SMART Objective: The End Times
This term I will use the theme of Expressionism to create six 2D pieces. These will be created using drawing/painting. I will probably use traditional methods however I may experiment using digital drawing as well. The concept for these pieces will be end times to reflect the world situation emulating the German Expressionists and their images of World War I & II. The final images will be scanned/photographed and digitised for the portfolio on my website.
Last week I was exploring the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, and discussing the end times. I like the concepts I could bring into play here and I am still veering toward using expressionism as the theme. Therefore for this class development exercise, I used the Flag - as flags are extremely powerful, they are symbols of country and patriotism. In America, the punishment for burning, defiling, or mutilating the flag is a fine and/or imprisonment for up to a year.
In Danish law, it is banned to burn flags of other nations as this would be a provocation to other nations however burning the Danish flag is absolutely fine! In China, you can be imprisoned for up to three years for mocking the national anthem by singing it in a sarcastic voice. Burning, defacing, or stomping on the national flag. Germany punishes anyone who “reviles or damages” the German federal flag, with offenders receiving up to five years in prison. Nazi flags are banned in Germany and Austria and can only be used for educational purposes. In France as of July 2010, it is a crime to desecrate the French national flag in public and even distribute images of the action being undertaken in a private setting.
So using this powerful symbol I created an end of the world flag.
I created this using, pencil, watercolour pencil and red marker. I created the triptych of destruction on the left-hand side and the screaming head on the right to create a terrifying scenario. The earthnixlings are what we become a kind of nothingness and here the strong will survive and be reborn!
References
Nosowitz D (25/05/20) Altlas Obscura: Around the World: Things you can't do to flags [Online] Available from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/flag-desecration-laws (Accessed 16/01/21)
Beswick E, () EuroNews: Which Country has the harshest punishments for disrespecting their flags [Online] Available from: https://www.euronews.com/2017/11/09/which-country-has-the-harshest-punishments-for-disrespecting-flags-and-national (Accessed 16/01/21)
Okay, today I joined a 2D 3D Class and completed the monochrome task - All of you (art and design students) will have yours on Instagram however since this is a one-off for me I thought I would just share my work here.
This is the image I used, just me as a baby....circa 1975!
To begin generating ideas in class we completed 20 ideas in 20 Minutes. I completed the grid and here it is!
As it quite difficult to decipher my little scribbles here - I will explain the ideas that I thought were good further:
Create a photographic cabinet of curiosities in the manner of the Victorians like these images here:
As discussed in my last post my initial ideas on my concept were considering the beginning and the end, the circle of life, and the idea of time.
Looking further into this and considering Revelation in the Bible, it seems to me that we could be in the time of revelation.
Let's start with the plague of Locusts, locusts appear many times in the bible but they are a symbol of end times - the bible states: in Revelation 9.1-7 '1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads, they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.'
Then there is a plague - with Covid we certainly have this however it is important to note that we have had plagues many times in our history, The Black Death, Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDS and Cholera - these are the big ones.
HIV/AIDS - The figures at present stand at 60 million people infected and 25 million have died. We are still fighting this throughout the world.
The Black Death (1347-1351) This ravaged Europe and in the space of four years took at least 75 million lives but some estimate up to 200 million.
Spanish Flu - This began in 1918 and ended quickly in 1919 but affected a third of the world's population and took 50 million lives.
Why am I discussing these unhappy topics in relation to my concept? As I have chosen Expressionism as the theme for my work I think the concept here would go well as the German Expressionists depicted the horrors of war. Consider these images from Otto Dix:
These images of horror remind me also of Goya's Disasters of War
Although in my own lifetime I have not seen the horror of war in the UK. there are many wars still raging around the world and as I was stating at the beginning about revelation there is a feeling that though this might not be end times - it certainly is a moment where the world will be changed after this pandemic.
References
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (05/03/20) The Five Deadliest Outbreaks and Pandemics in History [Online] Available from: https://www.rwjf.org/en/blog/2013/12/the_five_deadliesto.html (Accessed 11/01/21)
KD Outsider Art (10/06/14) Otto Dix: The Madness of Modern Warfare [Online] Available from: https://kdoutsiderart.com/2014/06/10/otto-dix-the-madness-of-modern-warfare/ (Accessed 11/01/21)
BBC Future Planet (07/08/20) The Biblical Locust Plagues of 2020 [Online] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200806-the-biblical-east-african-locust-plagues-of-2020 (Accessed 11/01/21)
Bible Study Tools (08/05/20) Locusts in the Bible [Online] Available from: https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/locust-in-the-bible/ (Accessed 11/01/21)
As part of the class session, you are going to generate ideas in just images to show the Martians your initial thoughts on your CONCEPT for your major project. So here is one I created for my own initial ideas. I created this on a digital tablet. As you can see this does not show my best drawing skills but does try to communicate the ideas that I was thinking about.
The eye here - is the all seeing eye, which could be God, it could be technology, it could be CCTV! It is the idea that we are always witnessed and our actions are always witnessed. The Alpha and Omega are teh beginning and the end. In the Bible this is in Revelation 22.13: 'Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.…' and this is referenced elsewhere as God being the first and the last. Obviously, the alpha and omega are from the Greek alphabet.
The clock is life ticking by to represent our short time on earth with the symbol also of the baby and the coffin. The box is like Pandoras box - we do not know how life will turn out as there are so many variables and this is about fate, free will and whether we are in charge of our own destiny.
These are the themes I would like to research further for the project concept.
This term we have a set project this can be viewed here. The idea is to consider the brief and write down first thoughts. My first thoughts are that I am drawn strongly to both Earthly Delights and Expressionism.
I think the problem with earthly delights is that I may do something that is too simple and that I may get lost on a tangent.
Expressionism on the other hand I have some strong ideas and I would really like to explore and improve my drawing/painting skills this term. I could do this in conjunction with photographs and mixed media however I think I am more inclined to not try to use photography as something to help me here as this is too much in my comfort zone.
My thoughts are to go with expressionism, learn further drawing techniques particularly, and if I feel confident enough to experiment with painting as well.
I could do this by hand on paper or I could use a digital tablet or I could experiment with both and explore whether one works better than the other for me.
In terms of the actual concept for this series I think this will need further thought and experimentation with ideas to see where that might lead me...
