Radio 4 Reith Lectures

One last thing. These are a series of lectures given over the past few years on a variety of different subjects by academic super heros. Fairly intense but very interesting.

find them here

Russian Revolution Propoganda Posters

There's something about these images I have always loved - the colours, the slightly absurd content, the stylisation of them. The proliferation of these colourful images transformed towns in the communist state, and in effect created a street art that was available to all.

The big designers were:
A. Sokolov
B Lebeshev
Adolf Strakhov
Shassi Kobelev
V Malakhow

if you wanted to know...

El Lissitsky

Famous Russian artist and graphic designer, as well as being proficient in about every other form of design. Hugely influential in the Bauhaus movement as well as constructivism. A bit of a 'don'. His work has huge appeal to me, so very stylised.

David Hopkins - Dada and Surrealism

To find out more about the stuff below, I suggest reading this book, it's fairly short and gives a comprehensive overview of both movements.

Dada and Surrealism

Dada is an artistic movement that began in Switzerland, but then spread across Europe primarily to Paris, and then to America due to some of the movements main 'players', Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia and Man Ray. Andre Breton is worth noting here, but he was arguably more influential in the Surrealist movement I think, as were the others to an extent.

Their activities covered many spectrums including the publication of journals, public gatherings and demonstrations, literature, film, graphic design, theatre and visual art. The funny thing is is that Dada is 'anti-art' art. It was a reaction to the bourgeois art world, they embraced chaos, they were reacting against the traditional aesthetics of art, they were intentionally 'opposite'. They looked to offend, and there is an underlying sense of wit and humour to their work.

It eventually evolved into Surrealism, but there are distinct differences between the two (books have been written on the subject, not enough space here...!). It was again a cultural movement that embraced art, film and the written word (La Revolution Surrealiste is of particular importance). Elements of surprise, juxtaposition and expression are apparent in their work, and I'm sure many of you are very familiar with a lot of the paintings and the artists involved in this movement.

There's so much on this subject to go and read, I find it really fascinating and the concepts behind a lot of the work is very applicable to anyones work today - it's an alternative way of looking at things. To sum up, Andre Breton once said whilst discussing Aesthetics,

"From a surrealist point of view, the way in which a picture is painted is virtually irrelevant. It is the mental reality that the picture 'looked onto' that is all important."

Images 1 - Rene Margritte, Time Transfixed
Image 2 - Joan Miro - Naked woman climing staircase
Images 3 & 4 - examples of Dada graphics
Image 5 - very funny. L.H.O.O.Q. when pronounced in French reads, 'She has a hot ass'...

Vienesse Actionism

Having mentioned this so much, I may as well explain further. It was an art movement that belonged to a group of Austrians who grew up with the memory of WW2; their work was a reaction against the political oppresion and socail hypocrasy of their country at the time. The main participants were Gunter Brus (below), Otto Muhl, Hermann Nitsch and Rudolf Schwarzkogler.

They loved nakedness, violence, destruction and general degredation. Their work does differ visually, but there are distinct aesthetic and thematic trends between them. To explain this, Otto Muhl said, "...material action is painting that has spread beyond the picture surface. The human body, a laid table or a room becomes the picture surface. Time is added to the dimension of the body and space."

A strange bunch really...

(2nd image - Robert Schwarzkogler, 3rd image - Otto Muhl)

There's an intersting article about them here.

Gunter Brus

Gunter Brus was an Austrian performance artist, draughtsman, painter and film maker, and was born in 1938. With others he was a founder-member of the Aktionismus group (Viennese Actionism). Brus conceived of his Aktionen (action - call to art) in terms of paintings, where the body occupied the centre of a clearly defined space. Just as he had previously scratched and degraded the fabric of his paintings to the point of destruction whilst working in such a medium, in his Aktionen he portrayed various acts of self-mutilation.

In his Aktionen after 1967, Brus pushed himself to further physical and mental extremes as he analysed his own body and its functions. Symbolism was generally dispensed with in the performances, as Brus publicly urinated, defecated and cut himself with a razor-blade.

In his work entitled 'Self Paining', Brus covered his whole body in white paint, and then painted black lines over himself to suggest cracks. The collaged pins, razor blades and pen-knife take on the ritual significance of tools of torture, making Brus's body like that of a saint. By using his body in this way, Brus was trying to introduce raw human emotion into art (as opposed to symbolising it, as mentioned earlier). The collage is typical of the counter-culture which encompassed the Vienesse Actionists.

I think Brus himself sums up everything (if it's not already blatently obvious!!)
"Breaking taboos has almost become a style in my work."

Extreme stuff I'm sure you'll agree...

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe  was an American photographer known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and naked men. The frank, homosexual eroticism of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Although his work deals with sex (in particular, homosexuality), violence, and race, three extremely sensitive and often confrontational themes, its pristine quality enabled his photography to bridge the gap between provocative subject matter and artistic respectability.

Mapplethorpe's notoriety came from a series of sexually explicit photographs of Manhattan's gay community which he made during the 1970s. The implied violence and sadomasochism of some of these images have caused some to label them pornography. Others feel that because Mapplethorpe was a part of the community which he recorded, he helped New York gays to define themselves in a positive way. Even now, seven years after his death, wherever his work is exhibited it is accompanied with outcries of moral outrage. Mapplethorpe explored the extremities of the New York gay scene and documented it for all time. He recognised that it was a period that had a time limit on itself and for him also. The photographs from that period can no longer be taken because the scene has changed so dramatically with the advent of AIDS and also society's increasing tolerance towards homosexuals. He eroticised the leather scene too. His obsessive personality eroticised life and his passion made his subjects icons because of his Catholic background. The leather scene reflected his Catholic background of martyrs suffering violent deaths or enduring self-torture.

There are other photos I would like to include, but they are pure filth, so I haven't...

Diane Arbus

Another photographer people should know about, I find her choice of subjects particularly interesting - often people on the edge of society such as tramps/prostitutes etc (which was contrary to photographic convention at the time), things that 'don't quite fit'.  One of her more well known images of two female twins famously inspired Stanley Kubrik in 'The Shining' - the resemblance is obvious.  Also of note is the intrinsic dullness of the prints, which adds to the thought provoking content.

Jean - Luc Godard - Weekend

'A film lost in the cosmos/ A film found in the trash'

'Weekend' is a renowned black comedy filmed in 1967 by Jean-Luc Godard.  There's no point in me describing what happens in the film, but there are a couple of other things I would like to mention.  Primarily is his use of the long shot; by that I mean a shot that lasts for a few minutes, not one taken from a distance.  One of these lasts for what seems like forever, and is strangely fascinating whilst being intentionally dull, if you've seen it you'll know what I mean.  Another thing of note, more related to graphic design is the typography used in the film.  The film itself is split up by these intertitles (some text inserted into a film to provide context to the following scenes), and the typography is really beautiful in my eyes, I love the palate used, ironically in the colours of the French flag.  It also has some intelligent subtlety to it - in the 'chapter' named 'analyse' (which accounts the wife's sex with her psychoanalyst), the word is spaced to create a line break after 'anal'.  Another chapter heading is preceded by 'SS', which alludes to Nazi stormtroopers before it is joined by 'La lutte de la clasee', which can be translated as 'class struggle'. 

The trailer is of poor quality and with some oriental subtitles on it, and you can't really see the type, but you do see a bit of the 'long shot'.  Well worth watching.

Also as an afterthought, notice the way 'weekend' split up (images at top unfortunately). Like a cul-de-sac. Interesting if you watch the film.  A great example of good 'bad' type.

Pieter Hugo

Young South African photographer, tipped to be great. Have a look at his website, I particularly like his 'Hyene and other men' series - the interaction between man and beast is of note.

Erwin Blumenfeld

Erwin Blumenfeld is one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century, hailing from Berlin. My particular interest in him leads from his Dada and Surrealist influences. He definitely incorporates the visual language and techniques of these artistic movements. His interesting and experimental images often include processes such as collage, solarisation, multiple exposures and the combination of negative and positive printing. For instance in his work 'city lights', he uses simple props and stage effects to convey the almost fantastical aura of modern (in that day) day life.

Rineke Dijkstra

A dutch photographer (primarily) who I don't really know much about.  Saw a half hour long 'film' of hers at a gallery, and couldn't stop laughing (everyone else was silent - although this is 'art', there is a definite element of humour).  In it she gets her subjects to stand in front of a camera, puts on some music and lets them get on with 'it', with very differing results from each person.  An interesting investigation into the awkwardness of the human.  I can only find a couple of crap camera phone videos of it unfortunately and it doesn't do it justice at all (for instance it should be projected with 2 screen next to each other), but anyway...

This third video shows some of his other work, and a bit of the above mentioned video

Nido Bird Food

Lovely illustrations in a really amusing style. Funny concept too, describing your birds as 'sir' or 'madame', giving them a sense of respect.  

Calvin Klein

This is a personal response to the question I asked at the end of my Olivero Toscani post.

I can't find any images of it, but Calvin Klein, in 1999, used images of young children in underwear as an advertising campaign.  

Unsurprisingly, it was pulled after one day.

I wonder if the reaction would be even stronger in this day in age?

more benetton

shocking, hahar

World of Interiors

This magazine has got nothing to do with Graphic Design, but everything to do with 'design'. Try and pick up a copy - 'get to know' as they say.

Keith Skeel

I'm not totally sure why I've included this in my 'blog', but I feel this gentleman worthy of note.  The only way I can think of describing him is as an antique 'super-collector' and a purveyor of antiquarian eccentricities.  Having started from humble beginnings as a small time seller of 'funny things' at Bermondsy market in London, he has become a serious collector with a passion for beautiful, gutsy, dramatic and amusing things, a highly acclaimed 'interior decorator's decorator', and has done work for Donna Karen, Versace and Ralph Lauren.

I've been to his shop in London, and also went to the sale of his house and the totality of its contents in Suffolk (he also sold his house in New York, and all of its contents).  This was the first time he had ever sold any of his personal collection.  The shop is fantastic, but what was in the house was amazing.  Nothing was normal, everything had its own quirky idiosyncrasies, humour and wit (I think it is for this reason that I've included him). Antiques are, after all, 'sick' (in my opinion).

Julien LaChaussee - Photographer

I haven't got loads to say about this French homme, but I like the way he presents his subjects, and the sometimes conflicting content of his images.  Have a look at his website for more.

Oliviero Toscani

An Italian photographer and art director, who trained at the Dada and Bauhaus influenced Zurich Design School (I believe you can particularly see the Dada influence in his work).  He is notorious for his work with Benetton, with whom he abandoned any form of conventional advertising photography, and instead flouted taboos associated with race, war, sex, religion, death etc.  The campaigns use juxtaposition as the main tool to create meaning by using socially unmentionable subjects to create awareness of different issues, and virtually all created some sort of public outcry. 

The most infamous images included the dying David Kirby (of AIDS) and images of death-row prisoners, which due to the backlash from the victims families caused Benetton to lose a major contract, and Toscani to finish his tenure with the company. 

At least his campaigns kept everyone talking about Benetton, and he dared show the unmentionables.  What taboos are left...?

Nolita - Anti Anorexia Ad

This is an advert photographed by the scandalous photographer Oliviero Toscani (more on him later), for the fashion brand Nolita, and was shown in all Italian  cities and world media.  There is nothing shy about the image, with the fact that the model is shown fully naked only adding to the controversy and impact of the ad.  A (semi) clothed model just wouldn't have the same effect (obviously).

However, my problem with this ad is its target market - who is the ad aimed at? Anorexic people, people who are potential anorexic, or non anorexic people?  The reason I question this is because surely anorexic people don't mind what their bodies look like - they only care about being as skinny as possible, and therefore this arguably renders this ad ineffective (if that is the target market...).  Most potential anorexics would look to the poster and start comparing the unfortunate model to them - she would them become a 'body' target, someone they aspired to, rendering this ad ineffective.  It would therefore seem that this is aimed at those who aren't anorexic...

Gay Police Association Advert (2006ish)

This fairly provocative ad was welcomed by a barrage of complaints when it appeared in 2006.  Groups such as Christian Watch and the Evangelical Alliance claimed that the ad was 'derogatory, offensive and irresponsible by implying that Christians were responsible for most such homophobic incidences'.

The shock factor here is the combination of the images of blood and the bible (and the implication of violence), things that aren't usually linked.  The fact that blood is used implies that all of the incidences of homophobia are physically violent (as opposed to verbal, say), but I say why not, the ad was meant to shock, and there's no point in any half measures in this case.  The more complaints the better. 

Alain De Botton - The Architecture of Happiness

This book flooded me with joy when I read it the first time. Everything he talks about provokes more philosophical questions which he is sure to discuss as you read on. He answered so many questions I had about so many things - the content here is obviously centered around architecture, but the opinions and ruses can be applied to so many other aspects of design. Well worth reading.

Jonathan Root - Photographer

Lovely composition, content, colour and with a delicate seasoning of abstract, great stuff. Have a look at his website.