OUIL501- Shaping the News

http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/media/how-the-media-twist-the-news.html

This article explains different ways in which the media twists the news to suit either their political stance or the individuals personal stance. It includes a really interesting quote from the book 'Public Opinion' by Walter Lippma, 'Every newspaper when it reaches the reader is the result of a whole series of selections.... In order that [the reader] shall enter he must find a familiar foothold in the story, and this is supplied to him by the use of stereotypes. They tell him that if an association of plumbers is called a "combine" it is appropriate to develop his hostility; if it is called a "group of leading businessmen" the cue is for a favorable reaction. It is in a combination of these elements that the power to create opinion resides.'

This quote fits in really well with my essay and also with my practical work in SB2. It enforces the idea of manipulation through the media to control opinions, this could definitely be linked to the media dictating the types of work we make as creatives.

OUIL501- Breaking News

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/breaking_news/index.html

Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media
Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media" is a starkly timely group exhibition that examines how artists look to the news media for inspiration and create works that comment on the human condition from the 1960s onward. Martha Rosler, Alfredo Jaar, Catherine Opie, South African artist Adam Broomberg and others take images from all points of the 20th-century experience — ranging from news headlines to bourgeois living to in-depth visual studies of people who report the news — and transform them into something greater and more insightful than they ever were expected to be originally.

'Over the past 50 years, artists have increasingly turned to newspapers, magazines, and televised news programs as rich sources of inspiration. This exhibition explores how artists have looked at and commented on news images, from the Vietnam War in the 1960s to the so-called “War on Terror” in the 2000s. Much of the work is political; all of it is personal. Through photographs and videos, these artists have juxtaposed, mimicked, and appropriated media elements to transform ephemeral news into lasting works of art'.

The aboce image by Martha Rosler shows first lady Pat Nixon stood  in front of a framed image of a dead vietnamese woman. This image was made in protest of the way such strong images are shunned by the mass media over other 'celebrity' based images.

'An anti-war protester at the time, Martha Rosler grew frustrated with the way such images were diminished when juxtaposed with trivial advertisements and inconsequential news items.'

I wanted to take this idea of subtlety in image to my own practice, and want to look at how the media can use image to manipulate.

OUIL501- Studio Brief 2- Development

After considering how the media use headlines to manipulate and advertise, I decided to incorporate some of that idea into my practice. I wanted to shed light on the use of headlines within the media, and the structured techniques and methods used to manipulate.

I decided to make some satirical collages of headlines based around the medias use and the often ridiculousness of the content of the 'news', focusing on certain techniques. I wanted to create an almost 'how-to' of how to write headlines, so I chose to shed light on some of the obvious way headlines are used to snatch attention.

I wanted to keep the illustrative side of the project quite simple and naive as I wanted to reflect unsophisticated and childlike way in which the media created headlines. I think this works effectively and I will look to continue to keep this style, I think establishing this at this point is important as I can focus on the context of the images rather than trying to create 70 final images.

OUIL501- Illustration and the internet

I wanted to research some artists who's practices have gained a lot of attention that they maybe wouldn't have gotten without the platform. I think the main reason some of these are so specifically popular because of the internet is because of the idea of application.

Chris Simpson artist is a great example of an illustrator whom may not have been as popular if it weren't for the internet. As explained above, Chris' illustration don't necessarily have an application outside of the internet- where they are used to purely entertain and serve no other real purpose. For this reason Chris' work is instantly gratifying, it provides quick entertainment and can and will be shares in the masses.

I will ok to discuss this in my essay, discussing how social media has caused some illustrators to become much more popular.

OUIL501- Is News Just Opinion, Gossip and Trivia?

I found this sketch from comedians Clark and Daw today titled 'Is News Just Opinion, Gossip and Trivia?'. The sketch makes fun of the illigitimacy of the news and the headlines they use, and explores sorting the headlines into 3 specifica categories.

The humorous tone of the sketch fits in with the satirical direction that my visual journal and has led me to consider using headlines within my exploration.