Monday 30 June 2008

Pushing Boundaries

MGMT


MGMT's (the New York band) live set broadcast on BBC2 from the Glastonbury Festival 2008 really captured my visions and imagination. The bright colours, glitter, psychedelia and electronic diversity work together to bring about a sense of celebration, no matter how dark the lyrics may be. Having now listened to the amazing album 'Oracular Spectacular' one track really stood out for me, 'Time to Pretend'. This track takes the topic of my previous post on the views of the Generation 'Y' to its heart, we want to live fast and die young, and we don't want to be stuck working in an office, we want to have fun.

'Time to Pretend'- MGMT video: http://court13.com/TimeToPretend_480.mov


The work of Victor and Rolf (the fashion designers) has also come to my attention recently. Displaying influences from Vivienne Westwood as well as their own innovations, Victor and Rolf combine art directly into their display and creation of their collections. The recent 'No' collection for autumn/winter 2008 gives fashion a very humorous edge whilst connoting a message of unavailability and desire through the interplay between the words 'No' and 'Dream On' with the pieces of clothing although it has been said that the collection is rather about speed and time within the fashion industry.


VICTOR AND ROLF 'NO'

The 3D embossed lettering, in my opinion, captures how these designers like to experiment with the boundaries of fashion, what will be interesting is how such ideas and trends and transferred into the realm of the high street, if it does at all. Reds, blacks and greys definitely dominate this collection, together with shiny, metallic silky materials contrasting with the matted texture of the woollen coats and the extravagant fur coat- which I particularly enjoyed, ironically engraved 'wow'-reflecting the audiences thoughts and reactions to the piece.

Monday 16 June 2008

Withheald Expression and Consumption

Having just sorted through my A Level art work I feel a guilt, a guilt which is telling me I should follow and apply my talent as an artist. Yet there is also a guilt holding me back, that is my mother. She doesn't want me to have a career in art as she sees it as a non-starter and constantly reminds me of teachers comments of the time that my production of work was'too slow'. Yet no one ever questioned why I was so slow at producing my work. The constant and mind-numbing lessons taken day after to day bored and uninspired me, I had no motivation to continue with something I had got bored with weeks before.

To insure my interest things have to move and change quickly.


There is also the constant reminder that graduate careers are always said to be 'hard to get into,you'll have to move to London and work for little money'.


happy work

I suppose if you really want something you haven't to bother about those kind of things, the only thing I know that I really want is to be happy. Not rich, just happy living a decent quality of life, without having to work all hours of the day in a job I really hate. I want to be employed in a job I'll always enjoy. A recent Guardian article defined this way of thinking as the 'Generation Y'.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/may/25/workandcareers.worklifebalance

Yet a lot of people I know, whom are the same age as I, are driven towards money and materialism. One friend got a job in sixth form to buy herself a (very small) Gucci bag, then her dad bought her a BMW and she's only gone into the kind of degree she has for the pound signs, a recent comment about staying on at University an extra year was,

'why should I leave now and get a average graduate job for like £28 thousand when I can do an extra year and earn like £35-40 thousand when I leave instead'
money


Fair enough, but isn't this just snobbery? Most people would be happy with £28 thousand for a graduate salary- I know I would be, but I suppose different people hold different values towards money. It's always important to remember however that money can't make you happy, and neither can the consumption of the latest wannabe high status symbol-you're always going to be lacking, no matter how much you earn or how many expensive items you've bought with your monthly wage.

Sunday 15 June 2008

The Explaination- So You Want to Know Why?!?!



So, this is a start of a new era. I've recently graduated and I find myself in some kind of Utopian limbo-land. I feel like I'm floating in mid-air, with no destination, my mind spinning out of control, question after question is asked yet always left unanswered.

Just what do I do with my life from now on?

The creation of this blog stems from this idea, really what should I be doing with my life now? As a strong believer of fate and destiny I seem to be just waiting on that 'chance' opportunity or a sudden aspiration to come into my mind.

By expanding my ideas and thoughts into this virtual 'real' time I seek to discover myself. Recently I have been very unsure of whom the real 'me' is, constantly mediated by magazines and other medias I find myself being led rather than leading myself. I guess that this is the reason my mind is filled with so much uncertainty and doubt.

This blog therefore is not about 'me' as such, its more about my interests and thoughts.

My passions lie within visual and creative objects and subjects, hence the blogs title, and it is these passions I wish to express through the writing of this blog. What will be written here is more about how these things are 'Other' to myself. I am an outsider looking in and admiring and aspiring, yet never being or competing.

I want to discover and note my influences, even try and find those subconscious influences and think about how powerful these influences are and why, and maybe even note those changes in myself.