Tutorial with Pete

Above is the sheet from my tutorial with Pete, which i found really useful and helpful and it was also a really good way of bouncing certain ideas off of each other as Pete has a keen interest in music too, helping by suggesting artists who he thought were relevant to look at. 

Key things that came from the tutorial were certain ideas such as influences to look at, what direction to start angling it towards and narrowing down the actual title. 

Using theorists is very important as a way of having something to back my research and my own theories, i have been advised to look at Freud and see what he made of ideas within music and one that i have got from Richards lecture is Theodore Adorno who i have done a reaction post on and was quite intrigued by his 'theory of music and its social implifications'.

As Adorno's theory was based on the idea of 'popular' music and in particular pop i have been advised to look into an area which i personally have a large dislike to! Thats the idea to look into the pop metaphorical machine with the 'hit factory' of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. These were the guys that were known producing processed pop and manufactured pop stars. I love the idea of looking at this kind of stuff in my work but because of my angle and personal opinion on that kind of stuff i can take in a different direction, mainly because i hate it.

Key themes to perhaps focus on are which are at the bottom of the sheet are: 

• Gender - ambiguity 
• Dealing with issues e.g social, cultural 
• Swearing/freedom of speech 
• Hip Hop - satirical/political statements such as - Goldie looking chain - Jurassic 5 
• State authorised music 
• Controversy/pivotal moments in music - leading to social attitudes changing - acceptance - subcultures 

Theodore Adorno's - Theory of music and its social implication

From this lecture i have come away with a few notes and perhaps if i am to investigate further a few interesting theories as well. I have noted down a particular part of the lecture that did somewhat spark my interests as i felt it could tie in to what i am looking at in COP if not directly relatable in some ways it can also serve as a stepping stone to further other areas of research or ideas. 

The particular part that interested me was through a theory of a man called Theodore Adorno. This guy wrote his very own 'Theory of music and its social implication'. What i found quite amazing is his insightful arguments and ideas which were almost premonitions about the future ways in which the music would develop and what impact it would have socially on the people of his future, despite the fact that his theory was written in 1941. 

In a nutshell, his theory was declaring that pop music is and will be (in his case) written to set formulas with the same pattern appearing over and over again. That the music is designed to be repeated for commercial purposes and how it is produced in a way that would suggest 'formulaic production'. Which also suggests it pretty much does the thinking for you. 

Adorno picked up on the points of the 'established formula' and that the 'pop' in popular music promotes passivity which in turn reduces creativity. 

Its worth relating Adorno's ideas into modern terms as after all for it to be written in 1941 it does get to a certain point where you take it with a pinch of salt as as far as i'm aware all Adorno had to relate to was Vera Lynn and George Formby? 

So other points in todays terms such as Record studios and the musical 'machine' that it could be known as, certainly true through Pink Floyd's eyes. One point that the lecture picked up on was the controversy (which of course is a key word for me) of record companies releasing songs and albums with different artists but in particular how stories of musicians help things seem more interesting which could be dubbed as 'Pseudo individualism' which enforces the idea of the false idol. 

Going back to Adorno in his theory there is very much an obvious point of seeing how he hated musics psychological effect and how in certain ways it creates 'Rhythmically obedient' and 'emotional' types. 

Through this idea he related pop music as a 'robotic' 'Fordist' system, with this idea of the conveyer belt churning out the mechanical structured formula that pop music is today and how the people who absorb that way of music are perhaps brainwashed to it and maybe don't recognise the 'same-iness'element. 

And finally to end on the greatest phrase that came from the lecture which relates to the last point i made which was the people brainwashed are...

'Dancing to the rhythm of their own oppression' 

- Richard Miles, 2016

Discussing other areas with my theme (follow up post)

This is just a follow on from the last COP post, it is kind of an outline of what i could cover with the other aspects within my theme. These are:

• Covering the impact of certain female musicians as well as male. (are there any significant events with female musicians through television?) 
• Covering the aspect of contemporary musicians not just focusing on past eras/events (are there any significant events in contemporary music?) i believe so, would just need to research and find them. 

This following list may seem like its just another list but these are the topics/questions that i now have as a result of the session discussion, they are not definitive but they do pose good and interesting arguments/areas in which to research: 

• What are the arguments of music today and are there any? 
• Researching the 'complexification of the musical landscape' 
• Is controversy within the music industry determined by success? 
• Does the controversy and the success in music create debate? - i think this one speaks for itself 
• Do these factors of controversy and debate have the same impact today as they did in the past eras? 
• Research the impact of 'Androgyny' in music video and television

In my next posts i will cover these areas in more detail but in particular i will involve the female musicians into my research. I don't have many to go on at the moment but i have a few names in mind and it will be interesting what impact they might have had as far as my research goes. These few names i have found i might find out to be pretty irrelevant but i suppose my research will determine that from what i find out. 

• Madonna  
• Patty Smith 
• Kim Wilde 
• Björk (thats literally a random one that came to mind) 
• Rihanna 
• Miley Cyrus 
• Beyoncé 

Like i said i'm not well armed in the sense of having female musicians to talk about however there is a wider range in terms of eras that i can look at but i believe i'm more interested in the idea of the breakthrough artist in terms of really starting something in the way that David Bowie did for the generation that he emerged in. Got a lot to be cracking on with basically!

Expanding my COP theme/question

This weeks session i have found really quite useful and i have picked up a few more interesting techniques and theories.  As i know the basic outline of my theme, it is now important to narrow my theme down to some specific area however with that i need to expand my knowledge at the same time, seeking out other areas/fields as a way of conducting my research. 

In the session we covered answering aspects of the 6 outlining topics which are:

• Politics 
• Society 
• Culture 
• History 
• Technology 
• Aesthetics 

These are really good ways of narrowing a project down by focusing on one area but it is also important to explore the possibilities of them first. With my overall theme of music it is very interesting as i believe it can cover all of these categories and because i am aiming to focus it through the medium of television and perhaps music video something like technology even comes into play. 

One exercise we were given was related to these six topics but to think in a different way with them as we were instructed to think about and apply the heading topics to the formal elements.

These elements being; line, shape, colour, texture and collage. These are specifically important as they are related to ways in which we can conduct our practical research in particular things we craft into our visual journals. 

Underneath is my groups sheet which has the formal element headings on and above where we felt the six headings fitted/related. 

I found this was an intriguing way of thinking about the headings and was interested in the ways that even collage can be linked through culture and history. In culture there is many different types of people 'spliced' together to create one image or society and through History there is little pieces that connect and it makes a great analogy as to how History is one massive juxtaposed piece of work. 

Towards the end of the session it was more about focusing on how these could be incorporated in your own personal project. I now felt pretty confident that i could now tackle many ideas from many different angles. 

Here is how the formal elements can apply to my topic or rather music in general: 

• Line - There is always lines/boundaries that need to be crossed in order to spark a musical 'revolution'. 
• Shape - Shape is important in a metaphorical sense as music 'shapes' the culture and society it exists within or even the society and culture exists because of the shape in which the music evolves. 
• Colour - Music is colourful as its full of different types of musicians especially when relating that through the different genres and eras as the colour can come from a musicians personality or even alter ego but also through perhaps colour costumes that them personalities might wear. Sometimes seen as controversial in its itself but the idea of colour could also cover as an aspect within music. 
• Texture - Texture within music could i suppose be interpreted in many ways. Although a bit of a vague, lacklustre interpretation texture could be viewed or rather heard sonically. As in the texture of different types of music or perhaps new experimentations that have come out as a result of evolution within music. 
• Collage - Could be the collage of many different sounds that make up a certain genre or type of music or the collage of the many different types of musicians for example i just love the image of someone as colourful as David Bowie was placed in a collage sense next to some sort of west coast gangster rapper such as Snoop Dogg or the whole of NWA. 

I am now pretty confident and feel i have a better understanding of the formal elements and in particular how i can incorporate them into the practical work such as the examples i have written above. As a result of the session i came away with a lot more ideas and questions that i could potentially cover for my project and essay. However there was two aspects that were brought up that i haven't covered which are the aspect of female artists (i just haven't done it for some reason, more out of negligence than ignorance) and bringing into play the idea of music in todays sense rather than focusing solely on past events musically. Although i may want to just focusing on that one era, who knows? But thats all for another time. 

Important moments in Television through music

As a result of the talk with Patrick a basic list was compiled of certain 'Teatime' moments on tv more specifically moments on Top of the Pops or MTV for example. This is a really good start i believe and the list already includes really influential moments to work with. These include: 

• Elvis Presley (when he shook his hips) The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956 - This site explains the event perfectly and describes how it was so influential and it surprised me as to how influential it was using words as how many people couldn't condone its 'vulgarity'. - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/music/elvis.html
• The Doors (The Ed Sullivan show) (Light my fire) - 1967 - As a result of frontman Jim Morrison singing the line 'Baby we couldn't get much higher' the doors were banned from the show due to the lyric containing drug connotations. - http://ultimateclassicrock.com/the-doors-banned-from-the-ed-sullivan-show-september-17-1967/
• David Bowie and the spiders from mars (Top of the Pops) 1972 - This 3 minute moment has gone down as a highly influential moment in British music particularly on Television. From the point in which bowie sings 'i had to phone someone so i picked on you' and points directly into the camera therefore mystically 'calling' on the viewers in their living rooms to when he put his arm round and 'flirted' with the guitarist Mick Ronson it was very influential at the time especially to the younger audiences. A time where sexually androgynous idols like Bowie were liberating the younger people and showing them that they weren't alone and that they had a voice. Amazing stuff - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/06/david-bowie-ziggy-starman
• The Sex Pistols (Bill Grundy Show) 1976 - A moment in Television 'folklore' which made Presenter Bill Grundy commit career suicide by encouraging them to say swear words at a time where it was unheard of but was most importantly forbidden especially on day time television but at the same time the moment helped elevate the Sex Pistols massively and helped them kickstart mainstream punk rock. What i find amazing is that Queen were scheduled to be on the show instead but at the las minute they had to pull and so in place were put the sex pistols. This is a transcript of the interview - http://www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk/pistols.htm
• Culture Club (TOTP) 1982 - Similar to Bowie performing 'Starman' 10 years earlier in 1982 Boy George and his band Culture Club performed the song 'Do you really want to hurt me' and rather than the song getting the real acclaim there was major controversy and complaints about the way Boy George appeared to be dressed and was questioned about his sexuality however as a result of the publicity that all of that got the song went to No.1 in the UK and reached number 2 in the U.S. for 3 weeks. 
• Frankie goes to Hollywood (Channel 4 The Tube) 1983, Relax performance - Like the other examples of Bowie and Boy George this moment was deemed controversial for the way in which the group were dressed especially for teatime television. It was definitely not of the taste of the times as the group were dressed in black latex 'bondage gear' but not only the visuals were controversial as the song itself is as it is basically about sex. To cover the song up lead singer Holly Johnson claimed it was a song about Motivation but when the song became highly successful he revealed the real meaning. The song became the most controversial and commercially successful songs of the decade and was helped by the appearance on the channel 4 music show. 

Now that a start has been made on the basic research stage i need to create some visual responses and basically just continue finding more moments such as these or even to research them further finding out the impact they had and what perhaps there repercussions were. I feel its a very exciting project for me personally. 

Basing my COP on music

.....COP,COP,COP we both know full well we don't get on very well with each other. But this year i'm going to try and appreciate you more and not neglect you or take you for granted because i know that COP should be central to everything i do in my practice as after all it is 50...no.1. 

What did i just write?...

Anyway yeah so Its that time again where i need to now try and focus on an area to research and base my COP project/essay on. Last year i took a while to get settled on a solid theme and i ended up on the political caricature and ended up doing a caricature project doing mickey takes of David Cameron and a certain President Trump....:O :'(

Since i was stuck on thinking of something this time around i thought back to some words of wisdom from Teresa from my tutorial, which was 'do something that fires you up'. I loved this purely for the fact that it only makes sense when you think about it because why would you pour effort into something that your not invested in. So from that i felt that it made sense to me personally to base it around music however i was very skeptical of doing this and wasn't sure if i could do a project on music like this so i felt i needed words of reassurance in that sense. 

After having a really good discussion with Patrick who is also a great lover of music and has ties within the industry i have found that it is more than acceptable to do a project which is revolved around music. There is obviously certain constraints which need to be abide by the COP ways of working such as obviously relating it through illustration and how it has to be focused within one of the areas of Social, Cultural, Political etc. Despite all this talk about love of music i am the first to admit there is a lot i don't know about music and a lot i haven't listened to maybe compared to other people however i certainly know enough to make it my passion. I am interested in exploring the idea of 'controversy in music' and the idea of how new waves are created almost like a societal and cultural revolt among the people. One quick and easy example is when Elvis Presley came on the scene and did something as simple as when he 'shook his hips' it caused a bit of an earthquake and rock and roll despite already been a thing it took off and Elvis was the catalyst to this. Through discussion with Patrick we came to a conclusion that it had to be focused into a certain area and one certain possibility could be through the medium of Television. Certain moments which have sparked something within the people who were watching the tv at that moment.

A moment such as David Bowie performing 'Starman' in 1972 with The Spiders of Mars and how he did something as innocent as putting his arm round Mick Ronson the bands guitarists and that sparked a certain uproar as it was deemed controversial because for the time for two men to do something as simple as that it was kind of revolutionary and was liberating for the younger viewers of the time who felt they could come to terms with their sexuality. This all stemmed from them 3 minutes in which bowie performed which is also said to be the moment that shot him to stardom. This will be discussed more in detail for sure in another post at some point and i cant wait to do so.  

OUIL 401 Context of Practice - End of module evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL401 Context of Practice	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Josh Atkinson

1.     What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? In terms of development of my skills I am a bit sceptical on what exactly I have developed. I have at times demonstrated the ability to conduct my own research and a self constructed project but for the most part I have struggled a lot with creating my own ideas for what basis my visual work would take. I suppose I developed the skill of independent research in that respect and certainly towards the end of this module I have conducted relevant and appropriate research in order to gain materials which would help develop ideas all be it not very many of them.
2.     What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes? I have not really considered many types of methods of research but I suppose the use of internet has been the main source for me. I think this is because there are not a lot of useful sources to do with my subject of satire and caricatures in the form of books and it is a very common thing instead to find on the internet. I have found particularly towards the end where I had focused on ‘attacking’ Donald Trump that there were many aspects I could research through the internet, as it is a current event and would not be detailed in a book. Searching for caricaturists and taking inspiration from them is something that I would say has been a major factor in informing my practical outcomes. YouTube has also been a major source of my research and inspiration for the outcomes as there are many videos, which are in a way a satirical attack on Donald Trump.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Like I previously stated I can’t really identify an immediate strength as such however through my later development I believe I have developed an ability to demonstrate my own satirical tone of voice just as the people I have taken inspiration from have done. As many political satirists have done they have locked down on a certain target and demonstrated their disliking to them or their policies, so in that respect I suppose I could say that especially for the theme of my project I have developed the ability or shown the strength to be able to get into the mind-set of the caricaturist and understand what there motive is, which may seem obvious but I believe there is a certain credibility to it.
4.     What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? Certainly a lack of research and informed ideas. I have constantly felt lost and not knowing what I was meant to be doing throughout this project despite getting guidance from peers and tutors. As much as I don’t like to say it I have shown a weakness of neglecting the work in this module for the work in my other modules which does mean a weakness I can identify is my commitment to the research and with that my lack of own personal development through the informed ways of thinking.
5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module? ·       Plan more – Make lists, just basically do whatever I need to become more organised which will mean I shall avoid being stressed in being behind. ·       Take more inspiration through my research – I have often felt that I have not known where to go next because of my lack of research and I recognise that I should embrace the idea of being inspired and influenced by what research you do. ·       Blog more often – this way I shall be constantly reflecting on what I am doing and will move along more in my ‘journey’ of the research. This should also help with motivation and the fact of enjoying what I’m doing. ·       To try and experiment more – This is something I always identify with myself as I usually don’t think about experimenting enough, I should recognise the fact that through doing this different outcomes and ideas can be produced that otherwise would not exist. ·       Do not neglect COP – I have most of the time not been motivated with doing cop because of the other workload however I should instead recognise that it is a vital part in progressing and can actually help inform ideas with the rest of my work.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					X
Punctuality					X
Motivation			X
Commitment		X
Quantity of work produced			X
Quality of work produced			X
Contribution to the group			X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Visual Response - Presentation

Final Essay - Studio Brief 1 - Issuu file

Baby trump - character work

Continuing with the baby/juvenile theme of Mr Trump with this caricature. I have already mentioned about this drawing in a previous post so i won't go into too much detail about it. The main use of Satire in this caricature is the caption of 'Next I'm gonna build a wall' which is a dig at the fact that that is what he plans on doing if he becomes president, which is something i still can't believe. 

I am pleased with the fact that even though i have depicted him as a baby i still really want to punch him, which i guess means I've done a good job on caricaturing his face in particular. 

I decided to take the drawing and make it appear somewhat more 'finalised' and just generally to polish it up as kind of an outcome. Adding a coloured background, as simple as that may be really works and just gives another element to a drawing that would have an otherwise plain background. 

Donald is full of shit - character work

This is a drawing i have done off the back of my character work on Donald Trump. Just like the other one i have done it as a representation of him as a baby to highlight how i feel he is incredibly juvenile. It also speaks my mind because i feel he is literally full of shit!

The speech bubble has him saying ' I told you it was going to be huge' which is a satirical comment on what is in the nappy as well as the fact that that it is one of his favourite sayings, because annoyingly he says the word huge a lot.  

I feel it is worth pointing out that the most recent caricatures i have done are a great deal more cartoony than the way in which someone like Gerald Scarfe might work in but that is because i have put my own voice into my own caricatures as any good satirist does.