Foxboy Escribi�:
whirlygirl Escribi�:
Foxboy Escribi�:
Just finished my final piece for my second project in Art - Its about Guantanamo Bay and how its wrong etc.
No offense to all you Americans :-// :P
http://img393.images...nallargeob3.jpg
Hell man, I'm not offended in the slightest. Gitmo is one stain on the history of humankind that should not be forgotten. IMO as an artist, if you feel strongly about something that violates the fiber of your being then you should not feel the need to apologize bringing emotion like that into your art.
Nicely done - I like how Amnesty International is incorporated into the piece. Did you get to choose the subject matter, or was the assignment specifically on art/politics?
My teacher suggested Guantanamo. - I pursued the idea. I showed it to her today - she said she didnt like it cause it never went well with my preparation work - which is mainly around the bottom of the picture.
What I was thinking of was just doing some american flags to explain why its there, give it a reason why its in the final piece lighten the richness of the american flag then - bring on a stronger colour on my actual work because at the end of the day thats what is being assessed. Anyhow I was talking to someone last night they said the burning flag suggests violence. What do you think?
Anyhow its a good one for prep work - I need to make her happy :/
Welcome to art school, where the final product is all about making the instructor happy! :P
The burning flag can suggest a couple of things. When a flag is burned on the steps of the capitol building in Washington DC it is a sign of protest. When the American flag is burned on the streets of Baghdad, it is not only a sign of protest but a sign of hatred for everything the US stands for.
Either way - it's offensive and disrespectful to a lot of people no matter who is burning it and why it's being burned. The flag burning issue in the US is always met with criticism even though here it is protected as freedom of exp
ression. When the flag is burned by angry mobs overseas, the issue becomes infuriating.
Now for the criticism (it's constructive, I promise)! While Gitmo is a stain on human history, it may not be necessary to use that catch phrase as a dominating force in your final piece because the message ends up being redundant. If you wish to continue to incorporate Amesty into your piece then there must be something within the art's message that reflects Amnesty's aims. So you may want to tone the negativity down and focus on what's been the aim of Amnesty Int'l since the beginning and that is "you can make a difference".
If you want to incorporate Amnesty International into your work, then it might be a good idea to look at the graphics Amnesty has used in the past. Their graphics are bold, high contrast, memorable. The candle with the barbed wire has beomce a universal symbol of human rights and the message is clear and the art is powerful and to the point. The message (the candle with the burning flame) is one of hope born from the confines of barbed wire that that surrounds it.
I can see your teacher's point - the American flag dominates your work too much and human rights - no matter what country is violating it - should transcend nations.
Most politically influenced modern art - even if it their aim is to gear up the war machine - the most memorable art imo is that which is high contrast, bold and stark, clear and to the point (see old soviet union propaganda art is a fantastic example of what I'm trying to get at). It's propaganda art which has one purpose only and that's to get people to stop and absorb what the message is saying. The artwork of Amnesty (even though they are a-political) is still propaganda afterall. You don't have to compromise your style because the bottom half of your work on that piece is very, very good. That should be the dominating force behind the piece. But it couldn't hurt if you sharpened things up, made things more high contrast and less sketchy. (squint your eyes and look at your drawing, it's a good trick to 'feel out' contrast). Instead of saying "a stain on human history" in your piece, bring in some bold red colors, show some stains on the bandages over the people's eyes. No need to go overboard, but use of color in strategic spots can create just as much if not more emotional impact on a poster than words can, sometimes.
If you want to make a political statement about how the US is fucking things up royally yet keep the spirit of Amnesty International, I'd say make the candle and barbed wire image more prominent in your piece somehow - ditch the burning flag and instead incorporate the flag design of stars and stripes into the barbed wire. And bring out those reds especially to drive the point of "stain on human history" home. Last of all if you want fire, don't forget to put some color on that flame.
Anyway - those are just some suggestions and I hope I don't come across as harsh or anything. I think you have a good foundation and the content you already have is strong, but if you want to wow your instructor you may have to revisit the drawing board. Sometimes less is more when putting a point across. I feel for you though - it's hard coming up with ideas and it's doubly hard putting those ideas on paper.
Crap. I've written a friggen novel.
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