Postmodern: The Fourth Wall

One of the characteristics that defines postmodern work is the concept of breaking the fourth wall, a "practice" which consists of breaking the so called wall between the spectator or viewer and the piece of work being shown. 

This concept follows the phylosophical ideologies of Denis Diderot but the fourth wall illusion is often associated with naturalist theatre of the mid 19th century.

As mentioned, the fourth wall is the immaginary wall at the front to a stage in a traditional three wall box-ste, through which the audience sees the play. This concept applies to any from of entertainment, including books, comics and videogames in which the charachters talk directly to the reader or player.

When we talk about comic books, the character most famous for breaking the fourth wall is Marvel's Deadpool:

Other than being a generally complex character, despite being famous for his outgoing, annoying and at times rude personality, Deadpool and the storyline that follows him faces other deep concepts such as death and how man reacts to it, self-awareness and the descovery of one's true nature and reason of existance, self-conflict and awareness of ones flaws, and the multiverse theory.

Here are some examples:

In animation we see the breaking of the fourth wall in the Loony Toons short "Duck Amuck", in which Daffy Duck, the protagoinst is forced to adapt to the constantly changing scenerey that the animator creates. 

Creepy and Surreal: The Uncanny

In this lecture we faced the topics of Surrealism and the Uncanny, two very interesting topics when applied to art.

As explained, there's a substantial difference between surreal and uncanny.
Surreal is something that is distorted and strange but the viewer sees it straight away. For example:

But Uncanny is something equally strange but the viewer can't grasp it right away:

For an Uncanny effect we can distinguish something strange about something familiar from something strange added to something familiar.

The Uncanny is more disturbing than surprising.

We see this in E.T.A. Hoffman's "Sandman"

Nathanael, the hero, first encounters the Sandman in the form of a grotesque lawyer, who performs alchemical experiments with his father after Nathanael and his sisters have gone to bed. One night Nathanael hides and sees what's going on. But he is discovered, and nearly has his eyes burned out with coals. He escapes but, subsequently, his father is found dead after an accident with an experiment.

"Don't you know?" asks the unfortunate hero's nanny. “[the Sandman] is a wicked man who comes to children when they won't go to bed and throws handfuls of sand in their eyes, so that they pop right out of their heads all covered in blood, and then he throws them in a sack and carries them off to the half-moon to feed to his little children; they sit there in the nest, and have hooked beaks like owls, which they use to peck the eyes out of the heads of naughty children."

This Stop Motion Animation is based on the Gothic Horror Story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and features carved wooden puppets

The Uncanny is a conceptual point in a graph created by Masahiro Mori entitled the Uncanny valley. In this graph we see how the line move between the realism of an object, or in this case a person, and the empathic response of the viewer:

This is also explained in detail in a video created by Vsauce on Youtube:

Backwater Gospel

Here is " The Backwater Gospel" created by Bo Mathorne.

This fantastic 9 minute short speaks of a small town in an arid area of North America in which it's inhabitants are tormented by strict religion and death.

The visuals, the plot, the soundtrack and the atmosphere this piece portrais is incredibly detailed, giving the viewer a constant sense of dread and anxiety.

Here is the production video:

This is an extremely well produced piece. One that is ceratinly worth watching.

Workshop Week 1 Animations

Here are the animations created in the first Workshop Week. I have also included links to the Uni Blog where more explanations are provided.

Pilot Animation from Stefania Rebaudo on Vimeo.

http://srebaudouniblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/httpsvimeo.html

Demolition Animation from Stefania Rebaudo on Vimeo.

http://srebaudouniblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/demolition-animation.html

Particle Spray Animation from Stefania Rebaudo on Vimeo.

http://srebaudouniblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/particle-spray-animation.html

Dense Liquid Animation from Stefania Rebaudo on Vimeo.

http://srebaudouniblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/dense-liquid-animation.html

Propaganda

In this Seminar we were presented with a few propaganda posters and asked how they affected us and our judgement of them and the situation they portraied.

 How does the example from the magazine play on the viewer’s emotions to achieve its effects? Consider both its content and stylistic approach. 

Just by seeing the expression on the man's face, it noticable his concern and seriousness as he tries to respond to his daughter. Family is very important during these post-war times, and this poster depics it in a way that almost blackmails the viewer to take action and support war based establishments.

How does the example provided depict women/men? How is gender used in this example to sell a product? Again, consider both style and content. 

Post-war ideologies where extremely male oriented, and just by reading the slogan, we understand how women where treated and viewed as people that tended to the family and that had very little say in other matters.

Animation Heroes

In this Lecture, it was discussed how animation has affected and is affected by society, science and the economy.

The main themes where:

-Playful Politics: Reflection of social norms, which refferenced cartoons such as Top Cat, Yogi Bear, Tom and Jerry, Marvel's Spiderman and the Magic Roundabout, to explain norms that, although are not written or taugh, seem to be understood; an example could be the difference between good and bad or rich and poor.

-Sofa Satire: Narratives and issues from the events of the time: Series like Family Guy and the Simpsons, that depict everyday life of a working lower middle-class family and how they face different daily obstacles, face them in a comedic way and always get a "happy ending"

-Girl Culture: A vehicle for consumer indoctrination: A short study on not only animated series targeted to children are based on toys and other goods, but also install a very strong sense of gender difference, from the use of coulurs and sounds, to narratives and animation styles.

-Authority: Challenging the status Quo: an observation on how recent works of animation like South Park are challenging the common conventions of everyday life and viewing it in a different prospective.

-Us & Them Branding: Epitome of Emotional Attachment and Consumer Culture: how cartoons have made us attach to a conumer agenda.

How do we think about Gender and Sexual Difference?

Week 7 Lecture Notes

This Lecture examined how gender difference and feminism have influenced politics, art, society and social networks.

The main theme was !W.A.R. (!Women Art Revolution), a feminist film that explores the role of women during the political instabilities in 1960/70 America.

-For over forty years, Director Lynn Hershman Leeson has collected hundreds of hours of interviews with visionary artists, historians, curators and critics who shaped the beliefs and values of the Feminist Art Movement and reveal previously undocumented strategies used to politicize female artists and integrate women into art structures.

!Women Art Revolution elaborates the relationship of the Feminist Art Movement to the 1960s anti-war and civil rights movements and explains how historical events, such as the all-male protest exhibition against the invasion of Cambodia, sparked the first of many feminist actions against major cultural institutions. The film details major developments in women’s art of the 1970s, including the first feminist art education programs, political organizations and protests, alternative art spaces such as the A.I.R. Gallery and Franklin Furnace in New York and the Los Angeles Women’s Building, publications such as Chrysalis and Heresies, and landmark exhibitions, performances, and installations of public art that changed the entire direction of art.

New ways of thinking about the complexities of gender, race, class, and sexuality evolved. The Guerrilla Girls emerged as the conscience of the art world and held academic institutions, galleries, and museums accountable for discrimination practices. Over time, the tenacity and courage of these pioneering women artists resulted in what many historians now feel is the most significant art movement of the late 20th century.- 

The site: http://womenartrevolution.com/