The Main Event by Maine College of Art

THE

MAIN EVENT PATRICK SCHOLZ

contents 4

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH

THE LENS

LINEAR THOUGHTS

TYPE

LAYOUT

PRINTERS

FINAL BOOK

introduction

The process of designing The Sweet Science, A Legacy of Two Generations involved extensive research into the sport of boxing. It brings the work and collection of my grandfather together with my own in the form of a photography book. As a child, I remember visiting my grandfather in his office. Always fascinated with my grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, I began my own journey into boxing photography. I spent a period of eight months photographing boxers and boxing events. I started to see the beautiful and dramatic aspects of a violent and brutal sport. The Sweet Science, A Legacy of Two Generations serves as a book that is visual but also how design can support the photographs and provide the same elegance through typography and layout design.

research 8

In order to understand and increase creative knowledge around boxing practice-based-research was conducted. This research also included knowledge of humans, culture, and society in the sport of boxing and how to use this stock knowledge to develop a book.

historical

oxing simplifies everything in life. It is the struggle of two people before an audience representing opposing qualities, beliefs, ideas and, values. It represents good vs. evil, a winner and a loser. These struggles are represented through nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, politics, and the idea of masculinity. Boxing is brutal, even grotesque, in its performance, yet glamorous and flamboyant in its accessories, style, colors, symbolism and individual characters. Boxing has always had an appeal to imaginative minds; the elemental nature of the conflict, the uncertain drama of the fight, the variety of character in those who submit themselves to the ordeal; perhaps these explain part of the attraction.1

Under exploration in my body of work is the study and history of the sport of boxing and the aesthetics captured through the lens for a period of eight months. Through this process the defining characteristics of boxing’s identity is addressed through photographs, video, and a photographic book. The shapes and form of boxing is investigated, as well as my own identity in the sport of boxing. Boxing is a form of ritualized violence. Evidence suggests that boxing has been around since the dawn of time. Contests in boxing existed in 4000 bce as suggested by evidence found in ancient Mesopotamia (Fig. 1) and boxers were depicted on Egyptian tombs by 3580 bce (Fig. 2). There is further evidence of boxers in a fresco from the Mediterranean island of Santorini in the second millennium bce (c. 1600) called Two Boxing Boy’s each is shown with a gloved hand (figure 3). This suggests boxing is one of the oldest sports.2 Competition was at the root of ancient Greek life. There is evidence of boxing in Greek society as depicted on this black figure amphora showing two boxers, c. 500 bce (Fig. 4). Boxer’s hands are wrapped in tanned leather straps called thong’s. These were used primarily as a means of defense but also inflicted great cuts on their opponents. The Greeks viewed the sport as a general spectacle, viewed in public arena, within a defined space. This made the sport available to the public and thus expressed a sensation of ethos. A connection between masculine identity and the public action in civic space can than be made.3 Within the Greek ideal, the clothing of masculine nudity in defensive military apparel (in particular the shield and animal skin) offers a suggestive parallel to the apparel of the modern boxer, naked except for shorts and , above all, the leather (animal skin) boxing gloves, which, as we shall see, are both a sign of aggression and a form of protection.4

1 Egan, Pierce. Boxiana: Or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism. London, The Folio Society, 1976 2 Poliakoff, Michael B. Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012 3 Poliakoff, Michael B. Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and

Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012 4 Schneider, Monique. 2006. Généalogie du masculin. Paris: Flammarion (Collection “Champs”)

It is in this sense that sports like boxing serve as an outlet for violent impulses. Their social function is to make and control violence, while simultaneously providing entertainment and amusement in civil society. Boxing became an Olympic event at the twenty-third Olympic Games in 688 bce. There were no weight classes, rounds or time limits. The length of the match was based on the sun, only darkness would delay or postpone a match. By 200 bce fleece-lined leather gloves which extended to the forearm provided a defense against punches. At this time shadow boxing and weightlifting were also introduced and slaves were provided as sparring partners.5 Boxing spread and grew in various cultures from Ancient Rome, Africa, and Asia. As the sport evolved, the elements of modern boxing began appearing in eighteenth century England. In England, fights were a less deadly means to settle disputes. These confrontations would often be watched by onlookers and thus were a common form of entertainment. Upper classes of British society than began to arrange fights for their own amusement and the 1720s gambling on fights was introduced. Gambling became an important component in arranging matches, and for the nobility who sponsored the fights. King George I, who became a boxing fan, commissioned the building of a boxing ring in Hyde Park in 1723 (Fig. 5). Over the next few years boxing would migrate around the world. Boxing entered South Africa via British Control in 1795, and Paris at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Boxing would then spread westward with the introduction of African slaves in the English colonies in North America.6 Jack Broughton of England came up with the first set of rules in 1743 that would govern boxing for nearly one hundred years. In 1838 the London Prize Rules were established. The new regulations demanded a standard ring of twenty-four feet with two ropes and designated corners for each boxer. The rules also prohibited head butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, biting, and the use of hard objects in the fists. All bets had to be paid in cash after the bout, and the winning boxer would be awarded a colored handkerchief symbolic to his conquest. By 1853 the London Prize Rules became a set of twenty-nine specific rules on the conduct and practice of boxing. Boxing would continue to evolve and reflects the gradual growth of civilization as well and the formal advancements of the brutal sport of boxing. What started with the Greeks as a spectacle viewed in public arenas within a defined space evolved into a performance open to gambling and spectacle within various social classes. As rules of boxing were refined this civilizing of the sport would in turn enhance the visual components and spectacle of boxing.

5 Miller, Stephen G. Ancient Greek Athletics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. 6 Gems, Gerald R. Boxing A Concise History of the Sweet Science. United Kingdom: Roman and Littlefield, 2014

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gure 1 wo boxers / wrestlers fighting. Embossed terracotta relief om Ashunnak, Mesopotamia. 3rd-2nd millennium BCE. ze: 10.6 x 9 cm. ocation: Louvre, (Museum), Paris, France hoto Credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource

gure 4 anathenaic amphora from 500 BCE with three boxers: two m punches to each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heads, the third stands aside nding his gloves. ze: UNK ource: http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/picEN/ ides/P0011.jpg.html

Figure 2 Egyptian boxers and stick fighters. Limestone relief carving, tomb 192 (Tomb of Kheruef) at Thebes, Egypt, c. 1350 BCE Size: UNK Photo Credit: Prof. Charles F. Nims, Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

Figure 3 The Boxers Fresco from Bronze Age Akrotiri on the Island of Thera, c. 1600 BCE. Size: UNK

Figure 5 The Ring in Hyde Park, London (see centre of map). The oldest official fight location in central London. It was set up by George II in 1723 and demolished in 1820. Size: UNK Source: http://www.romevillemedia.co.uk/index.php/component/joomgallery/misc-bareknuckle-boxing-pictures/daniel-mendoza-additional-pics-49-121

the lens 12

The camera served as a vital instrument in recording the images that were to be contained within the photo book. For a period of eight months boxers and boxing events were covered. Photographs were taken ringside of the operative filed which was the boxing ring itself. This resulted in a collection of over five thousand photographic stills. With such an extensive library of images to choose from, having imagery was not a problem. Rather the challenge of narrowing down to just fifty photographs out of the five thousand proved most difficult. This process involved twenty passes through images, flagging approved images and rejecting others. The photographs were looked at critically and examined for clarity, composition, story, and strength.

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operative field

he modern boxing ring is an elegant and functional space that is delineated with four elastic ropes, padded corners, and a canvas platform. The square boxing ring is the focal point for all spectators, it is a confined space which entraps the energy of violence in a limited, yet visually maximized area. For the fighter this space is of pain, exhaustion, and danger, yet offers the possibility of victory, fame and wealth. For the audience it is a blank space that a well choreographed but unscripted battle will be enacted under specific rules with an uncertain outcome.

The boxers are fully aware of the limits of their field of action and, for the audience, the theater of action becomes one of almost hallucinatory clarity and fascination.1

Being ringside is as close to the spectacle without stepping into the ring. Just outside of the field of contained energy, fact, force, and figure. The 35 mm digital camera I employ captures that energy in the ring within its own confined rectangle. In this sense, Gilles Deleuze asserts that,

It is an operative field. The relation of the Figure to it’s isolating place defines a “fact”: “the fact is…,” “what takes place is…” Thus isolated, the Figure becomes an Image, an Icon.2

Deleuze’s perception of the operative field in relation to the figure in isolation has an important parallel to boxing. Boxing is contained: two figures in a square ring becomes a field of fact. Two fighters battling for their family, beliefs, race and, image, which results in a winner and a loser, a positive and negative, and ultimately an isolated victor of greatness (Icon). The photograph must also be understood in this sense. For the photograph to function well it must provide the viewer with a combination of composition, visual components, aesthetics, and content. It must engage the viewer in conversation and educate, but also allow for the viewer to physically insert themselves into the frame. Boxing is already rich with content. The hard lighting directed downward on the ring is surrounded by a crowd that is enveloped by a shroud of blackness. The ropes of the ring are colored white, blue, and red and the boxer’s gloves are colored white, black, or red. In this sense the ring is an area of control and focus, rich with the dramatic, where the crowd shrouded in blackness awaits the action within the light. The photographer Larry Fink was able to capitalize on the aesthetic of boxing by photographing boxers in black and white. His images are unique in how they rely on the dramatic lighting that is often a part of the boxing spectacle. My grandfather, Stanley Weston, also a boxing photographer, took many great photographs and use his photographs as inspiration for my own work . I am also attempting to capture the events with the dramatic, taking full advantage of the lighting, colors and forces 1 Scott, David. The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008. 2 Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon the Logic of Sensation. London: Continuum, 2003.

present in these matches much like photographers before me and my grandfather. I took 5,500 photographs over the course of eight months and choose fifty images to tell the story of boxing in my book. My goal is too create a book which exhibits the same strength as the sport of boxing. It must be engaging from cover to cover and create an experience through interactions. To express a narrative and the aesthetic of boxing as well as correlate the legacy of my grandfather Stanley Weston. My goal is to show the dramatic but also the humanistic qualities of boxing and the history of the sport through family legacy. Investigated through the video format I watched nearly every HBO 24/7 boxing episode. They are classic boxing documentaries, they speak to the drama and spectacle of boxing but also to the humanity of each fighter by exposing us to their everyday life and family. In the video titled Russell Lamour Jr. I am able to display the dramatic and the kindness humanistic qualities of Russell. By investigating boxing through these three different mediums the aesthetics of boxing begins to emerge as a violent but beautifully choreographed act. These moments are presented to the viewer in a variety of means and the invisible forces that are contained within the ring begin to materialize through the photograph.

linear thoughts

Thinking about how to tell the story in a linear fashion was the next step. A rough layout design was created with all images and printed in small four inch by four

inch squares to visually see the story being told through the layout and adjusting as needed.

Through the process of laying out the images in a linear fashion it made for a easy way to visually see how the story was progressing, It is also a useful way to escape from the computer to physically interact and edit the work. Five total different iterations were developed and examined in this way. The designs became more complicated requiring closer inspection of the details including the typesetting of text. Having the ability to work with a printed sample is critical in the process of designing.

type 24

Boxing rounds ultimately end either when the bell sounds or the opponent is knocked out. Through the process of researching the sport the typeface Knockout by Hoefler & Co. was an easy choice. Pairing this bold sans serif with a serif needed exploration and type studies. Knockout was paired with Chronicle Display, Sentinel, Arno Pro, and Charter typefaces. These pairings were printed and looked at for form and function as two typefaces working together. Ultimately the bold display of knockout with the elegant soft look of Arno Pro would be chosen for the final design.

B OX

ING

Q O o 25

NOCKOU

7 26

RNO PR

layout

Layout design is about ten key rules. 1. Use a grid 2. Use white space 3. Repeat design elements 5. Hierarchy 6. Tell the story 7. Choose focal point on the page 8. Experiment till it fails 9. Experiment more 10. Its never good enough

printers 34

Located in Jersey City, New Jersey is a print shop called Conveyor Arts. They are a production house specializing in small run editions of artists books, exhibitions catalogs, zines, and other printed matter related to photography. Having contacted them about printing the book the next step was to visit the print shop in New Jersey and make final selections on cover and paper stock as well as any other special needs.

PROJECT SPECS 4 Color 100 Pages Total 100# Coated Silk Cover Stamp Red #7 100# Black Cover Stock Perfect Bound 7.6875 x 9.625 Custom Foil Red #417 Crown

Determining the BULK of the book (aka: the width of the spine) 100# Coated Silk ppi 370 100 Pages / 370 ppi = .27in (Bulk) Trim Size (Paper Size Width) = 2(trim size width) + bulk 2(7.6875in) + .27in(bulk) = 15.645

production

Conveyor Arts using digital offset printings . They print the images under the gray-col color profile and cmyk. After receiving the printers proof to check for printing quality and image reproduction I made all necessary changes to ensure the book would be printed correctly. After making those changes and giving the approval of the final printing the book went into production. During the process images were check and compared with the printers proof. With everything looking great the run of twenty-five books was done, covers stamped, and books perfect bound and prepared for shipment.

Delivery

final book

First edition published by Maine College of art ÂŠ 2015 Patrick Scholz dor Design ÂŠ 2015 Maine College of Art for this edition Design by Patrick Scholz Printed by Maine College of Art Set in Knockout by Hoefler & Co. Arno Pro by Robert Slimbach at Adobe