Advertising - Social Issues - Think Of Both Sides

Red Pepper of Russia created the campaign below, Think Of Both Sides. 

When trying to get people to reduce their speed and concentrate, the best advertisements connect on an emotional level. When driving often the journey can get boring and lots of different things can distract you. I personally have my music too loud - and it isn't until a near accident then I turn it down. Red Pepper tries to show in this ad that even little distractions build up and you aren't really concentrating. This lack of concentration can put not only your life, but other people's lives at risk too. 



My favourite aspect of this advertisement would be the distorted child's face. The 'hybrid' face emphasises the point that it could easily be your child - but either way it's still a child's life at risk, due to your lack of concentration. 

Information found via;

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Art - Christopher Wool

'Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. Find someone else. Forget it. I'm never coming back. Forget it.' - taken from Captain Colby's final letter to his wife in the film Apocalypse Now. 



The image is meant to be bleak and very straight to the point about moving on and not relying on the personal affects to make you happy. It also states the point that the past is the past, and you can't change it and moving on is the much healthier thing to do. I really like this piece due to the complexity of the piece. You have to struggle to read the message which is similar to the actual motion of moving on - which can at times be hard in itself. Struggling to read the message meas you have to look at the piece longer, and therefore take longer to think about the message. This is a reflection opportunity for the audience - to reflect on the context and the personal afflictions. The hard typography also highlights this point, it is hard and unforgiving. Often moving on with be a permanent change, so the dark thick paint reflects this. This piece can relate each individual viewer on a personal message which makes it such an interesting and complex piece.

Infomation found via;

The Art Book - Phaidon, 1994

Art - Chuck Close

Self Portraits - or these days, Selfies, can be an art form. It may take hours to select the best profile picture to put on Facebook for other people to 'like' - but Chuck Close looked like he just rolled out of best in his 1967 image Big Self Portrait. 



I see this image as being extremely brave - allowing everyone to judge your appearance and calling it art. Even if you were to judge him, the camera angle is low so he appears to be looking down on the audience. You can't judge him, because he is already judging you. His lazy eyes make the audience feel that he may be looking down on you, but you haven't meant anything to him. There is no relationship between the audience and himself, but you feel that he has all the power. And as the artist he does, he controls what we see and how we are meant to react to his art. Although the message is unclear at first, because it just simply looking like Close has taken a tester image and hasn't quite been ready for it - I believe he is trying to get the message across that you can't judge without being judged yourself. 

Art - Constatin Brancusi

The Kiss. This has got to be my favourite sculpture and easily the cutest too. In 1907 Constatin Brancusi created The Kiss, which showed two hugging and kissing. 



I love the fact that the two lovers are created from the same stone block - they are no longer two separate entities, but one individual. The outstretched arms highlights their longing for each other and a vital need for the other. Without too much detail Brancusi has captured the human need for another person to complete oneself. One point to add is that genitalia has been covered up - perhaps for dignity - but it could be related to same sex couples. By removing the genitalia and having very similar facial features, you can't depict what gender each body is. Therefore, it could signify all love - Brancusi could be implying all love is equal - no matter the situation. This would be a very dangerous issue for him to express especially as same sex couple weren't accepted at the time - and still struggle to be fully accepted by society now. Following this idea of equality, the statues are mirror images of each other - which could be another clue as the the underlying message of the piece. Personally I love this piece because it is such a warm emotion, that is carved into cold hard stone so it can be preserved forever. 

Art - Giacomo Balla

Perhaps one of my favourite artists of all time is Giacomo Balla. his fluid movement of brush strokes makes his work abstract, yet realistic at the same time. You can clearly understand the message within each piece, but the images are often so busy, you eyes are left to dart around the piece, giving the illusion of movement. One piece that exaggerates this technique is Flight Of The Swallows.



Flight Of The Swallows is an image of the swallows that used to swirl and dive around outside Balla's window. The formation of one swallow following the other image, gives the idea that it is in fact one bird and his position has moved - much like a fast action camera, and the images have been collated. Balla has captured the iconic shape of the swallows without having to dilute the power of the image with too much detail. The strong bold swift brush movements highlight the movement of the birds and what the artist was seeing outside his window. The only aspect about this image which I dislike, is the white waves across the centre of the image. I feel that the white takes away from the swallows themselves and breaks up the image too much. However I can see that the waves only extenuate the movement further and also lighten up the image - as too much heavy black blocks would create a dark image. 

Art - Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon's Study after Velazques's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, is a haunting, yet beautiful image.



The streaky image looks like it might have come from a dark place. Portraits of Popes are mean to pieces of fine art, depicting the subject in the best possible light. Bacon on the other hand exposes this pope as a dark fiend. Although the image is depicting Pope Innocent X, the dark screaming face suggests otherwise. The lack of clarity in the image also tells a story about how much you really know someone from just an image. Images and paintings especially can be altered to the artists desire - so the subject may be far more attractive or visually appealing than in real life. I believe Francis Bacon is trying to get this point across with his piece - even the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, isn't all that he seems - he may also be hiding a dark side. I really like the strong fast lines in the images, which contrast the original images careful attention to detail. Bacon has really just taken every element of a professional portrait and changed it to create this new, and at the time, racy and dangerous imagery. 

Art - Alexander Archipenko

Next up, Alexander Archipenko, the abstract sculpture artist and his piece Walking.



I don't see the image, but apparently this sculpture is a woman walking - however I see no resemblance to a woman walking at all. I personally saw jigsaw puzzle pieces in the bronze model. If in fact it was a woman, I would expect to see more curves rather than straight lines and sharp edges, which I associate more with male features. However I do see the strong link to cubism in the piece. Much like the work of Picasso and Braque, the piece has weird and wonderful shapes to express the idea of a woman walking. The green surface of the model appears to give the piece a softer feel, thus making it more feminine. I really like the piece because of the angles used - although I could never see the intended vision - I love walking around the piece and seeing the many different point of view. 

Art - Karel Appel

One of my favourite hobbies that many people are unaware of it my love for art. I enjoy going round to different art galleries and looking at the different pieces and also discovering new and different artists and looking into their work. When I went to The British Museum, I went around the different exhibits and found a range of great artists and have explored their portfolios. The next section of blog post will be all about the artists I have discovered or re-discovered and how their art is interpreted by myself. 

First up is Karel Appel and his piece Phantom with Mask.

I found this piece to be very dark. At first the picture looking like a face screaming, but upon further reflection I found that the image appeared to be more shouting - less scary, more fearful. The abstract image is quite odd when you first look at it, as the black eyes are almost staring right at you - however the position of the arms up and around the mouth, looks like they are trying to project their voice. The image in my eyes is a cry for help, despite the dark colours which have negative connotations. One aspect of the image which is very obvious is the child-like structure of the image. The facial structure of the painting, looks as if a child may have drawn in - which with the previous analysis makes me believe that Karel Appel has tried to capture the cry of a child through abstract art. Often children struggle to be heard and this is exactly the idea I get from this piece. 

Advertising - ASDA And Kim Kardashian

I love a good spoof - the scary movie franchise is one of my favorites -  but Asda have created what I could easily consider the world's best spoof. Take a look;

The popular image that was meant to break the internet, has now been ripped by hundreds of people all over the world. Now, Asda have also tried to have a go. Kim Kardashian may have been trying to break the internet, but Asda's slogan is 'Don't break the budget'. This comical take on a 'piece of fashion/art' is printed on the free in store leaflet. Unlike the typical Asda leaflet, which shows a nice meal to entice people in, this piece may actually put consumers off from picking up the free booklet. I say this only because from a glance, it looks like the original, which is $10. Some people may not want to pick it up, as they aren't prepared to pay that sort of money for a magazine anyways - so they may subconsciously ignore it. 

Either way, this is a great way to show that Asda is on trend and up to date.  

Information found via;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2839066/Supermarket-chain-Asda-spoof-Kim-Kardashian-s-infamous-Paper-magazine-cover-promote-10-bubbly.html

Advertising - Iceland's New Exotic Meat Feast

Whilst watching I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Iceland adverts kept coming up - to be expected considering they sponsor the show. However, other than just their normal bargain frozen snacks, they were advertising the new 'Exotic Meat Feast' - but the advert was rather ambiguous, so I had to do some investigating into the new product.

Finally, the day has come. I and many other viewers can now join in the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here experience, with real Australian meat. Iceland is selling each box, which contains 2 crocodile burgers, 2 ostrich burgers, 2 ostrich fillets and 2 kangeroo burgers, for £10 a packet.

Unlike myself, not everyone is happy with the decision of produce and sell these quite interesting treats, PETA are in uproar. Although PETA has a major cult following and thousands of people protest each ear for the protection of animals - the general public don't seemed too bothered about the new Iceland product. A recent survey on The Mirrors' website showed that 59% of people would happily try the new meat. So much for save the animals?!

In my personal opinion Iceland have done nothing wrong, consumers want products like this, and love the idea of being involved with the show, I'm A Celebrity, so its only Iceland's way of giving more choice to consumers. At the end of the day, it's consumers choice whether they want to buy the product or not, and if it doesn't sell well it will be pulled from the shelves anyway.
Information found via;

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/iceland-rolls-out-10-pack-of-crocodile-kangaroo-and-ostrich-meat/373398.article

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-im-a-celebrity-exotic-meat-feast-910g/p/57834

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iceland-cashes-im-celebrity-bushtucker-4587755