grethanysdesignstuff

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Critical Reflection of Term 1

I would like to start off by saying that I love the brief that I picked for my RSA project – Mind Your Money. I felt like I could relate to a lot of what was described in the brief summary and that is why I picked and I also thought it would be a very interesting area to research.

Moving on, I struggled to find different areas to research apart from the obvious – income and spending. I was stuck almost until the end researching specific expenses and always thought I should focus on exact numbers because the topic was money. I kept looking for Finance companies and banks to get an idea of how I should continue my research. Towards the end I started focusing more on what people would actually want and need without researching the obvious problem people have – saving their money.

From this I decided to speak more to my work colleagues my, my current and old university colleagues and have something like a focus group where I would let people dictate my design. I was stuck at deciding on a concept for an outcome too before I had the MA concept presentation where different tutors told me that I should incorporate my passion for visualising music/sound and technology into my RSA project.

This gave me the confidence that I needed to start thinking more abstract rather than thinking about typical, already existing ideas like apps for instance. I took all the feedbacks I got and started thinking about a possible outcome that I would enjoy finishing my research with. I regret not spending enough time to put this in the design research document and visualising my research better as I did have a lot of research.

Moreover, I feel like re-doing the document as I am not particularly happy with the final outcome and I would like to print and bind the book again. I could have possible put more content in it too as I had more to but did not have enough time to visualise all of it and make it worthy of being in the book. I was also focusing on finishing my Critical Debates so my timings of the two projects clashed and I rushed a lot of the work.

At the moment, I have decided on a concept I would like to explore and finish my research with and this possible outcome is creating a technological item that indicates the changes in our account through image and sound depending on our preferences. I think this is a viable solution I would like to further explore and incorporate in my work.

In conclusion, I really struggled but at the same time enjoyed working on the RSA brief and researching this particular subject area. I realised I should have not stopped researching when I was stuck but keep on finding things out and experimenting as I had a period at the beginning where I was really lost and did not know how to continue. I know now that I should not have wasted that time thinking of how to continue because the research flows naturally once you start mind-mapping.

Our tutor was very critical of our work and every bad feedback I tried to work on so I can improve. We had multiple presentations and tutorials that really helped some of us to keep working. I am usually not very confident with researching and I feel that for the first time now I have enjoyed it and worked harder as I liked the area. However, I wish I spent more time doing it and came to a possible outcome sooner as time is passing really quick and we have other projects to do alongside too. I will try and work harder to finish my project as I would really like to submit it and for this I would also like to re-do my design research book and data visualisation.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

First MA Project Proposal

Utopian Branding by Greta Dimitrova

This modern world that we inhabit is packed with self-image issues, disconnection from the real world and people and addiction to items and object. For the most part, this is due to the technological age and we more and more like to surround ourselves with devices that distract us from perceiving the actual.

In my Master’s project, I would like to explore the futuristic possibilities of human’s addictions and perhaps exaggerate the issues that the modern age has created by introducing us to various technology. I want to create and visualise in a promotional type art the possible outcomes of such shocking connections we have with devices, television programmes, ideas and concepts in an uneasy way to provoke reaction from the viewer.

Currently, there is a sci-fi show created by Netflix and called Black Mirror that portrays in a very striking way the future that is in front of us if we do not disconnect. It has made me think a lot about it and how our lives are already being affected negatively by the technology. I, as many other people, am scared to think of the future and how if we do not unplug we will end up losing all the vital relationships and become slaves of our devices.

I would perhaps try and contact people who have been involved in the show and other sci-fi writers and artists interested in the futuristic and utopian world. At the moment, I am not entirely sure what kind of work I will produce but I would like to create pieces of design that would be just as striking to other people as Black Mirror is to me. However, I am sure I would love to explore this area and speak to people who are professionals in it or have more experience than me. I think such work would be of great importance to our society if created properly as it can be very eye-opening.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Thoughts provoked by the Guerrilla Girls exhibition

In a world full of Kardashians... Be whatever kind of woman you want to be and stop spreading internalised misogyny by insulting one woman in order to compliment another.

And no,  this is not directed to men only. Stop putting other women down! Be it for their appearance or decisions or because they have something more than you do. And next time you hear a man insult another woman without having a reason, try to raise your voice. Otherwise you aim to be bound by the chains of patriarchy forever and next time you are insulted by a man pick up your own pieces.

Stop seeing "feminism" as an ugly word. Man or a woman! I understand that many feminist women decide to fight for their freedom by attacking men which in itself defies feminism's whole advocacy and it's essence "equality" because you cannot fight for your freedom by putting someone else down.

However, seek equality! In all of its shapes and forms. Don't let men tell you to shut up and ask you where is their privilege, and "how come there's women's only gyms" but not men's? Well, why is there "Black Entertainment Network" and not white? It's the same reason why in Mario Kart you don't get blue shells and lightning bolts when you are already in first place!

So look up Frida, look up Michelle, Malala and Maya but also look up Obama, Will Smith, Kurt Cobain, Patrick Stewart and Louis C.K. Research how fighting for any equality can be done with grace! Because men themselves are sick of men dominating everything. And I myself similarly to Serena Williams am sick of having to look up "greatest FEMALE athletes" because females are never in just "greatest athletes" - a space reserved for men.

But also stop telling boys that blue is for boys and pink is for girls. Stop separating unnecessarily by gender; it's stupid and from an early age you create distance and division between the two. Stop teaching boys they have to possess the characteristics of a stone and cannot express emotions. Or telling them they "throw like a girl". Yes, a girl raised in patriarchal society that discourages women from participating in sports!

I think as an artist I should put this out there - I am absolutely fed up with going to galleries and exhibitions and the only ever headline exhibitions are created by a male artist. I feel like I should wear the Guerrilla mask whenever I visit again.

No, this isn't about the gender pay gap and wages. Even though, how stupid is it to pay someone with the same qualifications less money based on their gender and your prejudices?! So clearly feminism is doing something if from 9.6% in 2015 the gap has fallen to 9.4% last year. There is hope.

Truthfully, I am not even or have never been highly affected by sexist remarks. Furthermore, I have rarely received any for myself apart from the common ones that we consider more of a joke these days, i.e. "Women are bad drivers" and "Go make me a sandwich". I partially think it is because I do care a lot about my appearance as in a sexist and racist world like this you have to make sure you avoid confrontation in any way possible. But it's sad that I or any other women have to take such measures in order to not feel inferior. It also saddens me that there is women unlucky with their appearance and they have to fight even harder to be accepted. But they shouldn't have to and it is both woman's and men's duty to ensure that so that we stop living in Trump's ideal world.

I can go on for ages but I am going to assume you understand my point and stop. And if after reading this all you thought was "Well done. You have identified a problem that had been identified a million times. Now what is your solution?" then you ARE the problem that I described. Now can you try and be the solution even if it means grasping at straws, or are you going to adopt the ostrich strategy?

[grethanysdesignstuff]

My Veil is not my Oppression

Faegheh Shiraz is a professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at The University of Texas at Austin and the publisher of the Book: “Muslim Women in War and Crisis, Representation and Reality”. She specialises in popular religious practices, rituals and their influence on gender identity and the discourse of Muslim societies.

This read presents various points of view on muslim women, who confess their experiences in times of social demonstrations. The book itself is divided in seven chapters and written by different authors.

In the following review, we are focusing on the forth chapter written by Lina Abirafeh. The title of this chapter is “Gendered Aid Interventions and Afghan Women, Images versus Realities”.

Lina Abirafeh discusses the gender policies implemented in Afghanistan and defines the gender position given to these women. A comparison to the Western view of the woman is made and she takes into account women’s aid organisations.

The author argues that no change has been made in the policies regarding the treatment and position of Afghan women. She refers back to King Amanulah who in the 1920s tried to apply Westernised ideologies regarding the women of Afghanistan, but his attempts were rejected.

The Taliban crimes have only recently started receiving more attention by the Western world and women who wear burqa are always presented as a victim and oppressed by the first world countries.

“I think we have failed to see Afghan women as possible active participants in their own futures.” - says the author.

Men lack understanding of gender based interventions and this leads to even more violence and oppression for the women of Afghanistan. Women however demand more roles in society but such change must happen gradually in a country like Afghanistan.

They want to regain their autonomy, without foreign intervention that sees them as “slaves of men and prisoners at home.”

The text makes some very interesting points about the view of vailed women by the Westernised societies. The media in such societies has presented a common theme of negative stereotypes about women who veil, including the idea that they are oppressed or associated with terrorist groups.  

I am interested in the examination of how different countries perceive beauty and how those perceptions may be associated with the negative images of Muslim women who veil.

In my opinion, predominantly the Muslim woman wears the veil as a form of empowerment. Feminists often try to attack the burqa as a symbol of oppression but an object in itself should not be considered or deemed so dangerous for the female. In countries like France, the vail or head scarf is considered a fashion statement. Many times photographs of such fashion have been on the cover of Vogue.

However, only in recent years the Western countries started to pay more attention, mostly negatively, to western women. These women do not need our fashion advice or care about our activism as they are still too bound by the chains of violence and oppression and they need us to educate men rather than blame women.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Art vs. Pornography (in relation to social movements)

by Greta Dimitrova

Review of “my body is my manifesto! SlutWalk, FEMEN and femmenist protest”

The text by Theresa O’Keefe creates an argument with the common use of over-sexualisation in modern feminist protests and more specifically FEMEN and SlutWalk. The author who is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Ireland began the investigation after one of her students got involved in a patriarchal policing scandal related to rape culture that received a lot of media coverage.

She begins her writing by detailing the emergence of SlutWalk in Canada in 2011. She claims that she got involved in a similar investigation related to rape in her own country and she wanted to create a similar protest in Dublin. However, she reconsidered as she realised that she did not want to devote time to a project like this. To reason this, she begins a comparison between FEMEN and SlutWalk. She argues that there is no universalism in these protests, no diversity and that the gendered body should be used to resist social norms.

The author then exposes the movements as failing to use nudity as proceeds to establish the similarities and differences between post-feminism and third-wave forms. They share similar ideologies in relation to the body politic. She calls this “space” femmenism and argues that it is rooted with patriarchal and capitalistic values and encourages consumption. It creates a sense that the femininity is expressed through sexualising. Furthermore, both post-feminism and third-wave forms emphasis freedom of choice and individuality. SlutWalk and FEMEN are then clear constituents of "femmenism" with their emphasis on individual choice.

SlutWalk’s idea is to “challenge the word slut” and “re-appropriate it” and call for action against “slut-shaming”. They say they welcome any gender and any age. People who do join the SlutWalk however often wear scanty clothing, commonly suspenders, fishnets, hotpants and some have “slut” written on their skin. SlutWalk refuse to call themselves feminists and even though they say they defy social norms they seem to do the exact opposite and reproduce “sluthood”. They reinforce the limited ways in which it is acceptable for a woman to be a slut and this results in “blank parody” where they try to mock the problem through nakedness and the use of the word “slut” but fail to address the actual problem.

As they seemingly try to empower women they unnoticeably make it harder for girls and the word “slut” is never re-imagined by them. This is confirmed by reactions from many observant of the march who ironized it by saying that they are in favour “of anything that brings more sluts to the street”. The movement also excludes women who do not auto-sexualise themselves or are asexual and does not identify the different views women have on sex.

"BRING MORE SLUTS TO THE STREET!"

On the other hand, FEMEN fight to “defend with their breasts sexual and social equality” through capturing the attention of mainstream media since 2008. There was a lack of women activists in Ukraine which provoked the founders to start this movement and brand. The attire of the girls is like the one used in SlutWalk. They say they are “the new Amazons” and have “hot boobs, a cool head and clean hands”. Again, the concept that the sexy body is a free body is confirmed. FEMEN seems to need the male attention for their efforts to be successful and they seek to objectify the woman’s body.

Their international PR strategy consists of casting the girls who take part of the march and they always pick slender, model-like girls who embody men’s ideal of a woman but, according to them, “they stand for something different”. Their former consultant Victor Svyatski was identified as the sole decision making power in selecting the girls. He says that all women are beautiful and their breasts are a symbol of femininity. However, the girls are not a political threat and it’s seemingly a pleasing encounter when you see them which is evident from Putin’s lustful look when he met them. Sexualisation of women’s breasts is not a taboo and is rather the norm in many societies and that is something that FEMEN fail to understand.

Both movements are also very controversial in their lack of diversity – they only have white members even though they march in multicultural countries. FEMEN also only accept a certain body type and exclude any different ones. Many women of colour said that they cannot find a space in the SlutWalk as it fails to understand the different relationships women can have with the police and “slut” is used more to discipline the sexuality of white women rather than black. Similarly, FEMEN does not consider that nudity as an identifier has different meanings across the world and in some places, it’s used to shame for both men and women. They also went beyond this issue and created more with their racist remarks and statements on social media that cause outrage.

When I read the text, I could not help but question why is women’s liberation constantly tied to the way we dress or our body fitness. What exactly are liberating ourselves from, if so? None of these movements seem to identify the problem in this but they both use nudity as a method of raising a point. It is even more problematic as they exclude people who are less physically fit and that alone creates a new problem and a self-esteem issue to other women who otherwise do identify with the questions of inequality. It can easily be seen that FEMEN especially uses body types that are pleasing to the eye and strive to provoke male observers. I fail to understand why when fighting for equality are we fighting with men when women too can have the same mind-set and beliefs as men about the way we dress, look and our social position etc.

Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a trial in which a lawyer was defending a pornographer of the basest sorts. The lawyer asked the plaintiff, “Have you ever gone into an art gallery?”  The plaintiff responded, “Yes.” The lawyer continued, “Have you paid to go into that art gallery?”  Again, the plaintiff responded, “Yes.” “Were there paintings of naked people in that art gallery?”, the lawyer asked. “Yes,” the plaintiff responded. “So why do you call that art, but Playboy pornography?” The plaintiff did not have a response.

There is a response though and it lies solely in the intentions. I can’t help but think of nudity as a signifier in different situations. Nudity in the afore discussed movements seems to have the sole intention to provoke but it rather provokes the basic instincts in humans just like pornography does. This involves no admiration for the body itself but rather just a sensation of the body. Just like pornography it uses fit bodies attractive to the observant, the woman wears fishnets, suspenders and high heels.

Art on the other hand strives to show and praise the beauty of the body. It does not even need attire to show status or position in society nor does it need to have the perfect body. It just needs to provoke admiration. We can see nudity used in an artistic way in photography and many critically acclaimed films and I wish that we would realise this sooner and if we use nudity to spark a reaction we should do it in a delicate and reasonable way that does not have the intention to be scandalous.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Bring Activism back to the Streets!

The book "How To See The World¹", wirtten by Nicholas Mirzoeff, was published on the 4th of June, 2015. It is a study of visual culture, written for the general reader, describing the transformation of the visualisation on the basis of history, theory and the author's own life experiences. It gives the reader an overview of the way visual materials influence, determine and affect people’s lives.

The author, Nicholas Mirzoeff is famous for books such as "Watching Babylon: the War in Iraq and Global Visual Culture" (Routledge, 2005). Mirzoeff is a culture theorist, a professor at the NYU in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication and Deputy Director of the International Association for Visual Culture.

"Changing The World" is chapter number 7 in the book and is concerned with the global dissemination of political activism in a self-representative form via Internet-based platforms like social media. Mirzoeff describes this as "new visual thinking required by the era of globalization". This kind of visual communication gives people the ability in their everyday life to drive a political and social change.

Photography, posters, flyer, and street art are used traditionally to spread information, to unite people and raise awareness. The text argues that protest and other activist demonstrations would not be successful without being communicated to the mass audience through viable platform of communication. This was the case in the self-burning of a trader in the Tunisian city of Monastir in 2009. In comparison Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in December 2010 was the initial spark for the revolution in Tunisia – because news about the act were spread on the social media platform - Facebook.

The Egyptian non-profit media activism collective Mosireen³ used real-time videos about the political situation of their country as a graphic and visual way of communication. Their YouTube videos got thousands of views and proved the power of using social media as a communication platform of raising awareness for political and social change.

Of course, Graphic Design, Social Media and activism are tightly connected. Unfortunately, the cynic in me thinks that social media has changed the protest game for good, that online organization has inserted itself as a permanent replacement for real organization. 250,000 people tweeting about #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile is no match for 250,000 people listening to an Alabama preacher share his dream on the National Mall, but it’s today’s reality until proven otherwise. I myself crave for activism that moves beyond a stupid hashtag.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Hyper-Sexualisation of the Female Body and Appearance

The continuous designing and advertising of hyper-sexualised clothing and fashion by brands and celebrities also has a negative impact in the way women are represented in the modern society. Brand affinity and relationship can be influenced by the celebrities that fashion and lifestyle brand use within marketing campaigns as well as in the way that messages are articulated both directly and indirectly.  

Pamela Church Gibson responds to this phenomenon concerned with over-sexualised portrayal of the female fashion and body. She is a reader in Cultural and Historical Studies at the London College of Fashion and the author of the article Pornostyle: Sexualised Dress and the Fracturing of Feminism that was published in the magazine Fashion Theory, Volume 18. She has published and worked extensively on film, fashion and history and has written two books Fashion Cultures Revisited: Theories, Explorations, Analysis (2013) and Fashion and Celebrity Culture (Bloomsbury, 2012).  

In the article, Gibson identifies two Western types of fashion: one once again depicted by celebrities in an overly-sexual manner and another of porno chic and high fashion or fashionista. She tackles the issue of pornification and the mainstreaming of sex. We see more and more women dressing sexy, although it is no longer a trend set by the high-street fashion but rather by celebrities and their styles. Women no longer desire to buy the classic magazines like Vogue but prefer to find a way to copy a certain celebrity style.

In Pornified: How Pornography is Transforming our Lives, our Relationships, and our Families, Pamela Paul says:  

“Today, the pornography industry has convinced women that wearing a thong is a form of emancipation, learning to pole dance means embracing your sexuality, and taking your boyfriend for a lap dance is what every sexy and supportive girlfriend should do.”  

Sadly, pornography is not the only industry supporting this statement. The fashion industry also helps spreading the hyper-sexualised female body image. Leading sociologists concerned with the portrayal of women in modern media (Hatton and Trautner, 2011) have found that the same stereotyped images of women are appearing in magazine advertisements, and that nude or partially nude images of women increased nearly 30% from 1979 to 1991 (Kang, 1997 cited in Hatton and Trautner, 2011).

  “They seem to seek glamour more than high style”, also adds Gibson. This celebrity model is being promoted everywhere and even minor celebrities like Tori Spelling have to have endless nips and tuck to be able to maintain that perfect media body. Clashing with the post-feminist refusal to be regulated, Porn Wars can no longer protect young women and girls from this toxic model celebrated throughout the media.    

Pamela Gibson considers this style dangerous because young girls are unaware of how following such trends can lead to sexual harassment. The young females misunderstand this style for fashion and they dress in such manner despite the situation or place. They attend school dressed in such way and walk the streets dressed scantily which is a great risk for them. She demands that feminist should all unite and raise awareness of such issues.  

Last year the fashion brand American Apparel filed for bankruptcy protection in the USA and recently closed all of their remaining stores in United Kingdom (Farrell, 2015). The brand has a long history of being attacked by activists, fashion bloggers and the media for their provocative advertising campaigns. On multiple occasions the brand has been involved in sex scandals because of their constant portrayal of teenage girls dressed scantily and posing provocatively. It is no wonder that the brand failed to remain relevant after so many failed attempts to astray from controversy. Since their bankruptcy announcement, many activists and journalists published work and art to express their satisfaction, most of which supporting the “underage sex does not sell” motto.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Cities and their Signifiers

Pete Jordan is American alternative and counter culture writer. He is the writer of the book Dishwasher. His latest book, set in Amsterdam – the very alternative hippie city, is called In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist.

One chapter of the book is called Death to the Car! In this chapter he begins to describe the emergence of cycling as a popular phenomenon in Amsterdam in the 70s. He depicts in words the panorama of Amsterdam in the 1970s describing it as a the dream place for hippies, predominantly American. In the center on this beautiful picture he places the bicycle as a vital part of the city. There is however many other topics incorporated within the text which makes it uber-interesting and universal to many readers. The bicycle itself took decades to be engraved as of political value in the history and heritage of Amsterdam but finally – it did.

The Traffic Circulation Plan of the late 1970s introduced new traffic "Rings" to separate cars from bikes some unfortunate for cyclists. This led to the first cyclist protest in 1978. After the demonstration, there was new elections and finally a positive change for the Amsterdam cycling scene - new sidewalk bike racks, new bike bridges spanning canals, new separated bike paths and others.

The number of motorists started to decrease whilst cyclists were becoming more and more which caused certain changes. There were new safety rules and police checks on the cycling alleys that most cyclists refused to comply with. Furthermore, bicycle thieves were becoming a force and several measures against bike theft, like banning on-street selling and buying bicycles, had to be taken. The successful campaign "Don't Give Thieves a Chance!" helped and the bike theft rate halved itself between 2001 and 2008.

The Dutch are so entwined with cycling, that they even presumed that Crown Prince Willem-Alexander’s new girlfriend is unable to cycle as she is a foreigner. Of course, Máxima proved them totally wrong and the country started to like and accept her. Even one of their most famous museums, the Rijksmuseum, is passable by bike. While renovations in 2011–2013, the director of the museum, Wim Pijbes, wanted to ban the cyclists. City council's vote in 2012 overruled this plan and the population insisted on their "rights they had enjoyed since the 19th century: access to the central portals of the passageway."

It is fascinating, in my view, when an object becomes of such an importance and moreover a cultural and a heritage symbol to a city or a country. Similarly, the phone booths are all around London, even if 90% of them are out of order, they proudly stand and present a heritage. And this becomes a tourist attraction as well as the way we signify a city sometimes. Padlocks from Paris, mini-bicycle from Amsterdam, a fan from Spain and a tea pot from England – and simply we can carry a culture’s most memorable object with us.

Many businesses rely on this and work to create souvenirs. They sell products that would never go out of date or become irrelevant as they are somehow priceless despite the usually cheap price tag they carry.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Everyday Experiences through the Magazine Cover

Jop van Bennekom is a magazine-maker who also practices as the editor, publisher, art director and designer. He first created Re-Magazine as a personal platform after graduating Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht in 1997. Together with Gert Jonkers, he launched the internationally acclaimed ‘fagazine’ BUTT (2001), followed by Fantastic Man (2005).

The author of the text goes back in time to when Van Bennekoms was a student and investigated how he launched his first magazine “Re”. He describes the audiences his different magazines attract.

The intended audience of this article is primarily gay people - “hipster gay males – ‘Those with truckers’ caps from Brooklyn, but also 55-year-old intellectuals from Paris, France”, interested in lifestyle and fashion - “stylish and style-conscious men in their mid-thirties” as well as graphic and typography designers and amateurs. Tom Ford, Hedi Slimane and Carl Lagerfeld are some of the magazine’s fans and readers.

The 90’s were unfamiliar with such fashion/lifestyle magazine until them which doesn’t mean that they were no impatient to finally have one. What Oliver Zahm, Purple’s founder describes the magazine as fascinating as it was very boring but also at the same time very insteresting. The intended result of creating such magazine was to draw a “subtle line between seriousness and irony, reality and fiction, celebration and cynicism, informality and artifice”.

The article, written in 2006, celebrates the well-developed idea turned into reality and supports the fact that any idea can be interesting and be designed if we did it thoughtfully.

In nearly every issue of Re-Magazine, we are inspired by the notion that people yearn for media silence because they’re continually subjected to information overkill. Texts Meant To Be Written, Not To Be Read. Pictures Meant To Be Taken, Not To Be Seen. In a way, Re-Magazine is a magazine that refuses to be a magazine. The cover should communicate this ambiguous refusal – the cover as a review of itself.

In the way the Re-Magazine portrays itself, it connotes to  me the same ideas as hello mr. magazine. Hello mr. is a smart and simple magazine that “reflects the everyday experiences of our misters and their companions, in a neatly-curated museum carefully built to exhibit a universal story of gay men today.” Its similarities to Re-magazine in my opinion, are in the use of photography and the way it’s carefully considered but very minimal at the same time.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

“The market wants you to buy collectibles”

Caror Magee is a professor at the University of North Carolina specialising in African Contemporary Art and Photography. I believe she examines the psychology of pieces or art or objects and the way they are perceived by society or an audience.

She first became familiar with the Ghanian doll when she purchased it on her first trip to Africa. She is fascinated by the doll and the packaging with the cultural information it presents and the outfit of the doll. In her opinion dolls like this promote a US domination in the world. She also points out the enormous sales of Barbie that create an economic empire for Mattel. She then proceeds to comment on the connection of this particular object with, as discussed by Mohammed Bamyeh, imperialism as well as how objects create meanings and reinforce imperialistic values.

Barbie promotes a westernised image be it body and style and this is supported with Carol Ockman’s statements. Svetlana Boym’s “Future of Nostalgia” suggests we get connected to object because we long for the past and Carol Magee argues that the Ghanian Barbie is an answer to the epidemic desire of relationship with the world.

Furthermore, the writer discusses the ever-popular topic of the unrealistic proportions of Barbie and how her lifestyle is not inexpensive and, as suggested by Jacqueline Urla and Alan Swedlund, is the dream of middle-class societies. The doll itself is of black colour and Hapson and Hapson consider that girls prefer playing with same skin colour dolls as theirs as it builds their self-esteem. Erica Rand however indicates that Mattel has different ideals for the doll than the ones that the owners give her and Barbie is made to be what the owner wants her to be.

The outfit of the doll is very contextual and symbolic as national and historical uniform. According to the writer, the fact that it is sewn on means that this doll unlike others is meant to be kept in her outfit and this suggest the importance of the kente and its cultural references. Thus, this doll could be considered a souvenir. And object like this are made to recall places and times and be kept in the same condition which means it should not be used for play but rather display. This object creates “intimacy” with the world.

A souvenir then is a part of a collection which makes this doll a collectible. Wendy Singer though notes that Barbie dolls put individuals above relationships while Elizabeth Chin thinks they prefer goods to people. From this we can assume that Barbie dolls wipe out identities whilst creating an ideal persona as well as minimize cultural differences. With the Ghanian doll, however, borders are defined, in a collection the “Dolls of the World” are united yet their cultural differences are visible.

I am particularly interested in the idea that people love having a collection of some kind. For instance, DVDs, CDs, Vinyls, Comic Books or just books in general. This speaks of their personality, taste, ideals. As soon as you walk in someone’s room and you see a collection, which sometimes they do not even use, you get an idea of what their personality is like and their taste. A relative of mine collects masks from his favourite cult movies and he has never opened the boxes they come in. They are too valuable to him to be ruined. Yet they are displayed proudly and carefully organised on shelves in his room.

Now this itself is a very clever marketing tool and the market in my opinion does want us to buy collectibles. Kevin Isaacson suggests that the market does not need to worry about the price “For this market, it’s less of a price equation than a value equation”.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

The preservation of Black Beauty

A review of Sisters of the Yam by Bell Hooks.

“Sisters of the Yam” explores issues that have existed amongst black woman for many generations, stemming from the roots of slavery: having self-esteem and loving yourself, understanding the black woman’s attractive side, and exploring the possibilities of having healthy, committed relationships with others. The author, Bell Hooks, is an American activist who has addressed various issues including race, gender, class and sexuality.

She describes the way black parents and families protect their children from racism – through creating stories. They also had to live in black only neighbourhoods fearing the white as they told them they are ugly, they had to protect each other from the hatred. Television made a negative contribution to racism as in its beginning it belittled the black race. Parents constantly had to find ways to explain the cinematic experiences to their kids.

In the author’s opinion, racism encourages self-hatred and low self-esteem in black children and grown-ups. They are constantly told that the black is bad so they must remind themselves of its beauty and to do so they create representation of their world in the form of quilts and dolls. The quilts commonly illustrated little houses and black folks taking care of nature and they usually depicted a black woman’s ideal world.

The 20th century black psyche is to dislike their own hair and prefer westernised hair. This feeling is worsened by magazine depictions of straight hairstyles and family and men’s affirmation of a black woman’s hair. Bell Hooks demands that black women assert their right for natural hair and people experience the sensual pleasures of its texture.

Because for centuries black women have been told that they’re servants, this led to neglecting of their bodies. Louise Hay relates basic care to the well-being of the body. Women need to take time for themselves and their needs. When Harriet Lerner tries cutting some of her other activities so she could take time for herself it led to many people being angered and disappointed and based on this she wrote her book “The Dance of Anger”. Black females, the author asserts, also think of food as solace. They are too concerned with their skin tone to self-actualise themselves. This leads to many black women being obese and bigger sizes in clothing usually cost more which leads to shopping in specialty stores.

Famous black celebrities who have the ability through media to empower black women sometimes do the opposite. Bell Hooks gives example with Naomi Campbell as she often has straight blonde hair which is unnatural for black women. She then gives a positive example with Tracy Chapman who proudly presents her natural beauty. Women should affirm each other’s beauty and not put each other down.

Bell Hooks gives many reasons that led to internalised racism in black females. I am particularly interested in the way media in the form of Television or editorials tells us what we should look like or what we should have. We are being marketed by brands and companies who try to sell us an image through their products rather than the product itself. They call this “Lifestyle Branding” which is branding that embodies the interests of a group or a culture. The Kardashians popularity is the result of the success of such "lifestyle branding".

[grethanysdesignstuff]

Thoughts on “The Lure of the East”

“Staging “The Lure of the East Exhibition Making and Orientalism” is a chapter written by Christine Riding from the book The poetics and politics of place: Ottoman Istanbul and British Orientalism written by multiple authors from Turkish and English origin (Zeynep Inankur, Reina Lewis, Mary Roberts). The writing focuses on different topics including the desire multi-culturalism that rose after the win of the Labour Party in England in 1997, the curation of the exhibition and how that is important to the audience, the poster and the phases they went through to create it and the importance of texts supporting a piece of art.

The texts explains why Oriental exhibitions became more popular after 1997 - people needed public galleries where they could see and learn about a place and atmosphere very different to theirs. It’s suggested by the author that British citizens knew close to nothing about the Orient and the Middle East and they needed this place along with the texts that supported each piece and all of this went beyond a simple edutainment. It was important to create a knowledge amongst people as to make them more accepting especially in a diverse place like London at the time and nowadays.

Then the author goes on to explain a topic that I am particularly interested in and that is the over sexualising of public space by creating marketing and advertising materials in the form of posters for example to promote in this case exhibition. Lauren Rosewarne says that public advertising “routinely employs sexualised and objectified images of women to sell products”. The author goes on to confirm that indeed images of attractive women do feature on posters and catalogues for art exhibitions often (i.e. Bath of Psyche). However, given the topic of the exhibition and that women in the Middle East and Orient are Muslim, choosing nudity to promote the show would have spark a lot of controversy and misunderstanding. As a result of long consideration the image chosen to promote the exhibition was Leila.

In my opinion, the audience that the author strives to deliver this text to is not necessarily art-orientated and educated people. It is people who are interested in culture and history and how we convey through text, images, curation as well as how we advertise a show like this. The text does not use an abundance of art terms but focuses more on giving information about different books, exhibitions and quoting other authors. As the text itself says people need to be educated in this area and this is hard to accomplish by just being given a hundred word description supporting a piece of art or 300 words description in the exhibition flyers. This is why this extensive text written in 2011 (3 years after the exhibition itself)  and still relevant today and progressively in the future was created.

Reading this piece has created particular questions in me that I would like to further research. One of them of course is why and how is the female body objectified and used throughout history to promote products. This has started way back when the first advert posters where created in France using attractive women and this period is called Art Nouveau.

The latter question is what role does the placement of an advert play (for instance why did they choose to place the adverts in The Daily Telegraph rather than the London Underground).

[grethanysdesignstuff]

The Controversy of the “Turkish Coen Brothers”

Review of Elif Batuman’s article by Greta Dimitrova

This article written by Elif Batuman back in 2014 focuses on the misunderstanding surrounding the Turkish series Magnificent Century. It is a historical fiction television series that aired for the first time on Turkish television back in January, 2011. Since then they have made people question a lot of facts about Suleyman the Magnificent, created a reason for protests and wide controversy amongst the Turkey population and even beyond the Balkans.

The text gives us history specific information about the famous sultan Suleyman. He reigned from 1520 to 1566, created a new legal code, started the Ottoman expansion and was the reason for the creation of an empire. Yet, the television show seems to focus more on his personal life - most scenes are from his harem where women are portrayed in nudity and he seems to be consuming big amounts of alocholic beverages which is against the Muslim religion. This seems to be the reason why many conservative viewers and political parties wanted the show to be discontinued along with whom was Recep Erdogan.

Erdogan who was the Prime Minister in Turkey up until 2014 and he bid for Turkey to become a part of the European Union is deeply against the show. His views are that the show portrays the emperor in a light that according to him is historically incorrect and since the show become a big hit in most neighbouring countries and throughout Europe, he did not want the country to be famous for it and known for it.

Originally, the screen writer Meral Okay had more focus on the slave Roxelana and Ibrahim who were Christian like most slaves rather than the sultan himself. Then the brothers decided to adapt the screenplay differently. Whether that was a mistake or not is questionable.

The article which I think is to be read by the wide audience and any person who in their spare time watches television also focuses on how the show was percieved in other countries with the author saying that her Bulgarian friend’s mom loved the show.

I am very interested in this conflict of how Erdogan hate the portrayal of Suleyman the Magnificent based on the fact that it was not confirming his or the nation’s beliefs towards the sultan’s character but it was loved in other contries because historically sultans and ottoman armies were known to be abusive and have harems and slaves. I am saying this based on the fact that I am Bulgarian and in my country and all neighbouring countries that became enslaved by the Ottoman Empire have this knowledge and belief that the ottomans were animalistic and it is also historically correct that they enslaved women for their harems and needs and made boys a part of their army.

This especially can be seen in the Bulgarian critically acclaimed film "Vreme Razdelno" or "Time of Violence" where the Turks are portrayed based on the opinion of Bulgarians and it is horrific to watch.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

20:20 Presentation

My Pecha Kucha Presentation based on my Star Wars collection is accessible here.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

How college students can make the most of applying and preparing for their first internship.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

How to survive on minimal money

I’m so sick of reading all these “how to save money” articles that only tell you to stop buying a morning coffee that you don’t buy anyway because you can’t afford it in the fucking first place. 

ANYWAY, as a person who never seems to have any money, and nothing to show for my lack of money, here are my tips for people in similar situations so that you don’t die. 

1) Start a budget book. I bought mine about 3 years ago for £3 from WHSmith. When you get paid, write down how much money came into your account, then immediately deduct every single bill you have to pay from that amount. Now you know exactly how much money you have to spend for the rest of the month until the next pay day. Write down every single thing you buy and exactly how much it cost, including cash withdrawals. Yes it’s boring, but holy shit it will save your ass so many times knowing that you’ve already accounted for all your bills.

2) Stop shopping in Tesco/Sainsburys/Asda/Waitrose/etc etc. Just stop. Holy shit just stop it. Tesco sucks the life out of me just walking in there I swear to god. Switch to Aldi and/or Lidl. They’re cheap because they give you ONE option of each thing. One type of tinned chopped tomatoes. One type of washing up liquid. One type of ketchup etc etc you get the idea. Their toothpaste, shower gel and baby wipes are pretty damn good and cost about 50p. Like, for fuck sake stop paying £1 for one damn cabbage. YOU DONT NEED TO SPEND A WHOLE QUID ON A FUCKING CABBAGE. 

3) Aldi and Lidl post what their offers are going to be for that week on their websites. Read them before you go shopping then decide what you’re going to be eating for that week based around what’s on offer. Deals on diced chicken and microwave rice? BOOM you’ve got yourself a cheap ass curry to last you at least 2 meals. 

4) Pinterest is your friend. You can look up anything in the world. From budget meals to how to make your own washing powder (if you really wana risk that…I wouldn’t personally but you do you). 

5) Join a Facebook selling site. Find one that’s based where you live and turn on the notifications. You’d be shocked to know how many people give away free sofas and washing machines. Fucking LOADS. You never know what people might be chucking. 

6) If you drive, stop driving like an asshole. A happy car means less petrol usage and less repairs (I HAVE LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY, TRUST ME THIS IS VALUABLE INFORMATION).

7) Turn your lights off when you’re not in a room. Turn your heating down and put on a jumper. Candles are effective ways of combating both of these things. Candles are your friends. Go to the poundshop and buy candles. You’d be surprised how quickly a small room heats up with a couple of lit candles. 

8) Stop going out. You can’t afford to go out. If you keep going out and then complaining that you’re skint, get off this list. This list is not for you. You’re a jerk. If you must drink some alcohol, buy a cheapo bottle of wine (Aldi does a banging white for £3.89 a bottle wayoooo) and roll around on the floor of your own house.

9) Sell all your stuff. I’m almost 100% sure that if you have a job, and you at one point lived with your parents, you will have stuff in your home now that you don’t need. I have a pair of Urbanears headphones 2 feet away from me right now that I got as a gift and I know I won’t use. No one watches DVDs anymore, so Music Magpie those dinosaurs. Don’t forget about that stuff. Sell it. Sell the shit out of it. 

10) I know I’m going back to the whole food shopping thing, but I think most of the time this is the only thing in our lives that we can really control how much we spend. Gonna get it all out of my system now, ready? Make a list of what you’re going to buy a stick to it. Try to buy ingredients that can be used across multiple meals. Take tinned soup to work for lunch instead of spending £8 a day on disappointing sandwiches in Pret. Cut out meat as much as you can. SLOW COOKERS ARE YOUR FRIENDS! I know we’re trying to save money here, not spend it, but buy ‘A Girl Called Jack’ by Jack Monroe and it will show you how to eat on fuck all money without eating supernoodles for 3 meals a day. I recommend the mixed bean goulash, it will give you the farts but it tastes awesome. If you do find yourself in Tesco in an emergency, take a stroll past the reduced isle. Best reduced stuff to get is always meat (put it in the freezer) and cheese. I have at least 2 loaves of bread from the reduced section in my freezer right now that cost me 6p each. FROZEN FOOD IS GOOD, ESPECIALLY VEGETABLES.

11) Change all your suppliers. Electricity. Gas. Internet. Whatever. Go to uswitch and do it. It’s really not that hard. Okay, internet is a fucking faff but gas and electric are not. You might already have the best deal but you wont know until you look so go look. 

12) Loyalty points are the bomb. Get a card for every god damn shop you’ve ever been in. It doesn’t cost you anything, so start saving up those bad boy points now. When I first moved into my flat, I bought all my home essentials (milk, clingfilm, washing up liquid etc etc) all on my Nectar points and what would have been a £70 shop was fucking FREEEE.

13) Lastly, before you buy anything, stop and ask yourself, “do I actually need this thing?” You already know the answer. You know it. You already know it. No. You fucking don’t. You don’t need that thing. I was in Wilkinsons like 2 weeks ago and I almost bought a new roasting dish because the one I already had was “too big”. How the fuck can a roasting dish be too big? So your food is a bit more spread out, big fucking deal. There, you see? I just saved myself £6 for a piece of shit I didn’t need. You don’t need those shoes. You don’t need a limited edition bluray copy of Blade Runner with director’s cut . You don’t need a new ironing board cover with Batman on it. You. Don’t. Fucking. Need. It.

[grethanysdesignstuff]

9 parents reveal the money habits they refuse to pass on to their kids