College fashion show 2013

We went to watch the college fashion show 2013, i enjoyed it a lot and found it very interesting to see what other people do in college. I think that the pieces shown were very professional and displayed the theme given very well. All years of fashion and design were shown and even though some of the designers were younger than others it was hard to distinguish between the higher and lower courses. Some pieces were very imaginative and had a very strong design. I really enjoyed the day and to be able to see and appreciate other peoples work was an honour.

Alice Bennett.

Unit 5.

Contextual influences.

Sister Corita.

Famously known as Sister Corita her birth name is Francis Elizabeth Kent, during the 1960’s and 1970’s she gained international fame for her vibrant serigraphs. A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, she ran the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College until 1968.Corita’s art reflects her commitment to social justice, her spirituality, her hope for peace, and her delight in the world. She worked almost exclusively with silkscreen and serigraphy, helping to establish it as a fine art medium.

After graduating from Immaculate Heart College, she taught grade school in British Columbia.  By the 1960s, she was using popular culture such as song lyrics and advertising slogans as raw material for her work, this gave her work more meaning and substance. Corita’s cries for peace in the era of the Vietnam War were not always welcome. For example in 1965 her "Peace on Earth" Christmas exhibit in IBM’s New York show room was seen as too subversive and Corita had to amend it. Kent created several hundred serigraph designs, for posters, book covers, and murals
She was friends with Alfred Hitchcock, John Cage, Saul Bass, Buckminster Fuller and Charles and Ray Eames. Other influential friends of hers included Ben Shahn, Harvey Cox and the Berrigan brothers.
August was Corita’s time for her own art making. During the three weeks between semesters, she and her students would work round the clock printing new serigraph designs by the hundreds. Corita’s chronic insomnia no doubt made some of this possible, but it was often accompanied by a bleak depression.

Her artwork, with its messages of love and peace, was particularly popular during the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout all her work she uses bright colours, bold shapes and creates a lively atmosphere for the viewer. I really enjoy how the bright colours draw you in to take a closer look at the true meaning of the piece.

‘Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there only make.’ – Sister Corita Kent. This is my favourite thing I found about Sister Corita. To say that there is no mistake means that even if you experiment with something and it does not turn out how you expected, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It basically means that you shouldn’t give up until you get the outcome you desire.

From looking at her work I think I will start to use more colour with in my work. This will make parts stand out more and attract people’s attention. However I will not use colour throughout all of my work because I believe it will make it too over powering and loose the detail within my drawings.

References

https://www.corita.org/coritadb/index.php?id=5&option=com_content&task=view

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corita_Kent

Life Drawing.

When beginning life drawing I was very distracted and found it hard to concentrate. At first we did 15minute sessions of drawing the whole figure on newsprint using pencil. We used pencil because we were not allowed to rub it out, so it would show up our mistakes. After this we were allowed to use charcoal, this made harder lines and made our images more messy and free. We then did a 20minute session and were told to take more care with our strokes. These drawing were 1 image per A1 page. After this we did 3 10minute session and did all 3 images on one piece of brown paper, during this we overlapped elements of our images. Our last session consisted of 3, 3-5 minute poses. I found these much easier to do as I used simple lines and shapes, i also managed to get the right proportions.

Jenny Saville.

This is my first attempt at painting using my fingers. I found it difficult because i was unable to blend the colours cleanly. It was an attempt of making an image in the style of Jenny Saville. This meant i had to stop making things neat and tidy. To get the desired affect i used a peice of thick card and used the end to blot on the colours. This helped alot as it worked as a tool to create sharp edges and contrasts in colours.

Prisoner A26188 Henia Bryer.

We watched this film because it was holocaust remorial week. It was the first time it had been shown because of this i wasnt sure what to expect from it. I found it very moving and quite distsressing, this was because i knew it was her real life story and that the horrific things she was describing actually happened to her. She described the action of the jews having their heads shaved however she only had hers cut shorter. She explained that this was because she did not look like a jew, she resembled a german girl with blue eyes and fair hair. They had their heads shaved in a act of dehumanisation, this was to take away the jews identity and make them all the same. This was also done by making them all wear a striped uniforn, they were stripped naked making them feel shame and embarrassment. The use of the nazi propoganda making the jews look like animals with hellish features, this made the germans scared of them thinking they would hurt them.

Cultural appropriation with Fashion.

Many people believe clothing is not only a necessity; their clothing represents their cultures and beliefs.  Many factors affect the clothing worn by different civilizations. some factors include region, beliefs, climate, and gender. Time also serves as a constant in which the fashion of clothing envolves.
Though fashion  changes at a constnt speed, some peices of clothing are more than just a warmth and protection-some peices of clothing remian significant and iconic with the cultures that crafted them. For instance, a white toga is usually associated witht he roman empire. A brightly coloured, ornate kimono is most often associated with japan. Altogether, fashion is a symbol for certain time periods and regions.