Integrated Theory & Practice - Procuctions and Outcomes
Chosen prinicples - Interpretation & Delivery
This weeks itap lecture was all about artistic production and outcomes. One of the priciples I am going to talk about is ‘Interpretation.’ How do illustrators amplify the meaning within a simple message? Meaning how do they make people know it was them, who they were and when they were doing it? If a number of different people from a number of different times and cultures try to interpret the same message, you will get differences. The creatives are all influenced by their time, their culture and the place that they live. Technological advances will also have an effect. To give you an example I will use Snow White. Originally written by the Brother Grim, later to be interpreted by the Walt Disney corporation. The first group of illustrations below were all created within about 30 years of each other. As you can see from the Theodor Hosemann lithograph to the George Soper Lithograph there are noticeable differences. All of these groups are Lithograph prints as at this time lithography was relatively new and people wanted to experiment with it. As time goes on in the images you can see an increase in detail, from criss cross hashes on trees of the first image to moss detailing on the third. Colour intensity also dramatically increases, from dull beiges and browns to vibrant red and yellows, representing the discovery of new ways of creating a lithograph print. If you look at the huntsman in the first image and compare it to him in the fourth, their clothing, hair and overall appearance is distinctly different. This relates to the change in fashions over that 25 year period and proves how society has a direct effect on an artists representation of something. The target audience may also change, although this has always been a fairy tale story, the maturity of some of the prints may suggest it was aimed at adults rather than the now present child audience. As the times go on, in my opinion, the images seem to catch a younger and younger audience.
Left - right: Theodor Hosemann 1847, Anonnymous 1852, Franz Joltner 1905, George Soper 1915
Looking at the second group of illustrations they are distinctly different. The first, an original poster for the 1937 Walt Disney film, lithography has no longer been used, Walt Disney has chosen to illustrate this piece in a new, yet as we see it, traditional way. There has been a massive leap in technical skills and materials as the image has crisp lines, bright colours, a massive array of colours compared to the Franz Joltner image above and it’s a film poster! Showing that leap in technology. You can also see changes in the characters, specifically the dwarfs. If you take the dwarfs on the Disney poster and compare it to the second image above, they are no longer similar looking dressed all in black, Disney has given them a new form, cute, cheeky, little people who will please the new audience, families with small children. They now all have personalities and clothing matched to them. For the second image in this group Disney hasn’t really changed much, the dwarfs are the same form but the main difference again, is that leap in technology. Without this leap and the computer generated graphics used in this second poster, this and the former would look near enough the same. Finally we look at the illustration for the NYDailyNews. The film has been adapted to ‘Ho White’, but if we concentrate on the physical differences you can see although they have used a traditional illustration, the characters are very life like in their mannerisms and detailing, something that may not have come along if it was for films such as Shrek, which is still a cartoon but the characters and sets are very much life like.
Left - right: Walt Disney 1937, Walt Disney 2009, Anonymous 2009
The second principle I am going to talk about is that of a works ‘Delivery’. This simply means what platform and/or media is this piece of work? There are so many different types that you could chose from, billboards, posters, art instillations, poetry, fashion, editorial, the list is forever long. It is never just a coincidence that your idea becomes either a poster or an art instillation, it’s very much thought about in the design process, designed around what platform you intend. An example of a creative that uses many different platforms is Tracey Emin, not an original choice I know but most people are familiar with her work. The first two examples below come in the form of an instillation, The Bed, a very famous piece of Emin’s work and The Tent. With The Tent, I believe that it is more about the work inside than the actual tent. I think that Emin decided to use this platform as it encourages the viewer to enter the tent, a small enclosed space, perhaps to give the viewer and the work a feel of intimacy and closeness, something you don’t often get with a painting simply hanging on the wall. Emin clearly thought bout what she wanted the viewer to feel when viewing her art when thinking about which platform to use.
The Bed
The Tent
The other two examples below are of some of Emin’s painitngs. I believe she used this media and not say a poster or an editorial post as she just wanted to express herself. The roughness and subject of the piece’s are very personal, and although the world will still be able to see it, it’s not over exposed if it was say on a billboard with an un-appreciating eye driving past.
Like the reasoning above, I believe that is why Emin uses the poem as a platform for the piece below. Again, something very personal, perhaps Emin couldn’t express what she wanted using images and a poem felt more suited.
The way in which we decide what platform to use has many different variables, it may be something that a client has specifically asked for, but it may also be something extremely personal.
Bibliography of images (top-bottom-left-right):
Image 1: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9j2jxPDhltePWlr4zT8KhLyA2RthDIPEAiFBp8uDmZoL8-KIqzW6D4GRrpKKogCcUsMrVQnkmZwJ25SBTmCvQgxhtZhyphenhyphenQtkUkC7vAAhHz2Npj1s8ePRAxQkb4yAcuIe-bJ0dj8XETpn7G/s1600-h/SnowWhite_Hosemann.jpg
Image 2: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_1.png
Image 3: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2s21jcsnownMBgHz98M83HtQiYFyBVDluMYwHa4718JfHfgvE2caF9wfeNshlgfehE6Nt8RKVFBN4L-s6HBdh2IZc4PhVCzu15BsPBbSHfhe-9VZChGbgOXhLpy5i8iL3DDNLd5mcuFJ/s1600-h/SnowWhite_Juttner.jpg
Image 4: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVQuUmwlYKhfqXncmKAA3j3rIpHJzT0T4iO8jM1lv8g1twYuEZjmAJmZ9DBN9FuKv3V9KgJxEIm1mwmHU-6-JXDopaFM3PVu3ISh5S3rMGEtZkmiO1k5qm57G7N-2SMZi8KrI_VZfV2g2/s1600-h/SnowWhite_Soper.jpg
Image 5: http://www.davekehr.com/?p=417&cpage=1
Image 6: http://www.disneylicious.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=273
Image 7: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/10/16/2009-10-16_beer_ad_showing_ho_white_in_bed_with_seven_dwarves_.html
Image 8: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/imgs/artists/emin-tracey/tracey-emin-my-bed.jpg
Image 9: http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_424046260_129602_tracey-emin.jpg
Image 11: http://artobserved.com/artimages/2009/05/tracey-emin-masturbating.jpg
Image 12: http://static.royalacademy.org.uk/images/width360/tracey-emin-red-girl-2007-1981.jpg
Image 13: http://www.rca.ac.uk/UploadedImages/Tracey%20Emin.jpg
