Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley

3. Kehinde Wiley Count Potocki, 2008 oil on canvas, 274.3 x 274.3cm

4. Kehinde Wiley Support Army and Look after People, 2007 oil on canvas, 258.4 x 227.3cm

Kahinde Wiley is a Gay American based painter born in Los Angeles, who has an international reputation. Wiley lives and practices between Beijing and Brooklyn.


This weeks ALVC class focuses on the Postmodern theme "INTERTEXTUALITY", re-read Extract 1 The death of the author on page 39 of your ALVC books and respond to the oil paintings of Kehinde Wiley. 

1. Find a clear definition of Intertextuality and quote it accurately on your blog using the APA referencing system. Use your own words to explain the definition more thoroughly. 

'Relating to or deriving meaning from the interdependent ways in which texts stand in relation to each other' (American Heritage Dictionary.(2009)). This definition is referring to when something that pre-exists is referenced in another piece of work, an example of this is the majority of the cutscenes in the Family Guy t.v. show.

2. Research Wiley's work and write a paragraph that analyzes how we might make sense of his work. Identify intertextuality in Wiley's work. 

Wiley creates his work with a combination of traditional and contemporary style. The focus of his work is 'young, urban black men,' which he combines with 'juxtaposing stylistic references.' These stylistic references are made up of a combination of period styles such as 'French Rococo, Islamic Architecture and West African textile design to urban hip-hop.' Intertextuality can be seen in Wiley's work in the referencing of these period styles, and in the subject matter of his work. For example, in the red painting of the youth carrying a banner is likely to reference gangs in african american culture, due to the fact that the subject is almost completely dressed in red clothing on a red background, suggesting that he is affilliated with 'Bloods' which is a street gang that originated in the lower-class areas of Los Angeles.

3. Wiley's work relates to next weeks Postmodern theme "PLURALISM" . Read page 46 and discuss how the work relates to this theme.

Wiley's work relates to the concept of pluralism in the sense that he clashes two different socio-economic levels. He paints African american subjects, which at there time were almost all part of a lower class, but the way he paints them is in a style that royalty and other members of the high society would have been painted in the Renaissance.

4. Comment on how Wiley's work raises questions around social/cultural hierarchies , colonisation, globalisation, stereotypes and the politics which govern a western worldview. 

By painting images of young, black men from lower-class backgrounds as if they were aristocratic, he raises his view that everyone in the world has the same potential, no matter what their background or race is. This high class position has more often than not been filled by white people, and is still somewhat stereotypically considered how it is, Wiley is also removing this thought that people often have.
5. Add some reflective comments of your own, which may add more information that
you have read during your research.

I like Wiley's work because I find the style he uses quite interesting. I especially like his painting of the man wearing red, because the viewpoint that the man has been painted from makes him look intimidating, but also very powerful and wealthy, which is what Wiley set out to achieve.

http://www.cretique.com/archives/4012

http://www.deitch.com/artists/sub.php?artistId=11

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/intertextual

http://www.artnet.com/awc/kehinde-wiley.html

Week 3- Hussein Chalayan

Chalayan is an artist and designer, working in film, dress and installation art. Research Chalayan’s work, and then consider these questions in some thoughtful reflective writing.

1. Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996) , are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer. What are your personal responses to these works? Are Afterwords and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?

Not all clothing is fashion, so what makes fashion fashion?

My personal response to the first work, Burka, is that I don't like it. I don't like it because I feel that Chalayan's use of the burka represents the oppression over woman that the muslim religion supports. I like Afterwords, because I find the composition of the work quite interesting and edgy. I like how the almost primitive look that the bottom half of the dress has juxtaposes the sophisticated styling of the upper half.

In my opinion, Burka is art, because Chayalan is trying to make a statement, and that Afterwords is fashion, because although that too has a statement being made, it has also been designed to be aesthetically pleasing, which is a quality I believe is crucial for fashion to have.

Hussein Chalayan, Burka, 1996

                                                                 Hussein Chalayan, Afterwords, 2000

2. Chalayan has strong links to industry. Pieces like The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose(2006) are made in collaboration with, and paid for by, commercial business; in these cases, a vodka company and a crystal manufacturer. How does this impact on the nature of Chalayan’s work? Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?

Some people may view Chalayan as a sellout for collaborating with corporations, however I feel that it has just given his work a different angle. The meaning of the work does change when it is used to sell products, because rather than being there purely for visual impact or to make a statement, it is also persuading consumers to purchase the product. I believe that his work is still art even in this context. another example of an artist doing this is Annie Leibovitz, a lot of her photography is purely shot for the purpose of advertising products, but it still has value as art, such as her photograph of Kieth Richards taken for Louis Vuitton.

3. Chalayan’s film Absent Presence screened at the 2005 Venice Biennale. It features the process of caring for worn clothes, and retrieving and analysing the traces of the wearer, in the form of DNA. This work has been influenced by many different art movements; can you think of some, and in what ways they might have inspired Chalayan’s approach? 

"A video installation telling a story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology. The film questions whether the extent to which identities can adapt to new environments." Just from reading this synopsis of Chayalan's film Absent Presence, I think that it has drawn influence from modernism - which was a very science oriented movement - in that it covers themes such as genetics and biology.

by m

Hussein Chalayan, still from Absent Presence, 2005 (motion picture)

4. Many of Chalayan’s pieces are physically designed and constructed by someone else; for example, sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works from Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) andBefore Minus Now (2000) fashion ranges. In fashion design this is standard practice, but in art it remains unexpected. Work by artists such as Jackson Pollock hold their value in the fact that he personally made the painting. Contrastingly, Andy Warhol’s pop art was largely produced in a New York collective called The Factory, and many of his silk-screened works were produced by assistants. Contemporarily, Damien Hirst doesn’t personally build his vitrines or preserve the sharks himself. So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?

I feel that it really depends on what type of art it is. For example, if a painter is asked to paint a highly detailed portrait to the exact specifications they had in their mind, they wouldn't be considered the artist because a large part of the portrait would involving specific skills. On the other hand, artists like Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst have work which involve very unique ideas and creativity that make them special, so even though people like them get other people to create and sometimes even design their work, they are still the ones with the original idea and no one else would think of an artwork like that. Another interesting point is that there are artists like Jackson Pollock, who could have gotten others to splash paint onto a canvas in an almost random  fashion, but he painted his own works, and used a very unique style to do so, even when others try and imitate his style, they never achieve the exact same style as Pollock.

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/home/
http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html 
http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/ 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0768786/
http://designmuseum.org/design/hussein-chalayan
http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/?tag=evolution
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/blogs/art/2010-04-23/hussein-chalayan-beyond-limitations/

Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

 Post-Modernism

This week's ALVC tutorial covers Post-Modernism. Use the ALVC texts and definitions from the internet to define the term and answer the following questions;

1. Define Post-Modernism using 8-10 bullet points that include short quotes.

2. Use a quote by Witcombe (2000) to define the Post-Modern artist.

3. Use the grid on pages 42 and 43 to summarize the list of the features of Post-
Modernity.

4. Use this summary to answer the next two questions.

5. Research Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994)
in order to say what features of the work are Post-Modern.

'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994), Ai Weiwei

 

Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynast Urn.

6. Research British artist Banksy's street art, and analyze the following two works by the artist
to discuss how each work can be defined at Post-Modern.(Use your list from point 6.)

'Flower Riot', Banksy

Los Angeles (2008), Banksy

http://theworldsbestever.com/2008/02/new_banksy_pieces_surface_in_l.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/03/11/how-china-conquered-the-art-world.html

 1.  -  "A rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective, anonymous experience" (http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0242.html, paragraph 5)
- The concept of postmodernism has no "definite terms, boundaries, or absolute truths" (http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm, paragraph 1).
- Postmodernists don't think about things in terms of strictly right and wrong, They believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
- "Postmodernism claims to be the successor to the 17th century enlightenment" (http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm, Para. 6).
- The term is used in philosophy, literature, social sciences, and architechture.
- Postmodernism is has associations with the concept of relativism, which is the idea that "anything goes"
- the term is made up of the root words 'post', which is latin for 'after', and 'modernism' which refers to the modern period. Postmodernism's literal meaning is "after now".
- The concept rejects the idea of a grand narrative.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/#2
http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm
http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0242.html
ALVC book, Pg. 21/22

2. "To the dismay of progressive intellectuals, the ideology of modernism has also become the means by which the values and worldview of the West have been promoted and imposed around the world either through imperial colonialism and economic globalization, or through the ‘conditionalities’ attached to loans granted by the International Monetary Fund, and policies serving Western interests that are forced on developing countries by the World Bank."


http://arthistoryresources.net/modernism/modpostmod.html


3. Postmodernity had a big impact on art and design. Hyperreality is a common feature in postmodern images. Hyperreality seems to be seen as "more powerful" than the original. another aspect of postmodernity is the end of the high class being dominant. For example, popular culture is making its way into the art world, and is being just as accepted as "high class" art.


5. Ai Weiwei is is a Chinese artist and activist. Earlier this year, Weiwei was arrested for no apparent reason. The arrest is thought to be part of the communist party's "crackdown on intellectuals" in china. Ai Weiwei is a postmodernist, and he shows his views through his work. The Han Dynasty urn with Coca-Cola logo is postmodern in that it is a traditional chinese artifact, that has been branded with a western corporation's logo. This represents Colonialism, and economic globalization.


http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37395/ai-weiwei-arrested-in-beijing-prompting-international-outcry/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei#2011_arrest
http://arthistoryresources.net/modernism/modpostmod.html


6. Banksy is a Bristol based street artist. His actual identity is unknown by the general public. His work often contains quite strong political messages. The image of the person throwing a bouquet of flowers as if it were a molotov cocktail is post modern because banksy has used irony, and attention to play of surfaces.The image is ironic, because the person is tossing a bouquet of flowers, which is a very non-violent thing, instead of a molotov cocktail, which is a weapon, and is what it looks like the person should be throwing. and Banksy uses attention to play of surfaces, because he uses stencil work on whatever background he can find, as opposed to painting full scenes.


ALVC book, pg. 42/43

WEEK 1- Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'.

Nathalie Djurberg's 'Claymations'. 

Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg's intricately constructed claymation films are both terrifyingly
disturbing and artlessly sweet.

The new works created for the Venice Biennale explore a surrealistic Garden of Eden in which all that is natural goes awry.

She exposes the innate fear of what is not understood and confronts viewers with the complexity of emotions.

Nathalie Djurberg was awarded the silver lion for a promising young artist at the Venice
Art Biennale 09.

(http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg)

Research Djurberg's work in order to answer the following questions;

1. What do you understand by the word 'claymation'?

2. What is meant by the term 'surrealistic Garden of Eden'? and 'all that is natural goes awry'?

3. What are the 'complexity of emotions' that Djurberg confronts us with?

4. How does Djurberg play with the ideas of children's stories, and innocence in some of her work?

5. There is a current fascination by some designers with turning the innocent and sweet into something disturbing. Why do you think this has come about?

6. In your opinion, why do you think Djurberg's work is so interesting that it was chosen for the Venice Biennale?

7. Add some of your own personal comments on her work.

'Experiment' (2009) Venice Biennale

1. My understanding of the word "claymation" is that it is stop-motion animation - which is a style of animation that involves taking photographs of an object, and in between each photograph the object is moved slightly - that involves the use of clay, e.g. Wallace and Gromit.

2. The Definition of "surrealistic" is "Having an oddly dreamlike or unreal quality" (thefreedictionary.com). This means that Djurberg's work has been influenced  by non-lifelike ideas, for example increasing the scale of one thing in relation to the scale something else to make it feel less realistic. 'Garden of Eden' refers to the biblical paradise where the first man and woman; Adam and Eve, lived before eating the forbidden fruit and being forced to leave by God. From the above definitions, my understanding of the term 'surrealistic garden of eden" is that Djurberg set out to recreate the Garden of Eden in a more dream-like way as opposed to following the traditional description of the biblical paradise.

The definition of the word 'awry' is "Away from the correct course; amiss" (thefreedictionary.com). The term "all that is natural goes awry" implies that  the garden of eden has something not how it is supposed to be.

3. After watching an excerpt of Djurberg's work, I noticed that she confronts us with a huge range of intense emotions. There are strong elements of anger and destruction portrayed in Djurberg's work. Through her work she shows very twisted perceptions that are mirroring reality through a strong surrealist feel.


4. Through the use of Claymation, she harnesses our youthful association with the style. These associations can be seen in animations such as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Djurberg takes these innocent ideals and transforms them into disturbed nightmares.


5. I think that this trend has arisen because it is edgy, and has strong shock value as it explores very personal themes and emotions. The juxtaposition of these two themes creates very strong confrontation as they are polar opposites and this creates interest and personal connection for the viewers.


6. I think that her work was chosen because it is so disturbing that it envelopes the audience into this nightmarish world that she has created.


References:


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Garden+of+Eden
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Awry

Week 8-Industrialisation, Modernism and architecture.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (1997) Frank Gehry

Eiffel Tower (1889) Gustave Eiffel

The Eiffel Tower and the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao have both been described as significant

architectural constructions of their time. The Eiffel Tower has been described as;

 'a symbol of technological prowess' (www.tour- eiffel.com/)

and the Guggenheim museum has been 'hailed as the most important structure of its time'

( www. guggenheim.org/bilbao )

Research both architectural structures in order to comment on;

-the importance of the design and construction

The Eiffel Tower was Built in 1889 by engineer, Gustave Eiffel. Its design is important because of the scale of the build at the time. The tower is three hundred metres tall, which at the time of being built, made it the tallest man-made structure in the world. It was originally intended to stand for twenty years, however after this twenty years, it was used for scientific experiments that Gustave Eiffel encouraged, for example, the first radio transmissions. At first, the public disliked the tower, but now it is France's icon, and one of the most famous building in the world.

The design of the Guggenheim Museum is important because it was designed with the intention of it being "to the same quality as its contents, with an equal importance to the artworks it would house." This means that the museum was to be a work of art in itself, as opposed to simply a building that contained artworks. due to Bilbao being a port town, the Guggenheim "is intended to resemble a ship. Its brilliantly reflective titanium panels resemble fish scales." these are traits often found in the museum's designer, Frank Gehry's work. again typical to Gehry's work, the museum is "uniquely a product of the period's technology." It was designed with the use of Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application, a digital design software. 

-significance of the materials

Puddling Iron was used to construct the Eiffel tower. Puddling iron is a type of wrought iron, and was a precursor to steel. Gustave Eiffel decided that Puddling iron was the most appropriate material to build the tower out of in terms of its affordability, it's flexibility and its strength. it needed to be very strong because it was such a large project.

The Guggenheim in Bilbao was built using a steel frame and a combination of glass, sinuous stone, and titanium. The titanium is only half a millimetre thick, and is unique, having been designed using a state-of-the-art digital design program. The more irregularly shaped exhibition spaces in the museum have been built using concrete, with "curved and twisted" walls.

-significance of the designer

Gustave Eiffel was an engineer who founded a company that specialised in "structural metal work." The company's biggest achievement was the construction of the Eiffel tower. Eiffel's Favorite area of practice was bridge building, however he was renowned for his other structural work too.

Frank Gehry is the principal of the architechture firm Frank O. Gehry and associates. Gehry has won a number of awards for his designs. His designs are often quite eye catching, and unique. It was for this reason, that he was employed to design the Guggenheim in Bilbao. It was intended to be just as special and unique as the artwork it contained, so Gehry's style of design fitted this criteria quite well.

-function of each

The Eiffel tower was as the main attraction at the 1889 word fair, the date that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French revolution. The tower was originally intended to stand for 20 years, however Gustave Eiffel encouraged scientific experiments to be carried out on it, which meant it stayed standing. Today it stands as a tourist attraction, and is used for some radio and tv transmissions

The Bilbao Guggenheim was built to contain artworks for the general public to view. Today its purpose remains the same.

Compare the two architectural structures, by noting their similarities and differences.

Similarities
Both Structures have had to have the materials used in construction to achieve the curves that the designers wanted to achieve. Even though both were built with quite different intentions, today they are both tourist attractions.


Differences
The designers of each structure came from very different backgrounds, Eiffel was an engineer who specialized in structural work with metal, and Gehry was an architect. This meant that the final appearance of each building was very different. The Eiffel tower looking very mathematical and planned out, and the Guggenheim is a lot more stylized, and almost looks like its design was improvised as the structure was built.

References:

http://www.tour-eiffel.com/everything-about-the-tower/themed-files/69#02
http://architect.architecture.sk/frank-owen-gehry-architect/frank-owen-gehry-architect.php
http://www.tour-eiffel.com/everything-about-the-tower/gustave-eiffel
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_materials_were_used_to_build_the_Guggenheim_museum_Bilbao
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_Museum_Bilbao
https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/AboutUs/GotMaterials/Buildings/patel.html

Week 6-Landscape and the Sublime

'Wanderer in the mists' (1818) Caspar David Friedrich

'Untitled #2" (2002) Richard Misrach

 'Untitled # 394-03' (2003) Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach's photography reflects the concept of the Sublime, from the Enlightenment.

Research Misrach's work by reading about his intentions, and also by looking at the work. Then answer the following questions;

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?

 

The Enlightenment was a movement in the seventeenth and eighteenth Century that encourages the use of reason, and logic over superstition when finding the truth. Logic had been used in Ancient Greece prior to the enlightenment, however, this is when it started to be accepted worldwide as a reliable means of looking at human society and self. Due to this new view being taken, it was argued that "human life and character could be improved through the use of education and reason." Because of this, The Enlightenment cause conflict between people who were interested in it and the political and religious thinkers.

Enlightenment thinking happened roughly throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, however, it didn't have a specific start or end point, but took place within a "broad paradigm in which certain tenets were accepted"

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

 

 The Sublime is a concept that Deals with "forms of expression that entrance us." Meaning that it is an idea that concerns things of such beauty that they are awe-inspiring. When the term sublime is used to critique a piece of work, it is similar to saying that the piece of work is divine.

In the Renaissance period, artists started to create more works with more "grandeur, idealism and soft rendering of details," which led to an interest in the sublime.

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

 

 The Sublime Came out of the enlightenment thought because it also went against the "normal" way of thinking for the time. Because people were starting to have a more secular way of thinking, they started to value the world's beauty with their own opinion, as opposed to going with how the bible defined beauty.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images of his work.

White Man Contemplating Pyramids, Egypt, 1989-1991

 

Swimmers, Pyramid Lake Indiana Reservation, Nevada, 1987-93

Misrach's work involves the use of vast spaces often containing single, or small groups of people taking up a very small proportion of the image. The sublime is a very noticeable theme in his work, as it focuses on the beauty of the environment as opposed to the people who may be featured in the image. For example, in  White Man Contemplating Pyramids, the vast expanse of desert almost seems surreal in its presentation, even though it is a photograph.

5. Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

 

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, "An Avalanche in the Alps," 1803

Vladimir Konečni, Matterhorn 2007

 

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

 

I feel that Misrach's work gives a sense of isolation, due to his use of vast, open spaces, and few people, if any, who are insignificant in comparison to the rest of the image. His work makes me think about the massive scale of the world and how each individual person makes up only a tiny proportion of it.

7. Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.

 

I shot this photo of the sun shining through the clouds one afternoon while walking past Cox's Bay. 

8. Reference your sources (books and websites). 

 

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397117&section=6

http://www.selectedworks.co.uk/sublime.html

http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/thenineteenthcentury/a/enlightenment.htm

http://www.arthistory-famousartists-paintings.com/RenaissanceArt.html

http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/current_students/programme_resources/lse/lse_pdf/further_units/163_soc_theo_analysis/163_chpt3.pdf

The Social Status of the Artist

Self Portrait in Fur Coat (1500)

Albrecht Durer

Knob (1997) Gavin Turk

Damien Hirst and Maia Norman (1995)

Albrecht Durer's 'Self-Portrait in Fur Coat' (1500) shows a significant change in the way that the artist views and portrays himself.Research the paintings by Albrecht Durer, Gavin Turk and Damien Hirst in order to answer

the following questions;

1. Identify aspects of Durer's self portrait that show a changing view of the artist's view of himself as

an individual.

There are a number of aspects in Durer's self portrait that portray his vanity. For example the way his right hand is "elegantly touching" his fur coat shows that he see a lot of importance in wearing immaculate clothes. another aspect is the way his hair is so perfectly curled and has been painted so it looks like he light is shining off it. The work itself has been painted so that it has quite a warm glow in terms of lighting, giving the impression of Durer seeing himself as quite a godlike figure.

2. Explain how the artist's social status increased during the Renaissance period. Briefly explain why this happened.

 During the Renaissance Period, Artists' social status began to move away from them being seen as practitioners of mechanical arts and arts such as sculpting and painting being seen as art forms that require skills in "mathematical perspective, optics, anatomy, and geometry." This happened because sciences started to become more popular as society became more secular. Science become more popular meant that scientific methods started to get used when creating artworks, so artists could argue that they were "superior to mere craftsmen."

3. Comment on Gavin Turk's work in relation to individualism, status of the artist and egotism.

 The definition of  "individualism" is: "a social theory advocating the liberty, rights, or independent action of the individual." Gavin Turk's work, Knob relates to this in that it is simply his signature in the centre of the page. This signature is the unique way that he writes his name to distinguish himself as an individual, the way he has made it such a prominent image through the use of colouring it like a rainbow, and making it the only thing in the frame gives the impression that he has quite a high sense of self importance and is quite egotistical.

4. Comment on Damien Hirst's use of his work and the media for self promotion.

 Damien Hirst has used self promotion of his work by having his artworks printed onto different products ranging from shoes to skateboards. and example of this is the item of clothing his wife, Maia Norman is seen wearing in the photograph above. Another example of this work being printed onto a product is below, where Hirst has had the same polka dot design printed onto the bottom of skate board decks. This is a clever method of self promotion, in that it helps to expose his artwork to a much wider consumer market, rather than only people who are modern art enthusiasts.

 

5. Find 2 images of work by artists or designers that reflects some of the ideas of individualism,

self promotion or egotism that have been discussed on this blog. Upload images to your blog, title and date the work, identify the artist/designer and comment on the work in relation to the question.

Citrus Juicer -  Philippe Starck

Phillipe Starck is "one of the giants of  contemporary design", as well as a master of self promotion. This work in particular is one of his best known pieces. It is a long legged lemon squeezer, initially designed for the itallian design company; Alessi. It reflects ideas of  self promotion in that it is Starck's signature. The lemon squeezer is instantly recognisable as on of his designs because it is completely unique in comparison to other lemon squeezers, which haven't been made to look aesthetically pleasing, just to be practical.

6. How do you think artists and designers are viewed in Western society today?
I think that today, artists and designers are viewed somewhat the same as they were in the renaissance period, in that they make a living out of their work by being commissioned to do works for clients. However, today, although Designers and artists often get commissioned to create work for clients, they do have a lot more freedom, and there is more of an option to create the art first, then sell it to whoever is willing to pay for it, as opposed to making it to a buyer's specifications.

7. Comment on the blogs of other students.

8. Reference the websites and/or books you have used, at the end of your blog.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/self/

http://radicalart.info/ego/statements/index.html

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG7733481/Maia-Norman-Damien-Hirsts-Californian-girl.html

My references:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2002/nov/30/art.artsfeatures1

http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/renaissance.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/individualism 

http://www.designbuild-network.com/features/feature75292/