Cyberpunk: from then to now

 In some of my previous posts, I have mentioned this artistic genre and my interest in it. But I decided to research mor in depth, since as it will be greatley involved with my studio work.

-Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a future setting that tends to focus on the society of the proverbial "high tech low life"; featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as information technology and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.

One of the most well know exhamples of this is the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", better known as Blade Runner; George Orwell's "1984" falls into the same category.

The running theme in works of this style is the Dystopian future and need of rebellion to return to a peaceful and just society.
This kind of story line not only occures in films but in gaming as well, in titles such as Fallout and Half Life.

Cyberpunk has also evolved and found its way into figuartive art andfashion design.

 

Cyberpunk now has now evolvrd intoa cultural trend, reffered to as Cybergoth,with its own style and music, expressing the querkyness and oddity of the genre itself.

 

Design Fiction: Alternate Worlds

As mentioned in a previous post design fictions focus around narrative and storytelling, most of the time creating an entirely different universe from our own. In fact, its extremley common in fantsy and scifi works, as we take Middle Earth from Tolkien's Hobbit, or perhaps more recently Westeros from George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

 

With this in mind, its interesting to think how many fictional universes have been created since the begging of fiction work as a whole. 

If we analyse the previously mentioned works of Phillip Pullman, we notice that the story unfolds in a universe almost completley pararel to our own, but with major diffrences that underline its almost alien qualities. The buildings and locations described are mostly the same as ones that exist, but with major architectural characteristics; machinery and mode of transport function in a mechanical manner, poewred by electricity and otherworldly forces; and in this new Earth, the existance of a kingdom ruled by sentient polar bears, the Pansebjorne.

The plot of the books themseves focus on the concept of the reality of other worlds, universes conncected by a subsance called Dust. These worlds intertwine and connect and the similarities between many of them and ours is uncanny. 

We see something very similar in the 1982 film Tron, in which the protagonist, owner of an arcade, develops new technology that allows him to eneter the Grid, the progammed world of the arcade game Tron, revealing a world with its own social system, classes, justice system and with a completly different biology, of both the enviroment and the characters them sleve, no longer organic beings but lines of code that disintigrate into pixels when terminated.

Looking at these two completley different works of fiction, and their own universes, we can see how the both translate extremely well into the Multiverse Theory

-The multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of finite and infinite possible universes, including the universe in which we live. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.
The various universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes" or "alternate universes."

With this in mind, altough childish, the possibility of worlds like Westeros, Middle Earth and the Grid being actual existing universes is an exiting and inspiring though, that stimulates new possibilities in creating fictonal work.

Specific Objects

In this lecture, we spoke and analysed the works of Donald Judd, american minimalist sculptror who blurred the line between sculpture and painting.

- Donald Judd is often described as one of Americas' foremost minimalist sculptors [...] but he himself neither accepted the term minimalist or considered his work to be part of the sculptural tradition.

In 1965, during his crtitic careed, he published an influential article entitled "Specific Ojects" published in Arts Yearbook 8: Contemporary Sculpture.

Half or more of the best work in the last few years has been neither

painting nor sculpture. Usually it has been related, closely or distantly,

to one or the other. The work has been diverse, and much in it that is

not in painting and sculpture is also diverse.

The new three-­‐dimensional work doesn’t constitute a movement,

school or style. The common aspects are too general and too little

common to define a movement. The differences are greater than the

similarities.

-Donald Judd "Specific Objects" Arts Yearbook 8: Contemporary Sculpture

Subliminal Messages - Extreme Advertising

One of the topics we faced during our theory module was Subliminal Advertising, a subject I've always found oddly unsettling.

During the lesson we explored various modes of subliminal advertising:
The first is perhaps the most common; the product look uttrely irresistible and induces the viewer to go and purchase said product. Coca-Cola has done this often.

By observing this picture we undertand why and how. The glass is quite large and filled to the brim, the ice makes it look invitingly cold, which is made more effective buy the condensation on the outside of the glass, suggesting that the surroundings are a warm or even hot temperature. The drink is being pourede in such an attractive way, that its almost possible to hear the fizz and the light clink of the ice cubes against the glass.

The second, more sinister, involves inserting certain elements in the adverts itself to render it more memorable withou the viewer noticing. For exhample thsi Heineken image.

As its plainly shown, most of these elements are of a sexual nature, because of course, sex sells.
This technique is mostly used for foods and alcholic drinks, and are normaly in the form of still images.

One of the most well know pieces written about this topic is "Subliminal Seduction" by author Wilson Bryan Key, in which he expalins in depth the tactics used  by companies to sell products and services.

Design Fiction: Visual Styles

In a friday evenig seminar, we briefley spoke about fictinal designs, in particular Steampunk and Cyberpunk; two genres that I found myslef draw to during my school years.

Steampunk:
-Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Although its literary origins are sometimes associated with the cyberpunk genre, steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century's British Victorian era or American "Wild West", in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has maintained mainstream usage, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. Steampunk may, therefore, be described as neo-Victorian. Steampunk perhaps most recognisably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.

Cyberpunk:
Cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction in a future setting, tends to focus on the society of the proverbial "high tech low life"; featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as information technology and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.
Cyberpunk plots often center on conflict among artificial intelligences and among megacorporations, and tend to be set in a future Earth, rather than in the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov's Foundation or Frank Herbert's Dune. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias but tend to feature extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its original inventors ("the street finds its own uses for things"). Much of the genre's atmosphere echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction.

I became interested in Steampunk when I was encouraged to read Phillip Pullman's series "His Dark Materials", a trilogy the soon became one of my favourites. The style of writing is so vibrant that the world painted itself, and the visuals it created have been some of the most influential in my work.

 

Cyberpunk, however, is the style I'm most interested at the moment. I'm fascinated by the aesthetic and the narrative behind most cyberpunk orentated works, one of my favourites being George Orwell's 1984 and Blade Runner.

 

I intend to use this genre in my studio work.

Masks: Rituals and Theatre

As part of a studio project, I took refrence from masks. Coming from italy, masks are an important part of my countries theatrical history. So I decided to briefly research it.

Masks were orginally used for religious rituals since prehistoric times, but as everything else, it evolved into an object rapresentative of the theatre.

 

Masks can be found in every corner of the globe, and are a vital part in its artistic history.

In Europe, mask where first used in greek thetre to both interpet the character and amplify the dialogue so the sound reached every area of the theatre. 

In italian history, a mask originated in every region of the country, and each mask was interpreted as a character in various folkoristic comedies. Some of the most well known masks are Alrecchino (Harlequin) and Pulcinella, originating from Milan and Naples rispectivley.

 

I we move across the globe, we find that masks are more used for traditional purposes, religious events or celebrations, and each continent has its own characteristic mask. 

In sub-saharan Africa, masks ar an essential component in ritualistic dances and religious rituals, most representing humans or animals. Different regions have different styles and meanings.

 

In Asia, masks represent gods and demons, but are mostly used in the theatre, to reinact ancient legends and myths.

 

In America, the natives used masks to speak to animal gods and to perform rituals.

As we can see, masks are and have been a excellent medium to expolore, study and understand a country's history and culture; from religion to entertainment.

Digital Reality: Blurring the lines between nature and codes

While listening to music while drawing, I came accross the music video for David Guetta's "She wolf". Although the music is much to be diesred, I found the video quite interesting.




 

The visuals and tone of the clip, dark and cold, somehow fit very well with the track. But what is perhaps most striking is the relationship between the enviroment and the digital distortions that occur throughout the video.

I searched for articles reggarding the blurring of the lines between nature and digital reality, and surprisingly found very little, but I will carry on in hopes of finding something with an accademic background.

I believe that in a creative setting, this would be a really interseting concept for perhaps a novel or a graphic novel, as it induces to think about the enviroment from a different point of view and forces the creator to think outside the box. I will certainly try to intoduce this in one of my presonal projects.