COP2: publication proposal

In my essay I wrote about how the art world and the public are divided in opinion and how barriers are created through artwork, institutions and the artists themselves. In this project I aim to explore how I can make art more accessible, and understand more about this division. The book will be aimed at the adults who feel intimidated by art, and so will be simple, using well known art as cultural reference points. I hope to challenge their ideas, but will also inevitably agree with them. I hope to challenge the reasons art isn't accessible, because from my research the barrier it has placed itself in is largely self sustaining.

I'll mostly be using humour to engage the audience. This comes from research into similar projects by Grayson Perry and David Shrigley, but mostly this tone of voice came naturally- particularly because the reason people aren't into art is that it is perceived as being so serious. I may use academic quotes (very very sparingly) to give the book some form, but this may also make it seem more 'truthful', not just my own silly opinion.

COP2 practical response: hotdog books

Working with the hotdog book as a format has been quite a good way of generating ideas- being able to work on small themes in small bursts has been easier for me to make ideas than just working straight into my sketchbook.

This Is You was very basic in concept, just based on observations of people in galleries. These observations could be real or imagined but based on reality or the things I wrote on in my essay. I guess it could portray how silly people are in reaction to art, but I'm not sure if that's encouraging.

Is It Art would be a book discussing art that looks like everyday objects, based on O'Doherty's quote about how in galleries anything can look like art and thus be intimidating. The book would alternate between images of art that looks just like real found objects and actual found objects but put in a gallery context. There would be a lot of scope for image making in this, I think model making would be fun. However I think this book could easily look like I'm having a go at art, and I'm not entirely sure if that's what I want to go down. I think a self-awareness and self-deprecatingness would be a good tone to have though.

How To Make Money / How To Make Them Smile is a double sided book based on the division of contemporary art and the 'people's' preference. It's silly and makes fun of both sides equally which I think is a good way to go. Writing this essay didn't put me particularly on either 'side', and this book would reflect this.

Don't Be Afraid is probably the most 'encouraging' of the four. It's quite nice because it has a narrative. A small  character engages with art in humorous ways but gets bigger and bigger throughout the book, showing that art is just an object and not to be feared. The quote "The gallery offers the idea that while eyes and minds are welcome, bodies are not"  crossed through sets the tone of the publication.

The theme that seemed to come out of all these hotdog books was facing the topics with humour. Writing my essay the thing that seemed to be dividing the people and the art so much was how serious it was, and just making it funny or silly might well make it more accessible. I was probably inspired on some level by Grayson Perry's 'Playing to the Gallery' and David Shrigley's Save the Arts animated campaign, both things that utilise humour and image to make things a bit more fun.