COP part two: diagram development

Whilst looking at another illustration with stairs on it, it inspired me to add a viewing platform to the image. It splits up the composition in a nice way, adding a line of sight and a few points of interest, but thematically I think it is interesting too- as a visual metaphor for the way we view and distance ourselves from riot and protest.

I started to think about what signs to put on the 'mob'. Real, specific signs are possibly more powerful but focusing on a specific cause maybe takes away from what I am trying to achieve.

And with that I started to consider the lettering on the signage. Most signs are handwritten or typed with little consideration for design, which is fair enough. But it's hard trying to create something that looks realistic, or believable rather, as well as aesthetically in tune with the rest of the illustration. I wonder if my own handwriting would naturally be in touch with the rest of the image.

 

I started drawing a lot of faces to get into the swing of what kind of thing I wanted to draw. I'm not sure there's much room for detailed features in a melting mass though.

I also considered adding full, more formed bodies to the mass, to get that sense of movement but also a sense of entanglement. 

And I started to consider what the viewing people will be doing. To reflect real life, I think there will be a fair number of people who ignore the mass, or watch it through smartphones. Those who do look may well be concentrating on the 'bad' aspects- i.e. looting with no concern for those in pain.

COP part two: pecha kucha feedback

The pecha kucha went better than expected, particularly in terms of delivery as presentations are not something I am comfortable with. It also garnered some discussion, which was good to see and I am glad it has got people thinking about the matter, and suggests that the subject I am looking at will be successful in bringing across -new- points.

The "anatomy of a mob" idea was the best received, and I think it is the one that will challenge views most whilst also getting the point across in a more immediate way than the comic.

COP part two: PECHA KUCHA

• Hello! To start- my COP essay was really quite broad and dealt with lots of themes around consumerism and how it affects our happiness and sense of self. A theorist called Zygmunt Bauman suggested that violence and looting at protests is caused by a social disconnect  caused by class and wealth divide and this culture of consumerism.

• To simplify what he meant- he thought that violence and looting was not so much a desperate and defiant mark of protest and the need for change, but rather the stealing involved was a way for people to attain material goods, though these desires may be unconscious. To quote: "they did not rebel against consumerism, but made a misguided attempt to join the ranks"

• Regardless, it did set me thinking about rioting, and protests- what causes them, are they effective, are they justified? And so began my COP part two project, which mainly became an interrogation into whether Bauman's words could be justified or not, and wholly as a reaction to these words.

• We hear about rioting on the news a lot, so much so that a lot of it may well wash over us as non-news, as non-significant. Rioting is usually a consequence or part of protest, and it at least begins with political intent. But we also, on occasion, maybe not so much recently, see sports riots- football hooliganism particularly. Something I also would like to think about is, do we make a distinction between these riots and acts of violence, or are they as bad as eachother?

• So, really, when has violence in protests worked or made a change? We saw a lot of it at the student fees protests but clearly that did not make a difference, in the minds of the government anyway, but it may well have sparked a culture of more politically thinking students. We've seen a lot of rioting in Ferguson, in the US in regards to the racist killings from white policemen, and whilst we are yet to see a legal change for Mike Brown's death we have seen a policeman be immediately reprimanded for his actions with the killing of Walter Scott and one of my first thoughts was wondering if these two were connected.

• This Mr Phomer illustration is really connected to Bauman's idea that I mentioned earlier about looting at protests being a  consequence of materialism rather than an act of defiance. However Phomer's illustration takes a more blunt edge and suggests that the protesters are fully in control and aware of these actions they're taking

• I listened to a very interesting podcast interview between Scroobius Pip and rap artist Killer Mike that focused a lot on protesting and riots, particularly the current ones in Ferguson. There was a focus on the protest side- how even if it's not considered 'successful' it will always be a tool to provide hope and comradeship in difficult situations.

• But the thing is with -peaceful-  or -legal- protesting so to speak is that so often it is controlled by the system you are trying to retaliate against. What can protesting do when you are protesting in the way that the system wants you to protest? Revolutions aren't typically quiet things.

• And so, to quote  Mike, "if the system does not change under the will of the people then it is the responsibility to attack- the system must work or we burn it to the ground". Rioting and violence almost seems like an inevitable end to certain problems if the system refuses to acknowledge them and change. But he suggested that whilst he doesn't so much blame rioters, it is more sensible to plot change in the grassroots- become the system yourself.

• And there seems to be a difference across cultures when it comes to protest. As Brits we seem very good at conquering other countries but not so much ourselves, as demonstrated by say, the student fees protests. As described by a panelist on Woman's Hour, we're not "visceral" enough to make a change. Compare this to the huge womens rights protests and movement in Delhi over the last few years is really changing people's attitudes to women in India, but these are powerful and these are angry and they're loud.

• I really did struggle visually interpreting the information and getting into the swing of creating a sketchbook for the project. I wonder if this is through a lack of research or lack of understanding and if I had prepared myself if it would be better. I found myself more into the project once I started to establish the diagram ideas.

• Some stuff went really bad, particularly in terms of image making. I tried using conte, a material I am new to, as  means of quick sketching but the blunt and thick lines looked horrifically messy. I'm enjoying these textures but I'd use them in conjunction with another material perhaps- as a piece part of a larger image.

• I've been thinking a lot about perceptions of protesters and rioters in my drawings. It's a hard topic, and I'm tentative about my opinions and I think that's something that might have to come across in my final solutions. I can't commit to supporting or completely shaming rioters, but like all things I think it's a grey area that should be carefully considered and that there isn't necessarily a need to think black and white about it.

• I found myself drawing hands a lot and I wonder if these could become a visual symbol or motif for the project. Riots and protests happen en masse, individuality holds little power and I feel this hand motif presents a certain anonyminity. But also it is an interesting challenge to present different opinions and actions and feelings through a small symbol

• I also did some work with gouache, which looks ok but is not entirely different to how I work normally. But I did this series of gouache brush stroke images, again dealing with that idea of anonymous characters with the limited features. But I was also thinking about the movement of these people, I wanted to create a sense of power and pace to match the idea of rioting and protest.

• I have a few different interests for creating the diagram. I think the cause of what causes people to riot is an important topic- the root of all of this. But a lot of my research and investigation has been into the media portrayal and public's imagination as well as the realities of protest and riot, and I think this could all be tied together. 

• An important thing to me, as mentioned earlier, is that I don't, not so much want but do personally feel that there isn't a black and white reality or solution to the problems and acts at hand, and I need to keep this in mind. I think provocative pieces of work can be and are often incredible and are very important but it's a tricky one. I don't want to be passive but I also don't want to rally completely for one side.

• The separation of so called rightful rioters/ protesters and the so called bad one by a hill or a reporter was a motif that kept coming up in my ideas, possibly influenced by Grayson Perry's A Print for A Politician but it feels a bit obvious but also thematically flat. I furthered this idea a bit further with the larger group of protesters together in the shadow of the media so it was a bit more metaphorically- visually - but still not producing anything in the wow scale, I'd say.

• And I feel at this point I've lost my way a bit with the Zygmunt Bauman quote that started this whole investigation- the idea of a youth who is lost and desperate in the face of consumerism rather than social injustices, and it is the lostness and desperateness that might need to be brought back into this, even in a small way. A tale of two stories comic idea.

• As I sketched out large crowds of people I would clump them all together like some kind of amorphous clustered being, and it set me thinking on using that visual device as a metaphor itself- how all protesters are all clumped together regardless of actions / intent but also how being part of this large crowd inserts a level of anonymity. This, so far, I think has been one of my more interesting ideas- visually and thematically- though as with all things sort of intensely political I do worry that it is cliched. But I will keep looking at it.

COP part two: initial visual diagram ideas

My first sets of ideas were full of the expected cliches! Big boots, shadows etc.

I was also wary of how one sided the argument for these might appear to be. 

This was an idea  for a comic showing the two causes of rioting I'd been thinking about in my research- consumerism and social injustice. I think it works interestingly as a means of narrative- the way the comic is put together - but after drawing it I wondered why I considered the two causes to be mutually exclusive! I suppose I could rework the comic to combine them, but it would probably lose this interesting dynamic of two way narrative.

This is another idea I'd like to bring forward in the presentation. I had been drawing crowd scenes lazily as big clumps of people but I wondered if I could use that itself as a visual device. The lumping together is a visual metaphor of the way the media lumps all protesters and rioters together regardless of intent, and making them into a monster. The crowding together represents the lack of individuals in the process of the riot, and the anonymity of the basic faces - though this is something I am considering. 

COP part two: sketchbook

After having my mind opened by Scroobius Pip and Killer Mike's podcast I started to think about the perception of protesters, and rioters, and how this is probably mostly influenced by the media. I'm on the fence with the situation, it's a grey area as I think it should be. I can't encourage violence, but can see why under so much pressure people will riot.

On the topic of media- I also thought about how people consumed media. I think many people will admit that because we hear about protest and riots and uprising on the news so often it probably goes over our heads. If it can't grab the attention of the people, how can it make a difference?

I'm also still considering Bauman's idea of the ties between being beaten down by a consumerist system and violence / theft in riots. I don't think it would be the only cause, or at least, I'd like to think that most, especially in protests of crises, that they have true intentions. I can see how this could vary from say, protesting against a murder than rioting after a football match though! 

I started drawing some hand motifs. I think it would be interesting to work with small symbols, but I think the hand symbol is relevant because it suggests a certain anonymity that is key to large crowds and riots.

 So far no media choice had stood out to me. I had tried using conte but it came out very childish and messy, although I think it has potential. Carrying on from the idea of anonymity I made these character figures with a more graphic intent in mind. I also think these brushstrokes suggest something energetic which is key for the fast pace of riots.

COP part two: research from podcasts

It was suggested I listen to a podcast by Scroobius Pip and Killer Mike that in part discussed protests and riots and this information has really kick started my project. There were lots of interesting points including:

• even if protest is not "successful" it will always be successful in that it is a tool to bring together oppressed communities and provide hope and comradeship, which is not something I had thought of before. It made me think of the Students Fees protests which were famously not successful and wonder if, although it didn't work, it may well have bred a new generation of politically aware students which is no short of a good thing.

• what can protest do if you are protesting in the way the system wants you to? to really get your voice heard you may well need to retaliate. "if the system does not change under the will of the people then it is the responsibility of the people to attack". However, it was suggested that an alternative, long term solution is to instead become the system, through becoming police officers, governors etc. But when peoples' lives are at stake, such as in Ferguson, then the voices need to be heard now.

• different countries are better at protesting than others! there was a quote along the lines of that Britain is good at conquering others but not ourselves. 

On the other hand, whilst trying to find other podcasts about protests or riots it turns out they used the words as metaphors and were not at all relevant to my research! There were a couple of relevant ones, but they provided much less information and I noticed they didn't seem as passionate either, maybe because the speakers themselves, such as the ones on Women's Hour, were not so directly affected by such powerful issues such as Mike and Ferguson.

But similar points were made, such as "the system only changes when the terms of debate change" and "protest is not weak- it is no longer a procession to mask the concession of its objectives".

These two other podcasts I listened to (Women's Hour and Victoria Derbyshire) were also quick to dismiss rioting and violence at protests as foolish and not legitmate, which after listening to SP and KM I found hard to agree with completely, particularly under certain circumstances. When innocent people are being killed by their country I cannot place blame on those that react with such anguish.