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Emily Galea
Action Research
F I N D Y O U R PLACE
1 Research Idea Emily Galea
How can young designers use appropriation to find their place in design? This research project aims to reveal ways in which appropriation can be used by designers to find success in a design landscape that is currently saturated with minimalist style. This project intends to explore whether the widely disputed art of appropriation can be utilised successfully in design in order to shift the boundaries of authorship by altering the context of existing content.
Nothing is truly original in art and design, but designers must continue to form unique and meaningful ideas from the framework of that which already exists. With constant pressure to achieve and maintain one’s success, appropriating or borrowing from others has become an inevitable part of the design process. This project aims to aid young designers in finding their place in the design landscape, with the use of borrowed, altered or recontextualised material.
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2 Contextual Relevance
Emily Galea
FIG 2.0
3 Contemporary Practitioners
FIG 1.0
Kruger, Prince, Holzer and Sturtevant all borrow, reuse and rework. They take that of little value and create meaning and context, by recycling images and ideas. Their works question the validity of authorship, and prove we can reuse and recycle art while testing the limits of the public domain.
FIG 3.0
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FIG 4.0
Their works give a reference point for acceptable means of appropriating images and ideas, while casually mocking contemporary art by showing how easily it can be reproduced. Their methods of appropriation are all innately similar, in that they require the viewer to examine their perceptions of the world.
4 Preliminary Theoretical Investigation
Emily Galea
The research was informed by several sources dealing mainly with appropriation and its influence on art and design. Most importantly, it is clear that appropriation as an art form is most effective when the original materials and styles are implemented in ways that develop critical meta-discourse, as opposed to simply replicating the aesthetic style of its original.
By utilising appropriation, artists can simultaneously imitate and subvert the prevalent style, and create new contexts for something previously used to sell and advertise. It is this concept that drives the research question, and that will ultimately manifest in a creative outcome.
5 Methodologies
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Minimalism, too, plays an important role in the current design landscape. Using appropriated images and text, this project aims to juxtapose minimal designs with appropriated images/ ideas, to create busy and interesting visual works that subvert the minimalist style.
Whether rearranging text or images, the goal remains simple: to create or alter context where there is none. The outcome will be a digital one, as this applies most directly to my ma jor and developed skills. A mixedmedia approach could also be used to create depth.
6 Progress to Date
Chuck Close
Emily Galea
Concepts that have been explored thus far include: /mosaics made using appropriated artworks /rearranging text to alter original meaning (quotes about copying/reuse) /mixed media using borrowed text and images /taking minimal designs and reworking into abstract/awkward/glitch
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Sascha Lobe
Emily Galea
Initial Experimentation
7 Reflective Process
While both the theme and concept are clear, it is now necessary to refine the methods that will be used. The survey and feedback will hopefully bring some clarity to the best way to approach the project with regard to visual style, as will further experimentation.
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The broadness of this topic and the infinite methods of appropriation leave this project open ended. With the help of a brief survey, I hope to have a clearer idea of people’s perceptions of appropriation and minimalism. This information will help to resolve which visual styles most appeal to the intended audience, to find the best outcome.
More experimentation with different styles will be useful, but will need to be brief in order to find a concrete outcome. This will need to be established by week 6 at the latest, to allow enough time to develop the series of outcomes.
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8 Timeline Emily Galea
The survey should help narrow down the creative concept further within the next week.