Studt task 5 - 'Research Proposal & Essay plan'

SUGGESTED TITLE: (tbc) 
"From the Streets to $heet$ : Street Art & the commercial crossover"

SIGNIFICANCE: This will prove to be interesting research as, depending on who you ask or where you research, there is view that street art or graffiti, what ever activist, political, social or personal views is my be conveying is merely vandalism.On the flip-side, some see a street artist or 'smart vandal' make the transition from the city walls to the high-end art gallery (or beyond) and label them a "SELL OUT" who is only really making art for money making purposes.Hopefully with some in-depth reading and research i can differentiate between the two generalisations and from my own clearer opinion on the subject.

PRIMARY & SECONDARY RESOURCES: As i've only recently finalised my theme my resource list is currently quite short (see below), but as well as these titles i will be looking for interviews with artists,gallery owners, journalists who worked or are working in the street art scene and are part of the culture and have some valuable opinions, also possible interviews or documentaries online on YouTube etc...

Crommelin,C. (2013) 'New Street Art'. China. Vivays Publishing Ltd

Gavin, F. (2007) 'Street Renegades: New Underground Art'. London. Laurence King Publishing Ltd

Fletcher, A. (2001) 'The Art of Looking Sideways'. UK.Phaidon Press

Ellsworth-Jones,W. (2013) 'Banksy: The man behind the wall'. UK. Aurum Press

Gruem, J. (1992) 'Keith Haring: The Authorised Biography'. Prentice Hall & IBD

Bofkin, Dr L. (2014) 'Concrete Canvas: how street art is changing the way our cites look' .Cassell.

Haden-Guest, A. (2014) 'Graffiti Artists turn on Banksy: The Rise of Art Hate' (internet) The Daily Beast <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/06/graffiti-artists-turn-on-banksy-the-rise-of-art-hate.html > [accessed December '14]


METHODS: I will research further into the history and the current state of the street art/graffiti scene, from the unseen, unknown members to the mainstream cross-over kings raking in big buck for their smart vandalisms.I'll also gather the views  and opinions from reliable views from authors, journalists, the artists themselves etc...


LIMITATIONS: I guess the limitations with this subject matter is there are no real limitations,as wether someone is a vandal or a money grabbing sellout, or wether graffiti-style street art is or isnt 'art' is largely opinion based, so the debate could and had gone on forever. So in that sense i may have chosen a bit of an open-ended subject to try and prove or disprove. But as its still early days i could always redirect my investigation to be a bit more specific.

ESSAY PLAN: 
• Intro (300/350 words) 

This will be a break down of the general subject that i'll be discussing and trying to prove/disprove/create a more solid understanding of and a delve into the various sides of the discussion, pro/anti consumerism & commercialism, and indeed pro/anti street art in general.

• Main body (2000/2500 words)


• Visual Examples

Banksy

Shepard Fairey

Keith Haring

Eric Haze

• Conclusion (300/400 words)
Summarise the main points of the essay subject matter & see if it's given me a more solid opinion on these sell out street artist, or not.

Study task 4 - Discourse Analysis with Academic Referencing

(Reverse side design)

This is a mural by American artist and social activist Keith Haring created in the Summer of 1986. It was painted on both sides (a mural on each side) of an abandoned hardball court on East Harlem River Drive on 128th street and is arguably the most famous mural in New York. Due to it's location it is certainly the most viewed.The mural was created in response to the crack cocaine epidemic that was happening in New York at the time and also inspired by his assistant Benny, who had become an addict. Haring, influenced by New York street culture, had (and was) experiencing a meteoric rise to fame, originally for his subway chalk drawings then moving on to large scale tarpaulin paintings and building murals which reflected his own political views and experiences such as Sex, War, Anti-Drugs, Anti-Apartheid and AIDS awareness. The latter being particularly poignant  as in 1988 Haring who was openly gay would be diagnosed with the disease and die two years later, aged just 31.

The mural had originally been completed without permission he was arrested while the paintwas still drying, handed and court date and eventually fined $100. A week later it was vandalised by local graffiti artists (or possibly drug dealers) and turned into a 'pro' drugs mural, reading 'CRACK IS IT'. Then, a worker for the Parks Department, for whom the hardball court belonged to, took it upon themselves to completely cover up the mural with grey paint. So as a quickly as it had appeared, Crack is Wack was gone. That is, until a month or so later when Haring was invited back to repaint the wall with the assistance of the Park Department, which he did (albeit slightly different) and there it has remained to this day.

I came across this piece and Keith Harings work in general after a library artist research session. I recognised his style but hadn't realised who had created it, or how incredibly popular his became in such a short time. After scanning through his autobiography and a couple other of his books i further researched him online and also watched 'The universe of Keith Haring', a 2008 documentary film about his life and work. 

The 'reverse' side of the mural features thick black line work synonymous with Harings painting style, on a largely white background (as opposed to the florescent orange back drop of the front of the wall). There is a large bright orange stripe 3/4 of the way up the wall and stretching horizontally across the entire wall, in which the words 'crack is wack' sit. Above the orange stripe a large sharp-toothed snake chases a trademark 'stick man' that featured in the majority of Harings pieces, along with wavy lines and dash marks emanating from their bodies and heads. The stickman has his arms in the air, lines coming out of its head and an 'X' on its chest. Below the stripe are a gang of stickmen in varying poses, all marked with 'X's and motion lines next to their bodies.

The long white snake or 'serpent' represents crack cocaine, the forbidden fruit of the addict. It could also simply symbolise a long line of crack. The stickman is trying to run away from his tormenter at great speed, however the figure has been marked with an 'X' which in Harings work usually depicts someone evil, inflicted or damned. The large orange horizontal stripe represents the line between Earth and the Underworld or even Hell.The characters below the line are jerking and twitching around as if they are A) still craving drugs, and going 'cold turkey' B) jumping to try and reach or grab the serpent/ crack C) trying to jump out and above the stripe and out back to Earth for a second chance at life.

The setting of the painting is where the actual mural can be found - in a run down, abandoned piece of land, near a park in mid 1980's New York. An area that was drained of life and was 'dying' from drug addiction - a stark contrast compared to the bold and bright imagery of Harings art, which he was using to bring a troubled NY back to life.The message or slogan has connections to the 80's hip-hop scene - the word 'sack' was coined and was used to describe something or someone as bad/ stupid/ crazy/ generally displeasing. A rhyming tagline was similarly used in Gemma Corrells 'Pugs not Drugs' illustration 20 years later, albeit in a slightly more light-hearted way (fig 1). Harings painting style was also heavily influenced by graffiti and hip-hop culture, and he would always have mix tapes made by his music friends blasting out of his little boom box as he painted as a perpetual source of inspiration. 

5 illustrations that function in a similar way to the 'Crack is Wack' mural

(fig1)

Correll.G (2010) Pugs Not Drugs. 'Ladies can make comics too:Gemma Correll' [internet] UK [30.10.14] Dorkshelf <http://dorkshelf.com/2013/05/02/ladies-make-comics-too-gemma-correll/> 

(fig2)

Mock.R (2001) 'Punch & Judy' [internet] UK [30.10.14] Fokus

< http://blog.fokus.org/post/41026716919/punch-and-judy-a-linoleum-cut-print-by-richard >

(fig3)

Oyague Jr.A & Vegas. J (2011) 'New York spraycan memorials: A backdrop to Life' [internet] USA [30.10.14] Artquill < http://artquill.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-york-spray-can-memorials-backdrop.html >

(fig4)

Glaser.M (1987) 'AIDS' [internet] USA [30.10.14] Milton Glaser website 

< http://www.miltonglaser.com/the-work/558/world-health-organization-aids/ > 

(fig5)

Americans working overhead (2004)

'Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home' . Wright.S. Bristol,UK. Tangent Books (10 Nov 2012)

Discourse Analysis - Culture

'CRACK IS WACK!' - Keith Haring

This is a mural by American artist and social activist Keith Haring created in the Summer of 1986. It was painted on both sides (a mural on each side) of an abandoned hardball court on East Harlem River Drive on 128th street and is arguably the most famous mural in New York. Due to it's location it is certainly the most viewed.The mural was created in response to the crack cocaine epidemic that was happening in New York at the time and also inspired by his assistant Benny, who had become an addict. Haring, influenced by New York street culture, had (and was) experiencing a meteoric rise to fame, originally for his subway chalk drawings then moving on to large scale tarpaulin paintings and building murals which reflected his own political views and experiences such as Sex, War, Anti-Drugs, Anti-Apartheid and AIDS awareness. The latter being particularly poignant  as in 1988 Haring who was openly gay would be diagnosed with the disease and die two years later, aged just 31.

The mural had originally been completed without permission he was arrested while the paint was still drying, handed and court date and eventually fined $100. A week later it was vandalised by local graffiti artists (or possibly drug dealers) and turned into a 'pro' drugs mural, reading 'CRACK IS IT'. Then, a worker for the Parks Department, for whom the hardball court belonged to, took it upon themselves to completely cover up the mural with grey paint. So as a quickly as it had appeared, Crack is Wack was gone. That is, until a month or so later when Haring was invited back to repaint the wall with the assistance of the Park Department, which he did (albeit slightly different) and there it has remained to this day.

(Repainted version)

I came across this piece and Keith Harings work in general after a library artist research session. I recognised his style but hadn't realised who had created it, or how incredibly popular his became in such a short time. After scanning through his autobiography and a couple other of his books i further researched him online and also watched 'The universe of Keith Haring', a 2008 documentary film about his life and work. 

The universe of Keith Haring

The 'reverse' side of the mural features thick black line work synonymous with Harings painting style, on a largely white background (as opposed to the florescent orange back drop of the front of the wall). There is a large bright orange stripe 3/4 of the way up the wall and stretching horizontally across the entire wall, in which the words 'crack is wack' sit. Above the orange stripe a large sharp-toothed snake chases a trademark 'stick man' that featured in the majority of Harings pieces, along with wavy lines and dash marks emanating from their bodies and heads. The stickman has his arms in the air, lines coming out of its head and an 'X' on its chest. Below the stripe are a gang of stickmen in varying poses, all marked with 'X's and motion lines next to their bodies.

(Reverse side design)

The long white snake or 'serpent' represents crack cocaine, the forbidden fruit of the addict. It could also simply symbolise a long line of crack. The stickman is trying to run away from his tormenter at great speed, however the figure has been marked with an 'X' which in Harings work usually depicts someone evil, inflicted or damned. The large orange horizontal stripe represents the line between Earth and the Underworld or even Hell.The characters below the line are jerking and twitching around as if they are A) still craving drugs, and going 'cold turkey' B) jumping to try and reach or grab the serpent/ crack C) trying to jump out and above the stripe and out back to Earth for a second chance at life.

The setting of the painting is where the actual mural can be found - in a run down, abandoned piece of land, near a park in mid 1980's New York. An area that was drained of life and was 'dying' from drug addiction - a stark contrast compared to the bold and bright imagery of Harings art, which he was using to bring a troubled NY back to life.The message or slogan has connections to the 80's hip-hop scene - the word 'sack' was coined and was used to describe something or someone as bad/ stupid/ crazy/ generally displeasing. Harings painting style was also heavily influenced by graffiti and hip-hop culture, and he would always have mix tapes made by his music friends blasting out of his little boom box as he painted as a perpetual source of inspiration. 

Visual Discourse Analysis

After further thought, i feel that i should try and look into some pieces of work that weren't so recent and had a bit of history & meaning behind them, rather than simply looking excellent and have high levels of craftsmanship involved - which, one the whole, is what attracts me to a piece of art or illustration usually. Is that shallow, i don't know..?!

Whilst having a long old library explore, amongst the Lichtenstein, Dali and Ernst books i came across the work of Keith Haring - who's work i recognised but had no knowledge of the man or his art. I found myself drawn into his books and even went home to research further, also watched the documentary film about him, The Universe of Keith Haring (2008). The guy drew about so many issues, and his line work and style really appealed to me. So i've decided to leave the subject of Technology and focus more on Culture, with my discourse analysis to be written about a Keith Haring piece.

Study Task 2 - Visual Research Task

Below is a selection of artwork that I feel relates to my chosen module theme of

TECHNOLOGY.These illustrations also reflect my areas of artistic interest and I
would be interested in exploring these further for my practical work and essay. 

 Sam Green

The Verge Magazine (Jeff Bezos) • 2013

   

                                              






















Secret Garden Party Festival 2014 (Pitch design, 2013)

'Where does it hurt?' • 2012 

ESPN Magazine

Portrait of Snowboarder, Danny Davis | 2011

Erik Jones • 2013/2014

   

Drew Millward 

Study Task 1 - Library Research Task

'PEEL: The art of the sticker' - Dave & Holly Combs. (751.73 DEW)

This is the book I've chosen that is relevant to my interests & possibly to the investigation

of the five module themes. I initially chose to investigate the technology side of illustration     as i come from a graphic design background, but found this book could actually be

    relevant to most of the themes mentioned, Technology, Society, Culture,or even Politics.