Varoom: Paper Tigers.

Varoom! Magazine, Issue 10, 2009.

This article (although not the most challenging of the four seperate articles I have studied this year) contains topics that I feel very strongly about, so naturally, I have a lot to say on the matter. In an attempt to condense this into something readable, I combined primary and secondary information on the topic, all the relevant opinions of my own and others, and links between my work into a slideshow.  I decided on splitting the slides to correspond with sections of the writing, relating my sources and additional texts back to the article accordingly and not stray too far off topic.

Relating the article to my own opinion as an Illustrator is an important step and brings me closer to defining myself in the long run. To tackle the on-going battle between handmade art and digital, artistic purity versus commercial pollution Peter Lyle outlines how art is about you and your passion. Defined not by ideas but by enthusiasms. Even though  advertising and commercial de-sensitisation have seemingly taken over, technology should still be seen as a tool.  Freedom of expression brings out the absolute best in design, the raw workings of a persons  mind connecting with paper is unrivalled, the stale comfort of digital manipulation needs to be realised. Of course this is reflected in my personal work, and to some extent, clientel designs. But, I'm also not ignorant to the fact that technology now plays an equal role in the Art and Design industry and in order to satisfy the eternal thirst for unseen, exciting images, skills must be adapted to different working methods. Confining yourself to one comfortable working method can sterilise the outcome and render you and inaccessible member of such a vast community. It's taken me a year or so to realise this and clamber down off my high hand-drawn horse, but accepting electronically based processes has opened many exciting opportunites already. Not only that, but of course software such as photoshop, illustrator and in-design were created to enable Designers to edit and enhance their work easily, not to destroy or digitalise the image. For now, i've managed to settle on teaching myself basic skills on the programmes suitable for editing my work, something that has relieved frustration when I've been advised to adjust an element in a flat, painfuly detailed and time-consuming drawing.

Reinforcing the text with the strong influence of Walter Benjamin uncovers mechanical reproduction for what it really is; sterile, cold and the reason behind why the bulk of Illustration struggles to hold power in this day and age. Using Basford, Pardee, Morley and Sendak as a lever into the argument shows that when completing the presentation I considered all levels of the text and highlight how wealth should never be the main focus when creating.

Towards the end of the article I tried to engage more with the actual style of writing, not just the content, and how well Lyle captures his target audience.  A similar piece of writing ‘Where is the Content? Where is the Comment?’ by Lawrence Zeegan for Creative Review gave me insight into similar points of view with a slightly more aggressive slant. 

Shrigley amking his mark outside the Hayward Gallery in connection with Creative Review.

In conclusion, it has always been apparent what ‘the truth’in art means to me, I hope that by bridging the gap between my view and Lyles and analysing the piece of writing as a whole I can share something more than just the fact that I 'get a bit cross at computers sometimes'.