Sir Peter Blake was born on the 25th of June 1932. He is an English pop artist who has created an immense amount of iconic British artwork. Of this work he is best known for co-creating the cover artwork for the Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other best known works include the cover of the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, and the Live Aid concert poster. Peter Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award which is designed by a different artist every year. As one of the best known British pop artists, Peter Blake is considered to be a prominent figure in the pop art movement as a whole. His paintings show his great interest in images from popular culture which he incorporates into his collages. His artwork has been so important for British culture, so much so that In 2002 he was knighted for his services to art. His chaotic aesthetic is something which I believe relates very closely to the work which I am intending to produce for this project, and therefore believe that to refer to Peter Blake is relevant.
Below are some examples of Blake’s work which I have spoken about…
Below I have embedded a 16 minute video which I believe to be very interesting, in which artist Damien Hirst visits Peter Blake’s studio. This video is an easy watch and I believe is shows Blake’s work process and work space and also allows you to have a second opinion and voice on what is discussed from Hirst.
Thomas Florschuetz is a German photographer who was born in 1957. His work has featured in numerous exhibitions at key galleries and museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig (GfZK) and the Galerie m Bochum. Thomas Florschuetz’s work has been offered at auction multiple times. Florschuetz’s images of the human body are quite abstract and show unnatural expressions.
Stuart Pearson wright
Stuart Pearson Wright went to school in Eastbourne, Sussex and graduated from Slade School of Fine Art, University College of London (1995–1999), receiving a B.A. in Fine Art. He is best known for his irreverent and detailed figurative portraits.
Inspired by John Baldessari, and his use of circles, we conducted a game; flipping a coin and cutting around where the coin landed on the photographs we were given. We then experimented with both of the photographs and the cut outs, firstly, using a black piece of paper under the first photograph that we have cut into, allowing the black paper to fill the empty cut out areas, this created a similar effect to John Baldessari’s work and his use of block coloured circles. We then also experimented with the second photograph, combining the two, using the cut out circles from the first photograph and sticking them to the second, placing them where they originally would have been on the first, creating more of an abstract effect.
In response to John Baldessari’s ‘Throwing three balls in the air to get a straight line’, we attempted to recreate similar photographs using tennis balls.
For these photographs, we experimented with movement and had the subject try and dodge having their photograph taken. This experiment resulted in a series of blurry photographs that suggest that the subject is moving quickly, this is evident from how blurry some part of the photographs and the movement in the hair.
Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works were a significant element of the pop art movement. He explores political and social issues by incorporating imagery surrounding these issues in multimedia collages. His aesthetic and visual style of producing work is one that I particularly have a large interest in, and have taken inspiration from hence trying to reflect this in my own artwork before. This interest is partly also to do with the exploration of social issues within artwork which is something I like to subtly incorporate into my work.
As you can see, Rauschenberg’s artwork is also closely linked with my initial ideas and he definitely explores aesthetic chaos and layering. When looking at his work it takes a long time to see everything and every time you look at his work you notice a different aspect or element of the piece.
This post is a display of 15 chaotic photo edits which I have produced in response to the photographer and film-maker Dexter Navy. In order to create these I have used imagery which I have taken over time from various countries (China, Italy, France, England etc…), some of my artwork and a couple of pieces of imagery found in newspapers. I used double exposures and high contrasts in order to form the layered chaotic aesthetic. I also embraced quite a low resolution aesthetic which is something I explored in my last coursework project and surprisingly found that it adds value to the images whereas I originally presumed it would take away from the quality of the images.
Dexter Navy is a filmmaker and photographer. Across both lens based mediums his aim is to produce work that is ”psychedelic, cinematic and at all times holds an authentic feeling.” Dexter’s career began when he was 18 years old as i-D Magazine stumbled across his photographs which he used to post on Tumblr, and then they asked him to start shooting for them. From there his creative career has massively grown, he now has a very respected portfolio of work which is prominent in modern fashion and music culture. From working on video production for big name artists in the music industry to producing magazine covers and advertising campaigns for world renowned fashion brands.
Just to name a few of the artists and brands who Dexter has worked with: Dior, A$AP Rocky, Kendall Jenner, Louis Vuitton, Playboy Carti, Converse, Kanye West, MAINS, topman, Alexander Wang and many many more…
I believe that aesthetically Dexter Navy is a very relevant creator to look at in terms of how I intend to go about this project, this is because his chaotic and psychedelic visual tendencies are something which I will take inspiration from and use as a reference when producing my work.
Below are just a few links to music videos produced by Dexter Navy…
In my coursework I looked at how photographer Lewis Bush had put together an article explaining how breaking the rules of photography can be a great way of working as a photographer. The article covers how breaking the rules of photography can be a way of finding new ideas and exploring areas of the creative subject which you would not otherwise, if you stuck to the rules. He goes on to talk about how the best ideas aren’t clearly visible and in order to find these new and innovative creative ideas, photographers must break the rules and take things to the next level. The article covers 8 rules within photography that can be broken in order to achieve this, these 8 rules are the rules of: Objectivity, Audience, Manipulation, Reality, Technicality, Ownership, Camera and The rule of rule breaking. Of these 8 rules I have decided that I will like to explore the rule of manipulation.
Within the rule of manipulation sub-section of the article Bush looks into the photographer Alice Wielinga who breaks this rule within her work, and relates well to my initial ideas of this exam project. I took a particular interest in her work after seeing it for the first time as I found that the aesthetics of it were very individual and intriguing. Here are some examples of her work, the first of which has some context attached by caption…
From series: North Korea – A Life between Propaganda and Reality. It is April 2013. While the Western media follows Kim Jong-Un’s steps during his missile test launches, I travel 2,500 kilometres through the North Korean interior. Once arrived, the images I know from my advance research correspond with the scenes my guides proudly show me during their propaganda tour. But seeing these scenes with my own eyes, I gradually discover that behind everything they present to me, a different reality is hidden. While I listen to my guides talking about what invaluable contributions the greatly admired leaders made to their country, I drive through a landscape that looks haggard and desolate. During my journey I collect propaganda material and take photographs of the reality I encounter. This material is the basis for my multimedia project ‘North Korea, a Life between Propaganda and Reality’. With the found propaganda images and my own photographs I compose a story that deconstructs the North Korean propaganda.
As Bush’s article talks about, this specific series of Wielinga’s work is executed using a combination of photographs from her visit to North Korea and North Korean propaganda. The combination of these two visual matters creates a brilliant juxtaposition which is very effective at putting across her political points.
Here is a section of Lewis Bush’s article, covering how Wielinga produced this project, including a couple of quotes from the photographer herself…
‘ When Dutch photographer Wielinga traveled to North Korea, she found her ability to photograph in the secretive state severely curtailed. “I felt that, with mere documenting, I wasn’t able to tell the story as I was experiencing it,” she says of the stage-managed excursions to which journalist-visitors are subjected. Her response was to digitally merge her photographs of official North Korea propaganda with her own images of workers and decaying factories. “I see propaganda and reality as two sides of the same coin,” she says. “Propaganda is an essential part of everyday life in North Korea, and because of that a reality in itself.” ‘
Aside of the work that was looked at in Bush’s article, Wielinga has produced many photo-montages which I think are a lot more experimental and chaotic, relating to my initial ideas for this project. Here are some of those photo-montages which I am referencing…
