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.