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c.a.t.a.l.o.g.u.e<br />
M a r t a R a i m u n d o<br />
R A I 1 4 4 3 2 0 0 7
As I look to the world around us<br />
I encounter various wonderful details<br />
that I had never noticed, if I pay closer<br />
attention I will become an eyewitness<br />
of the world. My aim is to become a<br />
watcher with the power to transform<br />
life into lines, colours and shapes, and<br />
to tell others what I have encounter in<br />
my journey.
List of content<br />
Aesthetics................................................p.4<br />
Blog Posts<br />
.Fanzines........................................p.6-9<br />
.Semiotics.......................................p.12-14<br />
.Where is Illustration?.....................p.16-20<br />
.Stereotypes...................................p.22-25<br />
.Identity-Representation<br />
Narrative-Subculture.......................p.27-30<br />
Art Reviews<br />
.Alice In Wonderland......................p.32<br />
.Tintin-Hergé’s Masterpiece...........p.33<br />
Essay<br />
. What are the ways in which illustration<br />
represents time and space?<br />
-depth of field, perspective, context, episodic<br />
narrative?<br />
What approaches can be interwoven to achieve<br />
this: comic cells, cartography, layering, text,<br />
tonality? In these representations, what is the<br />
relationship between the written and<br />
the visual?.................................................p.34-40<br />
2
aesthetics<br />
The second this project was launched my brain<br />
started creating imagery for its visual outcome. I<br />
was thinking big but small. I am a really minimalistic<br />
person when it comes to work, and I guess with<br />
design I am too. The whole book was visualized<br />
as an A5 publication with the content of this term.<br />
I decided to leave lots of negative space for the<br />
fact that it is easier for people to understand in a<br />
clearer way. It gives your eyes the ‘’time to breathe’’.<br />
I decided for the bibliographies and reference list<br />
to be detached from the book for the fact it the<br />
reader to be able to accompany the written content<br />
and images with an immediate explanation and<br />
reference. For the art review I decided to go for the<br />
unfolded A4 page as both would stand next to each<br />
other, reveling simultaneously their content.<br />
Playing around with the usual writer’s bibliography<br />
on the side cover folding, I decided to show an<br />
Representation on my practice and its explanation in<br />
that same place.<br />
4
FANZINES<br />
[fan-zeen, fan-zeen]<br />
noun<br />
1.a magazine<br />
or other periodical<br />
produced inexpensively by and<br />
for fans of science fiction and<br />
fantasy writing, comic books,<br />
popular music, or other<br />
specialized popular interests.’’<br />
DIY publications came back in<br />
the latest 90’s for the love of craft<br />
in a world that turn virtual. There<br />
are plenty Zine fairs happening<br />
now a days and the rest are sold<br />
Online.<br />
In 1970’s when the first PUNK<br />
FANZINES were published, the<br />
voice of the maker came across<br />
really strongly. It was an<br />
extremely powerful and concise<br />
voice preaching visually through<br />
out the publication.<br />
While looking through some I<br />
couldn’t stop noticing that all<br />
have an introduction- it explains<br />
the reason why the zine was<br />
created in the first place, and<br />
who was behind it.<br />
This gives the reader not only a<br />
context but as well the author(s)<br />
morals values and beliefs.<br />
Each page transports with VOICE<br />
and IDENTITY.<br />
Zines mostly use their voice as a<br />
weapon, approaching issues in<br />
society that may be considered<br />
taboo or simply just ignored. For<br />
that same reason the need to<br />
challenge people’s mentality and<br />
making themselves ask question<br />
was a crucial goal to achieve.<br />
6
When they started coming out, the<br />
use of imagery from other<br />
magazines, collages and even<br />
articles were a common<br />
technical choice.<br />
That is when you ask yourself :<br />
‘‘How does the appropriation/<br />
alteration allow zine creators to<br />
express their identity or propel<br />
their narratives?’’<br />
I reckon we life in a society where<br />
the media controls what we should<br />
see, and especially how it should<br />
be seen. Zines appropriating other<br />
imagery was a breath of fresh air for<br />
many. It allows people to see them<br />
in a different point of view,<br />
in another perspective.<br />
It feels like there isn’t the risk in<br />
saying something you shouldn’t,<br />
of writing about a taboo subject of<br />
even to shock people. The ”moral”<br />
filter isn’t used the same way as in<br />
mainstream publication and media<br />
itself. They aren’t scared of making<br />
their point come across and being<br />
subjective to a specific theme.<br />
7
‘’Fanzines aren’t just something that can be<br />
bought on the street corner at home games.<br />
Fanzines are a DIY, supporter led and most<br />
importantly independent means of communication’’<br />
(Stand Against, 2015)<br />
The use of specific text or<br />
images that they appropriated<br />
and altered might be used as a<br />
satirical, ironic approach. It can<br />
be used to point out things that<br />
they don’t agree or to emphasize<br />
others that the creator thinks their<br />
voice wasn’t strong enough.<br />
There are two perspectives while<br />
appropriating imagery. After a<br />
debate with myself I asked if the<br />
use of those pre-made images<br />
are hiding their identity or<br />
making it come out even clearer<br />
my opinion if the<br />
appropriation and alteration<br />
is used to demonstrate a point<br />
that might be controversial, that<br />
wasn’t approached before. I fell<br />
like it is a way to make the voice<br />
come across stronger and<br />
clearer. In the other hand, if it was<br />
as a support OF A CAUSE and<br />
with agreement, I reckon that the<br />
creation of your personal imagery<br />
would be ideal. The appropriation<br />
of it, in a dramatic perspective,<br />
could easily be seen as a lack of<br />
will to work on it. To every case<br />
there are exceptions and this one<br />
isn’t ruled out.<br />
8
Self-publishing took over the<br />
creative market, increasing the<br />
competition and zines suffered<br />
some alterations due to that.<br />
They started to become more<br />
graphic, more taken care off<br />
through out its layout and<br />
composition. E-zines and the<br />
concept of zines adapt itself to our<br />
times and the media where it was<br />
created even turned virtual.<br />
It becomes easy to understand<br />
the gap between the first zines<br />
in the 70’s to the ones of today.<br />
‘’Fanzines aren’t just something<br />
that can be bought on the street<br />
corner at home games. Fanzines<br />
are a DIY, supporter led and most<br />
importantly independent means of<br />
communication’’ (Stand Against,<br />
2015), That is the<br />
reason why they not only<br />
increased in number but as well<br />
on quality. Over the decades it<br />
grew and adapt as a<br />
social necessity.<br />
FOREVER LIVE THE ZINES<br />
9
Zines - References<br />
Anon, (2016). In: 1st ed. [online] Available at: http://www.dictionary.<br />
com/browse/fanzine [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].<br />
Fanlore.org. (2016). Zine - Fanlore. [online] Available at: http://fanlore.<br />
org/wiki/Zine [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].<br />
Fanzines.lmc.gatech.edu. (2016). Fanzines Archive | History. [online]<br />
Available at: http://fanzines.lmc.gatech.edu/history [Accessed 23 Apr.<br />
2016].<br />
Matos, R. (2016). Weepies. [image] Available at: https://pt.pinterest.<br />
com/pin/240027855118504804/ [Accessed 16 May 2016].<br />
Stand Against. (2015). FANZINES ARE DEAD, LONG LIVE<br />
THE FANZINE!. [online] Available at: http://www.standamf.<br />
com/2015/04/06/fanzines-are-dead-long-live-the-fanzine/ [Accessed<br />
23 Apr. 2016].<br />
Triggs, T. (2010). Fanzines. London: Thames & Hudson.<br />
Zine Wall. (2016). [image] Available at: https://pt.pinterest.com/<br />
pin/240027855117460726/ [Accessed 16 Apr. 2016].<br />
Zinebook.com. (2016). Zines, E-Zines, Fanzines : The Book of Zines :<br />
Directory. [online] Available at: http://www.zinebook.com/ [Accessed<br />
27 Apr. 2016].<br />
Zinewiki.com. (2016). Zine - ZineWiki - the history and culture of zines,<br />
independent media and the small press.. [online] Available at: http://<br />
zinewiki.com/Zine [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016].
SEMIOTICS<br />
[see-mee-ot-iks, sem-ee-, see-mahy-]<br />
noun, ( used with a singular verb)<br />
1. the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative<br />
behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language,<br />
gestures, or clothing.<br />
12
(Signs and how to use them )<br />
In 1960, semiotics became a<br />
major cultural study. None-less<br />
the famous Charles S. Pierce’s<br />
theory is one of the most known<br />
one as it defended that ‘a sign...<br />
is something which stands to<br />
somebody for something in<br />
some respect or capacity’<br />
(Peirce 1931-58, 2.228).<br />
For him, it is a study of the relation<br />
between the object and<br />
sign, and mostly how it would be<br />
interpreted.<br />
He divided the signs in three<br />
categories: ICON, INDEX, and<br />
SYMBOL.<br />
The ICON category is<br />
used as a simplification of what<br />
you are trying to communicate<br />
visually.<br />
INDEX is where there is a<br />
direct link between the sign and<br />
the object, both present in the<br />
representation. It adquires a<br />
context that ICONS do not<br />
possess.<br />
SYMBOLS in another<br />
hand do not have a logical meaning<br />
between the sign and the object.<br />
Just the one that is created<br />
over time in our unconscious due<br />
to the fact they are a constant in<br />
our daily life.<br />
Ferdinand de Saussure, that was<br />
the pioneer of semiotics,<br />
proposed a simpler structure. He<br />
defined a sign by the<br />
combination of two concept:<br />
-a signifier (which is the visual<br />
form that the sign takes) and the<br />
‘’signified’’ (the concept the sign<br />
represents).<br />
From both theories and studies<br />
it became easier to understand<br />
what semiotics is and how it can<br />
be used.<br />
13
We are constantly<br />
surrounded by signs and it has<br />
become easy for us to identify their<br />
meaning in a quick way.<br />
My first encounter with signs that<br />
I recall would be the board game,<br />
Pictionary. Its idea is to be able in<br />
a short amount of time to<br />
communicate a word, an activity<br />
or a person. It is an interactive and<br />
fun way to learn how to<br />
communicate without words.<br />
From road sign to emojis, signs<br />
are a present in our society and<br />
the evolution of it makes it easier<br />
to communicate in a simple and<br />
direct way. We have become<br />
synthetic in the way we<br />
communicate and the century<br />
where we live in is obsessed with<br />
fast-communication. There is a<br />
need to adapt to people’s needs.<br />
That is the proof that signs have<br />
become an universal way of<br />
speaking.<br />
14
Semiotics - References<br />
Anon, (2016). In: 1st ed. [online] Available at: http://www.dictionary.<br />
com/browse/semiotics [Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].<br />
Atkin, A. (2006). Peirce's Theory of Signs. [online] Plato.stanford.edu.<br />
Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce-semiotics/#Obj<br />
[Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].<br />
Berger, J., Blomberg, S., Fox, C., Dibb, M. and Hollis, R. (1972). Ways<br />
of seeing.<br />
Bored Panda. (2016). Traveller T-Shirt With 40 Icons Lets You Communicate<br />
In Any Country Even If You Don’t Speak Its Language. [online]<br />
Available at: http://www.boredpanda.com/travel-shirt-iconspeakworld/<br />
[Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].<br />
Boulton, M. (2005). Icons, Symbols and a Semiotic Web | Journal |<br />
The Personal Disquiet of Mark Boulton. [online] Markboulton.co.uk.<br />
Available at: http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/icons-symbolsand-a-semiotic-web<br />
[Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].<br />
Brailletranslator.org. (2016). Braille Translator. [online] Available at:<br />
http://www.brailletranslator.org/ [Accessed 28 Apr. 2016].<br />
HollyfieldMedia, (2012). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.<br />
com/watch?v=7eUnk_CB3dg [Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].<br />
Human Mind. (2016). [image] Available at: http://oaklandfloats.com/<br />
about-floating-and-float-history/ [Accessed 16 May 2016].<br />
Visual-memory.co.uk. (2016). Semiotics for Beginners: Introduction.<br />
[online] Available at: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/<br />
S4B/sem01.html [Accessed 21 Apr. 2016].
WHERE IS ILLUSTRATION?<br />
Most people find it hard to understand the difference between an Artist<br />
and an Illustrator. That usually comes from the fact that people do<br />
not understand what an illustration is. Most consider it is a drawing.<br />
I looked up on the dictionary about its definitions to make a clear<br />
difference between both.<br />
ILLUSTRATION<br />
[il-uh-strey-shuh n]<br />
noun<br />
1.something that illustrates, as<br />
a picture in a book or<br />
magazine.<br />
2.a comparison or an example<br />
intended for explanation or<br />
corroboration.<br />
3.the act or process of<br />
illuminating.<br />
4.the act of clarifying or<br />
explaining; elucidation.<br />
5.Archaic. illustriousness;<br />
distinction.<br />
DRAWING<br />
[draw-ing]<br />
noun<br />
1.the act of a person or thing<br />
that draws.<br />
2.a graphic representation by<br />
lines of an object or idea, as<br />
with a pencil; a delineation of<br />
form without reference to color.<br />
3.a sketch, plan, or design,<br />
especially one made with pen,<br />
pencil, or crayon.<br />
4.the art or technique of<br />
making these.<br />
16
The process of<br />
practitioners in this area might<br />
work differently and their<br />
approaches are perhaps<br />
completely different but what<br />
is the border line between an<br />
illustration and a painting, or<br />
an illustration and a video?<br />
There isn’t any difference<br />
expect what they are trying to<br />
communicate.<br />
What differs Illustration from<br />
anything else its not the media<br />
but the inherently attribute of<br />
an explanation. It is drawing<br />
not for drawing sake, but to<br />
make an idea come across, a<br />
narrative come to live.<br />
But where do we find<br />
illustrations?<br />
Illustration is found in lots of<br />
different forms.<br />
There is more ‘’ways we<br />
encounter culture, people and<br />
places through illustration.’’<br />
M.Miller<br />
Illustration, against people’s<br />
common concept, doesn’t<br />
need to be a drawing. The<br />
media is unlimited and there is<br />
little you wouldn’t consider part<br />
of it.<br />
Lets take M.Miller for example:<br />
his work with diagrams comes<br />
from recording life<br />
surrounding him. Making him<br />
document someplace not only<br />
with drawings but also with<br />
writing conversations he had<br />
with people in there. Its is conceptualization<br />
over anything<br />
else. I find his work interesting<br />
for the approach he has to it<br />
but it does brings many<br />
question up like:<br />
WHAT IS ILLUSTRATION<br />
ITSELF?<br />
WHAT CAN BE CONSIDERED<br />
ILLUSTRATION?<br />
17
18
19<br />
Children’s books might<br />
be the first encounter you have<br />
with illustration. That might<br />
influence your personal taste<br />
in illustration itself. I remember<br />
perfectly that little book my<br />
mom used to read to me:<br />
La Petite Poule Qui Voulait<br />
Voir La Mer (The Little<br />
Chicken Who Wanted to See<br />
The Ocean ). The precious<br />
illustrations inside are forever<br />
marked in my unconcious.<br />
But childhood has this magical<br />
side to it. It feeds our<br />
imagination with subtle<br />
messages, with hopes and<br />
ability of understanding a story<br />
only by its visuals. Since most<br />
stories have as the main<br />
character a child, for a kid<br />
we see how can we relate to<br />
the real world it gives a sense<br />
of fitting in, in a world of ‘’big<br />
people’’.
20
Where Is Illustration - References<br />
Flask, D. (2016). Illustration : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com.<br />
Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/design/illustration/<br />
[Accessed 8 May 2016].<br />
Jolibois, C. and Heinrich, C. (2005). La petite poule qui voulait voir la<br />
mer. Paris: Pocket jeunesse.<br />
Miller, M. (2016). Piershill Dialectogram. [image] Available at: http://<br />
www.dialectograms.com/dialectograms/ [Accessed 16 Apr. 2016].<br />
Miller, M., Miller, M., Miller, M., Miller, M., Miller, M. and Miller, M.<br />
(2015). Mitch Miller | Words and pictures, by Mitch Miller.. [online]<br />
Dialectograms.com. Available at: http://www.dialectograms.com/ [Accessed<br />
16 May 2016].<br />
Visual-arts-cork.com. (2016). Illustration: History, Types, Characteristics.<br />
[online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/illustration.<br />
htm [Accessed 10 Apr. 2016].
STEREOTYPES<br />
/ˈsterēəˌtīp/<br />
1- A widely held but fixed and oversimplified<br />
image or idea of a particular type of person or<br />
thing.<br />
22
We grew up in a society where<br />
there is the need to live up to<br />
people’s expectation without fully<br />
understanding the need and the<br />
reason for it. We are often put in<br />
a certain category only based on<br />
physical appearance or on someone’s<br />
judgment of the person<br />
they think we identify as.<br />
Stereotypes enable us to have a<br />
quick response to situation from<br />
previous encounters with people,<br />
and they reduce the amount of<br />
thinking while processing new<br />
information. They provide us with<br />
assumptions. But are stereotypes<br />
just good?<br />
As categorizing people in that<br />
way, a vail of ignorance is<br />
covering our eyes, blocking us to<br />
see the full picture.<br />
This is the misconception of our<br />
time, where generalization are<br />
often insulting more than<br />
encouraging and people are<br />
seen as a collective instead of as<br />
one. As read in the dictionary<br />
definition, it is in fact an<br />
OVERSIMPLIFIED image that we<br />
can be grouped with. Is that a<br />
good or a bad thing?<br />
23<br />
I guess assuming someone is a<br />
certain way by<br />
-Where do they live<br />
-What do they look like<br />
-Age<br />
-Race<br />
-Sexuality<br />
-Friends<br />
-Hopes and dreams<br />
-Dislikes<br />
is merely looking at one factor<br />
that might shape us as a person<br />
but it does not sum up the person<br />
we actually are. There are<br />
so many other things we need to<br />
add to the equation to fully understand<br />
someone, including past<br />
experiences and personal values,<br />
which are harder to ‘’see’’ at first<br />
sight.<br />
The famous advice given about<br />
‘’giving a good first impression’’ is<br />
possibly due to the fact that people<br />
have pre-fixed ideas about<br />
the society by looking<br />
INDIVIDUALLY at just one of<br />
these factors.
Donald Trump on the 16th<br />
of June 2015 said: “[Mexico]<br />
They are sending<br />
people that have lots of<br />
problems, and they are<br />
bringing those problems<br />
to us. They are bringing<br />
drugs, and bringing<br />
crime, and their rapists’.’<br />
(Donald Trump,2016).<br />
As a response to that, a<br />
protest campaign with the<br />
hash-tag of<br />
#turnignorancearound<br />
(turn ignorance around)<br />
and #dumptrump (Dump<br />
Trump) created a commercial<br />
that went viral<br />
exposing the reality of<br />
Mexico and the FAKE<br />
stereotype that their are<br />
forced into.<br />
24
‘‘(...)a stereotype is a overused persona<br />
while a cliché is an overused phrase.’’<br />
None-less it is very hard to get<br />
yourself away from the concept of<br />
stereotypes, especially because<br />
media feeds watchers with them.<br />
Sitcoms for example are based<br />
on fictional or real people with<br />
behavior took to their extreme.<br />
The old man with a sexy young<br />
Columbian wife that loves cigars,<br />
the gay couple who adopt an<br />
Asian baby.<br />
After reading a bit more into it I<br />
asked myself if stereotypes and<br />
clichés are not two concept very<br />
close to each other. What is the<br />
border line between both?<br />
These two concepts have the<br />
repetition factor to them,<br />
a stereotype is a overused<br />
persona while a cliché is an<br />
overused phrase. It is really easy<br />
to encounter in those type of<br />
media a character that uses<br />
clichés as their vocabulary.<br />
25
Stereotypes - References<br />
Anon, (2016). 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: http://faculty.georgetown.<br />
edu/irvinem/theory/Hall-Identity-Modernity-1.pdf [Accessed 26 Apr.<br />
2016].<br />
Chirla Action Fund, (2016). Turn Ignorance Around. [video] Available<br />
at: http://turnignorancearound.com/ [Accessed 17 Apr. 2016].<br />
Gabbatt, A. (2015). Donald Trump's tirade on Mexico's 'drugs and rapists'<br />
outrages US Latinos. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://<br />
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/16/donald-trump-mexico-presidential-speech-latino-hispanic<br />
[Accessed 26 Apr. 2016].<br />
Stereotypes in the Media. (2010). Documentary. [online] Available at:<br />
https://stereotypebyinternet.wordpress.com/documentary/ [Accessed<br />
2 May 2016].<br />
Your Favorite Martian, (2016). The Stereotypes Song. [video] Available<br />
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCgx8zM3woQ [Accessed 21<br />
Apr. 2016].
IDENTITY<br />
REPRESENTATION<br />
NARRATIVE<br />
SUBCULTURE<br />
Are we a constant whole or are we in constant<br />
change? Are we just one or are we a collective?<br />
What is identity? Identity<br />
like so many other concepts may<br />
have a wide range of perspective<br />
but I reckon that the surface of it<br />
might be the same for all. It is a<br />
sum of what makes us, us.<br />
Our culture, our experiences,<br />
our surroundings, our taste, our<br />
gender, our status,<br />
our education, etc….<br />
We all got easily that far but the<br />
main question here might be:<br />
Would we be ourselves if not in<br />
communion with other? Are we<br />
the same as we would be if we<br />
were born some place else? The<br />
first thing I thought was about a<br />
movie I saw a few years ago in<br />
philosophy class: ”Lord Of The<br />
Flies”, where military kids were<br />
dropped in an island, apart from<br />
any society structure and how<br />
their behavior changed drastically.<br />
Many philosophers have<br />
approached this topic as well.<br />
27<br />
Stuart Hall defends the<br />
perspective that ”the subject<br />
assumes different identities at<br />
different times, identities which<br />
are not unified around a<br />
coherent ‘self.” In that perspective,<br />
we are all continuously adding<br />
or subtracting our identity as<br />
being exposed to different beliefs.<br />
I strongly agree with S.Hall for<br />
that matter. Even if not discussed<br />
in class Locke (the philosopher)<br />
gives you an example that sums<br />
up the belief that we aren’t born<br />
with any innate knowledge: ”(…) it<br />
comes exclusively through<br />
experience. He argues that at<br />
birth the mind is a tabula rasa,<br />
or blank slate, that humans fill<br />
with ideas as they experience the<br />
world through the five senses.”<br />
I believe that knowledge plays<br />
an important role in our identity.
‘‘the subject assumes different<br />
identities at different times,<br />
identities which are not unified<br />
around a coherent ‘self.”<br />
(S. Hall,)<br />
Due to the overexposure of<br />
cultural stimulation, there are<br />
a lot more types of<br />
cultures that could be<br />
defined as one. Cultures are<br />
not only about the location<br />
where we are born in but<br />
also about the custom, the<br />
laws, the morals, the beliefs<br />
and other capabilities and<br />
habits of one specific<br />
collective.<br />
Subcultures come into<br />
the matter as a derivation<br />
of a wider one. There is a<br />
conductor line that comes<br />
chronologically and that<br />
divides each culture in a<br />
smaller whole.<br />
28
29<br />
-symbolical sense: which<br />
can easily be summed<br />
up as our capacity to<br />
relate 2 different thing to<br />
one. In that case, sleep<br />
can be a representation<br />
of death and so on.<br />
-cognitive: is a<br />
deeper representation<br />
that comes from<br />
our ability to think and<br />
imagine. It arises from a<br />
mental formation<br />
of a cognition.<br />
-political sense: has<br />
the simple function of<br />
speaking for. Our<br />
representatives are<br />
elected as a collective<br />
voice in just one person:<br />
our deputies, our<br />
ministers, our presidents.<br />
All of them end<br />
up having the same<br />
goal, to speak for a belief<br />
that is<br />
common.
‘‘While a story just<br />
is a sequence of<br />
events, a<br />
narrative recounts<br />
those events,<br />
perhaps leaving<br />
some occurrences<br />
out because they<br />
are from some<br />
perspective<br />
insignificant, and<br />
perhaps<br />
emphasizing<br />
others.’’<br />
We can say a narrative is a<br />
story that is presented with<br />
a moral conclusion to it. Its<br />
has a beginning, a middle<br />
and an end and it implies<br />
that it has a specific point<br />
of view that is meant to be<br />
presented as such.’ ‘While<br />
a story just is a sequence<br />
of events, a narrative recounts<br />
those events, perhaps<br />
leaving some occurrences<br />
out because they<br />
are from some perspective<br />
insignificant, and perhaps<br />
emphasizing others.’’<br />
30
Alice, dear Alice.<br />
Thought the main door of the British<br />
Library I walked and the space was<br />
filled with people from different ages<br />
and backgrounds. The first thing that<br />
caught my eye was the gift shop, but<br />
not the main one, the one created<br />
for the 150th Alice In Wonderland’s<br />
birthday. I went inside and displayed<br />
on the surfaces of the shop were<br />
several books created from the same<br />
narrative but with different illustrations.<br />
From prints and pop up books<br />
to tea cups and wallets in shape of<br />
biscuits I understood that Alice had<br />
become an industry.<br />
Lewis Carroll’s children’s story,<br />
Alice’s adventures in wonderland,<br />
was first published in 1865. From<br />
that day on, the work has been<br />
analyzed, appropriated,<br />
re-imagined and re-illustrated<br />
through the centuries as it was open<br />
to<br />
several interpretations. While walking<br />
between the crowd I realized that it<br />
was a book that will forever captivate<br />
people from all ages.<br />
Did L. Carroll understood the impact<br />
his work would have on people?<br />
It fascinated successive generations<br />
of illustrators, artists, musicians,<br />
filmmakers and computer designers<br />
since the topic of the story, even if<br />
created for a young audience in<br />
reality approaches in a deeper<br />
reading, topics that might be even<br />
taboo. The constant subliminal<br />
message on drug use were an<br />
incentive for some present<br />
psychedelic prints showcased in the<br />
exhibition, and obviously to criticism.<br />
“Oh, you can’t help<br />
that,” said the cat.<br />
“We’re all mad<br />
here.” (L. Carroll,1865)<br />
It was rather a interactive<br />
exhibition for the fact that the<br />
distant between the work and the<br />
audience was sometimes<br />
inexistent. We could touch, listen<br />
and even play this video game. It<br />
brought us closer to this imagined<br />
work that Alice belongs to.<br />
I enjoyed seeing the different<br />
perspectives that artists had about<br />
how physically Alice was. The idea<br />
from Disney of the blond, blued eye<br />
girl was destroyed as seeing the<br />
picture of the real one: A skinny,<br />
slightly disturbed looking girl with<br />
fringe and black hair. Most works<br />
that were showed in the British<br />
Library might suggest a more dark<br />
side of the sweetness that most<br />
people obsorve from the first film<br />
created.<br />
The presence of cross hatching,<br />
woodblocks and screen print made<br />
were my favourite part of it.<br />
The use of different media for the<br />
same narrative transported my<br />
creativity or at least my<br />
understanding of having broader<br />
horizons to a higher level. It will<br />
always be beneficial to experiment<br />
and to sometimes fail.<br />
I didn’t like how the work was<br />
displayed. I thought everything<br />
was put together with no obvious<br />
connection and since I think that<br />
art should be understood by<br />
everyone that is opened to it, the<br />
need to have a bigger knowledge<br />
about it slightly put me off. I felt<br />
that people’s work were to close<br />
to each other, to condensed and<br />
Alice should have had a more<br />
deserving presentation<br />
My overall review about the<br />
exhibition was a realisation that<br />
the impact of your work might be<br />
bigger that you imagine. It was<br />
mind-blowing seeing how many<br />
people made part of the creation of<br />
Alice’s industry and how they will<br />
forever continue to increase.<br />
32
TINTIN:Hergé’s<br />
Masterpiece<br />
Even not as a big fan of Tintin, I<br />
decided to take the risk and go<br />
see something that never before<br />
captivated me. I always felt Tintin<br />
was a cliché comic book without<br />
any life to it. I was wrong.<br />
The iconic work of Hergé was<br />
showcased as a journey through<br />
out his artwork. The exhibition<br />
explores the<br />
evolution of it and it is<br />
chronologically displayed as<br />
such. The rooms are organized<br />
witch creates a strong conductor<br />
line.<br />
As an illustrator its easy to<br />
recognise some of the areas<br />
Hergé is interested in such as (in<br />
this case) architecture. Not only<br />
the comic strips are filled with<br />
architectural spaces but one of<br />
the 3D models found in one of the<br />
rooms, that empowered the space<br />
by its side, was a mansion with<br />
big windows. The mansion itself<br />
reminded me a lot to the<br />
actual Summerset House<br />
building witch made me think that<br />
the placement of this exhibition<br />
was probably thought and not<br />
unintentional.<br />
‘’Tintin has made me<br />
happy. I tried to do the best I could<br />
and it wasn’t always easy but it was<br />
a lot of fun.’’ (Hergé,2015)<br />
The position that the<br />
viewer needs to do to actually<br />
see it in detail (bend over to see<br />
if you could actually through the<br />
mansion’s windows), is one of the<br />
most<br />
famous and essencial position<br />
Tintin makes throughout the<br />
narrative he lives in. There were<br />
displayed more than one 3D<br />
model, as such some of the more<br />
characteristic props you could find<br />
in his comic.<br />
Although the exhibition in terms of<br />
space was small, and only three<br />
rooms actually contained ‘’Hergé’s<br />
Masterpiece’’ I felt the display was<br />
playful and used in a correct way.<br />
Each room had various type of<br />
information that drowned your eye<br />
to multiple surfaces, witch gave<br />
the exhibition a movement and<br />
a life that exists within the comic<br />
book.<br />
So the rooms were filled with<br />
wallpaper of the actual comic<br />
book, as if this room was in fact a<br />
room inside the book.<br />
The wallpapers contained<br />
illustrated frames with paintings,<br />
widows with his early sketches of<br />
the characters in pieces of<br />
paper from notebooks, with the<br />
first newspaper strips that were<br />
the fist step to make Tintin become<br />
as famous as it is now.<br />
As going through the exhibition you could feel the connection<br />
between the artist and its piece. I would say that Tintin somehow, that<br />
accompanied him for several decades now, became an important and<br />
fulcrum part of Hergé’s life. Some of the quotes displayed in a corner<br />
of the last room of the exhibition re-enforced this point:<br />
33
Q: What are the ways in which illustration represents time and space?<br />
-depth of field, perspective, context, episodic narrative?<br />
What approaches can be interwoven to achieve this: comic cells,<br />
cartography, layering, text, tonality? In these representations, what is the<br />
relationship between the written and the visual?<br />
34
Since the beginning of times, image making has been a constant<br />
in the human existence; it is an unique essence of the homo sapiens.<br />
As Whitney Davis writes in ‘’The Origins of Image Making’’: ‘’art<br />
supposedly appears as an autonomous domain of human activity.’’(Davis, 1986) In<br />
that, Humans evolution somehow connect to the image making process<br />
and how it developed through time, adapting itself as a self-awareness<br />
property of History. The first mark making communicating their lives’<br />
routines were the first stepping stone of illustration as ‘’image making was<br />
a distinctive and specific cultural achievement (…) derived logically from simple and<br />
archaic perceptual and cognitive processes.’’ (Davis, 1986) It is in our essence<br />
to create representations of the world we live in. Furthermore, we will<br />
analyze the different techniques used to create those replicas.<br />
An illustration is a visual representation of a story or an account of<br />
events, experiences, whether true or fictitious. Having that in mind,<br />
illustration will have as obstacle the representation of time and space.<br />
When it comes to do an illustration, whether it is in a publication or<br />
any sort of other medium container (poster, painting etc...) one of the<br />
most important factors you need to consider is how to contextualize it.<br />
There needs to be a harmony between both of these concepts of space<br />
and time. Particularly when imagery is added to a publication as it will,<br />
be combined with words and its meaning will become essential to the<br />
essence of the work itself.<br />
The perception of time is simultaneously demonstrated by text and<br />
images. The most effective way to demonstrate a continuous narrative is<br />
the jump in time, descriptions etc… There is a conductor line that travels<br />
the narrative visually. Having each image representing a frozen moment,<br />
will provide give a sense of continuity, instead of separated parts of the<br />
same story.<br />
36
The most common way of expressing time in narratives is the comic book<br />
where there is an alignment of the story, almost as a frame from a stop<br />
motion. ‘’A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in<br />
fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why characters age little or not<br />
at all over a period of time — despite real-world markers like notable events, people<br />
and technology appearing in the works and correlating with the real world. A floating<br />
timeline is a subtle form of retroactive continuity.’’ (Wikipedia, 2016)<br />
If we use the methodology of animation in illustration it is easy to<br />
understand how to create a timeline with only images. Another approach<br />
can be layering, just as if you were using layout paper to create an<br />
animation; as it will provide a sequence that demonstrates time. Space<br />
also plays an important role while demonstrating time, especially if the<br />
narrative is not only based in one location.<br />
‘’When speaking of space in narratology and other<br />
fields, a distinction should be made between literal<br />
and metaphorical uses of the concept.’’<br />
(Lhn.uni-hamburg.de, 2016)<br />
37<br />
The images shown to illustrate a narrative can be portrayed in a literal<br />
way or in a metaphorical way. There are a lot of cases where the narrative<br />
is accompanied with some written form as the image doesn't need to be<br />
literal. There is a choice between drawing what it is said (‘’the horse<br />
jumped the fence’’ illustrated by a drawing of a horse jumping a fence)<br />
or in a metaphorical way (‘’the horse jumped the fence’’- exemplified<br />
by a drawing of the concept of overcoming an obstacle). In a visual<br />
representation choosing what moment of time, and what is the meaning<br />
of it, you are portraying is fundamental. Since you are forced into a still<br />
image, there is a need to constantly think of what is the interpretation<br />
you want the public to have.
Let’s take “the horse jumping the fence” example: if the moment chosen<br />
was the fear of not being able to jump over, if it is the flying part of<br />
having the horse over the fence or the horse landing on its hooves, those<br />
three images will have a different impact on how people will interpreter<br />
the narrative. These three completely different images were created for<br />
the same bit of text but they all provide the reader with a different type of<br />
emotion. There is the need to know how to manipulate the reader, how<br />
to divert him into going on a certain direction.<br />
Each illustrator gives its own narrowed version of a story by implementing<br />
their imagery where people’s imagination would usually act upon.<br />
Although it narrows the margin for personal visualizing, each person’s<br />
life experience will still affect the way something is interpreted. Without<br />
any presence of visual imagery ‘’The reader’s eye may scan the page, but the<br />
reader’s mind ranges up, down, and sideways, piecing together evidence to make sense<br />
of the presentation as a whole.’’ (Criticalreading.com, 2016)<br />
Consequently it depends on<br />
how the text is interpreted<br />
by the illustrator and how<br />
the author chooses to come<br />
across with words. It is not<br />
only one’s choice how to do<br />
so but from both. ‘’Employing<br />
the written word as well as facing<br />
the challenge of editing, designing<br />
and dealing with production and<br />
distribution issues. successful<br />
author/illustrators understand<br />
that it’s not just a matter of<br />
orchestrating a wide variety of<br />
processes, you must also have<br />
something to say.’’ (Wigan,<br />
2008)<br />
Sketchbook pages, 2015<br />
38
As illustrating a story, depending on the narrative that is being<br />
portrayed, there are many factors to take into account. Episodic<br />
narratives for exemple, have the benefit of being self-sustainable without<br />
a backroad knowledge to it. Just like some TV Shows in television, you<br />
will understand the plot of the story without having seem the last episode.<br />
In that case there is the need to illustrate just enough without confusing<br />
the reader, everything needs to be in the right context to communicate<br />
the in the right direction you wish to take it. Whether there are images<br />
coupled with text, whether they are just used on their own. ‘’Space plays<br />
an important role in narrative as the environment in which characters<br />
move and live and in which the action takes place. It is the material<br />
condition and also the cultural frame for the narrated story, in that it<br />
is often linked to such crucial topics as power relations, conceptions of<br />
history, of memory, of the body and of identity.’’ (Theorizing Space in<br />
Narrative, 2016).<br />
In contrast to the floating image with no background, the environment<br />
where the story is being held in gives the reader its context. A soldier<br />
with a gun in no visible space has a different impact than a soldier with<br />
a gun in a battlefield. The ‘’socio-historic-geographical environment in<br />
which the action takes place is more than relevant for the story.’’ (Lhn.<br />
uni-hamburg.de, 2016) The space serves not only as context but also as a<br />
container for the text. Many techniques may be applied to give the idea<br />
of space and of its depth. The color and contrast used is one of the main<br />
ways to do it. While applying color in an image you are able to give a 2D<br />
image the illusion of a 3D one and by doing so, ’’you can increase the<br />
emotional resonance and believability of your artwork. ‘’ (Lynda.com - A<br />
LinkedIn Company, 2016).<br />
Many other techniques properties are important when creating and<br />
communicating. From the line work to its paper quality, everything<br />
is important, since everything will benefit the way the story is to be<br />
communicated. From the weight of paper to its color, from the line work<br />
and its medium, illustration requires a constant thinking process.<br />
39
Another main aspect, while illustrating, is the importance of the<br />
perspective that the illustrator uses in each image since the proximity<br />
of the reader to the scene depends on it. Depending on the angle and<br />
the accuracy of the details, the reader absorbs more or less information.<br />
This will impact the reader’s connection the narrative as it will make him<br />
more or less connected to the narrative.<br />
After a well thought use of color, the reader will experience different sort<br />
of feelings towards the image, which automatically will have an impact<br />
on the way he interprets the story itself. With the use of warm colors,<br />
a sense of affection is created whereas if the color used were cold, the<br />
reader would rather feel disconnected from the story. Their psychological<br />
properties are linked, in our subconscious, to some specifics experiences<br />
or moments, all derivative of emotions.<br />
Therefore, having a rational decision on the use of different colors, while<br />
creating imagery, will result in not giving mixed messages of what is<br />
trying to be communicated. The dynamic rhythm of the image (or the<br />
lack of it) and the break of monotony between the several images of<br />
the story will give the reader a more exciting experience throughout the<br />
publication.<br />
Some say it is merely a choice of taste and identity. Several illustrators<br />
got famous by their way of portraying stories. Most times, it is easier to<br />
recognize someone’s line of work, than his or her own name.<br />
One of the most important factors when creating imagery for a specific<br />
text is, its pictorial composition. The need to serve the purpose best<br />
relies on the element disposition of the numerous elements (including<br />
their proximity to one another). It is important to not get attached in a<br />
predictable way of communicating visually. Any artistic practice is based<br />
on its evolution towards work improvement. Committing to a specific style<br />
culminates into a common ending for most artists. While experiencing<br />
life’s changes and adapting to our time and pace, whether by choice or<br />
not, the style might alter. Nevertheless, the voice will remain intact and<br />
not diluted by its diversity.<br />
40
The emphasis and its understatement will give a better understanding<br />
on how the reader will interpret what is in front of their eyes. The reader<br />
reacts mostly through personal experiences regarding the content of<br />
work. Our eyes, before anything else, will focus on the image, which will<br />
reveal the next stepping-stone of the story.<br />
There is a symbiosis between written and visual work. The interaction<br />
between both domains brings a unity to its purpose, whether it’s a<br />
poster or a publication. It is used as a collaboration to convey to a story<br />
according to their both perspectives and requirements. I would say it<br />
is a question of support, as in human relationships. As one leans on<br />
the other, it is important to look over the characteristics of one, but to<br />
look at it as whole. The harmony of the whole will depend on it. For an<br />
illustrator to obtain the best result as a visual maker, there must exist a<br />
passion for words, an intellectual curiosity, a cultural interest and mostly,<br />
a visual intelligence. Written text inside images as a combination of<br />
both might also be a choice of easy communication.While marrying<br />
image with text the illustrator will ‘’ (…) analyse linguistic principals and<br />
solutions such as the argumentative, expository and rhetorical.’’ (Wigan, 2008)<br />
witch will enrich the visual outcome by empowering certain key works<br />
that will direct the reader to what you want to say.<br />
As a conclusion, illustration will develop over time improving its ways to<br />
communicate life’s experiences. From the trendiest design principles of<br />
contemporary media combined with valuable traditional skills, a broad<br />
and distinctive range of visual languages will be created. The drive<br />
to improve technically the methodologies that will enable a dialogue<br />
between the reader and the illustrator does simply rely on time. It is<br />
important to keep in mind that illustration is a bigger area than just<br />
drawing. Its medium is no longer forced into a piece of paper.<br />
41
An illustration can, nowadays, be more than only 2D since it<br />
‘’is not defined by a medium, material or<br />
style, but fueled by a desire to communicate<br />
by whatever means are appropriate, be they<br />
sculptural, typographic, photographic, filmic,<br />
print-based or a combination<br />
of all of these.’’<br />
(University of Arts London, 2016)<br />
42
Essay - References<br />
Anon, (2016). In: 1st ed. [online] Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/episodic<br />
[Accessed 14 Apr. 2016].<br />
Anon, (2016). Narrative Illustration. [online] Available at: https://www.<br />
fulltable.com/vts/n/ni/n.htm [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].<br />
Caquard, S. (2011). Cartography I: Mapping narrative cartography.<br />
Progress in Human Geography, 37(1), pp.135-144.<br />
Carroll, A. (2005). Word, image, and the New Negro. Bloomington:<br />
Indiana University Press.<br />
Criticalreading.com. (2016). Interpretation: Analyzing What a Text<br />
Means. [online] Available at: http://www.criticalreading.com/interpretation.htm<br />
[Accessed 14 Apr. 2016].<br />
Davis, W. (1986). Current Anthropology. Chicago: The University of<br />
Chicago Press, pp.193-215.<br />
Episodic Structure. (2016). 1st ed. http://web.lincoln.k12.mi.us/buildings/HS/elstone/WebPage/PDF%20Files/The%20Episodic%20<br />
Structure.pdf.<br />
Lhn.uni-hamburg.de. (2016). Space | the living handbook of narratology.<br />
[online] Available at: http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/space<br />
[Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].<br />
Lynda.com - A LinkedIn Company. (2016). Artist at Work: Creating<br />
Depth of Field. [online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Design-Color-tutorials/Artist-Work-Playing-Space/155278-2.html<br />
[Accessed<br />
14 Apr. 2016].
Muddycolors.blogspot.co.uk. (2014). Muddy Colors: Narrative Illustration.<br />
[online] Available at: http://muddycolors.blogspot.<br />
co.uk/2014/01/narrative-illustration.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].<br />
Oudsten, F. (2011). Space.time.narrative. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing<br />
Company.<br />
Theorizing Space in Narrative. (2016). 1st ed. [ebook] Katrin Dennerlein.<br />
Available at: http://www.germanistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/05010200/TheorizingSpaceinNarrative.pdf<br />
[Accessed 14 Apr.<br />
2016].<br />
University of Arts London, W. (2016). BA (Hons) Illustration and Visual<br />
Media - London College of Communication - UAL. [online] Arts.<br />
ac.uk. Available at: http://www.arts.ac.uk/lcc/courses/undergraduate/<br />
ba-hons-illustration-and-visual-media/ [Accessed 11 May 2016].<br />
Wigan, M. (2006). Thinking visually. Lausanne, Switzerland: Ava Pub.<br />
Wigan, M. (2008). Text and image. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Academia.<br />
Wikipedia. (2016). Floating timeline. [online] Available at: https://<br />
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_timeline [Accessed 7 May 2016].<br />
Wright, A. (1999). The Beginner's Guide to Colour Psychology. 2nd ed.<br />
K. Cathie.
In-Text Citations<br />
Davis, W. (1986). Current Anthropology. Chicago: The University<br />
of Chicago Press, pp.193-215.<br />
This journal is a platform that discusses subjects about anthropology.<br />
In this specific section of it, the idea of image making being a<br />
human essence is the main focus. There is some historical references to<br />
the first images created in the Cave Era. The theory of how narrative<br />
and storytelling are intrinsic characteristics of the desire to communicate<br />
that we all possess.<br />
Wigan, M. (2008). Text and image. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA<br />
Academia.<br />
The author of this book focuses on the history of illustration<br />
throughout the decades. It is sort of like a manual with content that<br />
will inspire you to create. There are sections with project proposals and<br />
artists work as examples.<br />
Theorizing Space in Narrative. (2016). 1st ed. [ebook] Katrin<br />
Dennerlein. Available at: http://www.germanistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/05010200/TheorizingSpaceinNarrative.pdf<br />
[Accessed 14 Apr. 2016].<br />
Lhn.uni-hamburg.de. (2016). Space | the living handbook of<br />
narratology. [online] Available at: http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/space<br />
[Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].<br />
This thesis wrote by Katrin Dennerlein approaches as a main<br />
theme the idea of space in narratives. It differences the idea of the metaphorical<br />
of literature with the literal use of it and the ways it could or<br />
should be portrayed.<br />
Criticalreading.com. (2016). Interpretation: Analyzing What a<br />
Text Means. [online] Available at: http://www.criticalreading.<br />
com/interpretation.htm [Accessed 14 Apr. 2016].<br />
This website analyses the literature bit of narrative writing. It<br />
gives away the methodology of analyzing text and the several forms you<br />
can interpret the written.