Power Assignment: Sweet Revenge

I am trying to show coercive power, which is based on person’s expectation that s/he will be punished by person in authority if they do not conform to expectation(s).

To a manager, the sweetest revenge is to fire the employee that doesn’t behave the way he/she wants the employee to behave, because that means that the employee is now jobless and poor. ^_^ 

The video Sexism, Strength and Dominance: Masculinity in Disney Films, is about the portrayal of masculinity offered in Disney films. It said that Disney films often give an implicit message about the perpetuating women as objects. For example, movies like The Little Mermaid tell young boys that they should view women as objects of pleasure, or as servants to please them. It also mentioned about how chiseled body means physical prowess. Any other body types are considered an outcast. In fact, the stronger, more violent one dominates in Disney movies. Characters who refuse to fight is considered pitiful. The fight between the main character and the villain is often considered the most important scene in the movie. Lastly, the maker of this video feels that if Disney steps outside of these stereotypes, “it could be a first stepping stone in breaking a cycle which leaves many boys feeling physically inadequate and emotionally detached.”

Gender stereotypes can victimize people who do not fit society’s ideal of gender because they are often being misunderstood. I feel that people often judge wrongly about people who does not “act like their gender.” For example, cooking is usually considered a women thing, just how it is portrayed in the Mulan. But that doesn’t make a man “less manly” if he cooks. In fact, it should make a man “more manly” because he is able to take care of himself and be independent, which is thought to be an idea characteristic of a male. But just because women usually do it, cooking is seen as if it’s a servant’s job and not something that a man should do. Another example is how women who does sports are considered unladylike, because women are supposed to “sit there and be pretty.” But that doesn’t even make sense if we associate dancing with women. You move around in dancing just as much as you do in sports and they are both physical activities. So why is it that sports is considered unladylike if dancing is considered ladylike? Just because more men do sports and more women dance? People who doesn’t fit in with the society’s idea of gender shouldn’t be victimized. Sadly, the society tend to think that whatever doesn’t fit in with the norm must be wrong, when that is not the case.

Who defines what is “male” and what is “female” anyways? I think that media is the most important factor in defining gender roles. Since the media has become an ever more powerful force in shaping the world’s perception of itself nowadays, it’s hard to maintain a unique identity and self-understanding apart from media influence. The media does this by reducing a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations. This means that the media is always showing the same kinds of people for a certain role, like how people who study hard in school (i.e. the nerds) always wear glasses and has a weird personality. And what makes the media show a certain group a certain way in the first place? I think it’s because we overtime exaggerate what we think is good. For example, being tall is good because you can reach more places and play sports easier. So as a result, the media exaggerates height. Good-looking women are always wearing super high heels, and while good-looking men are often very high, or are made to look very high (e.g. by having short back-up dancers). Because we want to strive for perfectionism, we exaggerate features like height. At the same time, it makes us form oversimplified connections between height and other good characteristics (like appearance). This is because sometimes these things can happen at the same time, but that doesn’t mean one causes the other. Having a high height does not cause good appearance. So being a model does not mean you are good-looking.

We as artists can break these stereotypes in our art by doing the opposite, which is showing diversities in a group. This means not using the same kind of people for the same role all the time. Though I think this video holds some truth, I actually think that Disney is actually making an effort to break away from gender stereotypes. For example, Aladdin was hardly muscular yet he’s the hero. Tiana, the princess in The Princess and the Frog, is an African-American girl. So if we want to break these stereotypes, we can also do the same thing. A princess doesn’t always have to have skin as white as snow. Women can be just as “manly” as men like in Mulan. By doing so, this can challenge the viewer to see a group in a different way. 

I completed the weapons, religion, and age tests. All of them said that there were too many errors to determine my results. Then I did the age test again and the result said that I have no automatic preference of old and young people.

I somehow feel that this test is very inaccurate and does not represent one’s implicit stereotypes. For example, one might get confused with the button pressing at first so it would take longer for the first half than the second. So this doesn’t automatically mean that it’s because one prefers the category in the second half of the test that makes one respond quicker in the second part. Moreover, why is it that some old people pictures in the test are taken when the old person is tensed? And why is it that the young people pictures are taken when they are in a neutral mood? This test itself is misrepresenting old and young people. Young people is equally capable of being tensed like an old person, and an old person is equally capable of being in a neutral mood like a young person. So is the test trying to get us to prefer young people over old subliminally? Also, I find that the colours were confusing me at first, because I see this bright lime green and it makes me think of happy things. I respond to color faster than the word itself. If they want to reduce the number of errors in the test, they should use a neutral color like white so people won’t focus on the colour instead.

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We can challenge stereotypes through photography and film. Like all forms of art, there is always a message that the artist is trying to convey in the photo/video, and those messages can be about changing a fixed mental image that is believed to be typical of members of a given group. Countering the stereotyped views can help develop our understanding of the complexity of humanity. I believe the best way to do so is by expanding understanding of different groups, and showing appreciation for the diversity within the group. The more we know about them, the less we simplify them, because we know that there’s more to it. It’s also helpful to have a story to go with the photo/video. By telling other people about your experience, it might encourage people to see a certain group in a different perspective. Even by playing with the different principles and elements of design in the photo/video can help. For example, it will make people realize that certain colours don’t necessarily have to go with certain groups.

Critical thinking and analysis can help deter stereotypes in our own works. Sometimes, an artist might use the same colour or same shots for a certain group and might not even know it. By analyzing things like that, it can make us realize how the photographer feels towards a certain group, so that whenever we see their work, we can keep in mind what kind of bias the artist has, which can help us stay away from stereotyping that certain group ourselves. If we do not critically analyze other people’s works, we might run the risk of using stereotypes in our own works. Since these preconceived notions are so well learned, they can automatically pop into our mind without willful control or even awareness of their activation, if we don’t think about it enough. How can we avoid stereotypes if we don’t analyze and think about whether other artists are stereotypical or not? If we see a stereotype-free artist, we need to figure out what worked to keep his work stereotype-free. If we see a work with stereotypes in it, we need to figure out what didn’t work. That way, we can learn from it and include it in our own works.

This episode focused on 3 artists who approached the idea of transformation.

Yinka Shonibare transformed fabrics and newspaper/magazine clippings using an Xacto knife. He cut shapes out with it and then made it into a whole new piece by putting the cut pieces together. I like his pieces, in particular in Black Gold II because he effectively showed the message of how the western countries took oil from countries like Nigeria. I also liked how he literally showed how the people taking the land in Africa by not giving them heads in his piece Scrambling for Africa. He effectively used vantage point to abstract subject and stress detail. He mostly used vantage points far from the object, and shot from a eye-level position, which is a normal human’s perspective. His works are rich and multilayered. He approached the idea of transformation with a clear symbolism. The viewer doesn’t need to stare at his work for a long time to understand what it means. His work mostly has to do with Africa. 

Cindy Sherman transformed herself into other people. I liked the photo where she transformed herself into a clown. She wants the viewer to look at it and ask, “why are you a clown?” And in a sense, the world is full of clowns, hence she also had a photo where everyone was a clown. Her vantage point is mostly focused on the upper body, which focuses the viewer’s attention on what she is wearing and her expression. She does not give any preconceived notion how her characters came to be. She wants the viewer to interpret the character’s backstory. It was also interesting to see her transform herself using make-up and fake teeth noses etc. 

Paul McCarthy transformed space. He looked at settings of videos and installations as spaces where he has to transform so that he can deliver his message. Looking at his pieces, they were mostly shot from a low angle far away. I think that this is a very effective vantage point to use because by using low angle you can exaggerate the size of the foreground and makes the background smaller. Thus, the viewer can better focus on his sculptures etc. 

As you can see, an artist is influenced by what he did in his earlier years. Yinka is influenced by his hometown Nigeria. Cindy is initially influenced by magazines. Paul is influenced by his earlier school projects. 

They all had different intentions in their work. Yinka intended to show how western countries affect Africa (e.g. taking oil, land grab etc.). He also tried to show the idea of paralyzation in some of his pieces. Cindy intended to show that everyone acts differently depending on who they are (e.g. people waiting to be painted have a sense of boredom in them). Paul McCarthy’s intention was to show themes like family tyrrany. He also never intended to satisfy the audience, which he thinks is a responsibility to the idea.

The act of transformation differs depending on which medium is being used. Approaching the idea of transformation using sculptures are often very represental because sculpture itself is an imitation of life. For example, Yinka likes to imitate the notion of class in his sculptures. Thus, sculptures are good for showing subjects such as climate change, economic change etc. Approaching the idea of transformation using photography are often very comparative because we often take what is in the photo and compare it to our lives, since photography is more realistic than sculpture and photo manipulation allows us to change the photo to whatever we want. So we look at photography and we often pick out what’s changed, how is it different than what we normally see…etc. Approaching the idea of transformation using videos are often very dynamic because videos are like a bunch of moving photographs in a sense. And it’s best for showing different perspectives, or doing some transformation that’s action related. 

These artists all incorporated their own bodies in their work. The reason for this, as Yinka Shonibare said in this episode, is that “most artists are self-obsessed.” So he used his own body to express what he wants to express. 

These artists also used a wide variety of personas to communicate their ideas. This is because sometimes personas communicate more effectively than the artist. I believe this is the same reason why we like to read stories written in first person. We like it because gives the audience a more personal perspective. It also adds variety, in my opinion, so the viewer won’t get bored. And we often have preconceived ideas about certain personas. So when Cindy Sherman photographed herself as personas, we didn’t get bored. And the different preconceived ideas we have of her characters allows us to better understand her message of beauty, aging, and self-image.

Spring Morning Coffee ♥ Summer Afternoon Tea ♥ Autumn Evening Wine ♥ Winter Midnight Vodka ♥

Transformation assignment #1: Create a series of images (3-5) on the theme of transformation. Each of your final images must convey a unique visual message that works together with the other images in your series.

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For this assignment I decided to focus on the change through time, because I feel that this is a really relatable topic for everyone. Since we as human beings live in four dimensions, we all know what change in time is like. Changes in time affects how we feel, see, and what we experience as well as what we do. The most obvious one being the changes in season. We often associate different things with different season; blooming flowers for spring, beaches and ocean for summer, fallen leaves for autumn, and snow for winter. Each season is made up of many many days. And in a day there are many many stages. The main stages of a day are morning, afternoon, evening, and midnight (which marks a new day and then the cycle repeats itself again). We do different things in different times of the day. In the morning we want to stay alert and be focused on our work, so we have a cup of coffee. When we are done our work in the afternoon, we get to relax and maybe have a cup of tea with our colleagues. In the evening, we spend time with our family and we drink wine with our loved ones, until our friends come at midnight with bottles of vodka to party all night long =). Of course no one drinks coffee, tea, wine, vodka all day every day, but it’s symbolic. And there can be many interpretations of it. But since this series is not limited to a particular group of audience, I think it will create impact and interest to the viewer. I’ve also edited the glass cups into hourglasses to further enhance the subject of time change.

The message I am trying to convey with my series is that we need to appreciate every single moment in our life. For example, some people say that they hate winter because it’s so cold. But instead of complaining, why not embrace what winter has to offer? It’s true that winter is cold (in fact it’s freezing at times), but don’t you agree that there’s also this enjoyment you get seeing snow dancing in the air and then landing on the ground to create a cozy white blanket over everything? Some people say that they hate the mornings because they hate getting up. But if they actually got up they might start to notice that morning is just as good as any other stages of the day because it’s quiet, and allows you to think because your head is clearer in the morning. Every moment has something special in it that no other time can offer. What I wanted to show with the glass with liquids in it is that instead of looking at  the glass half empty, look at the glass half full. And if you combine all the liquidy parts you’ll notice that it’s actually one full cup of liquid =). My favourite part is that seasons and stages of the day go in a cycle, so you can flip the hourglass around (using your imagination :P) and start experiencing each season or stage all over again :D.

I experimented with different elements, principles of design, and techniques to help me create a dynamic composition. In order to create unity I have to have a common quality in meaning or a suggested idea, I decided to add glass objects (wine bottle, tea jug…etc.) along with the hourglass in each photo since they have similar textures. I made the viewer’s eyes move from the top to the bottom because the liquid pouring and the liquid leaking to the bottom of the hourglass almost creates a vertical line which suggests movement. There is rhythm in each photo as well (e.g. repetition of flowers, clouds, leaves, and vodka bottles). I achieve the right proportion by shrinking down the size of the hourglass and I tried to make this series interesting by not necessarily putting the hourglass in the same distance from the viewer all the time from all 4 pictures (using the element of space; more detail in front and less detail in the back). For example, the hourglass in Winter Midnight Vodka is closer to the viewer than the hourglass in Summer Afternoon Tea. This creates variety. I also tried to make the series more interesting by placing the title at different places. If all the elements are given relatively equal weight, there will be no emphasis. So I put the hourglass in the center, and since it’s pink, it provides contrast as well (difference in colour, value, and texture). 

While working on this assignment I faced several challenges. Since the series looks better if they are all the same size, it’s kinda hard to find good background pictures that all fit into that size. Autumn Evening Wine, for example, was actually a really small and it’s landscape oriented. So I needed to fill the top part with something that won’t look too out of place since it’s empty. As a result, I learned to use the patch tool (which I knew about but I didn’t use much before this assignment). This tool helped me to take parts of the picture and match it to the part I want to “repair.” I did this several times and I have many layers of this on top of each other but in the end I am glad it worked out. Another challenge I faced was that because I forgot to wipe the glass after each shot, there were many water drops on the glass, I solved that problem by using the patch tool as well. Another challenge was choosing which final version to use, since I made different versions of the final product with different colorization. It was hard to choose just 4 because they all have something I like in them. In the end I decided to choose these 4 as my final image. I hope I’ve made the right choice. 

Overall, I think I’ve created a successful series of images. There is always room for improvement in art and photography but I feel like this series is interesting and creates impact to the viewer. It’s also successful because I have tried to incorporate many things I’ve learned in the past from art teachers, and it turned out well in my opinion. When I look at this series I can quickly understand what it’s trying to say to me. So I hope the same goes for the viewer as well.