#so although the company culture is p hip and progressive it’s still on the more conservative side since the industry tends to be also

[citizen-zero]

we had a raffle at work recently as part of a charity event where the prize was $5k donated to a cause of your choice and the absolute madlad that won the raffle is giving it to The Satanic Temple 💀

[designresearchninasem2]

Postcard Research and Collation

Below are some image collection and research, findings, and personal insights that may appear on our postcards:

‘’Why’ the source or examples within it (Japanese art) are relevant to emerging practice and voice

Western critics often say that Japanese painting is more decorative than representative, idealistic , or romantic but never realistic. (Anesaki, 1973, p.12)

Japanese painting is, in its highest achievement, a reproduction of nature, sifted through the artists spiritual vision (Anesaki, 1973, p. 22)

Symbolism

Symbolism in Irezumi artwork is an important staple that illustrates the distinct meaning of the creatures, forms, and other images from Japanese stories and myths.

The dragon (Ryu) is arguably the most widely recognisable icon in Japanese and Irezumi art. Even colour choice has meaning in Irezumi, for instance blue dragons are gentle, forgiving, and benevolent. 

However, the combination of particular symbols from Japanese mythology will determine the meaning of an individuals tattoo, making the final Irezumi peice a unique reflection of that individuals core beliefs and experiences.

‘The most ubiquitous of all mythological beasts in Japan is the dragon, which one encounters as ornament or decoration in all aspects of daily life. Symbolically it denotes wealth, and because it lives as easily in water as in air it protects from fire. The dragon is an all-powerful being, a "composite monster" that draws strengths from each of the creatures forming it. It is a serpent that has the horns of a deer, the scales of a carp, the four-clawed talons of an eagle, the nose of a goblin, and, inexplicably, whiskers and a mustache and flamelike appendages at shoulders and hips.’ (Fellman, 1987, p. 20)

Irezumi Art

Japanese Style of Irezumi tattoo is exceedingly influential and depict

‘Tattoo imprinted by living, all his years of art are less than one touch of his needle. Yet-to an extent, at least-he wears his life on his skin, and it would be easy to imagine a psychotherapy based on the analysis of tattoos. It would not be necessary to associate from dreams; the dreams would be visible. Of course, the personality of the tattooist would be a complicating factor-and therefore an enrichment.’  (Fellman, 1987, p. 9)

A traditional Japanese tattoo will usually cover the whole body or at least a large proportion of it.

Once a design is decided upon, the outline will be drawn freehand on to the clients skin, originally with sumi (ink) but these days, more probably with a felt tip pen, and tattooing can begin. The complete process of receiving irezumi can take up to a year or even several years and the client will go back every week or so whenever he has the time or the money to get a little more of the design done. 

It is notable that once the tattoo is completed, there seems to be less of a belief that the client owns the tattoo and more of a presumption that the client has become a piece of the tattooer's artwork. The individual receiving the tattoo is more akin to a canvas rather than a purchaser of the artist's work.

Yakuza

‘Nothing has damaged the irezumi reputation more than its putative association with gangsters, the Yakuza. The word Ya-ku-za (8-9-3) comes from a gambler's card game in which that combination of numbers is "worthless." Like some of our prison inmates who tattoo the words· "Born to Lose" on their biceps, Yakuza take pride in being worthless or useless members of an outcast social group. The Yakuza are deeply involved in prostitution, pornography, extortion, and drugs, with an income estimated by Japanese police at five billion dollars an­nually. Anywhere from sixty to seventy percent of its members are tattooed, and thus a fear of being taken for a Yakuza if one gets tattooed has spread into the hearts of ordinary Japanese. Nonetheless, the stigmatic connection between Yakuza and irezumi has somewhat faded recently. Young Japanese are less afraid than their elders, who were suckled on Yakuza tales.’ (Fellman, 1987, p. 15)

Tattooing was legalized by the occupation forces in 1945, but has retained its image of criminality. For many years, traditional Japanese tattoos were associated with the Yakuza, Japan’s notorious Mafia, and many businesses in Japan (such as public baths, fitness centres and hot springs) still ban customers with tattoos.

https://www.irezumiart.co.uk/irezumi-symbology/

Nothing has damaged the irezumi reputation more than its putative association with gangsters, the Yakuza. Although tattooing in Japan was made legal in 1945, the reputation of irezumi has retained its association with the Yakuza. Anywhere from sixty to seventy percent of its members are tattooed, and so for many years an ordinary member of japanese society had fear of being taken for a Yakuza if one gets tattooed. Recently the connection between Yakuza and irezumi has somewhat faded. However this stigmatisation of irezumi culture has strongly twisted the perception of tattooing practise in japan. 

Military from the west

‘Young Japanese also ask for nukibori, American style tattooing with its New York colors and shadingless lack of subtlety ("cartoonish" to conservative Japanese eyes). Un­doubtedly they have been influenced by the sixty thousand U.S. troops perma­nently stationed on Army, Air, and Navy bases in Japan, as well as the continual influx and outflow of military personnel who come on leave to Japan for R and R (rest and recuperation) from Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines, and who take back home tattoo souvenirs of Japan.’ (Fellman, 1987, p. 16).

Woodblock

Japan is certainly the mother country and the founder of the Irezumi artstyle, but the source art for most of today’s Irezumi tattooing was founded by woodblock prints out of Japan that were bought and sold around the world. In that sense, this style and significance of art could be argued to have been meant to be spread and shared. 

Woodblock artists began tattooing, using many of the same tools for tattooing as they did to create their woodblock prints, including chisels, gouges and, most importantly, unique ink known as Nara ink, or Nara black, the ink that famously turns blue-green under the skin, which is the true look of the tattoo.

The Traditional Japanese Tattoo “Irezumi” is the decoration of the body with mythical beasts, flowers, leafs, and other images from stories, myths and tales. The impetus for the development of the art was the progression of the woodblock prints and notably the “hero’s heavily decorated with Irezumi”. Wearing Irezumi is an “Aspiration” to life’s goals.

Westernisation 

‘Within the 19th century japanese art started to be characterised by a revolt against tradition. This mood and temperament was enhanced by the influence of the machine civilisation and the importation of vulgar art from the west.’ (Anesaki, 1973, p.176)

‘The new vitality of japanese art in many of its aspects is largely due to Japans contact with the wide world.’ (Anesaki, 1973, p. 173)

Modesty 

‘One of the oldest tattoo styles still popular today, here executed by Horijin, is called "river" (kawa) after the river of clear skin down the chest.  Because of its short sleeves and trousers that cut off just below the knees, the entire tattoo can be concealed by wearing a happi coat and mompei trousers.’ (Fellman, 1987, p. 29)

Indeed the criminal association to Yakuza is what inspired the shape of the irezumi. Although this tattoo style is closely linked to Yakuza culture and identity and it was meant to be contained in order to blend in, the form of the bodysuit had connotations of symbolic protection in the Edo period.

The ink usually ends at the elbow and mid thigh and there is a considerable gap across the chest aptly named ‘river’ so that the tattoo is concealed when wearing either a kimono or a happi coat. Many businesses in Japan such as public baths, fitness centres and hot springs still ban customers with tattoos.

Book References:

Anesaki, M. (1973). Art, Life, and Nature in Japan. Charles E Tuttle Company.

Fellman, S. (1987). The Japanese Tattoo. Abbeville Press.

[easythetape]

Journal Update #5 FEB - ICE TEA and the Sampling Dilemma

One of the main ethical issues I am facing with my project is the extensive use of samples. Sampling has always and will always be a part of my musical process I am a Hip-Hop head and I just love the art. This post will explain my stance on the ethics and the issue, how I intend to combat it and in cases not combat it and ignore the rules. The history of Hip-Hop is rich with examples of high profile sampling lawsuits and sampling troll companies that have negatively effected and sometimes ruined artist's careers, definitely stopping them from gaining any royalties on their releases. As a disciple of Madlib, crowned Complex’s producer of the year 2019 (Skelton & Simpson, 2020), and J Dilla, who both heavily utilised samples in their productions and are integral to their styles it will be hard for me to stay away from this element of my own productions. Madlib has, “after decades of perfecting his sample-based production techniques, worked with everyone from MF Doom to De La Soul to Mos Def to Kanye West.” (Skelton & Simpson, 2020).

Sometimes sampling is viewed as ethically and morally wrong or immoral. On the other hand sampling can be viewed as the highest form of artistic ‘flattery’ and a strong case can be made that supports the fact that sampling in one form or another has existed for centuries. For example, a Diabelli composition named Waltz in C Major was essentially remixed by Beethoven in Diabelli variations, a collected piano works released in 1824 (Read, 2017). Thats a long time ago. Today many of the opinions about copyright law are largely shaped and driven by copyright holders who commonly believe that the purpose of copyright is to protect their works from infringement. But as it’s clearly expressed in the United States Code, that’s not the central purpose of copyright. The a purpose of copyright is “to promote the progress of Science and useful Arts.” The United States Copyright Office even doubles down on this declaration in its own description of the function of the copyright office: “the purpose of the copyright system has always been to promote creativity in society…” Any serious conversation about the role of copyright, creativity, and the arts must begin with this key fact: Copyright was created to promote creativity (Said, 2016).

Mark Ronson argues in his TEDTalk How Sampling Transformed Music, it is not about “hijacking nostalgia wholesale”, but about creating new tapestries of sound. Ronson eloquently explains, “We take the things we love and we build on them. And when we really add something significant and original and we merge our musical journey with this, then we have a chance to be a part of the evolution of that music that we love.” Rather than looking at sampling as a form of disrespect, it is often the case that artists that sample have the utmost reverence for the people who created the music that came before as you’re not going to sample music from a song you hate. Instead it is likely that they heard something in the music which inspired them, and so “they instantly wanted to inject themselves into the narrative of that music.” (Khoo, 2019).

I have to be realistic and understand that at this point in time I am an unknown artist with a small audience, and no commercial backing. I am not looking to release The Tape with any label and therefore I do not expect to make any money off this release. The fact that sample clearance is monetarily prohibitive, and I don’t have the budget, (which I’m mainly reserving for the release itself and marketing) prohibits me from paying for samples. Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy is quoted saying “Jay-Z and Kanye can afford to pay the sample rates, but not the kids starting out in their own little home studio in their house,” Shocklee says. “And that, to me, is what’s holding back creativity,” (Richards, 2012). 

Seeing as Hip-Hop and Trap are largely reliant on samples I am not going to creatively limit myself, with this project because I want it to be my best work, and as a hero of mine Stan Lee says you “do your best work when your doing what you want to do and your doing it the way you think it should be done.” (UCLA Extension, 2018). I am well aware of the legal implications of doing this and not limiting myself to royalty-free and un-copyrighted material or material in the public domain. Although I will make use of as much un-copyrighted material as I will write some of the tracks on ‘The Tape’ completely from scratch, I won't be able to do myself justice if I don’t allow myself free-reign to sample anything that works within the concept of the beat-tape. For example, Led Zeppelins breaks, which have already been heavily recycled in Hip-Hop, are not out of copyright but would be subject to the idea of De-Minimis. Many cartoons, tv shows, and films I wish to sample from will also not be out of copyright because I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s.

(IF) any track does blow up I will sort it out with PRS and the publishing companies after the fact. There are a few things I can do to minimise the risk of any lawsuit, however, I will sample from family archives, cassette tapes, films, my own vinyl collection and attempt to, following in the footsteps of DJ Shadow, take obscure snippets and manipulate them or transform them in a way which makes them my own. On DJ Shadow’s debut album Endtroducing he sampled more obscure records, making it a sort of rule to avoid popular material; he said: "I've always pushed myself to use obscure things, and if I use something obvious, it's usually only to break my own rules.” (Keyboard, 1997). Also sampling from other Hip-Hop artists usually means you are okay and they won’t sue, so there will be a few samples (mainly vocals) from other Hip-Hop songs in The Tape.

ICE TEA

A beat that I started working on this week is called ICE TEA which is based on a sample from an acapella by Jamaican artists Home T, Cutty Ranks and Cocoa Tea. The rest of the instrumentation is mine but there are other sampled vocal shots from other Reggae tunes in the beat. There are going to be multiple samples taken from some of my favourite Reggae artists throughout ‘The Tape’. This is one example that links to my love of Jamaican music. When I was a teenager I was heavily into Reggae and Bob Marley and became a Mod. For a long period of my youth I identified as a mod/casual it wasn't a particularly popular sub-culture it just fitted with my musical tastes at the time. I love Soul and classic Reggae and Dub, and used to go to Channel One nights at a local venue in Tooting. My mate ‘Skinhead Dean’ is a DJ and runs Good Intentions sound system, he introduced me to loads of great Reggae and Ska and I used to go to their Up their Junction night. Brighton and Carnaby Street were favourites and where I got the gear, I used to have a parka, tonic suits and all swag (I still have my tonic suit).

References:

Skelton, E., & Simpson, P. (2020). A Conversation With Madlib, the Best Hip-Hop Producer of 2019. Retrieved 2020, from Complex website: https://www.complex.com/music/madlib-interview-best-hip-hop-producer-2019

Read, C. (2017). A History of Sampling w/ Chris Read (WhoSampled) at Point Blank London [YouTube Video]. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZGobMX9I48

Said, A. (2016). Hip Hop & Copyright Part 2: You Can Be Sued for Samples on Free Mixtapes. Retrieved 2020, from HipHopDX website: https://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.3197/title.hip-hop-copyright-part-2-you-can-be-sued-for-samples-on-free-mixtapes

Khoo, Y. (2019). Sampling: Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery? Retrieved 2020, from PHASER website: https://phasermagazine.com/main/2019/11/29/sampling-is-imitation-really-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery

Richards, C. (2012). The court case that changed hip-hop — from Public Enemy to Kanye — forever. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-court-case-that-changed-hip-hop--from-public-enemy-to-kanye--forever/2012/07/06/gJQAVWr0RW_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6cdf1ff6573c

UCLA Extension. (2018). Stan Lee Keynote at the 2017 Graduation Ceremony [YouTube Video]. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMo9Guj5gCc

Keyboard. (1997). WebCite Query Result. Keyboard. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.webcitation.org/6FGMHPpaB?url=http://www.solesides.com/winblad/shadowkeyboard1097.html