.THINK
GRAPHIC TRANSLATIONS 한류: THE KOREAN WAVE SHARE ME: PHILANTHROPY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
FALL 2016 VOLUME 1
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Page 32 Vidal, a boy who started a viral fundraising campaign for his school.
Page 40 Kate Hush’s Dangerous Women from Graphic Translation
Page 54 Seo Taji and the Boys, notable group from the Korean Wave
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.HISTORY FORM AND COLOR: BAUHAUS AND THE BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
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.ART INSIDE THE GRAPHIC WORLD OF GEOFF MCFETRIDGE
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.SCIENCE LUKE JERRAM’S GLASS MICROBIOLOGY
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.ARCHITECTURE SPACE, TIME, AND REACTION: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM MEMORIAL
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.HISTORY A DISCOURSE AROUND SPACE AND TIME: PICASSO AND BOTTLE OF SUZE
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.FASHION MODERN MOD
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SHARE ME DIGITAL PHILANTHROPY AND HUMANS OF NEW YORK
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GRAPHIC TRANSLATION A SHOW ON THE VISUAL ESSENCE
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한류: THE KOREAN WAVE ON SOUTH KOREA’S LARGEST CULTURAL EXPORT
On the Cover Image Not Found (2016) Ben Orozco
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.HISTORY 4
FORM AND COLOR: BAUHAUS AND THE BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
Written by Ben Orozco
Form and Color explores the notion of the art foundation and seeks the beauty found within simple exercises and the visual experience of Black Mountain education with Joseph Albers. Albers, a teacher at the Black Mountain College from 1933 to 1949, was widely known for his introductory classes and left such a profound effect on the school that many to this day believe that Black Mountain College is an art school. Many of the students passing through the Black Mountain College would have taken one of his classes, focusing on basic aesthetic and visual concerns like color theory, materials, and compositions. His contributions in color theory and education have left an impact on the art education system in universities and color-field and minimalism movements. Starting with Albers and expanding on other significant artists around him that he either taught or worked with, the exhibition aims to look at the visual experience around him, mapping the origins, influence, and eventual digressions around his teaching. Albers had been an educator all of his life, starting as a teacher in primary school in Germany before moving to the Bauhaus, the Black Mountain College, and lastly Yale. The Black Mountain school, an experimental school with little resources, made Albers come up with creative and innovative methods of teaching formal issues by using found materials like leaves and scraps of wire to explore texture, color
HIS CONTRIBUTIONS IN COLOR THEORY AND EDUCATION HAVE LEFT AN IMPACT ON THE ART EDUCATION SYSTEM IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLOR-FIELD AND MINIMALISM MOVEMENTS.
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theory, and composition. Joseph Albers also became an innovator in the analysis of color and perception of color, as his own work, the “An Homage to the Square” series, explored the use of color to imply visual depth and space in a lifelong series that amounts to more than 1000 iterations that lasted until the end of his life. In his work and his teaching, he stressed the importance of color as a pictorial language rather than simple form. Through this exhibition, one can see the effects of Albers, his visual emphasis on form and color, and a Bauhaus influence on some of the works. From the Bauhaus to Black Mountain to eventually Yale, he catalogued more than 1000 of his student’s examples, which form a rich catalog of different adaptations of creative visual approaches to a challenge, as well as the impacts and influence of his Bauhaus origins. His wife, Anni Albers also shares this structure with form, as well as visual explorations of fiber, repetition, the grid, and color. Although the group of works may look different, they all share a cohesive piece in this story arc. Some of his most well known students, Robert Rauschenberg and Ruth Asawa, have work that look vastly different than that of Albers, yet they still
Opposite Various Sculptures by Ruth Asawa, a notable student of Black Mountain College. Photo by Imogen Cunningham
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follow the core foundations that Albers stressed in the classes he taught at Black Mountain. Asawa, using intricate weaving techniques, follows the principle of line to create dynamic pieces that inhabit a 3-dimensional space.
Top Left An Homage to the Square Study by Josef Albers Image from Josef Albers in America: Painting on Paper
Top Right Josef Albers taught at Black Mountain College from 1933 to 1949
Above Black Mountain College Building, Image from the North Carolina Image Archives
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Top Knot 2 (1947) Anni Albers
Above Ruth Asawa in her studio. Photo by Imogen Cunningham
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.ART 8
INSIDE THE GRAPHIC WORLD OF GEOFF MCFETRIDGE
Written by Ben Orozco
Geoff McFetridge is a leading figure in the contemporary realm of graphic culture who combines elements of fine art and graphic design, born in Canada in 1973. He focuses on simple shapes and silhouettes to create clean, playful paintings. McFetridge’s uni que style can be seen in all different forms of his work, like his interface design for the movie Her, or his music video for OK Go’s “Last Leaf” where he created an animation using only toast. His work has also been featured in a variety of different formats like movie titles and album covers, through clients and projects like The Atlantic, Her (2014), MTV, Death Cab for Cutie, Patagonia, and numerous others. McFetridge’s painting includes very simple, almost primary colors and clean lines, imitating that of graphic design. As well as doing painting, he also does some drawings. While he did the Art direction for Her, he used the two in conjunction to create add a level of depth in the technology that the characters in the movie interact with. His paintings combine two different mediums to create something substantial and fresh, like his biomorphic take on the human body.
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“HIS WORK IS UNIQUE IN THE SENSE THAT HIS PAINTINGS NO LONGER FEELS LIKE PAINTINGS, USING A MEDIUM WITH AN AMOUNT OF COLORS THAT CAN BE COUNTED ON THE HAND.” Creating a deceptively simple paintings, Mcfetridge creates works that evoke a sense of commercial art and graphic posters. It follows the framing and simplicity of a realistic scene, but only with a few colors and smooth lines.
I chose this artist because his work is unique in the sense that his paintings no longer feels like paintings, using a medium with an amount of colors that can be counted on the hand. The color schemes are also enjoyable to look at and feature deep hues of reds, blues, and other rich colors.
The graphic style of his paintings round out his subjects and give them smooth curves, reminiscing of Modern furniture and architecture. McFetridge also uses Gestalt Laws to create visual interest and a playfulness for the viewer. In his collection Meditallucination (2014), he often repeats the same figure, a woman with a circular head. The use of a circular head is geometric and a
Opposite Trap (2014) Geoff McFetridge
Above Geoff McFetridge photographed by Brigitte Sire
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Girls Dancing (2014) Geoff McFetridge
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Us Infinite (2014) Geoff McFetridge
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Us Pattern (2014) Geoff McFetridge
simple form. Using the circular head as well as similarly sized dots on her dress, one of his paintings begins to form a seamless pattern. In another painting, he places three identical women together all looking in the same direction, creating the illusion of a three headed woman. One thing that comes up throughout many of his paintings is the manner that his subjects are portrayed. With the woman figure who is used in Meditallucination, her face is never revealed. Some of the people in his paintings seem to be repeatedly projected from a bird’s eye view or from directly behind. This may be another reason why his use of circular heads might be so successful: the face carries a lot of visual weight and importance in a composition, so showing a figure without the face forces the viewer to observe the forms of the figures themselves. The choice to not include the head also aids in creating simpler shapes to convey people. His work is seemingly normal, but after a second look, one can see that there might be something playful or more interesting. Another painting from his collection features a woman standing in a bathing suit, following a common style in the collection of having her face away. A long blue stroke continues vertically throughout the painting and catches a strap of her bathing suit, pulling it away. This forces the viewer to ask how the strap got caught: is the blue line a pole?
In another, two identical women are facing away, but their swimsuit straps seem to be connected to each other, creating another sense of incongruity.
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Commenting on his most recent collection, he states “The idea is to make image-based work that lies between image and language. So that your visual cortex ‘reads’ these more as language, rather than seeing them as spatial or physical things. A way to induce a misfiring of your mind to create a connection, and manipulate the viewer in a way that creates a sort of resonance.” In the interview, he also discussed how he works and sketches from images he sees in his head, rather than images from real life. That might be a possible reason why he uses the same woman in his paintings. His objective is not to recreate a woman from real life, but instead to create forms that can be seen as something coherent when put together: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That can also explain some of the oddities of this collection, like when men seem to be carrying some sort of rectangle that also happens to have more men holding another box inside of it. Or like that, the painting of the woman in the dress with a pattern of her making different poses and gestures. McFetridge’s ability to use minimal subject matter epeatedly in his paintings and still capture attention and convey different meanings is a valuable skill.
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.SCIENCE 14
LUKE JERRAM’S GLASS MICROBIOLOGY
Written by Ben Orozco
Luke Jerram turns pathogens and microscopic organisms into beautiful works of art. His sculptures take micro-organisms and viruses and enlarge them in glass, bringing them into the realm of art. Because he is colorblind, Jerram is interested in and concerned about in how viruses are being portrayed, with colorful, incorrect depictions in media and in literature. The truth is, viruses have no color: they are smaller than the visible light spectrum. In a quest to replicate the virus in a truthful manner, he works with both scientists and artists to facilitate a realistic recreation of viruses and microorganisms. Because viruses and many microorganisms don’t have color, rendering them in glass is an effective way of showing their structure and complex layers of materials explicitly. His glass works are often 1,000,000 times larger than the original viruses and microorganisms. In his piece “Large E. Coli,” Jerram wants us to consider how we look at and think about the bacteria in and around us. Not all bacteria are evil and lethal: in fact, there are 10 times more bacteria than cells in our bodies. Bacteria are our ancestors and some of the first life forms on the planet, yet in contemporary society many microorganisms get a bad reputation as we live in a “99.9% antibacterial” society, fearful of the next epidemic.
lends itself to well replicating what one could see under a microscope. Large E. coli for example, features a glossy skin with little glass hairs on the outside of the organism and a sleek flagellum for a tail. On the inside, there lies the proteins and RNA material, rendered in a translucent glass suspended in the center of the sculpture. Another iteration of the Large E. Coli sculpture resided temporarily in the University of Sheffield in the UK, hanging from the top of a greenhouse as an inflatable sculpture. Jerram’s work is contemporary and strongly resembles postmodern artwork. Like that of Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, Luke Jerram did not actually make all of his works completely on his own. Instead,
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Jerram’s E. coli are all transparent and made of glass, yet the nature of the glass
Opposite E. Coli Luke Jerram
Above Swine Flu Luke Jerram
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he hired talented glassblowers to help him make the work and worked with scientists to verify his designs. The discourse and discussion of viruses and our fear of them has always been going on in contemporary society and news, from the AIDS crisis in the 80s, to the recent swine flu, ebola, and zika viruses. Interestingly enough, Jerram himself was infected with the swine flu when he was working on his sculpture of the virus. His collection of work stretches from glass renderings of E. coli, to HIV, to the swine and bird flus, to the ebola pathogen. The work has touched those who are afflicted with some of the diseases, as they gain a new understanding of the virus that has impacted and changed their lives. He has made other sculpture and installation works, including a project titled “The Invisible Homeless,” creating draped “sleeping” figures in glass and lighting them up at night on Bristol sidewalks. There appears to be nothing there, yet the ghostly silhouette of a figure sleeping on the ground can be seen by people passing by.
portraying viruses and microbiology. This work also effectively demonstrates the power of postmodern art, pulling from various different sources like popular culture, and science to create a piece of work that transcends each of those fields, affecting all of us. JERRAM EFFECTIVELY SHOWS THE TRUE POWER AND ABILITY OF ART, TAKING SOMETHING DEADLY, FRIGHTENING, AND TINY, AND CREATING ELEGANT SCULPTURES OUT OF IT, MAKING US RECONSIDER OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT PATHOGENS
Jerram effectively shows the true power and ability of art, taking something deadly, frightening, and tiny, and creating elegant sculptures out of it, making us reconsider our thoughts about pathogens and microorganisms. This piece of work serves to function as a beautiful piece of art, but also as a correct scientific method of correctly
Top Avian Flu Luke Jerram
Bottom Zika Virus Luke Jerram
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Above SARS Coronavirus Luke Jerram
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.ARCHITECTURE 18
SPACE, TIME, AND REACTION: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM MEMORIAL
Written by Ben Orozco
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Art is anything composed of time and space that changes the way we see and think. By capturing a specific moment, the viewers can see, hear, or think about the art. Art is not purely aesthetic; art doesn’t necessarily have to be a painting or a sculpture. When we go into a museum and look at a work, we are acknowledging its existence, taking it in, and having a reaction. We may see a piece of art that appears to be some smudges of color on canvas and we simply walk to the next piece and turn away after a few seconds of confusion, but our lack of reaction to the piece is still a reaction to the work and something that affects us. I chose The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington D.C. by Maya Lin, a site memorial finished in 1982, connecting to the movement of land art. As a work permanently receeded into the ground, it appears to be a black behemoth stone, an open scar in the earth, with the name of thousands of fallen and missing soldiers inscribed on the insides. For a memorial site, the site is quiet, somber, with no faces. There is no triumph, ego, or bravery emoted from the quiet stone. Instead, the site is silent and austere, like death itself. Space and time are the two things that directly affect the viewer of the memorial as they slowly descend down into a space in the earth, like the deceased soldiers inscribed in the stone. Once the viewer is the monument, they have to digest the sheer amount of names and when the named died or went missing. The viewer
Opposite Detail of engravings in the wall
Above Viewers descending into the site, located near the Washington Monument, pictured in the background.
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“THERE IS NO TRIUMPH, EGO, OR BRAVERY EMOTED FROM THE QUIET STONE. INSTEAD, THE SITE IS SILENT AND AUSTERE, LIKE DEATH ITSELF.”
Above Architectural drawing of the site by Maya Lin. Photo: Maya Lin
doesn’t have to look for one specific loved one in order to be affected, one name is merely dwarfed by the sea of others. The monument isn’t trying to reenact a glorious scene, instead, it creates one giant gravestone, one result from the event. Instead of recreating what has already happened in Vietnam during the war, the work creates its own specific time and space for the viewer to reflect and think. The work transcends the basic aesthetic of art and causes us to react and think about larger issues around us, whether it be wars, casualties, disease, or anything else that confronts us when we enter the space of the memorial: Death is not specific, death doesn’t judge, death isn’t personal, and death doesn’t take sides.
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Above Memorial visitors Photo by Bill Jones Jr.
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.HISTORY 22
A DISCOURSE AROUND SPACE AND TIME: PICASSO AND BOTTLE OF SUZE
Written by Ben Orozco
Bottle of Suze, by Pablo Picasso, is a collage with gouache and charcoal made in 1912, as a piece to explain a definition of art. As a physical object, the work takes up space, and as a piece made in 1912, it spans a time, from its creation and existence in its time, to the theories and criticisms of the work that exist today. As a work made in the period of Cubism, it questions and establishes a new way to convey a bottle on the table in a cafe, with visual cues, the title, and the placement of abstracted shapes. This causes us to think about the piece as we search for more visual cues and clues to the interweaving shapes and negative space and try to decipher the “objects” on the “table,” or simply, the blue oval resting in the center of the piece or the piece of paper shaped like a tall bottle. The material in the physical space of the painting also offers thoughts and opinions, and content from which we can look further into the piece. By giving a critical look to the piece, we are able to connect pieces together to form a story to expand our level of knowledge.
(processing the shapes as objects like a table, a cigarette, and a bottle) and then discovering a story, a message, a statement, or meaning (the newspaper clippings). In an even closer look, one can compare the placement of the shapes to the text and conclude even more information, like Picasso’s opinion on the war, and his location while he made the work. Art is not a closed off process to only the viewer or creator. It can communicate Picasso’s personal opinions and thoughts in his own time and space, but it still requires a response in our own time and space.
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The newspapers pasted in the background appear to be a material used to create a background, but upon closer inspection, one can see that the text begins to tell a story, outlining events related to WW1. On many levels, art engages our mind, from the visual and objective traits that we see with our eyes (newspaper and cut up shapes), to the following levels of thinking
Opposite Le Petit Journal in 1912, a French newspaper
Above: Glass and Bottle of Suze 1912 Pablo Picasso
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.FASHION 24
MODERN MOD
Boohoo Dress Apple Watch
MODERN MOD takes a few of the best things from the 60s and brings them into the modern age, combining groovy paterns with clean lines and sillhouettes. Pull out your biggest and boldest patterns to rock this look. Florals, dots, and checkerboards are some iconic patterns to start with, but find your own groovy pattern to rock!
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ADD A PUNCH TO YOUR LOOK WITH BOLD PRINTS INSPIRED BY THE 60s YOUTH-QUAKE. TWIGGY LASHES AND WEARABLE TECH OPTIONAL. Models: Shelby Kahr + Lorenz Turner Photography: Katie Cooney + Ben Orozco Postproduction: Ben Orozco Art Direction: Ben Orozco Creative Director: Kelsey Daykin Editorial Assistance: Alexa Carson Hair: Laura Fillmore + Mikayla Holpin Makeup: Joe McKee
Twiggy iPhone Case
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SEE Glasses Forever 21 Top Ragstock Skirt
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Calvin Klein Jacket Forever 21 Top Express Pants
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ASOS Dress Target Shoes
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Forever 21 Dress Ragstock Tights
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Forever 21 Top Kimchi Blue Skirt
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Commes Des Garรงons Top Express Pants
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SHARE ME
ONE DAY, A MAN WITH A CAMERA AND A BOY WITH A STORY MET ON THE STREET IN THE BROWNSVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. ON JANUARY 20TH, 2015, VIDAL TELLS BRANDON STANTON, PHOTOGRAPHER BEHIND HUMANS OF NEW YORK (HONY), OF THE EXPECTATIONS PLACED ON HIM IN SOCIETY. Opposite Vidal, the boy who started the viral campaign that funded his school. Photo by HONY
Written by Ben Orozco
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He explains how important his principal, Ms. Lopez, is and how she challenges those expectations, describing her reaction: “When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built” (qtd. in Mathias, “13 Year Old Raises Over $1 Million”). The post, spread across social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr, received a huge amount of attention and thousands of likes, notes, comments, and re-posts. What Stanton has effectively done is create a post that is virtually spread by word of mouth: almost all of the comments on this image are people sharing the image with friends. Today, both media and social media in particular have a large effect on how we go about with our lives. Everything from what we wear, what we listen to, and what causes we support is influenced in some way by social media: why else would millions of people do things like dump ice water on themselves in front of a camera? Being aware of social media and its effects is important to understanding the practices of future fundraisers and how they will reach, inspire, and motivate us. After the first post, Stanton looked further into Vidal’s story and took more photos of the school, talking to administrators, teachers, and the “scholars” of the school. After talking to Ms. Lopez, the principal, a kickstarter began to fund yearly trips for the students to Harvard with an initial goal of $100,000 (Stanton: “Let’s Send Kids to Harvard”). Only after 3 days, that goal was met and the funds were directed towards a summer school program for the students, in hopes of keeping them learning and safe, because it’s “too dangerous to be outside” (qtd. in humansofnewyork.com). After the kickstarter continued growing and reached $700,000, a scholarship was created in Vidal’s name. In only a few days, the event raised enough publicity that Vidal, his principal, Nadia Lopez, and Brandon Stanton visited the White House. From January 22nd to February 10th, the blog Humans of New York (HONY) raised $1,417,984 for Mott Hall Bridges Academy, making 1,418%
of the original goal of $100,000 (Stanton: “Let’s Send Kids to Harvard”). What Stanton was able to do was effectively turn something intangible with likes, shares, and tagging our friends, into a very tangible thing-money. The story Stanton crafted captivated numerous people, being shared virally as users on platforms like Facebook and Instagram tagged their friends to join the conversation and read the story. This is not the first time that HONY has raised money for a cause: in 2013, Stanton teamed up with Tumblr to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims raising $318,530 in 10 days for the Stephen Siller Tunnels to Towers Organization, directly helping those who were hardest hit by the storm (Stanton, Tumblr, “Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser). So why is HONY so successful at fund raising various causes? What about the message conveyed was so strong? The medium is the message, and the way the message is conveyed has a large effect on the viewer (McLuhan, 20). Not only is HONY able to deliver clean and attractive photos, but also a story that follows and strengthens the message. As viewers on social media approach the content, they are brought into a world where the content becomes a rich, interactive narrative that moves us as viewers. In a national survey of fundraisers in 2009, fundraisers are using social media more often in order to get attention, find new patrons, and inform those of their cause (Lord, 20). In the case of Vidal, his principal Ms. Martinez, and the Mott Hall Bridges academy, Stanton was effective at crafting and presenting a story. At first glance of Opposite (top) The kickstarter that supplied the school with the funds
Opposite (bottom) Nadia Lopez, principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy
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“YOUR GIFT IS YOUR ABILITY TO CRAFT PEOPLE’S STORIES IN A WAY THAT REMINDS US THAT WE, AS HUMAN BEINGS, ARE ALL INEXTRICABLY BONDED TO ONE ANOTHER. THE VERY FIBER OF OUR MORAL BEING IS A COMMONALITY SHARED BY MANKIND, AND AS A RESULT WE ALL RELATE TO THE HARDSHIPS AND JOYS OF ONE ANOTHER.” - @KATIE-QUICK
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HONY’s instagram post, we see a boy in the street wearing plain clothes. Then, we read the accompanying text and gain more context into the life of the boy. As we read more posts, we find out more about the boy’s life and we dig deeper, becoming more inspired and we tag our friends in the narrative. By presenting the fundraising opportunity, we able to write ourselves into the story and donate to Vidal’s school, creating a level of interaction as we directly affect and benefit the school. A commenter on Humans of New York’s Instagram reflected on this process in a post introducing to the school’s fundraiser: “I am astounded by how willing people are to volunteer their services [...] and their money to programs they see are deserving, when these same programs continue to go unfounded in places that don’t garner the same level of publicity. Your gift is your ability to craft people’s stories in a way that reminds us that we, as human beings, are all inextricably bonded to one another. The very fiber of our moral being is a commonality shared by mankind, and as a result we all relate to the hardships and joys of one another.” - (@katie-quick, instagram) The commenter summarized what Humans of New York is strong at, creating a bond between Vidal and the audience following the social media. If Stanton were only to feature a photo of the boy or to only feature the text, the effect wouldn’t be as effective, but in combination, the photo is able to give an “image” to the cause – a boy in the dangerous, crime-filled community of Brownsville, while the text provides depth and context to that image and craft the story – inspiration and a message of hope from his principal (Sun, “Brownsville: One Of Brooklyn’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods”). With tagging our peers and dragging people into posts, how we tag is very similar in other cases, like the Ice Bucket challenge, but how we react to those posts is very
Above Vidal and Barack Obama meeting after the story’s widespread success Top Vidal, Nadia Lopez, and Brandon Stanton, photographer behind HONY
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TIMELINE January 20th
1st post with Vidal
January 22nd
IndieGogo Fundraiser Begins
January 25th
Original Goal of $100,000 met
January 29th
New York Times article appears
February 6th
White House Visit
February 10th
IndieGogo campaign ends, with a total of $1,417,884
different. In the Ice Bucket challenge, peopple “nominated” their friends to face the “challenge” and donate, or dump ice water on themselves. In other forms of popular media, we tag our friends in posts that inspire us, evoke strong emotions, or similar interests. In other instances, there have been crowd-funded kickstarters for major events in the media like the No Barriers Boston Fund, a fund created for the victims of the Boston marathon bombings, supporting the injured and those who lost limbs from the attack (Latt, “No Barriers Boston Fund”). What is the future of fundraising and its effects on mass groups of people in social media? Will fundraisers be compelled to have a gripping narrative or a viral idea to gain enough recognition? In a critical study of the Ice Bucket Challenge, researchers found the rate of spread of globally influential celebrities to be greater than that of the H1N1 epidemic (Ni et al.). As our world is becoming more and more centered around social media, image is not only important in providing context, but also to give a new facet to a story or person (Adatto 246). With social media, the image and text can come together to create a message or narrative that is instantly shared with large audiences of people across various regions. In the case of fundraising, the image and text can come together to create an effective narrative that drives people to donate, support, or bring awareness to a cause. What will be the next major cause and how will we be inspired to take action?
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Screenshot of Instagram post that began the event, by HONY
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GRAPHIC TRANSLATION SEEKS TO QUESTION HOW CONCEPTS AND VISUAL IDEAS CAN BE FILTERED AND CREATED THROUGH THE LENS OF THE ARTIST IN A CONTEMPORARY WORLD, HOW CAN A FORM BE TAKEN AND REDUCED INTO ITS PUREST SIMPLIFIED FORMS IN A MANNER THAT CAN STILL COMMUNICATE ITS ESSENCE?
Written by Ben Orozco
This exhibition seeks to demonstrate how artists take the world around them and translate it into a graphic style that reduces forms to their purest visual essence. Taking this and combining it with visually captivating ideas, concepts, and narratives, these artists create attractive works that lure in the viewer, but often contain a deeper meaning past the surface qualities. Many of these meanings can transcend different languages, people, and social groups, because their visual language is universal through various forms and methods like neon, patterns, and repetition. Geoff Mcfetridge uses the graphic style as a foundation in his body of work. He often depicts the figures and objects in a way that is simplified and elegant, yet at the same time is understandable and clear. He plays with how figures are depicted in his paintings and illustrations and how they play with the line, as one can see in the paintings with the women in dresses. Yayoi Kusama uses graphic forms and patterns personally in her work. As someone who suffers from occasional hallucinations, she sometimes sees the same pattern from one surface on every possible surface around her. She channels this into her work in a way that perfectly emulates that hallucination, taking one single dot or pattern and a repeats it in a way that is limitless and continuous. Massimo Uberti uses neon in a way that uses graphic forms architecturally, taking spaces and replicating them at a life-sized scale.These works create spaces of contemplation for the viewer, creating dreamy
spaces that one could envision someone actually inhabiting. Bruce Nauman uses simplified graphic forms conceptually. His depictions of human figures and type are often bare as neon only allows a certain amount of complexity and specificity. His use of text and neon is also highly conceptual, addressing the way that signs and signifiers are used. Kate Hush, an upcoming contemporary neon artist, uses cultural references to women and creates these powerful “women� with interesting narratives. Often, her works evoke television characters, but one can’t pinpoint where exactly they come from. In these pieces, women are depicted as bold, powerful creatures, and her graphic translations into neon allow us to understand these narrative with the simplest forms possible. Ben Orozco plays with simple forms within neon that are simultaneously simple and elegant, questioning and subverting the background of neon and its inital purpose and meaning, as well as using it to take forms and graphically translate them. Graphic translations are a fundamental component of contemporary art as they are able to address specific themes and narratives using the most simple forms possible, whether it is used to convey a personal narrative or address an aesthetic topic or concept. Many of these artists utilize simplification with different intentions, from purely aesthetic/visual effects to a larger narrative or concept, yet they all manage to attract the viewer and draw them in.
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Drawing of a Drawing 2 (2015) Massimo Uberti Argon-filled glass tubing
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Neon Installation (2013) Massimo Uberti Argon-filled glass tubing
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Skaeable Art (2015) Geoff McFetridge Installation
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Tropic V (2017) Ben Orozco Argon-filled glass tubing
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Tropic II (2017) Ben Orozco Argon-filled glass tubing
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The First One’s Always Free (2015) Kate Hush Argon-filled glass tubing
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Cold Feet (2015) Kate Hush Argon-filled glass tubing
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My Name is as though it were written on the surface of the moon (1968) Bruce Nauman Argon-filled glass tubing
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WW
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Tropic 1 (2016) Ben Orozco Neon-filled glass tubing
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Guidepost to the Eternal Space (2015) Yayoi Kusama Installation
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한류:
THE KOREAN WAVE
Written by Ben Orozco
Flashing lights, thrusting hips, and songs we can’t seem to forget. “Gangnam Style,” by Psy, is only a small glimpse into the massive, influential movement of what many call hanryu or hallyu, or the Korean Wave. Hanryu is known as the collective term describing the current craze of Korean pop culture from emerging music, television, and film to cosmetics, fashion, and online games (Hanaki et al. 281). The spread of Hanryu has not only affected the way Korean people act, shop, listen, and look, but also many other countries in Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, China, and Singapore, which can be attributed to the modernization of Confucian values through various mediums like film and television. Never having to have been a completely independent country of its own, Korea has lived through a lack of any true nationalistic pride with any influence over other countries. Korea was an annexation of Japan from 1910 – 1945 until the end of the Second World War. Many Korean people were enslaved and sent to Japan as workers. G.I.s from Japan often used Korean women as “comfort women” (Hanaki et al. 284). The constant humiliation of Korean pushed a ban on cultural imports from Japan such as television and music. At the same time, pressure from the US brought new western products to the eyes and ears of the Korean populace. New, trendy, blockbuster films were preferred over the old, standard fare of lackluster Korean movies. In general, there was an overall deficiency of any popular Korean culture as other cultures dominated media and so on. After the passing of various wars, Korea was left in an economic and nationalistic ruin. After a “humiliating” restructuring from the IMF (International Monetary Fund), Korea became heavily influenced from a total restructuring of the economy as well as a relaxation of former policies enforced by the government. Opposite: The Gangnam District of Seoul, Korea Image: kpapeando
The origins of great Korean films began with an initial lack of. Western blockbusters were preferred over the standard fare of Korean films and the need for films reduced. Beginning in the late 1990s, Korean films began to make a comeback, beginning with a simultaneous comeback of the expansion of the Korean market. Western blockbusters like Titanic (James Cameron, USA 1997) took Cineplexes by storm with 4.7 million ticket sales, until Korean film Shiri (Kang Je-gyu, 1999) overtook Titanic with 5.78 million sales of tickets. After Shiri, more Korean films began to top the box offices, but it’s known by many that “the history of Korean cinema can be divided into before Shiri and after Shiri” Shiri was known as the beginning of a new type of filmmaking in Korea by melding together Hollywood style action with relevant local themes. This was the first time that a Korean film tapped into the marketability of Hollywood style blockbusters, showing that the Korean film industry could be revived for the better. Today, Korean films have emerged as a force in global filmmaking, participating in international film festivals and even winning the Grand Prix (second place) at the Cannes Film Festival. The total export sales of Korean films have increased from a meager $472,000 to a stunning $58 million in 2004. Korean melodramas are now one of the most influential components of hallyu that influence millions of people each year. Winter Sonata, a love story depicting the difficult journey through life of two people is one of the most famous melodramas, becoming a massive hit for middle aged women in Japan. Millions of people in Japan have heard of Winter Sonata, and they are familiar with the plotline. After a large survey of women in Japan, many responded that Winter Sonata gave them “power for tomorrow”, and they were slightly rebelling by giving themselves some time rather than simply toiling around the house all day. Winter Sonata is credited with bridging the gap of hostility between the two countries as Japanese women grew to like Korea more after seeing it depicted as a beautiful,
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Top Seo Taji and the Boys and their track, Nan Aroyo. Photo from kpendium.com
Left Poster for Shiri (1999), a Korean blockbuster film
Right Seo Taji and the Boys, taken in the early 90s when the group began K-Pop
modern landscape where the two starcrossed lovers were. The show has been such a hit that there are major tourist programs in Korea that feature well known scenes from the TV show, like a beautiful scenic area in the forest where the couple once kissed. In that area there is now a statue of the two lovers where they historically kissed, and many tourists come to that area now. Korean melodramas have become such a hit that the tourism sector of the government has asked producers to create more permanent sets that can be used as a tourist attraction. Japan is not the only country avidly watching Korean melodramas.Taiwan and Singapore are also known to be consumers of the culture. K- Pop, an important aspect of hallyu, was the birth of ingenious after a long period of dull music, focusing mainly on folk along with some influences from Japan and music of that time. Before the massive wave of K-Pop began, the music scene was known to be Korean ballads and ppongjjak, or trot, a distinctive form of Korean pop influenced by Japanese, Western, and Korean musical elements. The younger generation preferred American pop songs to Korean pop songs, and Korean popular music of the time became monotonous, overplayed, and stale. People hungered for something new, and that finally came in 1992, when Seo Taiji and the Boys, consisting of songwriter Seo Taiji and two dancers/rappers released ‘I know’ the first widespread rap track in Korea. The band is known for revolutionizing the Korean music industry as we know it today. This music lacked the excitement, energy, and beat of western music, such as rap and hip-hop, until a famous artist by the name of BLUE came along. BLUE was known as the original inventor of K-Pop, blending the edgy, western style of hip hop and rap, with relevant lyrics in Korean. His music was something new and creative, and millions enjoyed his music. There was one point where his lyrics were seen as too risqué by the government and they threatened to make him change them, but fans revolted
so much that they took it back. After BLUE pioneered K-Pop, many new deviations of his style began to pop up, slowly beginning to form K-Pop as it is today. After becoming a large hit in Korea, K-Pop began to fester into other countries, become a large hit in countries like China and Taiwan. Large female and male groups like 2NE1 and Girls’ Generation have dominated East Asia, and have also started to dub their songs in Mandarin and Japanese to become more appealing to other countries. K-Pop today has become a large part of the entertainment industry, bringing in millions of dollars in income to Korea via exports of music. K-Pop has become a finicky process of manufacturing stars, investing in prominent singers and building them up to be famed singers from the ground up. Large recording labels often put lots of money into the singers, improving their appearances with dieting, and cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery has become such a large part of the entertainment industry, so much so that often, plastic surgery clinics often work with recording labels and their upcoming stars to transform them into flawless people. Often, the world of celebrities is well revered for the immaculately dressed, perfect looks of K-Pop stars. The ideal of beauty in Korea is becoming one where beauty is known as the nose of a certain pop star, rather than individual beauty found in all of us. Koreans are being constantly bombarded in the media and advertisements for plastic surgery. Korea is known for the haunting “transformation” posters found in the subway stations, buses, and in media of average Korean people turned into the “expected ideal image”, with completely altered features, showing wider eyes, narrower jaws, smaller, straighter noses, rounder foreheads, perfect teeth, and flawless skin. The younger generations are beginning to believe that beauty is something gained, rather than something everyone has. The newest trend for graduation students getting a blepharoplasty or double eyelid
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“PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT GETTING SURGERY AND IMPROVING YOUR APPEARANCE WILL BRING YOU GOOD FORTUNE, WHETHER IT BE GETTING A JOB, OR BECOMING CLOSER TO CELEBRITY STATUS.” surgery. They want to look like K-Pop stars, with larger looking doe eyes, rather than their smaller appearing natural eyes. In Korean culture, getting a job is one of the most important things in a world where technology is developing faster than ever and it is getting harder to find an ideal job. On top of that, appearance plays a major role in getting a job: it is required to post a photo on your curriculum vitae (job profile). People believe that getting surgery and improving your appearance will bring you good fortune, whether it be getting a job, or becoming closer to celebrity status. Plastic surgery has become so widespread in Korean pop culture that there is even a popular television show called “Let Me In”, where contestants plead their “misfortunes” and the winning applicants get a full transformtation, from hair, to clothes, to facial features, including eyes, jaws, teeth, and nose. Watching the show almost seems as commonplace as watching an American TV show about losing weight or getting a new house, but instead of changing something external, their bodies change, assimilating into the collection of women and even and men who seek to chase the artificial, unnatural level of beauty. Double eyelid surgery first became a hit in the 1950s, when Korean women would try to look more “beautiful” to attract American G.I.s.
every aspect of life, from the music people listen to, to even the way people look. Statistics taken from the plastic surgery clinics found that many of the patients are “medical tourists”, or people from other countries seeking plastic surgery. One may ask how does one small country between the size of Kentucky and Indiana have so much influence in Asia? After large collapse, Korea has reinvented itself with the help of some western mediums to emulate a pop culture with subtle hints of Confucianism. The TV shows emulate Confucian family ideals like filial piety in breathtaking, new contemporary backgrounds. The movies feature traditional Korean styles presented in a new, fresh Hollywood blockbuster format. The music features western pop twisted to include mellowed down lyrics relatable to life, the teenage years, and love. This music has the freshness of Western music but has a familiarity with many cultures in Asia.
The Korean Wave, emulated and pulsing through the corners of East Asia, affect Opposite (top): Girls’ Generation, one of the biggest K-Pop groups in Korea. Image: LG Korea
Opposite (bottom): Double eyelid surgery is one of South Korea’s most common plastic surgery procedures. Image: JK Plastic Surgery
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