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Questin! A look into Graphic Media.

Welcome aboard again everyone! It's nice to be seeing you again!

Today I came to talk to you about the work I am producing for Paul Barrit, for I have not talked about it for a while now, and it's not only nice, but necessary for you to understand what I am doing paralel to Luke's work, as a visual response to it.

As you are aware by now, I am spawning my work from the multiple mentioned Fernando Pessoa, and his "compilation book": "The Book Of Disquiet". The previously mentioned book dove into themes of Absurdity and Existencialism, amongst many others, but for this project I decided to solely focus on Existencialism, as it was a subject that I was and am very interested in, hence the great "Questin!" campaign!

The "Questin!" campaign came from the word "Question", "Question" everything, everyone, everywhere, and that's where it all originated! I dove into this in the previous posts, as you can find it all in the Albert Camus post I made a while back. However as luck would have it, I accidently made a printing typo, and forgot the "O" in "Question", somewhere along the way! Lucky enough for my work, I not only support, but encourage myself to make these happy incidents, and stick by them, for we never know what could come of a simple mistake! And again, as luck would have it, so does Paul Barrit, as I am sure you are aware, and so he immediatly told me that "Questin" has everything to do with what I am doing, for it could mean the Quest for meaning! And from that point on I was set on bringing my typo to life, and it has been "Questin" all day, ever since!

Now, to talk in visual terms, the "Questin!" campaign consist of a set of screen prints, mostly depicting reflective scenarios, such as landscapes, and/or individuals in said landscapes, always having the big bright caption of: "Questin!"

Out of all my designs for this, I do not have pictures of the first one I did for that is still on my desk in the studio, but as soon as I can I will get that uploaded!

Hope you enjoyed so far!

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Fernando Pessoa, an insight.

Good afternoon, everyone! 

 I hope you are all fine and that, above all, you have enjoyed your Easter break! Now it is time for us to get back to burning the midnight oil to produce only the finest work, for our very own Luke White! 

It was after having my one-to-one tutorial with Luke, and reviewing my blog assessment, that we discussed and agreed that the right next course of action would be to further dive into the man himself, Fernando Pessoa, and give you a better insight on the worldly, cultural icon, that is Fernando Pessoa. Let's dive into it! 

Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) was a renowned Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher, considered one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. He was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and spent most of his life there, except for a brief period in South Africa. Pessoa's work is characterized by its originality, its experimentation with language and form, and its intense exploration of the human condition. 

 Pessoa is perhaps best known for his poetry, which he wrote under various heteronyms, or literary alter egos, each with its own distinctive style, voice, and personality. These heteronyms were not mere pseudonyms, but fully realized literary personas, complete with biographies, aesthetics, and worldviews. Some of the most famous heteronyms include Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Álvaro de Campos. 

Caeiro, for example, is a simple shepherd who writes in a direct, sensory style that celebrates nature and rejects abstraction and intellectualism. Reis, on the other hand, is a classical scholar who writes in a refined, formal style that echoes the Latin poets of antiquity. Campos is a restless, modernist engineer who writes in a fragmented, stream-of-consciousness style that reflects the disorientation and confusion of modernity. By using these heteronyms, Pessoa was able to explore a wide range of themes, styles, and perspectives, and to challenge the notion of a stable, unified self. 

In addition to poetry, Pessoa also wrote prose, including essays, reviews, and literary criticism. He was deeply interested in philosophy, and his work reflects his engagement with existentialism, mysticism, and occultism. He was particularly drawn to the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, and he developed his own metaphysical system, which he called "the philosophy of the sensation." This philosophy posits that reality is unknowable, and that the only way to approach it is through sensation and intuition. 

Pessoa's writing is marked by a profound sense of melancholy, loneliness, and alienation. He often portrays himself as a solitary observer, disconnected from the world around him, and his work is suffused with a sense of longing for something beyond the limits of everyday experience. This existential angst is evident in poems such as "The Keeper of Sheep," in which Caeiro declares that "To feel is to be other," and in Campos's "Tabacaria," in which he laments that "Everything is worth the trouble / Only one can't get everything." 

Pessoa was not widely recognized during his lifetime, and he published very little under his own name. He worked as a translator, commercial correspondent, and advertising copywriter to support himself, and he lived a reclusive existence. However, after his death, his work was discovered and championed by a group of Portuguese intellectuals, who recognized his genius and helped to establish his reputation. Today, Pessoa is celebrated as one of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language, and his work continues to inspire readers and writers around the world. 

 In conclusion, Fernando Pessoa was a unique and innovative literary figure whose work defies easy categorization. His use of heteronyms, his engagement with philosophy, and his exploration of the human condition have made him a lasting influence on Portuguese and world literature. His legacy continues to inspire new generations of writers and thinkers, and his work remains as relevant and captivating today as it was during his lifetime. 

Hope you now have a little more insight into the greatness of Fernando Pessoa! Until next time! 

Miguel Moreno. 

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The Why?- By Albert Camus.

Article: “Albert Camus’ Philosophy of Love” Neiman, P.G. (2021) ‘Albert Camus’ Philosophy of Love’, Philosophical Investigations, 44(3), pp. 318–338. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/phin.12312.

I have been looking at a wide range of articles to support my work regarding Fernando Pessoa, “The Book Of Disquiet”, and Existentialism, above all. To do this, I had to look for the heaviest names for Existentialism and spend a whole lot of time looking at Frenchman, Jean-Paul Sartre. However out of all the articles I read, none were quite displaying, in simple and easy terms, what I meant to portray for you here today. In comes another Heavyweight, from France as well. Albert Camus. This article was written about Camus and focuses on different aspects of the writer’s poetic meanings and perspectives; however, we will be focusing on the second section of this article, entitled: “The Feeling and Concept of Absurdity”. I am doing so because “Absurdism” is a philosophical theory which actually, may seem like it differs a lot from Existentialism, but I personally think that both go a little bit more hand to hand than one may think, and that “The Book Of Disquiet” encapsules dilemmas from both oppositions, and makes it work often as one.

To recap, the issue being displayed in this section of the article, is the theory of Absurdism. Absurdism is based on the belief that the Universe is irrational and meaningless, and that the search for order and meaning, only further brings us as individuals to conflict with the Universe. Whereas Existentialists believe that there is more to life and that we can only find meaning in life through freedom. Amongst explaining the definition of what can be perceived as “The Absurd”, the article presents some interesting points, such as:

“Camus considers three responses to absurdity: suicide, philosophical suicide or a leap of faith, and revolt. Both suicide and philosophical suicide represent a refusal to confront the reality the absurd has laid bare."

Absurdity “is that divorce between the mind that desires and the world that disappoints.” Suicide eliminates “the mind that desires” by eliminating the subject of those desires; philosophical suicide eliminates the “world that disappoints” by giving in to hope at the "expense of lucidity.”

Neiman, P.G. (2021) ‘Albert Camus’ Philosophy of Love’, Philosophical Investigations, 44(3), pp. 318–338. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/phin.12312. ‌ Now let’s examine a quote from “The Book Of Disquiet”, by Fernando Pessoa:

“The feelings that hurt most, the emotions that sting most, are those who are absurd: the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are impossible; nostalgia for what never was; the desire for what could have been; regret over not being someone else; dissatisfaction with the world’s existence.”

Fernando Pessoa, The Book Of Disquiet (1982).´

Whilst “The Book Of Disquiet” is known for being mostly an Existentialist piece, in its over five hundred loose texts, many can be found to be driven by Absurdism, as it’s the case with the previous quote. Now let’s imagine we provided Pessoa with one of the three options given by Camus’. In this Pessoa quote I see the lucidity, and the overbearing weight that comes with it, therefore a loss of hope, meaning, could this be a philosophical suicide by the Portuguese Author?

To summarize, I chose this article, and this specific section, because it gives us not only understanding on “The Absurd”, but helps us further understand “The Book Of Disquiet”, it’s passages, and even the mindset Pessoa had whilst compiling these lose quotes that eventually built up the said “Book Of Disquiet”. what I found interesting about this article and what really drew my attention was the passage, or should I say quote that I have been saving up for the last point of this presentation: The passage for us to look at.

“It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the ‘why’ arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.”

Neiman, P.G. (2021) ‘Albert Camus’ Philosophy of Love’, Philosophical Investigations, 44(3), pp. 318–338. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/phin.12312. ‌ What lead me to present this specific passage was precisely how much it reminded me of the Pessoa quote showcased just before. The moment where Lucidity sets in, and you become struck with the overbearing weight of being woken to this reality, much like Pessoa was experiencing and demonstrating through his passages.

I have discussed and presented this artist on my previous Blog post, showcasing Visual Research to backup my work. Mic McAllister’s purpose, as quoted by said artist, is to use Art as a bridge for communication. Her artwork often uses broad and quick strokes, with an intentionally confusing morphology and over all composition.

mcallister_mic_Looking Down_12x12

mcallister_mic_Energy_21x27.5

At the end of the day it will all depend on what you perceive the art as, so what you see in this may not be the same as the person sitting next to you, but to me personally it has all to do with what we have been discussing, the loose and colorful compositions give me a sense of despair, and not being in control or with contact with one self. To me it’s a representation of both Existentialism and Absurdism.

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Evidence Of Visual Research.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to yet another post, this one containing, as mentioned, some Visual Research for you!

Fernando Pessoa, as many said, was known not only as the greatest Portuguese writer, but as the best two, three or four Portuguese writers!

Pessoa pioneered the usage of Heteronyms:

Het-ero-nym:

."In literature, the term heteronym sometimes refers to a writer's creative alter ego or persona. This usage was introduced by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935)."

What Are Heteronyms in English Grammar? (2019). Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/heteronyms-words-term-1690926.

There is a saying that goes like this:

Pessoa isn't just the greatest Portuguese writer of all time. He is the two, three and four best writers in Portugal.

This is due to his usage of Heteronyms. His three main and most famous heteronyms are such names as:

-Alberto Caeiro (Sensacionalist);

-Álvaro de Campos (Futurist);

-Ricardo Reis (Neo-Classic Author).

Souza, W. (no date) Heterônimos de Fernando Pessoa: quais são, estilos. Available at: https://mundoeducacao.uol.com.br/literatura/heteronimos-fernando-pessoa.htm.

I went through the very important aspect of his Heteronyms so that you could understand that shattered personality can make for a big visual aspect in this work.

An artist to back this up through his work is none other than our own Aldous Eveleigh! With an extense catalogue on his website, solely about Fernando Pessoa!

aldous and more (no date). Available at: http://www.aldouseveleigh.com/aldouss-gallery/pessoa-ngg/.

What interested me the most in these examples, straight from Aldous' own gallery, was the noticeability of the shattered, confused and eery facial features, body composition, color placement, that in my opinion demonstrate a clear intent to portray these different alter ego's present not only in Pessoa's work, but in Pessoa himself.

Another artist that needs to mentioned for this work, is Pessoa's own close friend and colleague at the time, Almada Negreiros (as mentioned on a previous post). With the nationaly known "Fernando Pessoa Portrait", that can be found in Lisbon Museum/Municipal Hall of Lisbon.

Tavares, L., Tavares, L. and Completo, V.M.P. (2023) Almada Negreiros e os retratos de Fernando Pessoa - publicado na Nova Águia 21. Available at: https://escrita-fone.blogspot.com/2018/04/almada-negreiros-e-os-retratos-de.html.

This portrait depicts Fernando Pessoa in his most natural form, exactly how you'd find him if you just so happen to run into him, cigarette in hand, writing on a Café. By his side sits the second issue of "Orpheu Magazine", the pioneer for the Modernist Movement in Portugal, made by Pessoa, Negreiros and several other partners of the time.

I also found an Artist whose paintings really caught my attention. Mic McAllister, an artist formed in Columbia College, doing Arts. Her paintings, due to their composition, give me a feeling of lack of identity, provoking feelings of existencialism in oneself, much like Aldous' work in regards to the use of color, to the odd shapes and odd construction of the figures.

And that's all for today folks! This is what I had to present to you today! Hope you enjoyed and maybe even learned a tad!

Have a good one!

[mikeyscontextuals]

A Disquiet Evening_ Brief 4

Welcome once again, everyone!

This is the first post, of many, regarding my journey through this last brief!

So the "gist" of it is pretty much the following: Taking from at least one of the previous themes we had, either Identity, Modernity, or maybe perhaps the Animal, we would have to lead on another separate piece, or continue a previous one we had made, refering to the chosen subject, obviously.

For me personally, it was the Identity brief that was my biggest hit and miss, at least according to my expectations for the given brief.

Therefore, it is said theme that I shall be tackling! Now back to the drawing board. It was here that I curiously ran into a video titled: "The Terrible Paradox Of Self-Awareness | Fernando Pessoa."

It immediately struck my interest for two reasons: Fernando Pessoa is the biggest and most important name in Portuguese history, and because this was all about Existencialism, and that is exactly what I am pursuing, especifically paralleling with his work: "The Book Of Disquiet", which was released in 1982, exactly 47 years after his passing, at just 47 years of age. It was released under one of his many semi-heteronyms: Bernardo Soares, which poses no comparison when standing beside all of his bigger heteronyms, and is a compiliation book, made of over 500 loose texts written by Fernando Pessoa. Consequently, the book has no beggining, no middle and no end! One can loosely open the book at any given text and read a passage that would make himself think, question and ponder. Here are some examples:

“My past is everything I failed to be.” ― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

“I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist.” ― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

“I wasn’t meant for reality, but life came and found me.” ― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

The quotes previously mentioned that should paint a pretty good picture of the Existencialism portraid in this work by Fernando Pessoa.

In further posts I will be developing this subject! Stick around for a great time!

Bibliography:

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The Great (white) Facts.

Hey everyone!

I'm back this time to bring you the final result for the work we had for Paul.

This whole project was about an animal, randomly given to you, and a subject that came with it!

Mine was no other than, you've guessed it, the Great White Shark: Monster or Victim? Tricky subject isn't it? Now, amongst all of the information there is out there on the beast, much of it was a tad contradictory, much too my surprise.

This time we we're basically forced to do a moving image of any sort, given that Paul had pretty much expected us to do one by now, and we quite simply haven't!

So my final work showcases some facts to help ease in your decision when looking at this animal, or does it? That will be up to you anyway.

In the future I would like to add more text and some transitions, but I coulnd't quite get them right this time! Back to the scratch table, or however they say it!

The full video was uploaded on youtube and I will be leaving the link at the end of this post!

Thank you for your time today!

Untile next time,

Miguel Moreno.

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Hew Locke: The Procession.

Hey everyone! Nice to be talking to you again.

You may find this odd and out of place, as it is a late submit, shame on me, however as someone somewhere has said, better late than ever.

Luke gave u a list of exhibitions to visit, and amongst these 13 provided choices, every exhibition was just as interesting as the last. So what was my choice here? What did I take into consideration to make this such bearing and rough decision? Well quite frankly I've been to someof these places, some I didn't even know, however there was a name that had been haunting me for a long time:

"Tate Britain";

Out of all of my countless exploration there was one that always managed to slip my plans, and this was no other than the Tate Britain (having been told by my partner that Tate Modern was simply quite not worth it).

Luckily for me, I was able to joing business with pleasure, and took a stroll down to the Tate Britain, and saw perhaps one of the most uncanny and eerie exhibitions I have ever seen!

Situated on the ground floor of the Tate, just a 2 minute walk from where you first come in, is "The Procession", by Hew Locke.

Hew Locke is a british artist, having been born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who depicts themes of and surrounding culture, in his art pieces, and "The Procession" is a perfect demonstration of this.

With a great, great amount of high detailed and colorful, bold pieces, "The Procession" does exactly what Hew Locke intended it to do, attract, question, ponder, and the most important of all, intrigue.

To the naked eye, and common viewer such as myself, the exhibition may appear as a sort of history, having a narrative that we can't quite place, but it is much more curious than that. Having culture and the personal identity of the author in it's core, "The Procession" can be deconstructed, and therefore viewed as a puzzle of sorts, containing clues all throughout, little pieces, little remarks to keep us focused and let us in all that is meant to portray, while endulging us in this explosion of color and detail.

I do find however, that the "shock value" in this piece can be limiting itself sometimes, to some viewers who choose not to withstand such eerieness, such as my girlfriend for example, who immediatly looked down and ran past it, and who can blame her right? Every mannequin there felt it was ready to move from it's shackles, reach out and grab you.

All of this said, I really enjoyed this exhibition and I think that has an artist, it was extremely sucessful and desirable.

Hope you enjoyed this Luke, and I'm sorry I forgot to post this!

See you when I see you!

[mikeyscontextuals]

Research On Your Allocated Animal.

Visual Reference and development:

The Great White shark is a fascinating beast, to say the least. I wast so very happy that this is what was given to me for this brief.

I have to say that before being tasked with this assignment I knew as much about Great Whites as the next person, but having done the necessary research for this assignment, I realized they are even more interesting than I could have ever imagined.

Mexico, Guadalupe, Pacific Ocean, scuba divers in shark cage with white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the foreground.

We all know where we’ve heard about them, Steven Spielberg did a great job in ruining their reputation worldwide, using them as the antagonist for the movie franchise “Jaws”, which was all about psychotic, borderline homicidal Great White shark encounters, which couldn’t be less true for a great deal of reasons. They still look very homicidal by default however.

“Jaws” is an American thriller movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, based on a 1974 novel, that was released in the year of 1975. It’s set in Amity Island, New England, and is about a set of, at first, mysterious disappearances at the local beach, which are proven to be the works of none other than one of our trusted Great Whites.

I’m not standing here as an advocate for their amicableness though, they really do look like the perfect killing machine, being the largest predatorial marine fish, but we’ll get into that right after with the factual information.

Factual Information (about the animal and the issue):

As I previously mentioned, the Great White Shark, or Carcharodon Carcharias, is the largest know to man predatorial fish, weighing anywhere between 4000 pounds (~1814 Kg), to 7000 pounds (~3175 Kg), and measuring between 16 feet (~4,87 meters) to 20 feet (~6,069 meters), making for undoubtedly intimidating creatures with their massive size and stature.

They possess a set of 300 razor sharp teeth, which is funny and ironic, because Great Whites do not chew their food, they rip their prey into mouth-sized pieces and swallow them whole!

Their massiveness and body shape are all too well thought though, for their torpedo shaped bodies are made for better and more effective cruises through the ocean for a larger duration of time, and occasionally they can even switch to high-speed burst when pursuing their prey, even leaping out of the water at times!

But as I mentioned, despite their menacing appearance, they are not as dangerous to us humans as the movies make it seem, funny enough, you are going to be surprised by some of the statistics:

               -In the United States, during a time span of 96 years, ranging from 1916 to 2011, there were 106 confirmed , unprovoked, Great White shark attacks, which included just 13 fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2021 alone, there were 42,915 confirmed deaths due to fatal car crashes. Or maybe I can give you a more interesting example: According to the Governmental page for Natural Disasters and Severe Weather, you can find that between 2006 and 2011, on average, there were little over 140 confirmed lightning caused deaths in the United States of America;

               -On average, there is only about one Great White attack per year;

               -For every 1 human that is killed by a shark, about 25 million sharks are killed by humans;

               -For every beach attack that occurs, it is typically a juvenile Great White, for they feed closer to shore to prey on stingrays, fish and smaller animals that are more abundant and easier to catch.

And so we must ask ourselves once again: The Great White Shark, Monster or Victim? Personally, I think the statistics may answer this very well.

Investigation of other artists/designers who have taken on similar issues/subject matter:

Cherilyn Ramsey - @STOKED_CREATIVE

This artist focuses her will to break the misconceptions and people’s negative attitude towards sharks through her art, wanting to portray the critical state of our oceans, as well as the overall wellbeing of sharks.

Rachel Nutkins - @RACHELNUTKINSART

Much like the previous artist I showed you, Rachel Nutkins is driven by the way people portray sharks, and see them as this menacing cold blooded killing machine, and seeks to redirect people to the truth through her art, painting colorful bits of sharks in a less aggressive way than what they would normally be shown as. She sees sharks not as monsters that need to be hunted, but as important and essential parts of our ecosystem that should be protected and respected, not hunted down.

Blake Kanan - @CREATIVELY_BLAKE

And to top it all up, last but not least, Blake Kanan is an illustrator who uses a variety of media to convey his art, whether that is digital, traditional, graphic, logos, illustrations, the message is always the same: Portray the beauty of a shark’s design, so people see the animal as a piece of art, rather than a scary monster.

These were the three artists that interested me the most because it related directly to the key issue I was given about sharks: “Monster or Victim?”. There were certainly a few more good examples, but these ones fit perfectly.

Deeper contextual, critical, and conceptual thinking about the animal in question:

With all this research done, I believe I have a pretty good understanding not only of the outcome I want done, but of the path I will follow to reach it. This was without a doubt my favorite animal and issue out of all the papers given to the other students, and I am extremely happy its mine! My wish is to produce a final that will further help portray that they are indeed the victim, and not the monsters the world makes them to be, whether that’s in the Tv, the Cinema, but in the general media as well.

It is definitely harder to point out less intimidating features from a shark, because as we saw they are definitely not the most innocent looking fellows on this planet, and so smoothing that up is not my goal, for it would take away from what they are, and that is not where I want to be headed. Nonetheless, I still have a lot of studying to do to advance with my Graphic Media work for Paul, for I will do this animal some good, and not help further ruin his reputation.

I briefly browsed through the library search and plan on doing a more thorough scan for they seemed to have some good pieces about this subject, parallel to that I will also be going to the library to bring up some pieces on Shark biology, to help me develop this further in the most realistic way possible.

In the meantime, I’ll be conducting more studies about not only the animal, but is issues.

Until nextime!

Bibliography:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t82m6vPhsEA: “Great White Sharks of Guadalupe Island” | The National Geographic;

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/great-white-shark: World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF): The Great White Shark;

https://open.spotify.com/episode/77gxjaTuNMJoa0ZQL2EjX0?si=64385d1fca2249d0 : The Great White Shark Experience Podcast, Episode 1- Eric and Allen;

https://brandongaille.com/32-rare-great-white-shark-attack-statistics: Great White Shark Statistics;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year: Car Accident Statistics;

https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/lightning/victimdata.html- Fatal Lightning Strike Statistics;

https://www.themarinediaries.com/tmd-blog/ocean-artists-turning-sharks-into-art: Artists who focus on Shark art;

https://www.instagram.com/stoked_creative/ Cherylin Ramsey, Illustrator;

https://www.instagram.com/rachelnutkinsart/ Rachel Nutkins, Illustrator;

https://www.instagram.com/creatively_blake/ Nathan Blake, Illustrator.

[mikeyscontextuals]

Ashamed of what and before whom?- A Reading Report.

Hey everyone, back for another reading report!

My reading report was about Jacques Derrida's own: "The Animal That Therefore I Am (More To Follow)".

I had my eye set out for this one as soon as Luke warned us of its rather tricky nature, and let me tell you, he was right.

This reading is opens up with an experience, or crisis, the author had, after having a what would otherwise be considered a regular, day to day, occurance. This situation is what sets the theme for the rest of the reading.

The said action is none other than walking out of the shower, naked, only to be seen in your true self, by your house cat, in this case the author's female pussycat.

-"... -and who am I (following) at the moment when, caught naked, in silence, by the gaze of an animal, for example the eyes of a cat, I have trouble, yes, a bad time overcoming my embarassment."

Derrida, J. (2006) L'animal que donc je suis. Page 372.

Derrida follows this briefly by questioning: "Whence this malaise?", meaning he strives to find the source for this general feeling of discomfort of being "exposed", as one may say, to an irrational animal that knows not the definition of nudity, yet sets in the author a feeling of "malaise" (general feeling of discomfort). The author reveals in the same page that he is not only ashamed for standing in such position in front of his cat, but is also ashamed of being ashamed.

Before heading any further I would like to point out that I rather enjoyed this reading, regardless of how difficult I found it at times, I was really interested by most of the points the author made, and I will cite my personal favourites in this report, however for the most part I believe that the difficulty of this reading is set on the ever so revolving topics surged by the author. A great deal of what he said could have been confined to the first five or six pages, otherwise I am afraid other readers may feel saturated by the repetition, such as I was. Nonetheless, Jacques had some strong points, (sometimes clouded by the fact that this paper feels like a big identity crisis) quoting some known and solid characters, such as Michel De Montaigne and his work: "Apology for Raymond Sebond" (page 375); Lewis Carrol and two of works, entitled: "Through The Looking Glass" (page 376) and "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland" (pages 376, 377 and so on); Emmanuel Lévinas and his work: "Ethics and Infinity" (page 381); and throws in Descartes' name every now and then.

Now on the the points I found most interesting:

Jacques has a very interesting observation on animals and what nudity represents to them, quoting:

-"It is generally thought (...) that the property unique to animals and what in the final analysis distinguishes them from man, is their being naked without knowing it. Not being naked therefore, not having knowledge of their nudity, in short without consciousness of good and evil."

Derrida, J. (2006) L'animal que donc je suis. Page 373.

The general idea behind this thought, or at least what I make of it, is that to us Homo Sapiens, nudity is a physical state, a state absolved from and without the bearing of physical covers or clothes of any sorts, we do not, for the most part, conduct or daily routines in a way that adheres to a necessity for the state of nudity, whereas animals do not even bear that concept, for it is what is natural and routinely to them, and what the author intends to present with this argument is that, due to this, animals are never nude, because they are always nude, the need for a definition such as nudity never comes in to play, and therefore never exists, because it is always present. In other words, a person who needs glasses, only knows they don't see perfectly once they try the glasses, and then bad sight becomes a reality, meaning if you conduct your life without knowing the other side, what you experience is what is real to you, and you know not the other side of the coin, therefore know not its existence.

-"Before the cat that looks at me naked, would I be ashamed like an animal that no longer has the sense of nudity? Or on the contrary, like a man who retains the sense of nudity?".

Derrida, J. (2006) L'animal que donc je suis. Page 374.

Jacques presents another interesting point on page 375, quoting:

"When I play with my cat [ma chatte], who knows if I am not a pastime to her more than she is to me?"

Derrida, J. (2006) L'animal que donc je suis. Page 375.

We begin diving into another important and well documented philosphical question: What are the intentions of animals, and do they bear such consciousness? Personally, I really still feel like this entire paper withholds a lot of important questions, this being one of them, eventhough feeling like it still scatters from the initial theme presented by the author.

Another example of a very explored philosophical question emerges on page 377, and that is the question of animals and their responses, their rationality over instinct, and it comes described as:

"(...) a very inconvenient habit of kittens (...) whatever you say to them, they always purr (...) it was impossible to guess whether it meant "yes" or "no"."

Derrida, J. (2006) L'animal que donc je suis. Page 377.

Overall, this reading is much about animals, in this case cats, and the extent of their consciouness and ethics as irrational beings, what do they understand and what do they want? Eventhough the author diverges every now and then and you may loose your focus, this is the key idea behind this mid-life crisis thrown onto paper. Personally, I can not say that this is a topic I am most familiar with, given that out of the hundreds of philosophical debates I have had, this never came into play and therefore it is not my field of expertise, I know animals present a large set of instinctive behaviours that may fall into accordance with their environment once domesticated, and you may see this as rationality, when in reality its just conformity and a large part of inteligence. Still, as I previously mentioned, I enjoyed this reading and the ideas and insights it had to offer, despite often times confusing, I was able to withdraw what I found interesting and necessary for this report.

Luckily enough, this reading falls right into place with the work I have to produce for Paul! The animal I was given was none other than The Great White Shark, and its problem was: "Monster, or victim?".

So I will be diving into the consciousness of said animal, and much like the author of this reading, question the depth of said consciouness, their intentions, their beliefs, and their overall behaviour. There is a big gap between common house cat and a Great White Shark, but I believe this reading set me on just the right mindset to question all of these thematics so I can progress with my work.

Hope you enjoyed this one too Luke, have a good one!

[mikeyscontextuals]

Graphic Media- A Brief

Hey guys!

Today I'm coming here to tell you a little short story about my Identity Graphic Media Project!

This was all about boxes, and identity, but one is a little bit more literal than the other. The box, could be any way shape or form that we imagined, and we needed to get funky with it!

"What's in the box???"- Detective David Mills, Seven, 1995.

I had a lot of difficulties getting a crack on this one, and can't say that I am entirily happy with my final result, but here he is, nonetheless!

I went through a million ideas, mainly something to do with music, and initially I had my heart set on "The End" by The Doors, but got through and through until I came up with my final design.

"Mike", the main character of my short story, is meant to represent me, and the box is meant to represent my head, or my consciouness, and the dude that lives in it, and that is when the identity bit comes into play!

Now, I cannot stress this enough, I will have to re-upload this if I am (hopefully) given a chance, because I know I can do much more, but had a lot of difficulties to even finish and I would never simply not finish.

Hope you liked this one! I will see you guys whenever I can! Have a good one!

[mikeyscontextuals]

           Bacon, Francis. Three Studies for a Self-Portrait. 1979.

          Material: Oil On Canvas    Dimensions: 37.5 x 31.8 cm.

“Three Studies for a Self-Portrait” by Francis Bacon, represents what the painter sees himself as being from an emotional perspective, the distorted shapes, the coloring and the boldness of the strokes is meant to convey all types of emotional attributes and the painters state of mind at the time, and it all comes through in a disturbing yet addicting composition.

 

It is often hard and, on some instances, impossible to distinguish the contours of the face from the dark, empty background, making for blurred, sinuous, and tortured outlines. To me, personally, this is gives me a sense of emotional disturbance, lack of identity, and bound by strong, dark, emotions. The composition gives little importance to the body in the portrait, which diverts the attention of the viewer even more towards the face, and therefore to the emotional aspect of this piece of work.

 

 

Francis Bacon once said in an interview:

“I’ve done a lot of self-portraits, really because people have been dying around me like flies and I’ve had nobody else to paint but myself”

Francis Bacon in conversation with David Sylvester, 1975.

The Two Analysis:

The first Analysis I looked at was on a video, uploaded by the Youtube channel “Sotheby’s”, simply entitled: “Bacon: Three Studies for a Self-Portrait”.

The narrator of the video briefly explains the origin of the paintings, stating that Francis Bacon started these portraits in 1972, briefly after the passing of his partner, like I mentioned, hence their obscure, dark setting. She goes on to claim that the contrast of the dark background, to the somewhat colorful figure done in the portrait, gives a cheerful, joyous setting to the overall painting, despite the figure’s contemplating and reflective posture.

 

The second Analysis comes from a website named: “Culture Trip”. It’s intention is to define and explain Francis Bacon as an artist, through brief reviews of 9 selected paintings of his. When it comes to “Three Studies for a Self-Portrait” the writer has the following to say:

“The depth of the black backdrop skews the viewer’s perspective of space, though each angle of the artist’s face—despite its blurs and obscurities—provides a fluid sense of ethereal motion.”

Both analyses have a common ground, or a common base rather. They both stress the obscurity intended for the background, which sets the mood for the rest of the painting’s overall structure. What I find interesting is that whereas the first analyses has a remarkable comment about the lighter aspect of the colors used over the painting’s intended face dysmorphia, the second analyses focuses on the dark setting that Bacon intended the painting to transmit. But at the end, they both agree on that one thing.

Personally, when I was begging this assignment I was agreeing much with the second opinion, noticing and giving emphases only to the dark setting, even with the noticeable color contrast, and after reading both of them I cannot unsee the cheerfulness in the colors used, even if the face is intentionally disfigured, and torn.

And that’s a wrap for today! Thank you , Luke, ever so much for putting up with me and my reports, hope you now know a tad more about Mr. Bacon’s works!

Have a good one!

Bibliography:

 

[mikeyscontextuals]

Queer Theory- A Reading Report

Hey everyone!

Today I came to talk to you about my latest Reading Report on “Queer Theory!

Luke had us doing some more readings, and amongst the list of available ones, was a reading entitled: “Excerpt from Queer: A Graphic History”.

I ended up choosing to my Reading Report on it because it is a subject that now more than ever is a constant presence in our lives, and therefore I felt the need to be more informed and up to date with all its history.

Much to my liking, it was a very illustrated excerpt, having a span of 26 pages. It opens with a quick summary of what we will be discussing throughout the excerpt (pages 1 to 3), and quickly follows, or begins, by explaining the origin of the word “ Queer” (page 4), letting the reader know that it dates to the 16th Century English Speaking Countries, and was used to describe something, or someone, as odd, strange or illegitimate, stating examples such as:

“There’s nowt as queer as folk” or being “In queer street”, which is meant to describe someone in financial difficulties.

Until page 9 we go through the many faces of the term Queer and issues associated with it, such as the reclaiming of its meaning through manifestations, journals, and tv shows; the queer Umbrella, so on and so on.

From page 10 we are introduced to the theme of Sexuality and early Sexological Understandings, diving deeper and deeper into this theme and all its aspects and/or concerns, and open this up with non-other than Sigmund Freud and how he set a standard for human physical relationships, with the idea that sexual affairs would ideally lead to and/or base itself on P.I.V (Penis In Vagina). We follow this with the history of the Gay Rights Movement (page 13) and follow it to Identity (page 14). The author develops on this until page 16, and there we are introduced to the final theme of this Excerpt, two important figures for Queer Theory: French Philosopher Michel Foucault, and American Philosopher, Judith Butler.

We are given an understanding of these two’s theories and views on Queer Theory, stating the difference in their points of view.

               On the right side of page 16 it briefs how Foucault was more focused on their sexuality and how Butler focused on the gender aspect, but how their ideas could be both applied and woven together.

This goes on until the last page, but I will state interesting ideas I took from them.

On page 17 the author talks about Foucault’s “Panopticon” theory. The “Panopticon” is a prison with a tower in the middle, and the tower is surrounded by cells, making an outer circle. In the tower, a guard would occasionally guard and monitor the cells, and so the inmates never really knew when this guard would be patrolling, and where he was looking at, and so they began to monitor themselves and their behavior. Foucault uses this comparison to explain the high degree of surveillance we have in the world today, in which we could be monitored and watched at any given time.

On the right side of page 23, we are told about the “Heterosexual Matrix”, which was a way media professor David Gauntlett found to nicely summarize Butler’s model, which goes:

You have a fixed sex (male or female) –

Upon which culture builds a stable gender (masculine or feminine) –

Which determines your identity (towards the “opposite” or “same” sex).

However, Butler defends that we should not accept any of these follows from the last

            “Our bodies don’t determine our genders, and neither do our genders determine our desires.”

The excerpt wraps with and ending on the Judith Butler’s theorem and perspectives.

 

I personally loved to read this excerpt and would recommend it to anybody that would like to be better informed about this aspect or gain cultural knowledge in general.

It was after reading this excerpt that I realized that I did not know most of these things, and feel grateful that I did read this on! Great reading list Luke!

 

Once again, thank you for reading this, and I will see you next time!

[mikeyscontextuals]

Reading Report

Hey everyone!

I am here today to talk to you about our first ever reading report! We were given two options, the Savage Messiah and the Two Modernities, I ended up choosing the first option.

What really intrigued me about the savage messiah was the punk, fan-zine type of style to it, plus the timeline jumping being juggled back and forth made for a very confusing, but in an intriguing way, story telling.

The first couple of pages immediatly make you sit on the edge of your seat due to its boldness and direct message about the "yuppiedrome", and the higher real estate prices, among many other themes.

It then goes on to reveal a main character, we can call it, and begins the narrative, descriving every surrounding in a very dirty and dark way, which only helps to set the mood further.

It goes on and we are introduced to the first big time skip, which refers to a relationship she had, and went bad, really really bad.

We are given a lot of derive narrative, which later on serves as the perfect plate for character nostalgia!

I really recommend you read this one guys, I sure really liked it.

See you next time!!

[mikeyscontextuals]

Almada Negreiros, A Path Into Graphic Media

Almada Negreiros, a portuguese multi-discilpline man of the world, or so us Portuguese like to claim!

Before the big hand-in for Graphic Media we did a small, 400 word or such, work on a modernist artist of our choosing, talk a little bit about his life, his work and how he influenced us for our final project!

Being the patriot I am, I did mine on a known Portuguese artist, know for his important contribute to the first vanguard of modernism and futurism in Portugal as well as his joint work with other known names in Portugal, such as Fernando Pessoa, for example!

We then proceeded to present our artists in a divided group presentation, which proved to be very fun and helpful, for everyone had an insight and something to add to what we were presenting!

[mikeyscontextuals]

Hey guys! Glad you're here!

Today we will be briefly discussing my work for a gentleman named Paul Barrit, who is part of our contextual studies project!

Paul gives us classes on Fridays! In which we discussed what we would be doing for this brief, which was all about modernity, and being critical and bold about it.

I eventually started cooking up some ideas on what I would, and could, be doing, and thought about doing something which cyborgs and robot soldiers, or something along those lines!

And so I began sketching! Drew up some cyborg/exo-suits/power armor individuals and presented it to Paul, however I forgot about the most important aspect of all of this, the criticism! And so Paul gave me another idea, the weapons industry!

And so back to the drawing board for me! I started researching about the weapons industry and landed on SOFEX! Or "Special Operations Forces Exhibition"! Which is an anual event hosted in Jordan, and takes in war Generals from all around the world, and gives them a lot of weaponry to purchase, and eventually use on their next conflict, which is funny when you think about it because they are all going to use it against each other! Anyway, here comes the sketching bit, I began by doin some skull drawings, given that I am very much into an "old school" style of drawing, and eventually came up with a concept for a poster that would be both bold, in your face, and contradicting. Meaning it would represent destruction and death but at the same time great you for SOFEX! "Welcomes You All!"

This was my breakthrough idea for the final project, and drumroll! Ended up with a (very inspired on both war propaganda and russian constructivism, thanks Paul!), which read SOFEX JORDAN, and had the unforgetable "Welcomes You All", dialed in russian fonts!

Well, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And see you on the next one!