cyoungstudio

[cyoungstudio]

Feng Mengbo

“Feng Mengbo is a self-described “video game artist” who uses new media and technology to explore Chinese iconography and history”. Mengbo’s Long, March restart is an large scale interactive video game artwork “which was acquired and exibited at Moma Ps1 with two large screens as seen here”. The video game recreates the very historical and violent flight of the Communist Red Army from the nationalist KMT government. Mengbo pools this story with a old-fashioned Sega Nintendo aesthetic for a game that talks on the political history as well as artistic gaming history.

The Long March is so major in history of china for it marked the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed leader of the Communist Party was confronting and insulting . It also indicated a turning point in the war with the Red Army’s incredible battles and defeat of the Japanese in the North, where they marched for days to, they gained popularity among the Chinese masses.

The video game lifts in imagery from classic video games like Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter II and as well Mega Man. This allows a connect to those too young to understand the Long March to relate to the imagery that is portrayed on the screen and be drawn in. This also focuses the relationship in which China and America have in regards to the growth of video games.

The video game also uses a blend of Western imagery as well as Communist Chinese propaganda imagery. “the work does more than simply juxtapose Eastern and Western icons as a painting might; interactivity of the icons construct new symbolic meanings.” (Kulhanek, Jamie, “Long, March, Restart” Feng Mengbo)

[cyoungstudio]

CACS102 Assessment 1: Keyword Social Media Page

1.   Subjectivity

The Construction of yourself and the processes of which we shape our own personal opinions and feelings. A person is conditioned by being a subject of the process of what makes an individual. This is how we construct cultural subjects and how we experience ourselves this is why one person might Hip Hop music while another person hates it. This idea Subjectivity and self  being dynamic and in constant change is influenced by different contextual factors whether that be someone’s socioeconomic status, gender, cultural influences family and geographical location.

Jean Michel Basquiat was a neo expressionist painter in the 1970’s- 80, his work was highly recognised and appreciated during his lifetime. “Irony of a Negro policeman”  shows strong reflections of personal human experiences with racism and police brutality during his time as an artist. Basquiat explored his own subjectivity through real world reflections through the eyes of a African American artist during the 1970’s-80’s    

2.   Essentialism

Ones search for a sense of self and identity is commenced upon the idea that someone or something needs to be found. An individual has a fixed essence of where the individual attempts to construct a coherent identity that is formed upon their underlying values and perceptions. Essentialism is also that the identity and uniqueness of a person or a group is the expression of their inner essence, this would point towards that there is a distinctive fixed essence of femininity, masculinity, and all other social categories.

Contemporary visual artist Patricia “Piccinini creates transgenic menagerie of disturbing, hyperrealistic creatures”. Piccinini’s creations raise questions of about what makes us who we are? and captures how humans are losing their essence with the furtherment of medical technology and genetic modifications.  “Curious Affection’’ captures what makes us essentially human as Piccinini conveys a new human like cross species with an orangutan that captures issues on human identity, appearance, what makes us human and most prominently our complex relationship between humanity, nature and technology.

3.   Unconscious

The Unconscious is language. As it is where our repressed desires lie theses desires create language that begins to take a new role it establishes relations with other passed elements, developing a complex set of connections with them. The unconscious is not logical and not literal as it has behaviours that the individual is not aware of. Your unconscious mind surfaces through “Dreams, parapraxes and jokes” (Mansfield  200, p.29) while your unconscious language and repressed desires continue to be locked away until unintentional discourse awakes it.

Artist will often try to unlock their unconscious in their artworks, along with awaking the unconscious of the audience as it turns to view the artwork. Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus explores the unconscious mind by creating both a disorienting image as well as a philosophical statement that relates to the unconscious of his mind. “Questioning life and the relationship between disorienting image as well as a philosophical statement that relates to the unconscious mind”.

4. Overdetermination

Overdetermination is the unconscious acts and receptive behaviours of what we do. These acts and behaviours  are anything from going to the toilet to biting your nails along with picking up and reading a book and are the “focus and expression of the most plural and deep psychological complexity’’

David Choe is a visual artist that depicts a recurring motif of “Munko” within his street murals and artworks.  Choe is reflecting on state of the oceans, the motif of “munko” and its subject matter could be over determining a deeper distraught and a result of unconscious coming forward.

5. Sensory Knowledge

Sensory Knowledge relates to how we perceive our senses that interpret signals of sight, taste, smell, touch and sound along with our understanding to connect pieces of knowledge with emotion. “Sensory knowledge and apprehension, from the observer’s point of view, may be understood as an appearance”.

Mark Rothko’s work “Red on Black” depicts a large scale minimalistic piece, engulfs the senses through a bold yet simple colour pallet into vast interpretations of the artwork this could lead to positive or negative understandings as your senses are overwhelmed with sensory knowledge.

Creative Influence

Creative influence addresses the conceptual framework of the interrelationship between the artist, audience and the world. Artist and the audience are consistently impacted by internal influences and external influences within their environments. Artist used these influences as material in their art making practice along with helping the artist to create original works.

The main forms of creative influence the artist, audience and the world (conceptual framework) can come in countless forms, but within postmodern society appropriation is the most noticeable. Shepard Fairey’s 2008 Obama  Barack Obama "Hope" poster  been appropriated countless times in recent years. Fairley did not take the original photo of the president he was sued but in doing so Fairey opened the doors for remixes of the poster and other artist to be creatively influenced by the publicity that the poster got along with the fact that it was a poster of the first African American President.

7. Authenticity

Is used to describe how accessible an artist is willing to be, and the connections they form between their artwork and the audience. Authenticity within art requires no skill or even concept it solely relies on how vulnerable the artist is willing to be and how they can communicate this to their audience.

Jean Michel Basquiat “Riding with death” exposes his authentic emotions about this feelings after the death of the mentor Andy Warhol.  Basquiat depicts himself as the subject that is “riding with death”.  The simplified drawn skeleton representing death, seems to compliment the rider, but in the empty eye sockets of the skull clearly read the threat. “It is possible that this minimalist work was a kind of suicide note Basquiat, who understood that the man riding a death, there is only one way”.  Foreshadowing his drug overdose death only a few months later.

8. Creative identity

Creative Identity is a profile we create for ourselves along with what the artist presents to the audience.  An artist creative identity should be replicated within their artist practice as this will create a consistent creative identity and aesthetic. A creative identity that an artist tries to portray can always be left up to interpretation as it is up to the audience to figure out and observe the artwork.

Jackson pollock was a highly skilled and influential painter who shaped a strong creative identity that he present to the audience.  He “created radical new approach to paint handling” and strengthen his creative identity with bold dripped, flicked, and splattered brush strokes that was in the most unorthodox way . Pollock also used unconventional painting tools such as sticks, trowels, knives to further cement his creative identity.

9. Fractured Identity

Fractured Identity is the idea that our identity is dynamic and not stationary. Barker states  “Identity is best understood not as a fixed entity but as an emotionally charged discursive description of ourselves that is subject to change”. meaning that individuals desire to seek their underlying identity and in doing so fracture old identities to create new ones.

Fractured Identities are illustrated throughout Kanye West Music career from Kanye’s early years as a young MC that was confident in his craft living in south side Chicago. Then to the

superstar has been diagnosed with bipolar shortly after his mothers death forming a new  style within his music. His new album “I hate being Bi-polar” was more intro perspective as it opened up more about his life with bipolar and the many fractured identity that engulf him. From identity as a African American man that is a Republican Party voter, his identity as a highly influential artist and how he has to portray himself to his kids and the media.

10. Social Identity

Social Identities are formed by expectations from cultural context, people and pressures communities place upon us. Social Identity vastly vary and depend on how we stem our cultural experiences within specific cultural contexts. With Internet culture engulfing people in its norm many people are putting pressure and dedicating time to how people perceive their social identity.

The idea that social Identity is formed by cultural expectations and pressure from communities, people and context and is explored by urban graffiti artist Banksy through his graffiti artwork “no one likes me”. Social media has allowed for underlying pressure for social media attention and “likes” and “followers” to overwhelm people and make them seem as the world revolves around them stating how our social identity these days, revolves around social media and being popular.

References

Artsy.net. (2019). Patricia Piccinini - 53 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. [online] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artist/patricia-piccinini [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Barker, C. (2019). UOW Library resource access. [online] Eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au. Available at: https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzEwOTk0NjFfX0FO0?sid=58586686-19f1-49a8-9958-518d52e67b97@sdc-v-sessmgr06&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_219&rid=0 [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Choe, D. and States, U. (2019). David Choe. [online] Widewalls. Available at: https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/david-choe/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Clarke, P. (2019). Inside the mind of Kanye West - BBC Three. [online] BBC Three. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/110bb901-1523-44b0-ae86-99049ca7743a [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Debord, B., Debord, B. and profile, V. (2019). Salvador Dali's "Metamorphosis of Narcissus". [online] Maxaguero.blogspot.com. Available at: http://maxaguero.blogspot.com/2013/04/salvador-dalis-metamorphosis-of.html [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Barack Obama \. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22Hope%22_poster [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

fink, b. (2019). UOW Library. [online] Tr.uow.edu.au. Available at: https://tr.uow.edu.au/uow/file/afc60007-21bc-4a22-bb22-99bd030eece5/1/fink-1995-3-13.pdf [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Göteborgs universitet. (2019). Philosophical Interpretation: Sense-Perception and Sensory "Knowledge" - Representation and Reality, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. [online] Available at: https://representationandreality.gu.se/research/sections/philosophical-interpretation-sense-perception-and-sensory-knowledge [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Gotthardt, A. (2019). Mark Rothko on How to Be an Artist. [online] Artsy.net. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-mark-rothko-artist [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

https://www.jackson-pollock.org. (2019). Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950 by Jackson Pollock. [online] Available at: https://www.jackson-pollock.org/autumn-rhythm.jsp [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Kent, R. (2019). PATRICIA PICCININI. [online] Patriciapiccinini.net. Available at: https://www.patriciapiccinini.net/writing/21/453/49# [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Mansfield, N. (2019). UOW Library resource access Subjectivity. [online] Ebookcentral.proquest.com. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uow/detail.action?docID=286495 [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Manson, g. (2019). Creative Identity: An Artist Interview with Art87JR. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@riseoverrun/creative-identity-an-artist-interview-with-art87jr-1fc7e0b2dc03 [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Sidelnikov, E. (2019). Riding on death by Jean-Michel Basquiat: History, Analysis & Facts. [online] Arthive. Available at: https://arthive.com/jeanmichelbasquiat/works/390783~Riding_on_death [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

Tate. (2019). Authenticity – Art Term | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/authenticity [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].

DOUGHERTY, B.

English 10.3 Descriptive Writing Banksy – 'Nobody Likes Me'

In-text: (Dougherty, 2019)

Your Bibliography: Dougherty, B. (2019). English 10.3 Descriptive Writing Banksy – 'Nobody Likes Me'. [online] Available at: https://www.academia.edu/9763526/English_10.3_Descriptive_Writing_Banksy_Nobody_Likes_Me [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].