designresearchsammy

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context

Contextual knowledge (500-750 words)

Arts and craft movement, quote

Describe post digital, quote

Digital transformation

touch experience connecting with the viewer

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Part of the ideology behind Post Digital art can be traced back to the arts and craft movement which became well established in the 1860s. This was a reaction to the industrial era, with the introduction of new technologies which allowed for mass production, people began to recognise the need for a change in attitude towards the way products were being produced. The movement, which was greatly influenced by textile designer William Morris, prioritised an appreciation for the maker and the process, as well as the final product. In the text ‘Out of the Ordinary’ Laurie Britton Newell discuses this mindset further. Newell writes that showing evidence of the maker invites us to “reflect on the nature of work, time consumption, the physical rhythms of making…technology and virtuosity.” Here Newell identifies the importance of relationship between the materials and the maker and the affect this has on the way which audiences understands and connects with the work.

In a digitally dominant time, post digital artisans are returning to this ideology of appreciation of the maker and the material as we recognise the importance of tactile physical experiences. In the text ‘The Future of Art in a Post Digital Age’, Alexenberg defines the term post digital as “pertaining to art forms that address the humanization of digital technologies through interplay between….cyberspace and real space….embodied media and mixed reality in social and physical communication. Between high tech and high touch experiences.” This definition explores how new technological opportunities, combined with a return to the mindset of appreciation for the maker and the material, have allowed for a new kind of art post-digital art.

(for tutorial)

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The Digital transformation of the last —— has many drivers but is largely economically driven. Since the introduction of the world wide web in the early 1990s, technologies such as broadband, smartphones and online payment systems have allowed for the strengthening of e-commerce. According to Statista, “in 2020 retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 4.28 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 5.4 trillion US dollars in 2022.” Digital systems are continuously adapting and growing to allow for more efficient business process, which result in improved customer experiences and therefore more revenue. This digital shift introduced a change in the way art was created and experienced by the viewer. New technologies allowed for a way of working which was clean and convenient. Content could be edited and deleted and as a result, showed less evidence of process and the maker. While web based platforms played an important role in enabling artists and designers to gain exposure and share their work globally, it also altered the way we experienced and connected with the content.

Paragraph linking everything with method and materiality- how this connects with audience

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Do Not Touch?

An exploration on how tactile, physical experience can inspire post-digital artisans in a digitally dominant future

In an increasingly digital era, there has been a resurgence of interest and appreciation in tactility and the use of analogue media. This is evident within both the art and design context and the wider world. Post-digital artisans are reacting to the clean, purely digital way or working which had become convenient in an increasingly technology dominated era as we recognise the need for tactile, physical, human experiences. This critical commentary will explore how designers or artists can make experiences feel new and ‘unfamiliar’ through material choices and haptic focused outcomes. This is a context that is relevant to my own work going forward as I am interested in exploring analogue making techniques outside of the digital format. I will explore how the use of physical materials and showing evidence of the ‘maker’ can effect the way the audience connects with the work as well as examine what space there is for tactile experiences in a digital dominant future.

Potential title and abstract draft.

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‘The Untold Stories behind Radiohead’s Album Covers’

Another really interesting source where Donwood describes how an incident of spilling wax onto a drawing he was working on ended up inspiring the album artwork. This physical process was then combined with digital colour work in photoshop to create the final artwork.

“I had a bit of an accident in this old schoolroom and I knocked one of the candles I used for illumination over onto the technical drawing. You can imagine when you’ve spent ages with a drawing board and a little fine pencil and stuff and then you knock over a candle and the whole thing’s fucked. But it was quite interesting because the wax was translucent and where it had gone over the drawing—I don’t know what the effect is, like parallax or something—it looked like the line had come up and moved a little. It was really interesting. So I scanned it anyway, and that was really how I ended up doing the artwork. I did it with hypodermic needles and ink and wax.

None of that actually exists anymore because it was incredibly fragile on paper, and the wax just breaks off...A friend of mine is a doctor, and I asked if he could get me any hypodermic needles...I would draw by putting the ink in them and then as you push the plunger down you can use the needle as a sort of nib. And it’s quite nice because it catches on the fibres of the paper, especially if you draw as if you’ve got some sort of nerve damage. You get these little spurts of ink. And then I went to the hilariously named Four Candles website and bought all this wax. I had all these cauldrons with all this wax bubbling away, and I was squirting ink out of the hypodermics and pouring like a sort of mad alchemist, it was great. And then I’d whack ’em in the scanner and do all the colour work in Photoshop with these images.”

https://www.monsterchildren.com/untold-stories-behind-radiohead-album-covers/

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Kid A Mnesia Interview - Radiohead [Thom Yorke, Stanley Donwood] (Video)

I really enjoyed this interview with Thom Yorke and artist Stanely Donwood on the process of creating the album artworks for each of the Radiohead albums. They discussed their process of going between digital and analogue methods of making, I felt this really linked with the postdigital context that I am focusing on in my critical commentary. They mentioned using physical, handmade methods of making to bring the emotion into the artwork while also utilising digital methods of making as it allowed new ways of manipulating the images which could’t be done otherwise.

“So we take these paintings and we use them as the basis for the work we want to do, to give it this emotion that we were trying to express. But then you could use the computer and you could add in these elements that were previously impossible, they couldn’t have been made.”

“We were into scanning, we were into the idea of building textures in real life and then pulling them into the computer to see what we could do with them, on every level which is why we have a typewriter which is why we’d scrunch it up put it in someone’s pocket and then flatten it out.”

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The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age : From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness

The digital age opened up the high tech option of creating artworks with clean fingers confined to a qwerty board or laser mouse. Messy fingers immersed in wet clay or smelly paint were out. Postdigital art is emerging from a vital dialogue between high tech and high touch experiences. It invites the rediscovery of ten fingers by adding the human touch to digital technologies in ways that I outline in my definition of “postdigital” posted on Wiktionary and Wikipedia.

Alexenberg, Mel. The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age : From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness, Intellect Books Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=685151.

Created from aut on 2021-09-28 01:25:28.

Postdigital (adjective), of or pertaining to art forms that address the humanization of digital technologies through interplay between digital, biological, cultural, and spiritual systems, between cyberspace and real space, between embodied media and mixed reality in social and physical communication, between high tech and high touch experiences, between visual, haptic, auditory, and kinesthetic media experiences, between virtual and augmented reality, between roots and globalization, between autoethnography and community narrative, and between web-enabled peer-produced wikiart and artworks created with alternative media through participation, interaction, and collaboration in which the role of the artist is redefined.

Alexenberg, Mel. The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age : From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness, Intellect Books Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aut/detail.action?docID=685151.

Created from aut on 2021-09-27 23:45:53.

Im really interested in this source I have found titled “The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age : From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness.” The text discusses what it means to be in a postdigital era and how this effects the way which art is produced and perceived. I think it is something that would be important to discuss in my critical commentary as I am talking about the increase in interest in analogue media and physical experiences within the art and design contet as the world becomes more digital.

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Draft Critical Commentary

PARAGRAPH 1

CONTEXT 1

Increase interest in tactile materials as the world becomes more digital

surface/craft. Texture working with colour to create meaning

This context has been important for my own design ideas, encouraged me to explore new making techniques outside of digital format, while also incorporating this into digital work

sparked an interest in surface design, different ways of documenting surface

the importance of learning through making and the relationship between the maker, the materials, the process of making and the work

Newell,L.(2007). Out of the Ordinary. V&A Publications.

“We are invited to concern ourselves with the process of making and this, in forn, leads to reflections on the nature of work, time consumption, the physical rhythms of making, replications and trompe l'oeil, technology and virtuosity. The way in which ordinary materials can be made unfamiliar and precious brings to mind a long history of stories and anecdotes that narrate something of the strangeness of making, its hidden secrets and its capacity for enchantment. Let's begin with virtuosity, a term often linked to a more practical concept, that of technique. The relationship between technique and making is mysterious, prompting thoughts on the education of artists. In schools of art and design, do we require separate departments of painting, sculpture, metalwork, textiles, ceramics and glass, each teaching different techniques? Or should these skills be 'needs-led', to be mastered 'as and when’?”

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Openshaw,J, (2015). Postdigital artisans : craftsmanship with a new aesthetic in fashion, art, design and architecture. Frame Publishers.

Digital technology now mediates much of our interaction with the world, and a vast majority of the images that we absorb daily come through a screen. The digital comes with its own aesthetic framework that cannot help but colour our experience of the world, and change our expectations of the objects that surround us. As the digital becomes ever more pervasive however, there is also a return to physical experiences that technology cannot satisfy. This is true across sectors, from immersive theatre to vinyl records, and although digital will undoubtedly dominate our future, there are pockets of resistance. This book will look at contemporary artisans who are deeply influenced by the digital world in which we live, but who reject processes such as 3D printing as a final output. Inspired by the internet and a screen-based aesthetic, they choose to craft things by hand, rendering a postdigital mindset in tactile materials, such as metal, glass and wood. It represents a return to the physical in the digital age.

(just the abstract, need physical book from library but I think this text will be helpful)

PARAGRAPH 2

METHOD 1

several methods relating to the context of surface and tactility

First tactile method of making which I was inspired by and developed my own skills in was needle punch method. This method of making requires a needle punch, yarn and monks cloth. The needle punch tool allows you to push yarn through the fabric which creates a small loop when it is pulled out. These loops are what forms the rug or wall covering.

I am particularly inspired by New Zealand artists Olivia Edginton and Leah Creaven. Edginton’s making style combines colourful, overlapping, geometric shapes contained in a checkerboard format. Creaven tends to use a more neutral, earthy colour palate with organic shapes. Both artists experiment with different textile mediums and techniques to create art that has a unique tactile quality while also being visually appealing.

Earlier this year I created a wall covering using the needle punch method, I was interested in exploring the life cycle of nature, particularly focusing on the beauty of natural decay and the opportunity this provides for new life. I used mostly organic and abstract shapes and experimented with a range of textile mediums. Some sections of the yarn were left much longer so that they were hanging off the piece, mimicking overgrown weeds. Holes were cut into the material to create the look that it was rotting/breaking down. Natural, earthy colour palette was also used to make the piece look as realistic as possible. The result was a physical, tactile object that could be perceived visually and through touch.

Other methods which are important to my work and within the context of surface and craft..

Printmaking techniques, screen print, cyanotype, gelatine plate

PARAGRAPH 3

CONTEXT 2

Make notes outlining ideas for your second contextual discussion here:

The role of illustration in commentary, storytelling, and identity

"Illustration practice is not judged purely by visual literacy and technical qualities, but also requires intellectual engagement with its subject matter”

Alan,M. (2017). Illustration: A theoretical and contextual perspective. AVA Academia.

PARAGRAPH 4

METHOD 2

Illustration style

looking at my artist models that I am influenced by, also linking back to texture in a digital sense, overlapping, grain, abstract, detailed, bright colours

‘Wastopia’ by Qianhui Yu, short animated film, explores the issues surrounding attitudes to waste disposal and the environment pollution that follows as a result of these attitudes

playful, visual style is juxtaposed with much darker and serious themes as mentioned earlier such as pollution and addiction to social media - linking back to illustration role in commentary and storytelling

enjoy the illustration style that Qianhui Yu uses which is colourful, surreal, and uses highly detailed texture - illustration is an area I am working on developing my skills in and I am particularly inspired by her style

Also talk about Xi Zhang, illustrations blend both abstract and realism techniques to create a dreamy visual experience for the viewer, her work is mostly quite self reflective, story-telling feel again linking back to illustration role in storytelling and identity

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Digital Illustration by Xi Zhang

Wild White Birds

Really love all of her illustrations and am inspired by her dreamy, surreal style.

Initial thoughts,

- White doves

- evening glow

- detailed but loose

- dreamy

- peaceful

- surreal

- abstract and realism

- story-telling

- warm

- imaginative

- subdued colour palate pushes this dream-like, storytelling aesthetic

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initial key words

overlapping

tactile

flat graphics

colour

layers

handmade

making

feel

abstract

messy

organic

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‘Butterfly Dreams’ is a painting by Judy Done which has been converted to work on clothing. I am really interested by how colour is used here and how energetic the print feels.

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I have found this piece of text from ‘Out of the Ordinary’ helpful in understanding how we can work with materials within craft and the relationship between technique and making.

“The way in which ordinary materials can be made unfamiliar and precious.”

I am also interested by the way the physical book has been made. The spine cover has been made with a translucent material so that the folds of the pages and the binding is still visible to the reader.

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Method

The book Big Colour has been a helpful resource for me as it explores and provides examples of how colour and textures can be combined effectively. ‘Lost in Thoughts’ prints onto several layers of tracing paper to represent peoples thoughts on different levels of ‘consciousness’. The effect of this is a very dreamlike and cloudy look.

I find this helpful as experimenting with different textures and colours is something I am interested in and would like to learn more about.

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These are my 24 chosen images which identify the work of my design/creative heroes as well as identity curiosities/passions from the world around me.

During the tutorial we looked at other peoples set of images and wrote comments about them or key words that came to mind.

Some key words I found from the exercise were,

- vibrant

- imaginative

- playful

- intriguing

- soft

- warm

- dreamy

- story

From these key words and comments and from looking at the images myself, I came up with a sentence which I felt best described the set of images -

Warm and dreamy aesthetic with a story-telling feel through imaginative and playful imagery.

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Personality quiz in class

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