This is the 3rd entry into the fortnightly updates I do on my blog, where I talk about the progress I've made, sources I've gathered, and other news and stories I want to share. This Update I'm looking at the current political climate of the UK arts, Stenciling, this weeks thoughts all bundled up in this one post. Lets get cracking.
Firstly I would like to thank all the friends and family that come to check out my updates, and the kind people who have shared, or talked about my work in the past few weeks, it is greatly appreciated. It's given me the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and people who I have lost contact with and reminded me of the moments I cherish which I shared with them. Through this, it has reminded me of people I haven't kept in contact with, and for those I truly wish they are doing amazing and wonderful things, whether personally or creatively in the current wild and daunting times we are currently in. Focusing through that the past 2 weeks have reminded me on a few core values I like to hold as a person. Those of which are core values which currently I believe are not in the best interest of the MP's currently residing in British Parliament.
As most people in the creative field, looking for jobs, funding or careers. These past weeks have not been kind to us. The advertising campaign done through the HM Government telling us to 'Reskill' and look for other jobs shows to governments response to those in the creative field, providing money into the economy through tourism and entertainment for the nation and other countries. That response being: sheer abandonment.
The main kick to the arts was This ad campaign by the British government telling those in the creative field to change job profession. This advertisement depicts a ballet dancer tying her shoes as in big bold font, tells to reject her dreams, job aspirations and hard work already put into achieving a career into something she would like, for any other technical job. This undoubtedly sparked outrage with the public, the arts and myself included. The stereotype of the arts is that we as people are just drama queens, dreamers and lazy slackers, where 'real jobs and real taxes' are wasted on us yearly. This couldn't be more wrong. It is clear to see that we are under control from a government in which 'British culture' is equivalent to the numbers in their bank account as opposed to sharing what we as humans have that is so brilliant and vast and expansive: creativity. Stamping the processes of creativity out is a process of stamping out what makes us human, and challenging how we think. For a lot of artists, such as Banksy, Yoko Ono, Voina, and many others, use creativity as a voice, one which is pure and untainted by money, pressure from big companies, and audience retention targets. Theses voices test and point out flaws in our societal values, and convey in such a way which is accessible to most people, visual.
Through the visual, it helps us process the message in a way we understand, and provides a visceral and personal relation to the piece and message. There are plenty of examples of these pieces and performance pieces which portray this (Including some from the Blog post #2), it is a form of liberation, a way to speak out against what is in front of you, a form of liberation against the tyranny of the mainstream media.
Removing this is further sledding us down into the Orwellian Societies in which were hauntingly foretold in Orwell's 'Animal Farm.' and '1984'. However it is not only the arts that are receiving the cold shoulder form our government.
This next section will be related side by side with Quotes from Animal Farm By George Orwell. If you have not read it, I strongly suggest you do. The plot is interesting, mainly because we are living in it.
So, in the past two weeks we saw that the British Parliament, We saw that the Tories voted against free school meals for disadvantaged children. The topic of starving children is an interesting one to watch, as a lot of masks have slipped and a lot of shade has come to light. "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
The vote was turned down by a majority vote from the tory party. "Responding to a user who replied saying “£20 cash direct to a crack den and brothel really sounds like the way forward with this one”, Bradley tweeted: “That’s what FSM vouchers in the summer effectively did …”" This tweet was deleted as he said it was 'Taken out of context', in which I can't argue most posts like this will and have been, but if you do your research, and look at help the tory party have done in the past for feeding disadvantaged children, its not far fetched at all. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Using the excuse that some of the idea of food vouchers will be traded and mis-used, is poor. Granted, this may be the rare case for some of these vouchers, it will happen as people find a way to corrupt anything. However, it is interesting to look again at the hypocrisy, especially when when you level it out. it would take 1,500 £20 vouchers to be misused alone to be equal to Dominic Cummings' £30,000 written off council tax bill. The article mentions 'It's clear one rule for us and one for them' Again: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"
I mentioned a lot of this today, as it has been the a slight inspiration of my works and testing this week. I mentioned last week that I would try out stenciling, this can be seen here.
Using a piece of carboard and a sharp Exacto knife, I draw then cut out the shape I wanted. Then spray about 4 inch away from the surface, if i was to improve or change anything, I would use a thinner carboard to stencil on, as the thickness caused a few issues with ripping and mis-cutting what I wanted. Also a smaller and more pieces of cardboard rather than one, as in practice for spraying in t
he street, it is more conspicuous holding a large piece of cardboard, rather than pieces that can fit in a rucksack. From what I have learnt through my first time using stencils, is that often with sprays, less is more, as the more coat I put on the less sharp and detailed the outcome is, between stenciling and freehand, I much prefer free hand for the more creative and freeing method, and the ability to change up on the fly rather than a set stencil.
I am also thinking of purchasing professional sprays, as I am currently using the cheapest alternative I could find, and see how they differ in comparison. All in all, It is a learning process, to slowly find my style and methods.
In regards to WHO IS MORB? and the PowerPoint, People Processes Pieces, this is what I will be working on after the blog today, for a lot of these motions, I realized the main thing I struggle with is structure (Which you might have noticed if you are a bi-weekly reader of these blogs) and flow of them through text. This will improve as I am
currently looking into better, more effective writing techniques. So these blogs may be a
little more experimental with how I write, weather their better or worse, or what you prefer. I am more than happy to receive feedback through the Contact page on my Website. I did however whilst briefly in Manchester, come across a artist by the name of BUMBAG, which I keep seeing increasing amount of work appear around the Manchester area, one in which I would like to focus on as an example of tags in the world of Graffiti and street art. I also listened to a podcast of the Graffiti Artist SEEN.
From this I learn his intentions, issues and upbringing to becoming a popular graffiti artist. His method of using the side of train carriages he described them as 'Moving billboards' implying that one of his focuses was status in the graffiti game.
In other news, I have also created a short voice reel, this is for people who are looking for voiceovers, commentary and other voice based work to hear my voice to see if i am considered to take part in their work. I intend when I have time and a quiet moment to record using a condenser mic and pop filter to increase the quality for a clearer more accurate depiction of my voice.
Fun Fact: This song is currently floating through space on a vinyl along with other sounds such as 55 Greetings in different languages and other sounds that captivate humanity on a gold plated disc. I love this song as I believe it captivates how lonely we are as a species in the solar system, it emanates moods of isolation and loneliness, whilst also comfort and togetherness. These core human emotions which we all share, especially currently given our circumstances. That in which I think it is a song for if it ever finds extra-terrestrial, they can hopefully understand how strange and clever, dull and dumb we are as a species lucky enough to evolve and survive and hopefully, aspire or commemorate us in our achievements as a bunch of living matter on a rock.
AOTW- Ophelia -John Everett Millais
I came across this piece, obscurely as a card alter for a card in Magic The Gathering.
Portrayed is a off screen death of Ophelia's demise, there are many details in this along side the stunning paintwork, colors and attention to detail. Further studying the piece and reading about it, the use of the saint-like position of the arms, the symbolic nature of the flowers, such as a poppy (Life and death) being included although not native to that biome. All the more adds to this piece, its worth a long look, reflection and another reason to read Hamlet.
That is all for this update, hope to catch you all again next update.
Until then, look out for each other, don't forget to reskill, rethink, revolt, and wash your hands.
SC (01/11/20)