Lesson 05 - Repetitions

Lecture 04 - Communication Theory Notes

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Lesson 04 - The Rhetoric of Images Notes

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Task 4 - The Rhetoric of Images

Andy Warhol. Printmaker, Film Maker & Painter. He had a heavy and influential part in the Pop Art revolution in the 60’s. He is primarily known for his repetitive style of repeating an object / image several times but changing the colour range of each. The Warhol image of Marilyn Monroe is one of the most over used images of the art world. It is a screen print based on the original work of Gene Korman originally deriving from a promotional image for a film she starred in. Using his style, the work is rather dry & repetitive and could be described as reading 3 or 4 newspapers all from the same day, telling you the same stories just in a slightly different way. Each image in warhols ‘grid’ format, using slightly different colours for each of the images which doesn’t really help make this work anymore visually stimulating to me. Warhol was known for having abit of an attachment to his subject, in this instance, and as such, she became the inspiration for  several pieces of his work. There is no doubt that Warhol dramatically impacted on Monroes career through his work, in a highly positive way, and is why even younger people are aware of who Monroe is and have seen the Warol prints of her. I don’t personally feel as though the work has anything to say, although I’m sure you can pull meaning from it. You could say that Warhol put Marilyn on a pedastal and raised her up even further into the public eye, continuing to do so decades after her death.

Lecture 03 - The Gaze Notes

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Lesson 03 - The Gaze Notes

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Task 3 - Photographer Image Construction

Helmut Newton

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YSL

In Helmut Newtons image for Paris Vogue in 1975, we see a breakthrough image of the time. There are two images that are very similar, the first is the original, featuring the nude woman ‘Rue Aubriot’ for French Vogue, Paris. The second is the one produced from the original, but used as an advertisement for Yves Saint Laurent called ‘Le Smoking’. If we focus on the original image first, it follows his style which a lot of people deemed ‘Porno Chic’. His work outraged feminists, which only increased the attention his work was receiving, and in one instance they destroyed his images being exhibited by splattering paint over them. The naked model has her arm on the model in the suit but she looks like she is made from stone, like the affection that the nude model is giving to her is not being felt, received or reciprocated. The nude model looks as though she has been trying to get through to the suited woman but is just about to give up, both faces are emotionless. We are given access to the top half of the nude lady and almost full access to the woman in the suit, she has quite a manly pose with the cigarette and the foot outstretched on the pavement. The aim, especially the YSL image, is to show the new tuxedo suit, which was the first of its kind to be accepted in the fashion world/popular culture. It began this style of clothing for women that was made popular by this image by Newton. It was seen to give women power as they now had the option to wear the clothes worn by men who were seen as powerful and influential, and by wearing these similar clothes they too would be perceived in the same way. The gaze within this work features in such a way that the woman expresses her own attitude to herself, and how she wants to appear to men. Wearing the suit and the stance she is presenting in the image, she is commanding the power that men receive. She is drawing power from being impressive in the eyes of the viewer and almost assuming the role and idea of the mans presence is dependant upon the promise of power.