Sunday, January 19, 2020

VSAR 1102 // Intensive // Day 01


Visual Argument in Design Culture
A form of rhetoric: a process that seeks to persuade its readers and users of particular ways of acting, thinking and feeling, and as such constitutes a form of argumentation.

"As long as we think we have our say, we’ll accept the common sense view.”

All design propose an underlying argument. Design is argument.
How is design used to establish relationships of power.

Introduction // Icebreaker
What cultural groups do you associate with? How do your clothes reflect this?

Look at the clothes you are wearing today. Think long and hard about what they might say about you. Why did you choose to wear these clothes? Why did you decide to purchase these clothes? What sub culture do they say you might be a part of?

Logos, music (what music), bands, sports, video games, motorcycles, film (what film?)
What brands do you feel aligned with?
How do the television programs you reinforce your character?

It’s a miracle that we can understand each other as well as we do. We construct meaning to get by but communication can break down when not a part of a particular culture and can lead to misunderstandings.



Beliefs
Acceptance (without proof) of something believed.

Values
Accepted standard for morality. (What’s good and bad?) 

Norms
Conventions (laws or rules) which affected living, order and acceptable practice.
Normal and expected behaviour.

Listen to Stories

Listening to more stories helps you to understand other perspectives.






What is Culture?
Matthew Arnold says 'the best that has been thought or said in the world' but this tends to focus on 'high culture'. Or, Raymond Williams three principles:
1. The process of a society's intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development (eg. great philosophers, poets, artists).
2. Particular way of life of a people, period or group (eg. development of literacy, the type of sports played, the celebration of festivals).
3. The works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity (eg. poetry, novels, ballet, opera, fine art.)

Culture is 'often described in terms of people, events, practices and artefacts and, more often than not, it is 'the best' of these things that are considered to be worth preserving.' But, who gets to decide?

Mass Culture
Cultural texts produced and consumed in large quantities and, according to some critics, intellectually undemanding and creatively limited. Popular culture often takes an aspect of low-culture, then commoditises this, mass produces it then sells it back to us. We purchase it and engage and reinforce the message. This occurs in cycles.

"The signs and rituals of popular culture start in subcultures and become popularised by the mainstream. However, popular culture is generally perceived to be a cynical process for engaging the masses in a cycle of consumerist desire."

Mass consumerism could be purchased en masse. “Bottom up” practice (low-culture) versus “Top down” (high-culture).

The cultural patterns that are broadly in line with a society’s cultural ideals and values.

Fashion allows us to differentiate ourselves from others and communicate things about ourselves and others. We create meaning with our consumption. “As long as we think we have our say, we’ll accept the common sense view.” A negotiation through media outlet. If we’re forced into it, we’ll push back.

Item is not necessarily imbued meaning at its point of creation but when we finally consume that item.

Increasing influence with internet and online shopping and with fast fashion. Encouraging to buy and dispose.

Subculture and counter culture
Minority group existing within dominant culture and resists or responds to a social position where an undesirable condition exists for a certain group. Dress and ritual and redefining certain signs and taking it out of context to create new meaning.

Sub Culture any minority group with a shared set of beliefs, values or lifestyle that resists the dominant culture. May reflect youth, ethnic, religious, sexual groups and more. Less visible intellectual basis than counter-culture.

Counter-Culture is an identity which directly challenges the norm, particularly politically motivated.

Extinction Rebellion disrupting “normal” day to day working life to draw attention to issues relating to environmental concerns.

Define and think about the following terms
– culture, subculture, counterculture
– society
– design
– consumption

–authenticity
–desire

Examples
Starbury and Nike
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffarnold/2019/02/21/nike-cast-into-spotlight-after-duke-freshman-williamson-blows-out-shoe-sustains-injury/#468fa26b3d79
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/06/700911596/episode-785-the-starbury

Frida Las Vegas and popular culture
https://www.fridalasvegas.com
celebration of popular culture
inspired by drag and contemporary fashion
Australian approach to popular culture
Art deco, Andy Warhol, Howard Arkley, neon passion, fashion illustration


Sharpies / Sharps

Amly and the Sniffers
BUT what about commodification? GucciGig is a great example.
Don' forget their Spotify playlist.

Bin Chicken
The Bin Chicken – abc.net.au/news/2018-09-07/ibis-bin-chicken-rise-totem-for-modern-australia/10209332

Also, Balls held by Drag Queens in NYC.
Gay people marginalised, beaten and abused. Ostracised from work. Houses were formed where older queens would take in and care for those youth who were run out of home. Paris is Burning shows underground balls and now people like RuPaul have brought Drag Race into the mainstream helping to make it visible and acceptable.

Sayings such as “shady” and “yas queen”.

Hip-hop
DJs and MCs, breakdancing and graffiti writing.
Block parties used two turn tables to extend the break beats for dancing and rhyming.
Responding to dominant group (and have a party).
Hip-Hop Evolution TV show.

Buying ideology of Kanye West and brands.

Designers are ‘cultural intermediaries’.

Cultural Transmission
Language affect thought and action

Sejong the Great known in South Korea for creating and propagating the Korean alphabet Hangul in 1400s to provide literacy for all people, treated people fairly and part of this was to shift focus from “one” to “many” creating a community-focussed way of discussing ideas. This creates a base line for communication and shared understanding.

Book ‘The Story of Your Life’ by Ted Chiang which is now the film The Arrival.

Questions
Tattoos
How can tattoos delineate the belonging to a particular culture or sub-culture or even counter-culture?
Consider: Sailors, bikers, group celebration, marking a milestone, decorative, tribal, cultural, historical, war time (Jewish prisoner tattoos).

Bands
The Beatles were the first super band.
How were they popularised?
What systems provided the ability for them to become so popular?
Are the systems for popularity the same today?
What is a super star and how has this idea shifted?
List what media is available today to help popularise groups that didn’t exist when The Beatles were around?
Is it easier, or more difficult, to achieve the same status today?

Fashion
What is designer clothing versus regular clothing?
How do we ascribe value to designer clothing?
Why is it do expensive?
How does this change our perception of it?
What culture is famous for subverting the idea of fashion and popular mainstream clothing and ho did they alter clothing to make a statement?
Can fashion still be rebellious today?
How does fashion reinforce a societal belief?

Pop Culture
Comes from “mass” and “fan” communities.
Pop culture “works as a dialogue rather than being entirely imposed from above by the producers of meaning, who are simply quick to pick up on trends and feed them bacon new forms to a captivated audience.”
Read aloud — “… the signs and rituals popular culture start in subcultures and become popularised by the mainstream. However, popular culture is generally perceived to be a cynical process for engaging the masses in a cycle of consumerist desire.”

“Popular culture is lived as well as preserved, and is composed not simply of the artefacts of everyday life, but of practices and rituals such as interaction and play. These things tend not to end up in museums but without understanding how they were used their value and meaning might be consigned to history.”
Photographic documentation – https://www.moranprizes.com.au/gallery/photographic

Frida Las Vegas and turning popular culture into subversive fashion and art
Bin Chicken / FUIC / 
https://www.fridalasvegas.com

Authenticity. Nike decision to support Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest. They decided to continue supporting him as a sponsor:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2018/09/30/taking-risks-can-benefit-your-brand-nikes-kaepernick-campaign-is-a-perfect-example/#1c88219045aa

Freestyle campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i-4rn5xCnU

“Society became driven less by a need to produce things for itself, and more by a desire to consume the products of a few large manufacturers…led to a perceived devaluation in the quality and artistic merit of those artefacts and a lack of authenticity.

——

Images / Ideas

Kill Your Self

Eat Sleep Rave Repeat
https://youtu.be/wBoRkg5-Ieg?t=84

Keep Calm and Carry On

Sapir-Whorf — language affecting how you understanding things. Use example of The Story of Your Life which became Arrival film.

No comments:

Post a Comment