anthonycreativeproject

[anthonycreativeproject]

Evaluation

[ measure of man ]

Acrylic, charcoal, watercolour, PVA

Measure of man is the result of research into the experience of growing up as a male and the expectations that can harm you and others. This is a mixture of my own experience but also from others who have struggled to fit into what being a man is for various reasons.

I chose abject art as a starting point as I felt the people I was going to base my art work on was from a viewpoint of disgust and hatred. I explored anatomy and association with certain parts, through to torture devices and methods as well as insecurities and fears so the viewer would feel uncomfortable looking at it just as some are talking about it.

When I switched my focus to fragility, I read up on situations shared by those online and whilst also addressing my own experience through therapy, the rage that I started with and focused on soon became one of sadness and so I tried to capture the harshness, the coldness but most importantly the fragility that is hidden in so many.

I intended to do a series of images portraying the difference in men, from the toxic masculine rage to the frightened and depressed who suffer in silence.  this is the concept of a group, not individuals and thus they should be grouped together so that I can show that beneath all of them, there is an insecurity that causes these behaviours.

I wanted the individuals to be vague in appearance but possibly recognisable to the viewer. I also looked for connections, body parts and liquids could be connected to each other so I made detailed drawings that would be added to the final piece.

Separating each image would strip away the connection they shared so I decided to tear them and make a collage, this helped provide aggressive undertones which completed the image along with the body parts placed with dripping liquid achieved through a pva/acrylic mixture.

Finishing off the final piece, I added two individual images that I would have liked to make as screen prints as I feel they add to the message of connection.

These were made from using my graphic design knowledge to make minimalist icons and repeat patterns as well as stripping images of flowers to flat, contrasted images depicting the perception of masculinity, femininity and mental health.

I started with photography and digital editing and I feel that maybe introducing this with a mixture of the paintings I made could make an improvement. Seeking individuals to photograph in these environments would be a challenge but if achieved, the results would be much better than what I’ve submitted and more personal. I will also need to confront my own fears of being photographed/painted if I want my own personal story to be seen.

Mixing digital edits with my paintings and photographs is something I will continue to explore and improve upon as I believe there’s a lot of potential out there to create some fascinating work that could also be transferred to physical work such as sculpture.

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Digital Print

I wanted a stripped down print, keeping it subtle and devoid of colour as I feel the them is quite depressing.

I took some images of various flowers - Thistle (Toxic Masculinity, Defensive, Aggresive), Dandelion (Fragile, Sensitive, Responsive) and Wilted (Depression, Lifeless, Struggling).

I stripped the images down to what you see here and given them a dark background.

I was going to consider a word for each one but again, I think subtlety works best here and is left for the viewer to make their own take on this.

I opted to add some lines to separate the images whilst still leaving them as one, hinting of a connection that lies behind each one.

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Taking inspiration from the exhibition by Marc Hundley, I considered symbols that could represent different features of the themes I was exploring.

I tried finding similar objects/themes for each section and selling on weather, pills and emotion.

I settled on colours for each section based on varying viewpoints, red for masculinity (toxic, aggressive), pink for feminity (emotional, fragile) and blue for mental health (depression, loss)

Making a repeat pattern of these symbols in a dark grey colour over black background, I then made the traditional male symbol.

I hope this provides a subtle enough conception of what a man is meant to be/not to be due to standards set by others.

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Experimenting with text.

Inspired by the likes of Barbara Kruger, I tried seeing what the images would look like with text added over it. I didn't want it to be so bold that it stands out too much, just a blend through the work so it's not obscured by the text itself.

I felt this was making the work too obvious, that I had to rely on text to tell you what if was you were viewing.

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[ measure of man ]

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Exhibition

I love the work of the first exhibition pictured, easily my favourite exhibition I've ever been to and a huge inspiration for me.

France Lise McGurn mixes positions alongside her canvases which provide this constant feel of being in a party surrounded by so many. The brush strokes and use of colours and shapes are incredible, it's sometimes I would love to learn myself.

The other work is from Marc Hundley whos art is minimal and impressionable. I started with minimalism in my art when I first attended college but switch to abstract over the years and seeing these two editions has made me wonder if I can find a way for both to work alongside each other.

The last exhibition is from Padraig Timoney who worked with mirrors. I love the use of mirrors in art but I found this to be rather lady and uninspiring, like walking through a site that sold mirrors as opposed to an exhibition.

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Looking at my work I had two ideas, a collage of all the work put together as a collection with a focus of man being made of many things or separate images with text, alternative colours, or further images.

Some experimental attempts and I should know what will be my final work for display.

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Images coloured in and torn for collage purposes.

If I can't screen print these then colouring them and adding them to a collage could work.

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I managed to get one image screen printed so I could get an idea of what that could possibly look and the results are beautiful.

I'm disappointed I couldn't get them all done but down the line I will hopefully get a chance to print them all off for a collection.

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A charcoal drawing depicting alcohol abuse, the passed out figure, slumped, as the drink continues to spill much to his oblivious state.

I made the figure nude to enhance the feeling of vulnerability as my experience with alcohol and many others, is a way to escape what we're feeling at times.

Much like the retreat to the womb I mentioned previously, this is a similar feel, surrounded by darkness and escaping your fears.

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A series of images that if I had time I would have turned into screen prints.

I noticed when exploring these themes that liquids were involved in one way or another from blood to semen, it was a constant feature in what I was trying to depict.

My idea would have been to have these images screen printed and the liquid would be recreated using paint and PVA glue and dripping from the images above.

As I don't have time to screen print all these, I will find another way to create them and add to the final display.

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Further sketches depicting sexual performance, sexual assault, penis size, losing your virginity, violence, first kiss.

Many ideas of what apparently makes a man, what a man can't be and what men have experienced that some might not know is sadly quite common.

These are when I was exploring the idea of abject art, making the images uncomfortable to look at but also some with a bit of satire added to it.

Although I think these could work using a mix of photography, painting and digital editing, I feel it's not capturing the full picture of what I'm trying to achieve but something I would like to expand on possibly for the future.

[anthonycreativeproject]

These are a series of paintings I made exploring alcohol abuse, anger, feminine men and body image.

First image is a representation of myself at points in my life, being alone in a bar whilst the energy of everyone else goes on in the background. The alcohol flowing through me and given me the encouragement to reach out to others at the bar who were in a similar position. I met an awful amount of men who were on their own in a pub and drinking all day because, like myself, they didn't want to go home. They all had difficulties they were facing but loneliness was prevalent in all of them.

The top right image is a familiar site to myself and that is the monsters that surrounded my life growing up, violent men who used fists instead of words. Big, strong brave men that would never cry as it was gay or what women do, the same men that would hit women and others. Bigots that spouted hatred at anything that wasn't the same as them.

Bottom left image is from an image of a woman that I changed into a man. I have never liked the idea of what is manly and what is feminine and this is my approach to it.

Last is a nude male almost thrusting his penis towards you, making sure your eyes are fixated on that and nothing else as that's all that matters. This is in relation to the obsession with penis size in the World and the need of some to send unsolicited dick pics as they think that's the only thing that you need to know about them.

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I started off with the possibility of taking photographs and digitally altering them to capture the theme with the appropriate use of colours, text, etc but came to realise that photography will only work with some of these themes as paintings, etc can be more vivid when tackling other areas I want to explore.

So I aim to work on either a series of images or a collage for my final piece as I believe this will be a perfect representation for the multiple emotions on display.

During this project I began therapy, again, as I was struggling with my depression. Something I have been very open about with people as I believe the more we talk about it, the more it's seen as normal and shows others dealing with it that they're not alone.

This image came from a discussion about my fear of doing anything in my life due to past experiences. The idea that I retreat to the womb where I'm safe and secure and the outside World can't hurt me.

What it also shows though is the darkness and emptiness that it's replaced with. The sadness, the fragile being I have become and the heartache of not being happy.

[anthonycreativeproject]

Reflection

When I initially started this project, my priority was to capture the brutal nature of growing up as a male, how harsh it can be trying to live up to the standards set before you, usually by other males but not limited to them.

I started from a personal point, one of anger and hatred towards so many I grew up around but as I done research on these themes I noticed there were a lot of men that just felt lost, alone and depressed. My anger turned to sadness and I now feel the final piece should be less abject and more reflective of these men that have suffered or are suffering as opposed to the "sigmas" we all know too well.

Body image, especially penis size is used by both males and females as a measurement of a man, small dick energy, etc which I feel goes against the body positivity movement. It should be noted that most of these views are shared by people online rather than real life where it's not as common but as the majority of us are spending more time online, it can easily be seen as a worldwide view, especially with algorithms showing you relatable content over and over again.

Male teachers are few meaning there are less possible positive male figures for young boys to look up to.

6 feet, 6 figures and 6 inches are sometimes used by women online to describe the minimum requirements for a man and anything less than these are mocked leading to an alarming new trend of men seeking surgery for penis and height enhancements along with hair treatment as baldness is another thing joked about.

Viagra and similar pills are used by younger men now due to fear of not being able to perform in bed for long enough, along with recreational drugs and alcohol abuse still being prevalent, young lives are relying heavily on medication in one form or another.

With the rise of the likes of Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson, we're seeing vulnerable young men, and grown men too sadly, perceiving themselves as victims due to unsuccessful relationships, etc and now trying to assert themselves as the dominant sex.

These and many other things, I fear may be some of the causes for male rage, depression and high suicide rates. Not exclusively, but some.

I will still tackle the issue of male rage and toxicity as I believe it's of extreme importance, men need to do better to help not just themselves but others like them.

[anthonycreativeproject]

Artist Research - Wolfgang Tillmans

Wolfgang's most recognisable work is probably the cover of Frank Ocean's album 'blonde'.

His work often invokes intimacy. a sense of vulnerability sometimes and captures the male subjects in a way not often seen.

I feel this will be the toughest for me as capturing male intimacy, especially around subjects of fragility and weakness will be tough on a personal level but also challenging to capture the feelings of others accurately enough to get the message across.

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Artist Research - Sarah Lucas

Similar to the Chapman Brothers, Sarah approaches such subjects as sex, gender and class with a humorous twist at times whilst remaining provocative using multiple media and imagery.

Her work asks questions of the viewer and although sculpture will not be used this time around for my project, taking influence from the methods and transferring it to paint/photography should help deliver what I intend with my own work.