Fine Art or Craft?

EZIO Bookshelf, Francesco Esposito & Marianna Contaldo

In the world we see around us, we categorise objects; in this case, I have looked at the pictured objects and decided that the bookshelf is a piece of craft and the sculpture below is fine art.  But why? 

Natural Beauty, 2009, Eva Rothschild

 The reason I wouldn't class the bookshelf as a piece of fine art is because it has been designed for a purpose.  The designers' intention was for the object to store books; functionality is equally as important as aesthetics.  The bookshelf has not been solely made with a meaning in mind like Rothschild's sculpture.  Her piece is to examined and considered by the viewer, not to touch and climb on.

Colour // 1964 Pucci Advertisement

I love the cascading psychedelic pattern in this Pucci advertisement and the way the fabric has spread as the model swept across the rocks for the photographer.  The pattern strongly reminds me of 1960's Op-Art that used optical illusions to create movement on a flat surface.  It has an amazing colour scheme; the olive green, tan and burgundy shades within the waves of the fabric remind me of summer and the dry environment in the Mediterranean.  This association is emphasised by the foreign setting for the photograph and the sun kissed appearance of the model. 

Magazine Review // POP // Chefchaouen - La Femme Bleue

Armani from POP Magazine on Vimeo.

POP Magazine shot the video above in the all-blue Moroccan town of Chefchaouen for two main reasons: firstly, for the background colour blue which Armani based his collection on.  Secondly, Morocco is in North Africa: the desert scapes and Tuareg peoples of the central Sahara in Africa were other sources of inspiration for Giorgio Armani's "La Femme Bleue" designs.

Article Review 

ARMANI'S BLUE PERIOD

Interviewer Melanie Rickey

In this POP article, Giorgio Armani was interviewed about his Spring/Summer 2011 collection "La Femme Bleue"; photography and stills from the video (shot by Jamie Morgan in the all-blue Moroccan town of Chefchaouen with fashion styling by Isabelle Kountoure) accompany the article.

The article is interesting because you learn a bit about the designer Giorgio Armani and his company before it launches straight into the interview about his S/S 2011 collection.  All of the questions feature references to the colour blue which emphasies the subject of the interview and the collection.  The answers uncover the main inspiration behind the clothing designs, why the colour blue in particular was so inspiring as well as forming an impression of the designer Giorgio Armani by finding out his opinions on colour, art and what motivates him.  It makes the interview seem more realistic and personal because you learn about the person being interviewed (e.g. one question asks "Do you ever feel blue?") as well as their work.

 

Magazine Review // POP // Ladies, Bags & Lady Chavs

Who it is for:  POP is a fine art and fashion based magazine that is mainly aimed at young and middle aged artists, designers and other professionals involved in the fashion industry such as photographers.

Price:  £6.00

Consists of:  Recent collaborations between artists/designers, fine art, fashion photography, informative "POP Essays".

Advertisements:  Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tod's, Céline, DKNY, Stella McCartney, Zadig & Volatire, Iceberg, Paul Smith, Margaret Howell, Van Cleef & Arpels. 

The magazine mainly consists of fashion clothing advertisements; occasionally there are adverts for footwear, jewellery and accessories such as bags and scarves.

Feature Articles:

   

Towards a Redefinition of the Lady

Georgia Jagger by Gillian Wearing

Marina Abramović: An Artist Should not Make Himself into an Idol

Gaia Repossi & friends by Karen Knorr

Amy Winehouse remembered by Scott King

Regular Columns:  There aren't any regular columns as such, but each POP magazine is focused around a theme.  For this issue, the subject was a "POP Lady" which featured fashion photography and essays centred around the "Lady" and how the term is being redefined.

Article Review

POP ESSAY: LADIES, BAGS AND LADY CHAVS 

Words: Dr Sarah Churchwell

This essay was written with the theme of the social title "lady" in mind and how it is coming back into fashion thanks to recent trends (pencil skirts and the return of Dior's "New Look" style clothing) and television series like "Mad Men".  The article goes on to explore many different aspects of the lady; her taste, social class and status.  Churchwell explains how books popular from around 1850 until the 1950's were manuals that instructed women how to be ladylike:

"We feel an involuntary sense of incongruity, when we see a noisy, bold girl, it is so contrary to the model which we have formed in our minds of the female character."

How to be a Lady: A Book for Girls by Harvey Newcomb 

Nowadays, a lady is defined more by her taste than her manners, as Churchwell puts it: "I trust that Harvey has gone to his just reward and is spending eternity being told...to shut the hell up, just as he spent his life telling innocent young women."  The western culture has spread all over the world and the newly rich in countries such as China want to show that they have wealth and power.  Churchwell argues that this is shown through taste and the ability to discriminate, not by coveting an item just because the elite has it.  As soon as this item becomes attainable, it loses it's desirability.  Her example of this is the Burberry check and it's association with "chavs".

"This is where ladylike and taste converge: being a lady is about seeming unattainable."

 Dr Sarah Churchwell    

I enjoyed reading this article because it explored a variety of sources ranging from book extracts to current issues and examples of the lady in fashion trends and media.  The article was also thought provoking and it inspires you to research books like the one written by Harvey Newcomb to see what women were once told to act like and to watch Mad Men for a contrasting view of a "lady".  There are no pictures in the article but I don't think this takes anything away from it; they would only serve as a distraction from the detail in the essay.      

Car // Night Glow

Communication Design // 4 Postcards

My brief was to design four A5 postcards which would communicate my interpretation of a word; the word given to me was "repeat".  The first step was to brainstorm ideas for the word to help me decide what the main theme would be for my 4 postcards; I decided to focus on daily routine that is repeated every day, in particular "working 9-5".

I experimented with the word "repeat" itself and looked at ways I could show repetitiveness with symbols to make a pattern.  Linking with the theme of working 9-5, I made a pattern of the London Underground logo to symbolise commuting.  The magazine cutting of a row of bags from a workwear section of a fashion magazine influenced the illustration of one of my postcards.

Our postcards could feature one accent colour so I chose red; I associate this colour with urgency (the rush to get to work of time) and glamour (applying make up to look presentable).  I arranged magazine cuttings of different shades of red next to each other to see which ones worked together and would be suitable for use in my postcard's colour scheme.  

   

I used photocopies of the inside of an envelope as a backing paper for a magazine clipping on one postcard and a complete background on another postcard; the pattern was repetitive and the object was related to work and daily routine.  I repeated the word "work" on a thin strip on the bottom right postcard to emphasise the repeated routine and form a visual pattern; the "9-5" postcard has a similar effect.  The magazine cutting of a glamorous woman applying lipstick corresponds with the feminine polka dot repeat pattern. 

Product Design // Go-Kart

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ella-northedge/sets/72157628099714038/