16.12.07 ‘They were just so mean to me’
[Cross-posted] My friend Sarah Garlick went to the Massey University design school exhibition and this was the one thing that drew her eye, enough for her to grab the business card from the stack there. The designer is Kylie Phillips, a new grad. I want to note that, for me, this is not a public dig at John McGrath, whose image appears on Ms Phillips’ business card. But it does highlight how public images—related here to the 2007 mayoral election in Wellington—are used for humour and satire. And, admittedly, if you do not know Mr McGrath, this is very funny.
Posted by Jack Yan, 22:26 Comments:
As the designer of these cards, I thought it might be useful to provide a bit of context for the business cards which were based on my major project.
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I find the discussion in the cross post interesting and although this was not a political investigation I am pleased to see people responding to the work in this manner. My project was a social commentary of a space in time and everything used in the work was collected from the space i.e. conversations ("they were just so mean to me") and rubbish (discarded grafitti pamphlets). The red dots link to a series of maps at the back of the book to show where each piece of data was collected from within the space. These examples can show the work in more detail: One.jpg Two.jpg Three.jpg Four.jpg And this is a bit of background about the project itself: WHAT HAPPENS IN A TRANSIENT PASSAGE OVER 1197 MINUTES? HOW MUCH DO YOU NOTICE? WHAT EXISTS HERE? WHAT IS FLEETING? HOW IS THE SPACED ENGAGED? BY WHO? WHERE ARE THEY? WHAT IS OBSERVED? WHAT IS MISSED? HOW CAN INFORMATION BE GATHERED, UNPACKED AND UNDERSTOOD? HOW CAN SENSE BE MADE OF THIS SPACE? WHAT IS RESPONDED TO? AND WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO PASS THROUGH HERE? ARE YOU REALLY HERE? ARE YOU HERE? IS AN ETHNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN A PLACE OF TRANSIENCE (WOODWARD STREET) AND THOSE WHO PASS THROUGH IT. BY INVESTIGATING THE CONTEXTS OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, A CANDID SOCIAL COMMENTARY CAN BE OFFERED ON THE HUMAN RELATIONSHIP TO A SPECIFIC PLACE IN TIME. IN OTHER WORDS, EXAMINING URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY. ACTING AS A TOUR GUIDE, THIS WORK AIMS TO NAVIGATE THE VIEWER THROUGH A MAZE OF DISORDERED AND CHAOTIC REALITY. FROM THE BANAL TO THE THROWAWAY, CONVERSATIONS HAVE BEEN RECORDED, BEHAVIOURS OBSERVED, AND DISCARDED OBJECTS COLLECTED. THROUGH THE DOCUMENTATION, PRESERVATION AND TRANSLATION OF THESE EPHEMERAL ARTIFACTS, A VISUAL HERITAGE OF THE EVERYDAY IS GENERATED. NAVIGATIONAL GUIDES AND MAPPING DEVICES HAVE BEEN USED TO DECIPHER COMPLEX NETWORKS OF DOCUMENTED DATA CAPTURING MANS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSIENT PASSAGE OVER TIME. DUE TO THE NON-LINEAR MAPPING OF EVENTS WITHIN WOODWARD STREET, THE VIEWER IS DIRECTED TO EVERYDAY DISCOVERIES AND NARRATIVES. USUALLY UNNOTICED; THESE INHERENTLY FAMILIAR TRANSIENT MOMENTS THAT FORM PART OF OUR EVERYDAY EXISTENCE ARE GIVEN ORDER THROUGH CONSTRUCTED CONNECTIONS. THESE DEVICES ALSO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF CREATING A NEW REALITY. THROUGH THE FUSION OF WORD AND IMAGE, CONTEXT IS USED TO CREATE MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS. EACH CAPTURED EVENT MAY HAVE AN INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION BUT WHEN PLACED IN RELATION TO ANOTHER INCIDENT, ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVES AND STATEMENTS ARE MADE ON URBAN LIFE IN CORPORATE WELLINGTON. THE INTENTION IS TO OFFER AN INSIGHT INTO COINCIDENCE AND ALLOW THE VIEWER TO DEVELOP AND ASSEMBLE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EACH COMBINATION RATHER THAN PRESENTING INTERPRETED CONCLUSIONS. EMPHASIS HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THESE INCIDENTAL LIVED MOMENTS IN ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE A VISUAL NARRATIVE AND PROMOTE DIALOGUE. ARE YOU HERE? AIMS TO MIRROR CULTURE AND ENCOURAGES THE READER TO SELF-REFLECT, TO BE CRITICAL YET ENGAGE WITH THE SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT OCCURRENCES OF DAY-TO-DAY ORDINARY ACTIVITIES THEY MAY HAVE NOT NOTICED BEFORE. TO OBSERVE IN THIS MANNER IS SIMILAR TO REALITY TELEVISION; WE ARE TRANSFIXED AND INTRIGUED TO SEE OURSELVES AS WE REALLY ARE. # posted by Anonymous: 12/21/2007 06:10:00 AM
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