art types.
‘the relation between what we see and
what we know is never settled’
(Berger, 1972, p.7). This quote especially relates to the left page in this
piece as when this is seen people will naturally be drawn to the face and pick
that out although it actually looks nothing like a face, it is just shapes that
are arranged differently. Berger believes we will instantly form an opinion of
a piece of art the second we look at it, before words come into play. This is
why the journal piece is successful as it is left to be interpreted. The idea
of keeping a piece open to interpretation was mentioned at the start. However the
visual idea was something that came together suddenly at the end of the journal
when doing further research and making work from the quotes used in the previous
essays.
The second
piece is a portrait of Munari with the first page being simplified using paper
shapes and in the second the exact same shapes are used but arranged
differently. This originally was inspired from the image of the bulls by
Picasso, where an image of realism slowly changes into abstraction. This is an
ideal way to make a fine art and design piece come together in one image as it
also clearly displays the successes from both. The second part of the image has
the less important shapes in the portrait removed to only show the key
information, as that is a technique used in design. ‘the separation of making from meaning’ (Dormer, 1997, p.19). The
success of this piece is the use of minimalism, the challenge of the art work
was to make someone recognisable with the fewest shapes. This makes the work
suit both the function of likeness within fine art and abstract within design,
which is a consistent focus point throughout the project. The choice of paint
came from it being a typically traditional medium, to have more of a balance of
the two art types.
Although
visually, both of these pieces are strongly design based which is a pattern
that continues throughout the journal. This could imply that overall commercial
art styles are more effective when adding meaning and context. Balancing the
two art styles within one piece was an ongoing challenge when making art for
this project. This was because the art styles had to be generalised in order to
make work that made sense visually.
I-D
Magazine Cover, 1980, Terry Jones
This cover from I-D magazine is
postmodern graphic design and for commercial purposes. Although technically it
should not be categorised as an aim of postmodernism was to have freedom to
express a piece however the artist chose to and without any constraints. ‘…postmodern graphic design as a contained
stylistic category… implies that the design that succeeded it… no longer has a
relationship with postmodernism.’ (Poynor, 2003, p.18). It is mentioned by
Poynor in No More Rules that there can
be confusion surrounding stylistic and specific categories. This is why making
work in the journal that is from more than one and completely different
categories created art that cannot be specified.
Similarities between the magazine cover
and the journal pieces are the abstract shapes and colours to form a portrait.
Although the magazine piece is a digital collage layered over a photograph, it
has a very similar effect to the journal pieces because it isn’t the portrait
that is the art, it’s the way that it is used as just a section of the piece.
When looking at all of these pieces you are meant to be drawn to the typography
and shapes and not necessarily the person in the image. ‘Representations of the human face and form are not about to go away’ (Clubbe,
2016, p. 230).
‘In the early 20th
century, artists like Picasso began to dismantle traditional portraiture with
cubist portraits that did not rely on recognisable likeness’ (Clubbe, 2016, p.230). The success of
traditional portraiture came from the likeness and verisimilitude of the art
work, in contrast to modern portraits which pushed the boundaries on how a face
can be formed. In this sense the journal pieces are very relevant to cubist
portraits especially as Picasso was used as inspiration for the look and idea
behind the work.
Bibliography:
1.
Munari, Bruno (1966) Design as Art. Rome: Editori Laterza
2.
Berger, J. (1972) Ways Of Seeing, Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 129-141
3.
Dormer, P. (1997) The Culture of
Craft (Studies in Design MUP). Edition. Manchester University Press.
4.
Poynor,
R. (2003) No More Rules. London:
Lawrence King
5.
Clubbe,
John (2016) Byron, Sully, and the Power
of Portraiture: Volume 2. Edition. Routledge
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