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Weekly Evaluation - Week Eleven

In the eleventh week, which is the last week of my final major project, I have been updating my project proposal as well as google sites. I have been also going over my blog in order to see if I have any gaps that has to be filled in. I was also refining a big part of my research as well as other work. I have been mainly using electronic devices such a computer. I also used Microsoft word in order to write my overall evaluation. During the last week, I have received ample amount of positive feedback from my lecturers about my final outcomes as well as the whole final major project in general. I have also been peer evaluating my work in order to critically reflect on my blog.

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Popular magazine within the LGBT community

List of magazines:

ELLE

ELLE magazine is a bit more suave. The ELLE magazine always has a bold white title at the top of the cover which is partly covered by the celebrity which is currently featuring. It also has a small barcode usually in the corner. The article name is mainly at the bottom of the cover which also has a big, bold font. The celebrity which is currently featuring in the magazine or a model is located in the middle to attract the viewer’s attention.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan magazine is more casual and informal. it is also more about gossip. In the cosmopolitan magazine, the title is always hidden behind the celebrity or a model. Right on the top of the cover there are key words which describe the magazine’ topic in general. I have noticed one thing which is different in the cosmopolitan magazine, instead of only statements on the front cover, the magazine asks questions to the viewers, which leads into engaging with the audience and buying the magazine. The featuring celebrity is also in the centre of the cover. The text is overlapping with the model, however, the editors try not to cover the model completely. The cosmopolitan magazine also has large. bold font to catch the viewers attention. Cosmopolitan magazine rarely has a barcode on the front cover.

Vogue

Vogue magazine is slightly edgy and more high fashion. The title which is mainly  black and bold is always located at the top of the cover and is either hidden behind the celebrity featuring the magazine or in front of it which is similar to the ELLE magazine. The main issues and topics of the magazine ar always listed on the sides of the front cover, just like the ELLE and cosmopolitan magazine. The model which is usually a popular celebrity is also located in the centre of the page.

InStyle

The cover of InStyle magazine is extremely different from the usual magazines, it is rather minimal as well as aesthetically pleasing and easy on eye. The cover includes large, bold title which in located on the top of the cover.  The cover also includes the issue which is also massive and bold, just like the title of the magazine. With this magazine the producers are selling the magazine from an aesthetic point of view. The InStyle magazine also has a tiny date in the corner at the top of the page. I would this magazine might appear a bit mysterious as it does not have any topics listed on the front cover except of the main issue. Just like vogue and cosmopolitan magazines, InStyle magazine rarely has a barcode at the front cover.

Bazzar

The front cover of Bazaar magazine is most comparable to the cover of vogue as well as cosmopolitan magazine. The reason for it is because they all big, bold type all over the page. Like the previous magazine front covers I have analysed, bazaar also rarely includes a barcode on the front cover. I would say Bazaar magazine is for more mature audience and just like V magazine and InsStyle magazine it is aesthetically pleasing.

V Magazine

V magazine is highly similar to InStyle magazine as it is greatly minimalistic and the editors are focusing on the aesthetic part rather than informational. The cover of V magazine has usually darker, more monotoned colours with a bright, enormous “V” going through the whole page. Some of the magazines are a bit more jazzy and flashy in colour. The cover of the V magazine is very simple yet chaotic at the same time. It is also futuristic and fresh. Just like the previous magazines I have analysed, V magazine also rarely includes a barcode on the front cover. The topics of the magazine are always listed on the sides in a tiny font.

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Final Outcomes - Fully Developed

In order to develop my final outcomes to a greatly high standard, I have decided to give them more purpose and context. I have done that in order to engage with my targeted audience on a higher level. The audience i have chosen is the LGBT youth, someone who have experienced similar tragedy, trauma and other kind of events in life as me. By choosing this audience, I believe I am able to connect as well as engage with my chosen audience in a greater way. LGBT youth often thinks they are alone with their problems and nobody else has ever experienced them, by creating my final outcomes, my targeted audience is going to be able to realise they are not the only ones who struggle with those specific issues in life. The main issues are rejection by family and/or friends, bullying at a very young age, violence, etc. 

In order to get to my chosen audience, which is the LGBT youth, I would create an exhibition or publish my final outcomes in certain magazines or hang posters in public spaces to spread awareness about the struggles and issues the LGBT community experiences in their everyday life. However, due to current situation in the world and the lack of opportunity because of Covid-19 outbreak, I have created virtual mock ups instead. In order to produce my mock ups, I have used Adobe Photoshop.

In order to ensure myself my targeted audience will notice my work, I have included my final outcomes in exclusive magazines which are currently popular within the LGBT community and are being read by all genders and ages. Thanks to the decision i have made, I am able to connect and attract wider audience, not just the LGBT youth but perhaps heterosexual people which could spread the awareness even further in other various communities.

My final outcomes are also located in public spaces such as bus stops and public transport which is also used by many various communities, not just LGBT youth. Again, in this case the awareness is going to be spread even further in the world. I have also included to my final outcomes on vehicles which might be located in places where there is a large number of LGBT people, such as schools, universities, shops, cinemas and any other kinds of popular places. By locating my final outcomes on vehicles, my work as well as the message behind them is going to be spread even further as vehicles move around and might also travel to various places and cities.

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Designs of my final outcomes

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Designs of my final outcomes

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Pop Art

Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the mid- to late-1950s. The movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane mass-produced objects.

Pop art is highly famous and popular art movement which mainly includes bright and flashy colours. Because of the use of jazzy colours, pop art links to the LGBTQ+ community, mainly its flag. In my opinion, pop art is rather fascinating as well as captivating art movement. I am going to use it in my final outcomes.

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Salvador Dali

I would describe Salvador Dali as the master of surrealism. What we have in common is we both take the everyday elements and make something truly magical out of them. The use of his incredible mind in the art world creates another totally fascinating perspective of looking at the dull boring world. The use of drawers to create a dress reminds me of prosthetic make up. Salvador’s artwork seems greatly intricate and intriguing. For example the artwork below, an elephant on fragile, frantic legs seems so enthralling but also it makes me feel anxious at the same time.

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Face Painting

Tribal or Cultural Face Painting has been used for many motives. For hunting, religious reasons, and military reasons, mainly as a method of camouflaging or to scare ones enemy. Decorating one's face in various patterns and shapes has been a part of the cultural make-up of many societies since the beginning of time. Face painting is a common theme across many cultures in Indigenous American tribes, North America tribes, Africa and South America. In Native American Tribes, Face Painting has been used for artistic expression since ancient times. The art of transforming ourselves with make-up and masks is a universal phenomenon. Before we sought to vent our artistic impulse on a cave wall, we painted on our faces and bodies. Indigenous peoples of the Amazon have said that in this power to change ourselves, we demonstrate our humanity and set ourselves apart from the world of the animals.

Patterns developed over time to signify a variety of cultural events and these, conveyed an emotional meaning that was attached to them. The wide range of patterns that a face painter can create, enhance the emotions and meaning of the cultural events. The patterns can be colour specific or randomly geometric seemingly without any significance. The shapes and colors convey a strong bond and meaning amongst people who have a face painting tradition. They are a connection to their past and carry a very strong cultural meaning in their lives. 

Neverthelees, as a final observation, face painting was a cultural well as traditional element of everyday life in the ancient times. The reason tribes use face art to transform themselves may be varied. Sometimes they choose to do so as a part of a tribal ritual or at other times they do so to mark their status, but the colourful and dynamic language of the face painting remains the same. Nowadays, face painting is used for fun. It is often children who paint their faces now. They often paint their faces  with foolish patterns. In our modern world, face painting is often associated with TV programmes or cartoon characters. After exploring face painting’s culture as well as history, I would consider the modern use of face painting almost as mocking and disrespecting ancient cultures and traditions.

Inspired by the greatly breath-taking uses of face painting by ancient cultures, I am definitely going to experiment with face painting.I will also include face painting in my final outcomes. I am absolutely engrossed and gobsmacked by the incredible talent ancient communities had with face painting.

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Colour Theory

In the visual arts, colour theory is a body of practical guidance to colour mixing and the visual effects of a specific colour combination. There are also definitions / categories of colours based on the colour wheel: primary colour, secondary colour, and tertiary colour. 

Although colour theory principles first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, a tradition of "colory theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy over Isaac Newton's theory of colour and the nature of primary colors. From there it developed as an independent artistic traditions.

The purpose of colour theory range from renaissance fine art to modern commercial advertising. Colours affect our mood and perception. Colour theory is not new, therefore, it is seen in old traditions. Colour was mentioned many times in the ancient bible and every colour has its specific definition and interpretation.

Primary Colours;

A set of primary colors is a set of real colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used in applications that are intended to elicit the perception of diverse sets of colour in various elements such as electronic displays, color printing, and paintings. Primary colours are as follow: red, blue, yellow.

(Primary colours) (Image taken from the internet)

Secondary Colours;

A secondary colours are colours made by mixing of two primary colors in a given color space. Secondary colours are as follow: Orange, Green, Violet.

(Primary & secondary colours) (Image taken from the internet)

Tertiary colours;

A tertiary colour or intermediate colour is a colour made by mixing primary colours with secondary colours. Six basic tertiary colours are as follow: Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, Red-Violet.

(Primary, secondary & tertiary colours) (Image taken from the internet)

Taking everything into account, colours have originated from light and then from primary colours. Primary,secondary as well as some tertiary colours form the LGBTQ+ flag. Therefore, it means the LGBTQ+ community is everything. It is a mixutre of different, various people which create something fabulous in the world.

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Culture behind masks

What is a mask?

A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes as well as in the performing arts  for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body.

More generally in art history, especially sculpture, "mask" is the term for a face without a body that is not modelled in the round (which would make it a "head"), but for example appears in low relief. 

History 

The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from Middle French ‘masque’,  "covering to hide or guard the face".

The use of masks in rituals or ceremonies is a very ancient human practice across the world, although masks can also be worn for protection, in hunting, in sports, in feasts, or in wars – or simply used as ornamentation. Some ceremonial or decorative masks were not designed to be worn. Although the religious use of masks has waned, masks are used sometimes in drama therapy or psychotherapy.

One of the challenges in anthropology is finding the precise derivation of human culture and early activities, with the invention and use of the masks. The use of masks dates back several millennia. It is conjectured that the first masks may have generally been used by primitive people to associate the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as "the gods" or to otherwise lend credence to the person's claim on a given social role.

(Funeral mask of K'inich Janaab' Pakal at the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico) image taken from the internet)

Masks in performance

Throughout the world, masks are used for their expressive power as a feature of masked performance – both ritually and in various theatre traditions. The ritual and theatrical definitions of mask usage frequently overlap and merge but still provide a useful basis for categorisation. 

Masks are a familiar and vivid element in many folk and traditional pageants, ceremonies, rituals as well as festivals and are often of an ancient origin. The mask is normally a part of a costume that adorns the whole body and embodies a tradition important to the religious and social life of the community as whole or a particular group within the community. Masks are used almost universally and maintain their power and mystery both for their wearers and their audience. The continued popularity of wearing masks at carnival and for children at parties and for festivals such as Halloween are good examples. Nowadays these are usually mass-produced plastic masks, often associated with popular films, TV programmes or cartoon characters.

(A Venetian carnival mask) (Image taken from the internet)

Masks in overall

In conclusion, masks have been originated back several millennia. Masks have been used in various kinds of everyday life events such as rituals or hunting. Masks have been used in order to hide as well as express someone’s social role in a community. Masks have been also used in other cases such as religion. Thanks to masks, people have been able to communicate as well as worship thier Gods. Nevertheless, masks took a massive role in culture, religion as well as folk back in the ancient times.

Inspired by the incredible use of masks by our ancestors, I am going to experiment with masks in my project. I will also definitely include masks inmy final outcomes.

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Weekly Evaluation - Week Ten

The tenth week of my final major project was all about final outcomes making as well as their development. In the tenth week of my final major project, I have successfully finished making my final outcomes. I have created six various looks based on my  life experiences, pop art as well as variety of artists such as Yayoi Kusuma and Olivier De Sagazan. In order to produce my final outcomes I have used various materials such as acrylic paint, jewellery, literal waste such as cigarette butts, wax and pebbles. I also obviously had to use a camera to photograph myself. I did not have anyone to assist me so I had to photograph myself all by myself without any help which was quite challenging and cause harm such as burning myself with hot wax. The process of making my outcomes was quite time consuming as I had to collect various materials. The most time consuming part of collecting my materials was collecting cigarette butts as in need vast amount of them. Other than that, the process was not complicated even though it might look like it was.

In order to create my final outcomes I had to look back at my personal life events as well as trauma. I would say it was not pleasant to remind myself of my trauma and appalling, uncomfortable life events and at first I did not want to do it. However by showing passion, determination as well as ambition for my final major project, I did look back at my life but I did not stare. I believe my outcomes have been completed to a very high standard and I would not change anything about them if I would have to them again. I have decided to base my final outcomes on my childhood trauma as well as my personal life experiences in order to make more effective and impactful. I did it so I could also engage with my chosen audience which the LGBT youth. Even though, my final outcomes are about my experiences, the majority of my targeted audience can also relate as the LGBT community experiences similar events.

In the next week of my final major project, I am planning to carefully look at my whole project, including my Tumblr blog, project proposal as well as Google Sites in order to see if I have any gaps or missing elements in my project. By doing this I will also ensure myself my project is finished to a high standard.  At the end of next week, probably Friday, I am planning to submit my final major project to my lecturers. I also desire every lecturer to have a look at my blog and give me their honest opinion and critiques. In the eleventh week of my final major project, I am also going to write my overall evolution for this project and continue with research.

In the tenth week of my final major project, I have received vast amount of creative as well as positive feedback from my lecturers about my final outcomes. I have also been peer evaluating my work in order to critically reflect on my blog and the work I have produced which are my final outcomes.

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Developing My Final Outcomes Further

I have developed my final outcomes further in a more ambitious as well as innovative way in order to better engage with my targeted audience which is LGBT youth. In order to develop my final outcomes, I have used a mobile app called ‘unfold’. It is fun app where I could easily develop my final outcomes further and give them a more effective as well as impactful image. 

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Develoing My Final Outcomes Further

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Developing my final outcomes further

Using Adobe Photoshop, I have decided to edit my final outcomes and put them on front cover of magazine which the LGBT youth would typically buy. I have done that in order to connect with my targeted audience on higher level. Not only LGBT teens will see my magazines but also communities which do not support t and are against he LGBT community. The purpose of putting my outcomes on covers of magazines is to make the LGBT youth, which is my target audience, realise they can finally be their true selves and reveal their real identity. Anybody might see a magazine as they are located literals everywhere. The purpose of this process is also to make homophobic people realise   that LGBT people are real people too, we have feeling and desires just like anyone else.

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Developing my final outcomes further

Here, I have developed my final outcomes further in a creative as well as innovative way. In order to develop my outcomes, I have used Adobe Photoshop. I have downloaded a free template from a website called ‘Unblast.com’.  I have decided to experiment and give my outcomes more purpose as well as context and picture them in different scenarios in order to engage with my chosen audience on a more effective level. Here, I have put my outcome on a front cover of a magazine which the LGBT youth would typically buy. I have experimented with various colours of the cover in order to see which one would be the most impactful and effective for my targeted audience. Those are only mock ups. To present my final outcomes in the final exhibition, I will definitely use a different template.

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Women Hiding Their Masculinity

In my final major project, I am looking at my personal life experiences which is hiding my femininity. However, what I believe is less common or just not spoken  enough about is women hiding their masculinity. Obviously, I can only discuss my thoughts and notions about this topics and not my experiences as I do not idenitfy as a woman. However, I still wanted to look at my experiences from a different perspective and discuss the issue which regards hiding behind the mask of femininity.

In everyday language, femininities and masculinities do not map onto biological sex. In different cultures, certain behaviors or practices may be widely recognized as “feminine” or “masculine,” irrespective of whether they are adopted by women or by men and femininities and masculinities are not descriptors of sexual orientation.

There are many forms of femininity and many forms of masculinity. What gets defined as feminine or masculine differs by various kinds of factors such as region, religion, class, national culture and other social factors. How femininities and masculinities are valued differs culturally. 

I believe it is much easier for women to hide their masculinity, however, I still know and am aware it is arduous and challenging. The reason I believe it might be easier for women to hide their masculinity is because women can hide it by wearing make up, elegant jewellery, heels as well as other elements which are considered as ‘feminine’. More challenging part of hiding masculinity within women and femininity within men is hiding their behaviour and habits. I believe it it equally strenuous and onerous.