COP Lecture 1: An overview of the Module

In this lecture, James went through an example of a piece of work in time that helped shape the courses history, but also provided context and background knowledge to help understand each piece. These examples are important to provide an important depth of knowledge on each piece so that we ourselves know how much detail we are expected to research into other pieces of work.

Starting with Photography...

The Worktown Project, Bolton, 1937.

This collection of Documentary photos provided mass observation by a group of Gentleman called. T. Harris, J. Humphrey, C. Madge and S. Humphrey.

The context of the period includes having a fall in the economy, depression a recession, Hitler, etc.

Questions posed because of the context is that because the men taking the photo's of the working class are wealthy does that make these photo's condescending? If it was other working class men taking photo's would that provide images of a different setting? Is it contrived? 

This is the very definition of documentary photography as it's never objective and it's always taken from point of view shots.

Animation.

Jiri Trnka - The Hand, 1965

The context of this animation is that it was made 20 years after world war two during the height of the cold war, it makes a subversive radical statement about the government at the time, and for this reason Jiri Trnka did not get a state funeral even though he is often classified as the walt disney of the east.

During this animation the little puppet gets money from the state and under dictatorship has to make hands instead of pots for his little plant, and he gets rewarded with a golden cage symbolising his freedom being taken away from him. The whole story revolves around the animators point of view of communism and censorship. More on this in another blog post.

Advertising.

Tony Kaye, Tested for the Unexpected, Dunlop Tyres. 1993.

Tony Kaye was given an unlimited budget for this advert and came up with this very surreal, very seventies-esque in the colour scheme, make up and general haze on the piece. The director thought it was so good he tried to get it exhibited at the Tate. I think it's very fitting to have The Velvet Underground on the soundtrack, it works really well and proves that advertising is a form of art.

Illustration.

Norman Rockwell, 1940's/1950's.

A portrayl of twee american life, representing the beneveolency of a nuclear family.

These images were taken by Roosevelt and used as Propaganda, the profiency of it all symbolised the end of a golden era, where illustrators were replaced by digital technologies.

Graphic Design.

Typography is influential to you all!

In 1932 Times New Roman was created, the structure and form of the font represents the greatness of a national empire with the greatness of the roman empire.

Franktaur Font was adopted by the Nazi's and the Germanic empire, taken from middle age Germanic Gothic helped symbolise the prowess and german superiority through typeface in Propaganda. 

Herbert Bayer created the first universal type, a left wing statement that was supposed to be entirely neutral with no historic background. It was designed to unify not to separate.

End of lecture.

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