Archive for November 2014

OUGD501 - Making connections

Deconstruction 

Jacques Derridaborn Jackie Élie Derrida; July 15, 1930 – October 9, 2004) was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. Derrida is best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction. He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and post-modern philosophy
Reynolds IEP.

Dichotomty

What is Deconstruction?

Dualistic oppositions and install a hierarchy that unfortunately privileges .

A type of hierarchy.

A mode of questioning these binary oppositions. Binary one or the other.

His theories were shown to students in art schools in the 70s+80s, he is part of the Structuralism Post- Structuralism movement

Language, English, history.

Relevant to British culture.


(Derreder's text are very difficult to read and hard to understand and this is done purposely so the reader can determine their own opinions on deconstruction theories)

Many post modern writers make their texts illusive so the audience can interpret their own texts.

Ellen Lupton

She explores the aspects of deconstruction and its impact on the G-design world

Cross references deconstruction with graphic design

She examines Derreder's works and simplifies them

"Deconstruction, like critical strategies based on Marxism, feminism, semiotics, and anthropology, focuses not on the themes and imagery of its objects but rather on the linguistic and institutional systems that frame the production of texts"

Deconstruction asks how representation inhabits reality

Pastiche

A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks, the work it imitates.

Monday 24 November 2014 by James Smith
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Lecture - Consumerism: Persuasion, society, brand and culture

Modern form of culture that emerged in early 20th century

BEAST!

Building cash register New York world's fair

Rise of US consumerism

Consumerism and our unconscious desires

Sigemund Freud and Edmud Bernays

FILMS
Century of Self - Adam Curtis 2002
No Logo - Naomi Klein 1999
Sigmund Freud 1856 - 1939
Father of discipline known as psychoanalysis
Hidden or subconscious desires explain human nature
Animal instincts which need controlling
'civilisation and its discontents' 1930


"awareness of ourselves is just the tip of the ice berg"

ID EGO SUPEREGO

Tension between civilization and the individual 

Human instincts incompatible with community

for example:

"Desire to instantly have sex with anyone we find attractive"

"anyone who we consider a threat getting in between our goals we want to 'destroy'"

instinctual desires that never get acted upon

We are constantly frustrated and restrained

Anxieties

The pleasure principle 

Freud in contrast with WW1

'Nauseating celebration of WW1 at the moment' 

WW1 proved Freud's points and shown an example of how people wanted to behave

Base desires and motivations which associate our desires

Edward Bernays 
Created Public Relations

Employed by propaganda office during WW1

Attach a related meaning to products you can make people desire these or want them 

Make people feel that their instinctual desires are being met when buying things

Psychoanalytic desires - Public relations

Cigarettes companies - Lucky strike


Cigarette smoking for women was viewed negatively back in 1929

PR student on Easter day parade - torches of freedom (cigarettes)

Suffragette (feminist) example of freedom and power

Smoking become and icon for women to feel free and independent 

Those Suffragette women who smoked on Easter day parade became symbols to all women

This began an era of:

Product placement

Celebrity endorsements

Pseudo scientific reports

Bernays was the man who came up that doctors smoked cigarettes 

David Cameron trained as a PR guru

President Coolidge wanted to seem more desirable to the public

Henry Ford (1863-1947) - Fordism

At the same time, Henry Ford began creating Ford auto mobiles

Fordism is a term for production lines where people create small elements of a larger items. 

The logic of this method of production

Idea that the workers worked so hard creating Ford cars so they could eventually buy a Ford

1910- 20000 amount of cars price is $850

1916- 600000 $360

1927 15,000,000 $290


Product competition:
Aunt Jemimas pancake flower - Hence love or history etc


Hartley's jam 'The greatest name in jam making'


Emergence of contemporary advertising


Need culture moves into Desire culture


'Chanel'


'I shop therefore I am'


The Hidden persuaders Vance Packard


8 common techniques to create an irrational desire for their products:
  1. Selling emotional security (also does this nowerdays)
  1. Selling reassurance of worth
  1. selling ego gratification
  1. Creative outlets
  1. Love objects
  1. Sense of power
  1. Sense of roots
  1. Selling immortality 
Fridge Freezer causes you to waste more food than you use
knowledge and emotional security gained by knowing you have food at home


"blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere"

'Torches of sexual oppression'

Bernays - Public opinion

"A new elite is needed to manage the bewildered herd"

Educated elite to manage the citizens 

Manufacturing consent

Create a system where people's desires are being met/satiated then people will feel as they have a place

Illusion of freedom

Deregulate markets - Allow big businesses to flourish.

Democratic society

Stop Shopping and start thinking g20

Russian revolution 
Communism 

Zaarist

Peace Land Bread 1917

Equal redistribution of wealth

A revolution could start in America and the elite's money could be seized

BLACK TUESDAY 
Biggest crash of capitalism in America. The Wall street crash

History of capitalism shows boom times and then crashes

Great Depression 

Joblessness

Transients

Political Class
Roosevelt and the New Deal 1933-36

Total control over individual influence

Futurama 

Giant PR exercise which was the NY world fair 1940

Pioneered by Bernays 

Comparing America and celebrating consumerism in relation to the rest of the world
Free citizen in America, can do things there which you cant do in RUSSIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair)

Futurama - A world where if people paid to contribute to, then this future world would exist

Freedom because you can buy products

Democracy city -
Consumer system expressed as a city

Doesn't represent citizen participation

Illusion of democracy

Becomes a consumerist society 

 The public is kept fooled into a meaningless life and kept subdued

"You are not what you own"
Ideological project

Through consumption our desires can be met

Consumer self

Politicians continue to be hand in hand with business

Free market

Status quo

Wednesday 19 November 2014 by James Smith
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Essay 2

The contrast of editorial (magazine's) content of the 21st century in relation to the content of magazines pre 21st century in relation to the first thing's first manifesto , focussing around advertisements and the capitalism society.

Old content to new content and how new magazines contain about 90% advertisements yet you have to pay for it.


GQ vs Edexcel?

Compare old to new?

Sources...
1) 
http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/3852/
This quantitative study analyzed 1,358 male-only advertisements in five American magazines. GQ, Esquire, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and Sports Illustrated were analyzed from 2004 to 2009. Esquire (12%) had the lowest percentage of ethnic minority advertisements, followed by GQ (16%), Rolling Stone (30%), Playboy (32%), and Sports Illustrated (35%). However, Esquire (88%) and GQ (84%) had the highest percentages of Caucasian male models of the five magazines. Furthermore, Esquire (60%) and GQ (47%) had the highest percentages of expensive product advertisements, while GQ (7%) also had the least expensive. GQ (630) and Esquire (397) had the most male-only advertisements of the five magazines. In contrast, Playboy (59) had the lowest number of male-only advertisements. This study showed that ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented as male models in print advertisements.

2)
http://thefutureofpublishing.com/industries/the-future-of-magazines/

Tuesday 18 November 2014 by James Smith
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