In 2009, the major retailer Saks Fifth Avenue enlisted Fairey to design paraphernalia in his classic parody propaganda art for their revitalising campaign (figure). Fairey deliberately uses the codes of anti-consumerist socialist art which are directly yet playfully about marketing consumerism. The language of capitalist critique is playfully coded into commercial campaigns in Russian Constructivist style, which was once viewed upon in its society as illegal as street art currently (www.visual-arts-cork.com). Regarding this case, Wilson (2009) highlights Saks’ marketing team told the NY Times, “What we do every day, really, is propaganda.” This stance reflects the employment of Fairey was not to siphon street art qualities, of irreverent hipness, …show more content…
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Lastly, I will discuss the most significant instalment of Fairey’s career, the 2008 Obama HOPE campaign. This work infused visual styles of street art into a traditional sector of advertising aesthetic, political campaign posters – and consequently created a new kind of cultural aesthetic. As a result of this creativity,
The HOPE poster uses many conventions of U.S poltical advocacy, for example, deploying the cliché of celebrity pose and political affirmation in its image of a leader looking off toward an imagined horizon. Yet the poster effectively recodes its political discourse in a way that aims to interpolate viewers who are adept at reading style as a form of reference. U.S political aesthetics were within the realm of kitsch, for example, George Bushs’ “cowboy kitsch” – Fairey’s accomplishment in creating a poster that exemplifies a contemporary postmodern aesthetic of pastiche was not remarkable in the context of street postering and branding, however, its movement into the more conventional political context was. The play between validating mainstream politics and policy while simultaneously using art to ask questions about those politics and policy is a hallmark of Fairey’s work. From the original campaign to versions of the poster produced by Time Magazine, the National Portrait Gallery and Rolling Stone magazine. (Banet-Weiser &
For example, the image has various debris scattered around the building which represents the politicians’ lies to lower prices at fuel stations around the nation. The utilization of ethos is clever since the audience is able to understand the cartoonist's talent; however, they are reassured that he is a credible source because he abides by the same laws they do as citizens. He stays consistent with his artistic style, enforcing it to communicate a truth that Congress has hidden from its constituents. The picture reveals that the far left and right sides of the building remain intact. The audience can decipher the hidden truth of illegal funding taking place in Congress from private organizations which elucidates why these sides of the building received no damage. Accordingly, the spectators can consider his political cartoon important through ethos. The craftsman of this artistic creation appears properly understood and provides a variety of solid dimensions which are exhibited in the drawing, and he does not emerge as a novice because of his experience in the art of presentation. The believability of the political case is exponential along these lines; the audience can believe the author’s position important without being informed about his previous knowledge in
On late August of 2007, Dana Thomas writes to the general public on the horrors made possible by the buying and selling of counterfeit fashion goods to persuade the end of the consumerism funding monstrous acts. Through the incorporation of ethos, logos, and pathos in her journalism, Thomas persuades her audience with the uncoverings of the sources behind the making of the counterfeit goods.
The lenses of capitalism and communism influence how Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei’s art are seen as political critiques. The celebrity persona of Andy Warhol differs greatly from that of Ai Weiwei, however “Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei share an Iconoclastic spirit” (Delaney, M, 2016 p.27). More so their artistic practices both stem from Marcel Duchamp’s, ‘ready-mades’. This essay will consider the extents to which both artists’ can be considered activists. If there were a binary in place to understand the political effects and various ways activism is preformed, Weiwei and Warhol would undoubtedly be on opposite sides of the spectrum. Ai Weiwei would take on the overtly active and outspoken side, while Warhol’s passivity and projected indifference
In Style Wars, one sees how social marginalization affected graffiti writers in 1970s and 1980s New York. Firstly, Style Wars chronicles how the city government employed racist policing and propaganda to criminalize writers of color. Secondly, the documentary shows that newspapers and TV networks unequally privileged writers of higher socioeconomic status through front-page and prime-time coverage. Thirdly, the film depicts graffiti writers who conformed to masculine norms as disproportionately visible throughout the city. Although many writers featured in Style Wars minimized barriers against making art, legal racism, classist media coverage, and interpersonal masculinity limited recognition for certain writers.
In the 1997 article Listening to Khakis, published in the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell effectively paints a vivid picture of the thought and science that goes into advertising campaigns. Gladwell begins his paper by focusing on the Dockers’ advertising campaign for their line of adult male khaki pants, which he labels as extremely successful. This campaign was the first line of successful fashion advertisements aimed directly toward adult males (Gladwell, 1997). This campaign was cunningly simple and showed only males wearing the pants being advertised with the background noise filled with men having a casual conversation (Gladwell, 1997). This tactic was used because studies showed that Dockers’ target market felt an absence in adult male friendships. (Gladwell, 1997). The simplicity of the advertisements was accentuated as to not to deter possible customers by creating a fashion based ad because, based on Gladwell’s multiple interviews of advertising experts, males shy away from being viewed as fashion forward or “trying to hard” (Gladwell, 1997).
“This world is but a canvas to our imagination” (Thoreau). The world is quite literally a canvas for graffiti artists, and these two opinion editorials cover the desire for this medium of art to be appreciated and showcased. Eric Felisbret wrote “Legal Venues Celebrate Graffiti as an Art Form” which was published on July 16, 2014 in the New York Times. Felisbret’s article was about creating more legal venues to showcase graffiti. Kathy Grayson wrote “L.A. Graffiti Exhibition, ‘Art in the Streets,’ belongs in N.Y.C.,” which was published on June 26, 2011 in the New York Daily News. Grayson wrote her article to persuade readers that “Art in the Streets” belongs in New York. The articles were simultaneously the same and very different in their content. Even though the specific messages were diverse the purpose was to persuade the discourse community, who value law, education, and their community, into having graffiti displayed as art. These two
Fairey, an American Artist from South Carolina, graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992. During his young adult years, Fairey “realized his desire and interest in the street art culture and graffiti movement” while he was working in a skate shop as a part-time job. As seen and described in his documentary, Obey Giant, Fairey’s first piece of work, the Andre Posse, was the sticker he used as an example to teach his friend about printmaking. This sticker once simplified and made into what today is known as the Obey logo. Fast forward to the presidential election of 2008, Fairey produces the Hope poster. The poster almost immediately turns into a global icon which is still recognized and even derived from today. This is the second art piece, to be discussed in this essay. Shepard Fairey’s Artwork, and Shepard Fairey’s influence on the world, each with their own various sub-topics such as the global iconography and impact within the means of copyright law. These pieces stress that from the smallest pieces within an artist’s portfolio to the largest can have a major impact on the world around us.
Feminism and political issues have always been centered on in the art world and artists like to take these ideas and stretch them beyond their true meanings. Female artists such as Hannah Höch, who thrived during the Dada movement in the 1920s in Germany and Barbara Kruger who was most successful during the 1980s to 1990s in the United States, both take these issues and present them in a way that forces the public to think about what they truly mean. Many of Kruger’s works close in on issues such as the female identity and in relation to politics she focuses on consumerism and power. Höch, like Kruger, also focuses on female identity but from the 1920s when feminism was a fairly new concept and like Kruger focuses on politics but focuses more on the issues of her time such as World War I. With the technique of photomontage, these two artists take outside images and put them together in a way that displays their true views on feminism and politics even though both are from different times and parts of the world.
In “The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch.” An interview conducted by Benoit Denizet-Lewis displays a glimpse into the life of Mike Jeffries and his views of his company only hiring “good-looking” people and targeting “good-looking” people to wear his clothes. This has been done in order to force his audience to recognize that the issue of acceptance one’s peers and exclusion of a community mentioned by Mike Jeffries, is a result of cultural perceptions and individual self-image. Denizet-Lewis skillfully shows that while Jeffries remarks of not wanting the “not-so-popular” kids to shop in his stores, it poses a question to consumers asking what change in our attitudes will come or if there will be any change at all. Thus comes the issue of how consumers today have a shift in the reasoning behind why one buys clothing and the motivating factors that influence one to buy certain clothing. Denizet-Lewis also demonstrates the different messages that controversial advertisements and statements affect different groups of people and how what they project is really what people desire, though deemed by many people as unacceptable or inappropriate. The author also examines how in the news media, the image has become more important than the message and how images have taken precedent over actual issues and character. As a result of this, various communities have formed by the construct of selling to “beautiful people” and how popular appeal has become an extension of a person.
So I attempted to use this mentality whilst exploring the Highline, allowed the mindset to fill me with energy and then reflected on what I liked and didn’t like about the limitless attitude once I walked back towards Gansevoort Street. When I saw Kathryn Andrews’ “Sunbathers II” piece, I went inside the piece, and smiled while my cousin took a photo of me. I then continued to roamed through Chelsea while observing the people, billboards, paintings and the skyline, and was struck by the Sleepwalker sculpture. When Zadie Smith comes face-to-face with Corona’s “Find Your Beach” advertisement, she begins to analyze and find possible interpretations of the billboard sign. I then began to examine the Sleepwalker sculpture and discussed several potential inferences towards Manhattan the artwork might have with my cousin Michelle. I then got some stracciatella gelato, and Michelle got a coffee. With my recent purchases in hand, I was taken surprise by Andrews’ “Sunbathers I”. Michelle and I laughed
Juliet B. Schor, a professor of sociology at Boston College, is the author of Selling to Children: The Marketing of Cool and many other books on the topic of American Consumption. Schor is a professor of sociology at Boston College. In this article, Selling to Children: The Marketing of Cool, Schor talks about what cool is and how it has affected the culture of advertising and ideals. From Schor’s writing we can try to understand why she wrote about this topic and how she feels about the methods of advertising used for kids, providing facts for each of her main statements.
Within the last few years, graffiti has been deemed an acceptable and tasteful genre of art. Long gone are the days where the spray can belonged exclusively to the local delinquent. From the past to present, there has been a shift in how street art is recognized by the general public and the government. Laws and policies are being put into place that both defend and threaten the promulgation of this creative medium. By both protecting and prohibiting, the government displays an inconsistent and confusing relationship with street art. When art is so subjective, it can become challenging to delineate the fine line between vandalism and creativity. This essay will discuss the changing public perception of graffiti, the trademark and copyright battles between graffiti artists and property owners, the categorization of street art as an artform, and the beneficial aspects of commissioned street murals.
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
“There is always hope,” stands on the gray background of the concrete of the famous Banksy graffiti art. The art chosen is made of spray paint and stencil, on a concrete background. The image is a black and white portrait of a little girl, wind blowing through her hair and dress, holding out her arm towards a red, heart-shaped balloon. On the side of the image is the statement written in what appears to be the dirt and soot on the wall, “There is always hope.” The artwork stands out on the inner-city concrete walls, with the bold of the black and white image of the little girl and the brightness of the red balloon, certainly catching to the eye of parents and children in these inner-cities that have little to no hope. It portrays the message
Over the past few years the street artist known as Bansky has made a reputation of political activism, by using his unique form of graffiti to not only convey the serious issues of our time, but also as ones of the future. All of his works display clever use of colors and stencils to showcase a form of dark humor that not only makes his works that more memorable, but meaningful as well. One of his most famous works Crayola Shooter displays a skillful use of color, perspective, and detail to express his message of how we can fight the limits set by society with our own creativity.