Mark Oliver- Art Representing

http://www.anthropologie.com/uk/en/blog/in-the-gallery-mark-oliver/

Sketchbook

sketch 1

http://awaspinawig.tumblr.com/post/131043155835/121015-models-sketchbook-cop-illustration

sketch 2

http://awaspinawig.tumblr.com/post/131037100080/121015

sketch 3

http://awaspinawig.tumblr.com/post/131027188895/121015-shiny-shiny

sketch 4

http://awaspinawig.tumblr.com/post/131025354965/121015-layers-collage-cop-sketchbook

sketch 5

http://awaspinawig.tumblr.com/post/131020256155/121015-squad-goals-cop-humansanimals

ihoh

For Monday 19th!

 Individual progress tutorial one (30 Mins)

(see estudio for time and location)

This tutorial should focus on clarifying the students Research Question. Refer to the General CoP3 advice and ‘Organising Your Research Project’ lecture if necessary. Students should attempt to complete a revised CoP3 Proposal if their direction has changed significantly over the Summer. Students should agree an outline of the chapter structure of Dissertation with their supervisor. Students should also agree a rough timeline for the development of the practical element of the module. It is essential that students make contact with Academic Support at this stage, if this will be required.

Reference Images...

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/photos/bird-wallpapers/#/bathing-parrot_17802_600x450.jpg

Initial Group Tutorial

What is the central question that I am asking? 

Keep it limited at this point!

I N T R O D U C T I O N

(Approx 500 words)

F I R S T   C H A P T E R 

(Must layout the field… explain what you're on about! Chapters should be max 1750 words)

C O N C L U S I O N 

(Approx 500-1000 words)

T O   D O (By next friday)

C L E A R    S T R U C T U R E 

Precise question and chapter structure, historical roots of our dominance over animals - through art, and in contrast how we respect the animal through art- can we? only if we truly respect the animal itself such as in inuit culture)

M A X I M U M    W O R D    L I M I T 

S P E C I F I C    Q U E S T I O N 

H U M A N    D O M I N A N C E    

T H E    H U M A N    G A Z E ;   H U M A N    D O M I N A N C E    O V E R    A N I M A L S    

( R E F L E C T E D    T H R O U G H   A R T )   

    

R E L I G I O U S    &    H I S T O R I C A L     R O O T S 

T H E    W E S T E R N    S E L F 

(Idea of the self - Individualist culture.)

B E C O M I N G - A N I M A L    

A S    A N    E T H I C A L    Q U E S T I O N 

(Delves and Katari 1000 plateaus - becoming the minority as an ethical project. Human self as the dominant on the planet. Animals through the human gaze… purely tells you about humans, not the animals.) 

H O W    I S   T H A T  ^  R E P R E S E N T E D    I N    A R T ?

N O N - W E S T E R N   S O C I E T I E S   &   W E S T E R N   S O C I E T I E S 

(An-iconic means no images of people as an icon, e.g. buddhism… look at Douism)

R E L I G I O N 

(Non-western religion, Pagan vs Christianity -Genesis says that humans are shepherds; ownership over animals. Look at indigenous religion and how they respect animals such as native americans and inuits… how do they create artwork about animals from the animals themselves- seems more respectful. Inuits eat all the possible meat from the seal, then they use the fur and bones, making art about the animal from media of the animal.) 

S K E T C H B O O K S 

(Experiment at portraying the 'truth' of animals, as they are - the presence of the animal, a book full of animals. Maybe people interacting with the animals, scared, worried of the animal, or interacting with it. Create a presence for the animal in your sketchbook so the audience is interacting with the animal. Collages and media such as fur. Is it possible as a human, homo sapien, to create art work portraying the animals 'truth', without it being all about me?)

Proposal

Produce an outline dissertation plan including...

• Short section summaries, 
• Key quotes 
• Specific images. 

perhaps symbolism (the animals in art) is the best way we can empathise with them and relate to them and thus respect them, celebrating our similarities! but calling a dog Fred etc is that respecting the animal or just pretending it's a failed/stupider human like they used to think about chimpanzees 

T H E    P O S T    M O D E R N    A N I M A L 

What is the post modern animal? How does this reflect our relationships with animals

T A X I D E R M Y 

What is our relationship as humans with animals through the form of taxidermy?

B O T C H E D    T A X I D E R M Y 

Why do we create botched taxidermy? How does this alter our relationship with the animal?

A N I M A L   G O D S 

Why have humans created animal Gods? How does this reflect our relationship with animals?

M Y T H I C A L    C R E A T U R E S 

Why have humans created mythical creatures? How does our creation of unrealistic animals reflect our relationship with animals?

H U M A N S    R E L A T I O N S H I P    W I T H    A N I M A L S 

Throughout history how have we lived alongside, worked with, killed and eaten animals, and how has this effected their place in art?

T H E    E V O L U T I O N A R Y   P E R S P E C T I V E 

How does the evolutionary perspective help to explain why we use animals as symbols of ourselves? What are the similarities and differences between us and 'the animals'?

S A T I R I C A L    I L L U S T R A T I O N S 

How have illustrators, particularly in editorial illustrations, used animals in order to portray a strong message, offensive/emotive etc? Provokes a strong reaction, why? What does this say about our relationship with animals?

Comparative Anatomy

Comparing animal anatomy allows us to understand humans better - before hand we were just admiring their 'shells' ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d2g97

Research the mentally ill and bedlam - he thought what was missing was a human element of reason and wanted to give them kindness!

porpoise - these fish are like humans! e.g. arms, umbilical cords etc

mammal -18th century

in old science it would have been categorised as a monstrous

top of the change of being - dog/horse
chimps/mokeys were immatative - jokes/failures like humans but wrong
tyson was the first one to compare chimps and humans - the link
human origins - when did our unique characteristics (what it is to be human) appear?

Animals

Aren't just a boring back drop to our lives they are the very life source of our existence - plants - can relate to animals
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d2fyq

Parrots

Humans as predators - illegal trade parrots- found in water bottles in customs getting smuggled
habitat destruction
population decline
endangered list
smuggling for money - in order for the human to have money (power/ best resources etc)

Crocodile

crocodiles - more related to the birds than lizards
related to dinosaurs
'respect your elders' - animal conservation
worship crocs - gods/ most expenisve bags

unknown - god/monster - appease the god means decreasing the risk to yourself #9keep yourself save - worshipped because of fear and to appease - fear and awe- admired for their hunting skills
 ancient Egyptian god.  crocodile ammulet for small children

Animals Through the Human Gaze: Animal Farm

INVESTIGATE & RESEARCH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm

Social Darwinism

This BBC Radio 4 program was really interesting in hearing about how people have applied evolutionary terms such as natural selection to present day. In some instances twisting it to have a horrendous impact on innocent civilians and society such as considering an 'aryan race' and institutionalising the disabled and sterilising people such as in America and Nazi occupation in Europe.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vgq1q

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Social Darwinism. After the publication of Charles Darwin's masterpiece On the Origin of Species in 1859, some thinkers argued that Darwin's ideas about evolution could also be applied to human society. One thinker particularly associated with this movement was Darwin's near-contemporary Herbert Spencer, who coined the phrase 'survival of the fittest'. He argued that competition among humans was beneficial, because it ensured that only the healthiest and most intelligent individuals would succeed. Social Darwinism remained influential for several generations, although its association with eugenics and later adoption as an ideological position by Fascist regimes ensured its eventual downfall from intellectual respectability.

With:

Adam Kuper
Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the LSE, University of London

Gregory Radick
Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds

Charlotte Sleigh
Reader in the History of Science at the University of Kent.

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Behavioural Ecology

This BBC Radio 4 program was incredibly helpful in providing clear and concise descriptions and examples on the topic of behavioural ecology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tljk0

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Behavioural Ecology, the scientific study of animal behaviour.

What factors influence where and what an animal chooses to eat? Why do some animals mate for life whilst others arepromiscuous? Behavioural ecologists approach questions like these using Darwin's theory of natural selection, along with ideas drawn from game theory and the economics of consumer choice.

Scientists had always been interested in why animals behave as they do, but before behavioural ecology this area of zoology never got much beyond a collection of interesting anecdotes. Behavioural ecology gave researchers techniques for constructing rigorous mathematical models of how animals act under different circumstances, and for predicting how they will react if circumstances change. Behavioural ecology emerged as a branch of zoology in the second half of the 20th century and proponents say it revolutionized our understanding of animals in their environments.

GUESTS

Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College London

Rebecca Kilner, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Cambridge

John Krebs, Principal of Jesus College at the University of Oxford

Producer: Luke Mulhall.

COP3 Question Ideas

Humans understood through animals... aka symbolism etc

Humans as animals... aka our true evolutionary behaviour.

Animals through the human gaze - in art and life how we view animals... seperate ourselves/pets etc

Taxidermy: Polly Morgan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/n965PcZyBM3yscJC4kC70B/polly-morgan

Taxidermist Polly Morgan, described by Banksy as 'Britain's hottest bird stuffer', is one of Britain's most high profile young artists.

Her macabre and unsettling works, including a coffin bursting withopen-mouthed chicks and a rat asleep in a champagne glass, have won her celebrity fans including Kate Moss and considerable media coverage.

In the second of this series of artist profiles, this film offers an intimate peek at the strange and wonderful art of Polly Morgan and asks what her reputation reveals about the relationship between art and celebrity.

Taxidermy : Alexis Turner

Taxidermy: A few things to keep in mind...

While researching into the topic of taxidermy I must keep in mind the topic of animals seen through the human gaze and how we have and like to seperate ourselves from them. What does taxidermy do to animals? Does it show us the similarities between them and humans, e.g. anatomy etc such as the specimens at the Hunterian Museum or does it seperate us from them by turning them into a decorative work of art; a historical artifact that is there to admire? The latter point ties into the fact that we do not use dead stuffed humans as decorative pieces, we do not see the beauty in the dead of our own species as it is too close to home, too morbid, yet some of us cherish the beauty in the dead animals... is it because usually in our everyday life we cannot get this close to admire wild animals without them running away or attacking us... or does it lie with our primal instinct of hunters; for example dear and moose heads and antlers on walls, a showcase of our hunting skills and talents - we were quicker and outwitted them, we are top of the foodchain - power... and taxidermy allows us to inflict this notion of primal power onto the guests to our house/ the community... it definitely evokes an innate reaction of awe even if our belief systems believe it is animal cruelty and are disgusted.

Personally when I see taxidermy I have a mixed emotion of awe in the beauty of nature and a feeling of morbidness. We question ourselves, is this right? And I think for me the answer lies in how the animal came to be in this position... was it murdered by the taxidermist or did it die naturally in its day to day life. Some artists get sent road kill etc to work with and I think that although it is morbid, it is amazing to create beautiful works of art out of them and if done well it really evokes a raw primal innate instinctive reaction in us.

But yes... don't get too distracted with the subject of taxidermy - more the question of how does taxidermy separate us from the animal? Or if not, how does it bring us closer to our evolutionary relatives?