destruction and decay in the future

For example, global warming issues seen on the media worldwide.
Alternatives such as: illness and virus, the rising population = lesser the materials, growing of social media = lack of real social face-to-face social communication.

Gaultier, Jean-Paul on the corset

The fashion world of Jean-Paul Gaultier 2011

These readings from the book are to support the analysis and and the arguments in the description of the image of Madonna wearing Gaultier’s corset in the Blond ambition tour of 1990.

“His work provides an open-minded view of society”

“Gaultier’s imagination creates multicultural, multi sexual fashion, hybrid references, gender transgression, canons without cliches, a fluid place devoid of discrimination”

“..he systemically questions stereotypes, standards, codes, connotations and traditions, which he reroutes, shifts, inverts, the better to reinvent them”

Gaultier himself “Except for the medieval codpiece and the bra, clothing has never had a gender, unless it clings tightly to the body”

“a milestone in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s work is the reinvention of the corset and the skirt for men”

“Traditionally, it was viewed as an investment of female oppression and a cause of ill health, even death.”

“When he re-introduced the corset, his presentation of it, particularly of Madonna – projected an image of sexually powerful women. His use of corset began to change the way people thought about the garment. Instead of signifying oppression, it became a sign of women’s liberation, assuming power”

Madonna herself “..their gender confusion, The way he mixed masculinity and femininity together. I had been wearing corsets and men-style suits, mixing the masculine with the feminine. I wore the corsets as garments – on the outside not as underwear. The complete opposition the way they were traditionally worn”

“A symbol of feminine power and sexual freedom”

 

Eric Fischl 2013, sneakers

A divided group is shown, the colours and the postures of the figures certify this.

A more covert photograph, the group of people are viewing a painting in, what looks like, a warehouse viewing of art being sold. The body language of the women show their interest in the sneaker on the plinth – holding documents which could be a map of the exhibition or prices of the exhibits. We can see that the women have dressed up for the event, their clothes and hair seem soft and shiny as if they have made an effort. ~

However, on the left the men we see look as if they are ‘Transnational Business men” from the suits they are wearing, all of them white, and the man in the centre is (what looks like to me) an iPad – suggesting more money than the women in front – seeming more formal I could conclude that they would be art dealers. 

The group portrait, Rembrandt Dr Tulp

26th January 2016,

Rembrandt – The anatomy lesson of Dr Tulp, painted in 1632 in The Netherlands.

There can be a problem with identity within a group portrait due to so many faces/bodies that we can look at, becoming overwhelming or crowded.
This painting considers three different identities – alive, death and authoritative.

The hat Dr Nicholaes Tulp is significant as it shows the separate identities and suggests an upper hierarchy. His face in the painting looks brighter, as if painted with brighter colours or put more efforts into the detail of his face. He’s also looking in the opposite direction of the other figures.

The shared identities in this image: all men, all same class, all academics – in a school learning from Tulp, in the same place at the same time, all have the same beard, the same outfit/cloak.

This painting also goes against religious themes. e.g There are no religious motifs or icons, which was a huge part of life and art in this time period.

Nevertheless Rembrandt shows death in this photo, separating the death and the alive as groups.

T2 Subcultures and street style – 28th Jan 2016

Madonna at the Blond ambition tour 1990, dressed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

How can I best describe the image of Madonna at the show in 1990? What was especially interesting was what she was wearing; costume can make a huge impact due to connotations of the materials and design of the clothing.

Description

• Trouser suit
• Navy pin striped
• Conical bra
• Corset which is visible over trousers
• Tears in the suit that show the conical bra

Analysis of the descriptive features I have identified:

1. The Trouser suit is masculine, durable and formal/business like, therefore authoritative and powerful.
2. In contrast (where Gaultier creates a juxtaposition) the corset is Feminine. It is silk = delicate, soft, eager to touch, sensual, underwear – private and sexual, desirable, Victorian.
   Originally, the corset was made to make the women’s body desirable to men, altering the body of a women – the corset would be tightened for a smaller waist and bigger bust. Nevertheless this was bad for women’s health and considered breathing problems = oppressive and restrictive.
3. The tears in the suit show the conical bra: invading the suit = invading the authority and power of the man/masculinity.
4. The conical bra as been reconfigured by Gaultier; the bra is pointed as if it is aggressive and is being used as a weapon.  – as we see the bra invading the suit.
   (The conical bra used to be used as a desirable costume so the women’s figure looked nicer – boobs bigger and rounded however this conical bra is so pointed it looks perhaps a bit scary. They are not comforting and attractive any more).

Houses and buildings- Future Generations

From the UTOPIAS lecture last week, ideas about future architecture have sprung to mind. I think that buildings are really important in our lives – They carry an essential for living (the human right for shelter) but buildings make an environment stand out as their un-naturalness contrasts the nature of trees and sea. Ever since the cave paintings in the early years of human existence (what we know) , it tells us that there is an artistic feature to buildings – decoration and design. Buildings are important for health, self-esteem, worshipping and well-being for humans and some other animals.

Looking at building in the past, the present and in the future:

 

Frank Auerbach painting

Frank Auerbach is an artist well known for his thick, textured paintings and developed drawings. (Born 1931). Some of his background history includes information that he lived in Germany as a Jew and was sent to England in 1939 to escape the Nazism (Tate webstite). Then attending St Martin’s school of art between 1948-52 and then the Royal college of art from 1952 for three years (1955).

The painting below was painted 1957 – 58. The technique is unique which is why I think Auerbach is important to look at as an artist – by doing different things from others we are more interesting as an artist – and our work is more interesting to look at.

E.O.W (Which stands for Estella West) as the sitter who sat for him throughout this year.

I really love the texture this painting gives – it’s not 2D any more. It feels more as a valuable object than a paper or more flexible  painting.  To me, the piece relates to an old, antique – an object found in caves or underground (an archaeology object). Suggesting that it is really valuable.

 

Contemporary painters – Kareem Ralph Amin

Harmony, 2003, oil on canvas -48 x 48 inches

This painting I feel really drawn to as of the colours and texture of the painting. These dark colours Amin has applied to the canvas, are haunting and depth defying. What could the narrative be? – The two figures seem as they are tribes as the sticks they are holding in their hands suggest – one being a child and another an adult or older sibling. We are faced with ‘ what are they looking at? ‘ and ‘where are they going’?

Elm green 2012 in Trafalgar square – Powerless Stuructures

I find this an example of irony about our history society but also still, now. Like I have been studying on hegemony and the controlled person through docile bodies (Foucault and Crossely) we see that this sculpture raises the views of how children may see men as more dominant than women. In the ‘hero on horse back’ series we looked at, we found that the vast majority of the men were conquerors. In this image however, a child is riding a rocking horse – imitating and making fun of these past paintings and sculptures.

‘The hero on the horseback’ paintings and sculptures

Hero on the horseback – Always a male figure, where this male violence is being celebrated (could we say that this links in with an hegemonic man/masculinity?).

I have to remember that paintings always have had a purpose in the past. Such as:
John Everitt Millias – The black Brunswick

Painted in 1960, the Brunswick shows a man who is a German Soldier. It links entirely with the war with Napoleon and how the Brunswick soldiers fought Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo. However the Brunswick army were quite late with their arrival – though ‘better late than never’ seems to have excused Napoleon from winning the Battle therefore Millias painted a woman (who looks like his wife or romantic partner) standing with the soldier in, what looks like, their home – with a little black dog showing family life. Millias raises awareness for the viewers (ourselves) to remember that soldiers do have other things on their minds – like normal life such as relationships/love/sex, pets/companionships and responsibilities and also a home to look after.