“New Golden Age of Print� (Leslie, 2013) After writing my essay I was mostly looking at new independent mags that had evolved out of and in response to the digital age.
“Allo!� Jean Jullien
Looking at the work of Jean Jullien in his series Allo! - exploring the affects and realities of digital technology on our daily lives - brings to life a similar social commentary that I wanted to achieve through my own work and research. I wanted to investigate how our developing reliance on technology, affects social interaction both privately and in public spaces.
In response to the theme of technology I started to draw a character playing off the concept of ‘square eyes’ – an old fear associated with technology. This stemmed from the quote ‘digital natives’ (Burrell, 2009), which I used in my essay, talking about how our current society is so reliant and absorbed in technology. Here I also started playing with the idea of a contradictory character, meditating – looking at switching off and disconnecting from the digital world. Conceptually I enjoyed the ideas placed behind these images, but I felt they lacked originality or visual quality. I wanted to progress on to create something of a little more substance and thought.
“Mindfulness and technology is a movement in research and design that encourages the user to become aware of the present moment, rather than losing oneself in a technological device.” ‘When you curl up with a magazine and a cup of tea, you’re doing something that’s impossible on a tablet or smartphone. You’re disconnecting’ - Lizz Ann Bennett I started looking at how digital technology can compromise your physical and mental health, and that removing, or disconnecting yourself from the digital world can help achieve greater mindfulness.
I identified the visual aesthetic and process of Jake Holing's work as something that could do really well to communicate an idea of serenity and calm. I really liked the sense of the handmade in his work - painterly, textured and hand-cut shapes. I thought it would be really appropriate to use a similar aesthetic to create a series of collages talking about removing yourself from technology, reconnecting with nature and achieving greater mindfulness.
In response to the work of Jake Hollings and my research into an association between technology and mindfulness I created a series of collages looking at 'switching off' or 'disconnecting' from technology.
I then, using similar shapes and composition to my previous collages went on to use lino cut as method to create interesting shapes and textures for more images illustrating the same concept of ‘switching off’.
“A tsunami of content coming at the consumer” Bemer (2009) I wanted to create work that illustrated the exact opposite concept to that of my ‘switching off’ collages – the reason why ‘disconnecting’ from technology can bring greater mindfulness ie. The negative impacts of technology. So I started looking at artists and illustrators work that grappled with similar themes and concepts – such as that of Michael Craig – Martin and Yukai Du. Both of their work had similar visual aesthetics – of busy chaotic compositions and strong contrasting colors.
In response to the work of relevant artists I looked at, collected quotes and research I made a series of digital illustrations intending to convey the busy, constant and absorbing nature of technology. Similarly in my choice of using a handmade aesthetic to illustrate the idea of getting away from technology, I thought using illustrator would be appropriate in images expressing a concept of being absorbed within a digital world.