year2researchjournal-blog

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Week 10 | Postmodernism

Let me travel back to year 12 art history where postmodernism was the topic for our whole year's course.

Jackson Pollock was most known for his drip painting style which required an automotive state of mind. This style of action painting was experimented with in the first half of the twentieth century by such artists as Francis Picabia, André Masson and Max Ernst, before becoming Jackson Pollock’s signature method of painting. 

Pollock once said,

“On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting”. 

He always maintained that he was in control of how the paint flowed and that the result was no accident, however, was also quoted in saying, 

“When I am in my painting, I am not aware of what I am doing”. 

This was due to the automotive trance he was pulled into while painting. The surrealist concept of not being aware of your own actions while painting was adopted by many abstract expressionists in the action painting movement. The chaotic results he achieved while painting perhaps show the inner conflict Pollock was suffering from while creating his drip paintings. At the time that Blue Poles was painted, he was suffering from alcoholism and this made him very irrational most of the time. His mistress, Ruth Kligman, discussed how some days he would have a very big ego and others he would feel very depressed and talk about how useless he was. This inner conflict resulted in him in seeing a shrink, (as many abstract expressionists did around this time), and is the reason for his violent, chaotic pieces of art.

Whilst studying Pollock’s work in Art History class, I remember a girl saying “A child could have done that - how is it worth anywhere near $350M?!”

The reason a Jackson Pollock sells for so much is that that's what someone is prepared to pay for it and they understand its value. Just like houses and cars, people only pay what they're prepared to pay and what they see as valuable only matters to them. I am quite happy driving my crappy Toyota Starlet around thank you.

So how do we quantify the value of art and advertising when there is nothing to measure them by? What is the between a logo I designed for $300 and a logo designed for $5,000? A logo's a logo, right? Or am I not charging enough 😂

I think the same goes with advertising - There's advertising that's cheap and there's advertising that isn't. Neither is superior - both forms can be successful. 

An Oldie but a goodie

We’ve all seen it. As a child I watched this ad over and over again with no real understanding of what it was about until the quick Cadbury chocolate bar image at the end. 

This advert symbolises the postmodern society we live in - the signifier no longer needs to correspond to the signified. I assume the ad would have been pretty low-cost to put together aside from the royalties to Phil Collin’s music but despite this, it went viral because it was just so weird.

Another way I see postmodern society reflected in TV ads are the fairly new style "cinematic" ad full of dancing and singing. A wide array of different characters telling a story makes it relatable to large audiences. 

State Insurance - Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride

State’ campaign is a 90 second, single shot which I found out was one of the longest one-shot commercials in New Zealand's advertising history. It features a full cast of characters who find themselves in unfortunate situations. Singing to a catchy 80′s tune, State customers tell us how, in the face of adversity, State will keep them moving.

I believe this ad one at least one award for best ad of the year or something along those lines. It’s definitely one of my favourites!

Mist Wood Gin

The company who sponsored us for the end of year exhibition last year has some really funky gifs on Instagram. The signifiers don’t relate to the product at all, as broccoli and chicken hang still upside down next to a spinning bottle of Mist Wood Gin.

I personally love this post-modern approach in advertising. I think it gets the viewer thinking and is eye-catching if done quirky enough.

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Week 9 | Modernism

The modernist approach the AUT South students have taken towards their graduate exhibition reminded me of the work of Joseph Muller Brockmann, but a less structured and in my opinion, pretty crappy version... (ooops I said it...)

Sorry AUT South... :/ Maybe the rest of their branding will be better!

Branded in Memory

Whilst browsing facebook, one of my favourite design publishers, Digital Synopsis, posted an article about a graduate in America who studied how people draw logos from memory.

The results were fascinating.

The logos that had the best results in term of being able to be reproduced were the modernist style logos. Graphic, grided and simplified. Logos that had lots of text and intricate imagery had very bad scores.

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Week 8 | Essay Writing

Alan said to choose a media outlet that was not targeted at us. I can safely say I am not a ‘gentleman’ so here is the Gentleman’s Journal - a UK based magazine that is one of three men’s fashion-based magazines available at Paper Plus.

Going by how they advertise the new issue of the magazine on their facebook page, I think it’s fairly obvious the target market is aimed at wealthy men who are of the achiever genre.

“The men's luxury lifestyle magazine covering topics from fashion, to style & grooming, food & drink, business, lifestyle, gear, women and travel, for you.”

The ad I have chosen to analyse for my essay is from Turnbull & Asser; Royal warrant shirtmaker and dresser of the world's most eminent gentlemen since 1885. Hand-crafted in England. 

The ad features cartoon men with pickaxes climbing up a shirt collar which seems very strange to me for this particular upper-class market.

I did enjoy reading the bottom of the ad though:

“From the first cut to the final stitch.

Only the finest cotton.

Our shirtmakers measure, with precision.

Traditional handcrafted skills refined over decades.

Every thread in single needle.

Each dhirt made from up to 33 individual pieces.

Before the buttons.

Made from the finest quality deep shell mother-of-pearl.

Every shirt leaving our home in Gloucester, England exactly as we intended.

Each treated as individually as our customers.

Prime Ministers, Presidents and Princes.

Sultans, stage and screen actors, and rock stars.

A shirt that makes the person.”

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Week 7 | Aladdin

Gender Lens

Jasmine is a disney princess, yet not the protagonist of the story. She isn’t a damsel in distress.

Jasmine = shows a quality of independence. She's determined to marry for love - drives off all arrogant suitors. She yells at the male characters for trying to decide her future, declaring that “she is not a prize to be won”. Called Aladdin out on lies. 

Jafar's statement that he likes his women "speechless," 😂😂

Unattractive women - belly dancers or escorts? Brothel?

Jasmine used her sexuality to attempt to save the day.

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Week 6 | Behaviorism

Upon completing the VALS Survey I was labeled as a Primary Experiencer and a Secondary Striver. Alan did predict that the large majority of the lecture attendees would be experiencers based on our age and generation.

What I was most interested in however was the idea of the believer. I personally feel a great sense of pride to be a New Zealander. While I don’t relate much to the characteristics listed below about believers, I do feel very drawn to advertising that plays on the value of being a kiwi.

Pineapple Lumps TV Advertisement

Kiwiburger, That’s our Tucker TV Advertisement

Pak n’ Save (The obvious cheap ad example)

Everyone knows that Pak n’ Save ads are probably as low budget as they come. There are only so many ways to say “New Zealand’s lowest food prices” every week without boring viewers but the Pak n’ Save 'stickman' has become a  recognisable and loved symbol of the brand. Pak n’ Save is known for delivering New Zealand the lowest food prices, and their ads reflect that philosophy, play off it, and even exaggerate it.

I saw this ad in my local newspaper - It speaks directly to the believers. People who want to back New Zealand and trust in good ol’ pak n’ save, cheap advertising and all.

It works. They are still a large supermarket outlet all over New Zealand and I can’t see them disappearing anytime soon.

Advertising is literally everywhere and it knows what I want...

We all know that TV tends to be losing the battle against online watching services and not many people my age would spend money on magazines. Aside from public transport advertising and urban billboards and signage, I think there is one other large source of advertising I am being bombarded with.

I am one of those kids that spend around 6-8 hours a day on the internet. Whether it’s at work, uni or home, my laptop is always in front of me. And advertising specifically targeted towards me is being shoved in my face left, right and center.

Behavioral advertising is a technique used by online advertisers to present targeted ads to consumers by collecting information about their browsing behavior.

Several pieces of data may be used, such as:

The pages browsed on a website

The time spent on the site

The clicks made

The recency of the visit

The overall interaction with the site

All this data creates a user persona or profile that can be used to segment the audience into certain types. People with similar online behavior can be clubbed together into one segment. Then, these segments are shown ads that cater to their interests.

I decided to do a little experiment and choose the first 5 ad’s facebook suggests to me and the same for instagram and see whether these sites or ideas were familiar or whether they were things I felt were targeted correctly towards me.

Sponsored Facebook ADs

I had been looking into subscription boxes a few months ago. Different companies can send different things to you at a monthly cost - who doesn’t love getting things in the mail?!

Toothbrushes though? I’m not sold.

Forever 21 is a site I’ve definitely heard of but never had much interest in shopping on as it is American based so shipping is an arm and a leg. I would say this is relevant to my target market though.

Zaful is a site I have browsed through a few times.. Dirt cheap clothes that seem too good to be true. I always fill up my cart and then have a moral dilemma whether I should support brands that I know have better work ethics instead of random wholesalers in China. Many friends have used this site though so it is relevant to my age group.

Very bougie, very classy, I can’t say I haven’t begged santa for one of these watches in the past. I love these products and the company as a whole so this is an ad I would probably not notice as an ad if that makes sense. It’s definitely working because I want every watch they have to offer me...

Chiffon boutique - like Forever 21, relevant to my target audience but a site I am not overly interested in as I know the quality of the clothes is pretty rubbish and the price is still at a premium,

Sponsored Instagram AD’s

Now this was definitely a surprise... Instagram’s first sposored post to me was another instagram account?

What is even more interesting is after looking through the account, it is purely an author writing quotes. I assume this person somehow boosted their account through instagram to be sponsored towards my target market but how it got to me I am unsure as this isn’t really my sort of thing. The first ad that has been incorrect.

The daily edited is an online store that sells laptop accesories and study stationery. Browsed it a few times so no surprises as to how it got on my feed.

Onceit is a New Zealand based site that has different sales on it daily. I also check it daily. Again, no surprises there.

What can I say, Chloe Swarbrick is going to shake up NZ someday ❤️💚🐢

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Week 5 | Race

Race

Chingrish: asian accents in advertising

As a child I was completely oblivious to the racial profiling used in advertising on the television. I used to laugh at the 30 second spray walk away man, sometimes even mimicing the whole ad in my best racial asian accent. I decided to look into why asian accents are considered form of comedy.

Critics have slammed the 30 Second Spray and Walk Away commercials as racist, derogatory and demonising. However Ming-Jen Huang, the actor who takes on the persona of a Japanese professor, says the commercial is funny. In the advert Huang sprays the liquid cleaner on the ground and then says: “Look, I spray and walk away.” When he returns a short time later, he comments: “Look, lichen die. I walk away.” His accent, language and appearance has drawn several complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

An advert for car seller 2 Cheap Cars which featured a Japanese man repeatedly saying ‘Ah sold’ so it sounded like ‘asshole’ was the most complained-about advert of 2016, according to the advertising Standards Authority. “While the advertiser agreed to remove the advertisement, they also said it had been viewed by more than 10 Japanese people and none of them found it to be offensive in any way,” the ASA said. The ad, which ended with the man saying “Ah sold” received 27 complaints.

Racism against black people tends to be overtly unacceptable, and most people, regardless of their race, can call it out whether they are black, white or Asian. The black community in the U.S. is admirably not hesitant about raising issues and fighting for the right to be treated fairly. 

Racism against Asians is of an insidious nature, in the realm of “it was just a joke” or falling somewhere under the umbrella of “positive racism.” There is a strong feeling within Asian culture that one should keep their head down and out of trouble in the face of things like discrimination because it lessens the chance of harm. 

Technology meets racial differences

While browsing New Zealand Herald, I came across this article highlighting the issues that ‘detection’ technology is facing with skin tone recognition.

The video shows an automatic bathroom soap dispenser failing to detect the hand of a dark-skinned man, He then places a white paper towel under the same dispenser to prove the issue is the detection of his skin tone. The video raises questions about racism in technology, as well as the lack of diversity in the industry that creates it.

After doing a bit of research I came across an article that mentioned the Algorithmic Justice League – an organisation that aims to challenge the biases in decision-making software. The fact that there is a ‘justice league’ challenging this idea says to me it isn’t a small issue with the odd piece of technology failing here and there.

In an interview with Joy Buolamwini, a member of the Algorithmic Justice League she discusses her concerns with facial recognition technology.

When I was a computer science undergraduate I was working on social robotics – the robots use computer vision to detect the humans they socialise with. I discovered I had a hard time being detected by the robot compared to lighter-skinned people. At the time I thought this was a one-off thing and that people would fix this.

Later I was in Hong Kong for an entrepreneur event where I tried out another social robot and ran into similar problems. I asked about the code that they used and it turned out we’d used the same open-source code for face detection – this is where I started to get a sense that unconscious bias might feed into the technology that we create. But again I assumed people would fix this.

So I was very surprised to come to the Media Lab about half a decade later as a graduate student, and run into the same problem. I found wearing a white mask worked better than using my actual face.

This is when I thought, you’ve known about this for some time, maybe it’s time to speak up.

We need to encourage a diversity in the data that is selected to build these opensource detection softwares. Joy Buolamwini is also researching into developing tools where the creators of systems can check for a bias in their design.

Skintone recognition is not the only issue. You would think that Nikon, being a Japanese company, would have designed this with Asian eye shapes in mind.

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Week 3 | Marx

First, can we take a moment to appreciate Karl Marx’s style - honestly not what I had in mind during Alan’s lecture. Total dude...

Do you really need that new iPhone?

In my family home, I witness the unnecessary purchases of apple products that are only bought to “keep up to date with technology”. Taking iPhones as an example, my family has bought every single iPhone as they have come out. These days they are released so often that the iPhone that we currently own has absolutely nothing wrong with it. Where is the line between NEED and WANT?

Karl Marx once warned that capitalism’s tendency to concentrate high value on essentially arbitrary products would, over time, lead to what he called “a contriving and ever-calculating subservience to inhuman, sophisticated, unnatural and imaginary appetites.” I feel like this is the society we live in today.

The only difference between the new iPhone and the last one is a slight increase in speed - where the last iPhone loaded a webpage in 1.03 seconds, the new iPhone can do the same in 0.72. We live in a society where we enjoy incredible luxury and yet are driven by a constant need for more and more stuff to buy. While Chinese families fall sick with cancer from our e-waste, megacorporations are creating entire advertising campaigns around the idea that we should destroy perfectly good products for no reason. If Marx could see this kind of thing, he’d nod in recognition.

Apple wants customers to believe owning their products will enhance your ability to experience the world around you. Those who own one of these devices are at an empowered level. Companies such as Ford, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, IKEA and Honda created a huge mass market by halving the price of a product. Apple instead created products that are so desirable that they sell in their millions at high prices. Billions of dollars going into the pockets of entrepreneurs. In 2016, apple announced it had sold over sixty million iPhones in the first three months of 2015 making the company’s profit for the quarter an eye-watering $13.6 billion.

Marxism in New Zealand Politics

A Marxist analysis called ‘Polarisation of the Classes’ describes the process of the class structure becoming increasingly polarised with no in-between section. It predicts that soon classes will disappear and be absorbed either into the bourgeoisie or the proletariat.

In the recent 2017 general election, a hung parliament was announced on the 23 September election night. While I had a small feeling this might be the case, it really nailed in Marx’s ‘Polarisation of Classes’ idea. I personally feel as though this election shows the beginning of a class polarisation developing in New Zealand society. With the collapse of the minor parties and fairly even split between National vs Labour-Greens, it seems like the country has divided into two halves.

Celebrities in Advertising

Advertising does not just sell products, it also sells ideas that when displayed to us in large quantities, begin shaping what our ‘normal’ is as a society.

Nespresso ft. George Clooney

Using social status to advertise a product has taken a step further by bringing in stars into the picture.

George Clooney himself acts as a symbol in this advertisement because he is a successful, mature, charismatic and wealthy actor, therefore promoting the quality and the features of the coffee through his already existing image.

His suit and jewellery also scream wealth and quality. The brand screams high end product and assures that the customers’ experience drinking this coffee will be luxurious, exclusive and unique.

Wix ft. Karlie Kloss

While I use ad block plug-in on safari, I had yet to install it on chrome and was surprised when this ad began repeatedly popping up during my youtube procrastination. 

What did Karlie Kloss have to do with a free website building service?

She is a highly successful, famous model and one can assume a youtube viewer may be lead to believe Wix free website builder may turn them into the next Karlie Kloss. Surely these A list celebrities have better ways to spend their time but hey, if it pays well.....

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Week 2 | Freud

Sexualising products that have nothing to do with sexuality

The most widespread need is to feel sexually attractive, so to relate a product with sex seems like the best way to sell it. Robert Goldman gives an example using a L’Oreal ad for lipstick.

I’m going to take a second to ignore the fact that she is about to give this BK burger a blowjob, but what I also wonder is why does this woman need bright red lipstick and a smoky eye before eating burger king anyway?

It didn’t take long for me to find my own Freudian imagery as I was walking down KRoad to a restaurant with my friends.

Vodka cruiser Ad - eyes are shielded for mystery, her facial skin is flawlessly smooth and the pink and green lips representing the watermelon favour are slightly parted.

Vodka cruiser tends to be the first choice for younger drinkers, predominantly younger girls. By using this sort of advertising towards what will be a younger market, does it influence the target audience to link alcohol with sex?

Fruit and Vegetables are sexy

After the Freud lecture, I was having an argument with a friend because I believe all fruit and vegetables can be linked to sexualised body parts but she disagreed.

After I compiled an image of fruit and vegetables to prove my case I went through with her.

Grapes - balls, banana - well that is obvious, tomato - central core imagery, pomegranate - fruit of fertility.

Anything round and cut open resembled a vagina, anything long represented a penis. Eggplants have become the emoji symbol for dicks and peach emojis refer to ass cheeks.

I rest my case.

I am Phallic-compensative?

I’m not sure how to feel about this.... 😂 I was keen to be a classic hysteric - that sounds like a fun time!

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Week 1 | Intro; History of Modern Thought

Renaissance Influence in Today's World

In year 12 at school, I remember learning about how churches began building their structures larger and taller, larger to represent God’s stature and tall to be transcendent towards heaven. The taller the church, the closer to heaven. Some of the Renaissance styles used today include columns, domes, and arches.

It didn’t take long as I wandered around the city to see buildings that mimicked these renaissance themes.

The Auckland town hall’s clock tower stands tall towards the sky.

The Auckland Art Gallery also has one steeple that stands out tall from the rest.

Outfoxed

Notes:

the media deliberately feeds information and disinformation to the general public

forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs

Some have chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods.

"There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

After spending the night watching Outfoxed, I felt pretty lied to. It’s pretty obvious that certain some news outlets tend to lean a certain direction - maybe more so in America than New Zealand but this really opened my eyes to the extent of how it affects journalism.