CTS SEMINAR ONE - PANOPTISISM

CTS 

SEMINAR ONE

THE UNKNOWN IS MUCH MORE THREATENING 

PANOPTISM , Relies on surveillance 

PANOPTICON MAKES YOU CONFORM- Jeremy bentham designed this prison in 1791, he was an architect , could have been the layout for anything, hospital, school , prison? you are totally isolated , lack of contact with others, make you chance mentally very quickly. lit from the windows, makes the prisoners constantly on display, being watched and visibly to the unknown, the prisoners conform to the idea that someone may or may not be watching you, so you start controlling you re behavior by yourself- SELF REGULATION

the prisoners are visible but unverifiable.

POWER IS A REGULATION - The ruling class of society 'the hierarchy of individuals e.g. feminism, business statuses' Faucault believes the people with power , only have power because they enter themselves into that role/situation , and the people that are getting rules are letting it happen, and exploiting themselves into being on a lower level, e.g we are the students , being ruled by the higher individual , our lecturer , because we are letting him teach us. however , there is always a possibility that we can resist, but as a human we don't always realize this, control is all about people letting others control them by choice, and this is not always obvious to the less powerful. 

question to ask yourself -

WHY AM I BEING CONTROLLED? 

WHO AM I DONG THIS FOR?

WHAT AM I DOING?

a key feature of the prison is that the people watching have to be NOT VISIBLE , especially to the prisoners, and the prisoners have to be VISIBLE at all times, without this it would not work!

Building designed very well!!!

Michel Foucault ' a french philosopher ' was interested in the panopticon not because of its physical form , but because it was like a metaphor for how society was controlled, interested in what the panopticon reflected 'a control through peoples mind' 

ANOTHER KEY POINT - The panopticon also controlls and watched the prison guards, one big circle, an example of this is out lecturers are being watched as well as the students , where theres power there is always resistance !!

1970'S a switch from.....

PHYSICAL CONTROL(an irrational way) -----> MENTAL CONTROL (a more human way)

MODERN DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY 

it is more effective to try and make/persuade people behave than to try and force/push people to behave

THE PANOPTICON, trains you to change you re ways, change and twist you re mind, it is PRODUCTIVE in the way that it phsycalogical focuses the prisoners into becoming a better behaved individual, correcting a person into behaving the way in which you want them to, 

As oppose to a regular prison where it just keep the criminal locked away so they cannot commit a crime again. In turn the individual continues to be a criminal, but they are hidden away and prevented from committing a crime again. 

INSTITUTIONAL GAZE - the idea of an institution to the prisoners, being watched by 'people' as oppose to 'one person' which in turn makes you act as though the law institution wants you to act, how society has coded you to act. 

A DOCILE BODY - "one that may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved. and that this docile body can only be achieved through strict regiment of disciplinary acts"

Foucault argues that we cannot choose to enter modern society; we are controlled utterly by it through it technologies of power

EXAMPLES OF PANOPTISISM - 

*fake cctv cameras on houses to put off burglars 'visible , but you never know if it is recording - a fake threat'

*neighborhood watch - close houses and villages 

*gardeners , do not do it for themselves although they think they are , but they want to impress others in the village , they are not aware of this. 

*

CTS LECTURE - TECHNOLOGY WILL LIBERATE US

Joanna Geldard
NOTES....

CTS LECTURE - PANTOPTISISM

INSTITUTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL POWER

Panopticism: Institutions & Institutional Power 

Richard Miles 2011

The lecture introduces the work of Michel Foucault and particularly his theoretical application of panopticism, techniques of the body and ‘disciplinary society’. Funnily enough ‘institution’ is not defined in the lecture, but take it that institutions can exist on two levels, first, organised bodies which have some kind of collective material physical entity, [e.g., hospitals, government, the police] and secondly, organised practices which are more solidly defined around customs and practices, such as the institution of ‘marriage’, the ‘family’ and so on.

‘Literature, art and their respective producers do not exist independently of a complex institutional framework which authorises, enables, empowers and legitimises them. This framework must be incorporated into any analysis that pretends to provide a thorough understanding of cultural goods and practices.’

Randal Johnson in Walker & Chaplin (1999)

Learning Aims:-

UNDERSTAND THE DESIGN MODEL OF THE PANOPTICON

UNDERSTAND FOUCAULT’S CONCEPT OF ‘DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY’.

UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY AS A MEANS OF RENDERING INDIVIDUALS PRODUCTIVE AND USEFUL

UNDERSTAND FOUCAULT’S CONCEPT OF TECHNIQUES OF THE BODY AND ‘DOCILE’ BODIES

PANOPTICISM

  ‘Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power.’ (Foucault, 1975)

What Foucault is describing is a transformation in Western societies from a form of power imposed by a ruler / sovereign to A NEW MODE OF POWER CALLED PANOPTICISM

The panopticon is a model of how modern society organises its knowledge, its power, its surveillance of bodies and its ‘training’ of bodies

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER, KNOWLEDGE AND THE BODY.

Disciplinary Society produces what Foucault calls ‘docile bodies’.

‘power relations have an immediate hold upon it [the body]; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs’ (Foucault 1975)

Disciplinary Techniques
“That the techniques of discipline and ‘gentle punishment’ have crossed the threshold from work to play shows how pervasive they have become within modern western societies” (Danaher, Schirato & Webb 2000)

Foucault’s definition of power is not a top – down model, as in Marxist theory, but is more subtle. Thus,

power is not a thing or a capacity people have – 

it is a relation  between different individuals and groups, and only exists when it is being exercised – 

The exercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be resisted. 

For Foucault, ‘Where there is power there is resistance’.

Bibliography

Please see yr 2 bib,

But also, 

Foucault, M.  (1975) ‘Panopticism’ 

from Hall, S. & Evans (1998) Visual Culture a Reader 

Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison London, Penguin

See also web sites on Foucault of which there are plenty

The emergence of forms of knowledge – biology, psychiatry, medicine, etc.,  legitimise the practices of hospitals, doctors, psychiatrists.

Foucault aims to show how these forms of knowledge and rationalising institutions like the prison, the asylum, the hospital, the school, now work on human beings in such a way that they alter our consciousness and that they internalise our responsibility.

Portfolio Task 5- Graphic Design & Deconstruction

Lupton, E (2008) 'Thinking With Type'
of Graphic Design focusing on the aims of Deconstruction in Graphic Design.
Possible designers to look at could be Richard Eckersley, David Carson, Allen Hori, Ed Fella or David Frej.

'Thinking with type' is a deconstructed breakdown of how text and typography are used and there functions when used to inform the public. Text and typography differ in their visual appearance ,purpose and outcome. Before typing technologies were about such as the printing press and computers, common mistakes were made in advertisements, articles and instruction Manuel's which in turn would have been disruptive and often rupture clear communication towards their audience, however this almost gave each deliverable a unique difference to their appearance visually. Common mistakes made were lack of regularity , kerning and unbalanced spacing between the text, which would rarely be seen in today's informative designs. 

Once print was introduced by Glutenberg in the 1450's there was a dramatic change. Books , posters and text in general were becoming much more invariable. This gave authority to authors as the text became their own, and allowed typographers to focus on minor imperfections made in a piece of text when producing them. This in turn created sense of fulfillment to all text in general arose but also concluded its purpose and outcome. 


Typography generated using print is known to be set out in a certain format which people claim to be blunt and rounded which leaved no room for interpreting meaning. Although not every reader looks at text in the same way. The obsessive organisation of a piece of text can distract the reader from the truth and emotion of the meaning. Simple and Modifications to the layout encourage this such as headers, footers, numbers, boarders, index and accents etc. This encourage the reader to follow the text 'like in a book' buy instructing them with features. 


Text plays a key role in the process of design, as a graphic designer  i am always looking for the best possible ways to communicate and engage my audience using typography and layout. Typography's main purpose is  'to help readers avoid reading' making it less of an effort for the reader to engage and understand what is trying to be communicated. Graphic designers do this by breaking down the masses of text , modifying them and laying the text out in the most readable way. 

Ed fella is known for his innovative responce and development to deconstructionist deisgn, the piece above This is a perfect example of one of his deconstructivist typography illustrations. The explosion of colour and variation of fonts and sizes is very innovative and shows his free spirited design style which i much prefer to the constructivist print like typography. It is quite un-clear which encourages the reader to look closer into the message to understand what the typographer is trying to portray by using this specific style.

'Typography gives words nostalgia, history or an aesthetic energy that seem right, just so, or just AMAZING!'

- Ed Fella 

http://www.oberholtzer-creative.com/visualculture/2008/12/quote-of-the-week-23/

ESSAY

Focussing on specific examples, describe the way that Modernist art & Design was a response to the forces of modernity?
In response to this, I will mainly be highlighting the great aesthetic reconstruction that was produced by artists throughout Germany in painting and graphic art throughout the 1900s and the 20th century. I will be focusing on the nature of modernist movements in Constructivism Expressionism, Bauhaus and the forces of opinions amongst Germany.
In the 19th century, the german population considered Modernity as an artist’s response to the changing social, political and cultural activities in their lives. The increasing changes to society encouraged a new attitude towards current artists; the effects of urbanization and industrialization were expressed through a new striking style of painting.
The unbelievable growth of cities had a great effect on the population in the 19th century when technology was at its best, this created a large shift in society and opened up a new world to urban and eventually even suburban workers. Life became fragmented and society was now secularization, the ‘city’ had now become the personification of modernism.
Great social changes affected Russia at this period, it was the time of the ‘Russian Revolution, 1917' and this was a great opportunity for art to progress. This shift in society effected contempoary designers/artists, giving them new inventive ideas and encouraged constructivists desires to make art more useful. Art became the base for constructing new society.
The use of techniques and abstract aesthetics were shown throughout the architecture, objects and art.  Replacing the old with the new was the way forward. This development of peoples aesthetic spoke out to the public about modernity, not just for the way they look, but also to make a statement.
This progress in advanced society had a big effect on the public; it created a new language for democratic and political subjects. Artists and designers used their work to express these views and to inform the public about the social changes in their lives in an abstracted and symbolic way.

One of El Lissitzy pieces of the 19th century,  Beat The Whites With The Red Wedge is a very good example of this , It was seen as a symbol of power and significant status for anti capitalism. Lissitzy painted this during the civil war, which explains the symbolistic colours red and white. He used shapes and colours to portray the conflict between the Bolshevik army(red wedge) and the anti-revolutionary forces (white circle). Red was a typical colour of revolution and  White was a typical color of the anti-revolutionary forces. The russian text is specifically placed and colored on opposing sides representing the publics strong opinions clashing during the civil war , on the right side it says Bey Belch Meaning "Beat Whites" and on the left Kaneohe kpachnim ''White is right''.
The propaganda poster had a great effect on the public and still does to this day,it shows the persuasion of positive and negative towards its targeted audience. Portraying such a powerful message through visuals, the viewers were drawn into the political debate through a new method which became more popular in artists throughout the 19th century, known as 'Graphic Design'. It was at this time when El Lissitzy fell into this way of working up until the 30's. He became an innovator of graphic art, modern typography and photomontage.

'The artist constructs a new symbol with his brush. This symbol is not a recognizable form of anything that is already finished, already made, or already existent in the world — it is a symbol of a new world, which is being built upon and which exists by the way of the people'

But where did El Lissitzkys influences for supremalist art come from? It was the Bauhaus that caught his attention at this particular period, the factory for modern design. The school influenced allot of graphic designers in the 19th century and also allot of the 20th century modern art. Along with other assets, the school taught typography and this was where sans-serif typography was created which was an alternative to the heavy German standard of black-letter typography shown in some of Lissitzkys work from the 19th century. It was also the constructivism art movements at the time that had a great influence on lissitzy modernist designs The movements with origins in Russia at the time were increasing and this was a great opportunity for new art inspiration and communication in Lissitzky's designs.

'Constructivism is a Russian version of Modernism. It was a revolutionary movement in art, caused by the social and industrial revolutions of the 19th 20th centuries'

El Lissitzy continued to create more designs that had a great effect on Germanys population and their views towards the changing political and democratic events in the 20th century. People were influenced by constructivism. Modernist art was meant to serve the social purpose , it was created to serve all people and be practical in its nature.

'Russia became a breeding ground for the revolution and at itself'


At a similar period during the russian revolution , a riot broke out involving the government , the public. Political view's clashed and all hell broke loose, this was referred to as the February Revolution. What was interesting about this event is that the protest got out of hand and troops had to be called in,  but instead of shooting at the rioters, the troops joined in to their protests and with no army to protect him, Tsar Nicholas 'emperor and autocrat of the russians' abandon his throne and his advisors resigned.


Looking at a contrast in art and design during the 19-20th century, Boris Kustodiev, a local russian painter responded to the democratic and political views using art in a more traditional way.

The Russian Revolution shook the foundations of society, which encouraged a vivid response in the artist's soul. He produced his own interpretation of the riot using oil based paints on canvas, 'the bolshevik'. Kustodiev wanted to communicate the statuses of power and democracy using colour and image. The painting is very symbolic to the revolution as there is an obvious use of red 'in the large flag that the giant is carrying' the colour red was chosen by the bolsheviks as their symbolistic colour representing 'blood' this marked workers and peasants 'anything red is a part of us', Higher classed citizens were usually painters and soldiers. 60% of Russia population were illiterate , Kustodiev wanted to convey the visual methods of their power using symbolic colours and unreal imagery in his painting.

The giant man in the middle of the protest is dressed like an average man, this could be a metaphor showing the collective strength of men creates power 'the riot,' this makes the audience rely on the visual propaganda at the time as it does not have the same connotation as it does nowadays.

These works reveal the captivating and complex ways in which artists responded to the forces of modernity and their personal relationships in contemporary society, culture and politics. The work that was produced by both artists gave the constructivists optimism about the future. Lissitsky and Kustodiev created new visual style's that was a revolution and linked to the political movement. This created a whole new style In typography, painting and colour which they then used in their works in an abstracted and symbolic way.

'Today we call the revolution 'Modernism' , Constructivism was Russia's version for that.'




REFERENCING

QUOTES

(1)book- Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum and El Lissitzy. El Lissitzy, 1890–1941: Architect Painter Photographer Typographer. Municipal Van Abbemuseum, 1990. 

(2) Constructivism is a Russian version of Modernism. It was a revolutionary movement in art, caused by the social and industrial revolutions of the 19th 20th centuries.'Mikhail' — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQURCU6jN58&feature=related

(3) Russia became a breeding ground for the revolution and at itself 'Milkhail'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQURCU6jN58&feature=related

web-  http://www.abcgallery.com/K/kustodiyev/kustodiyevbio.html

(4) Today we call the revolution 'Modernism' , Constructivism was Russia's version for that ' Milkhail' 2004

web-  http://books.google.com/books?id=LiIMkx5yAFQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=explanation+of+boris+kustodiev+the+bolshevik&source=Bel&ots=OD_H4ygjGQ&sig=toZWt9ikovK6IUICnwwHS-XJVk0&hl=en&Eli=oyVATZXsKo-ahQe9t6GoCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

web-  http://shkrobius.livejournal.com/2005/08/26/

book-  Anti-Bolshevik Communism by Paul mattick jR. 

book-  The Russian Revolution and Bolshevik Victory: Visions and Revisions by Ronald Grigor Suny

book- Modernism: Designing a New World : 1914-1939 'christopher wilk'

Video , research for essay task

RussianConstructivism

Portfolio Task 3- Avant Gardism

In approximately 300 words discuss the concept of the 'Avant Garde' in relation to two examples of Graphic Design. Include pictures and full references to the works you are discussing. 

Avant Gard is seen as being an ongoing contemporary art direction that is unfamiliar and fresh. It is often used to create a reaction or emotion that is controversial to its intention like an advertisement or promotion. This is not always taken to satisfaction by its audience, but can have a great impact on the society as a whole.

As a graphic designer i come across examples of this everyday which inspires and guides me and my relation to graphic design.

Adbusters is a great website for discovering examples of Avant Gard ism which is where i found two particular pieces of advertisement that came to

my attention. 

'Asolute on Ice', Adbusters

http://www.adbusters.org/content/absolut-ice

This ad is very effective. As soon as i engaged with the poster i felt a 

sense of mortality. 

Even though it is just a foot, your mind relates to the label and white sheet 

, portraying death. I felt i wanted to know more about what the poster was 

trying to communicate, as it was evidently negative.

I then related to the generic typeface of 'Absolute Vodka' and associated it 

with joyful experiences, the use of Avant Gard ism is clearly used her as 

the image and text contradict each other. 

Instead of promoting the positive effects and promotion of the product, the 

poster does the opposite and communicates the truths about the alcohol. 

this is also shown in the facts about the effects it has on its audience in 

small print underneath the footer. 

http://www.adpunch.org/entry/most-interesting-parody-ads-in-the-world/

This photograph of a mother breast feeding her which appears to be

tattooed child is not a parody of any particular brand although the baby is 

covered in branded names. This shocking image almost reflects the 

dominance of brands on the collective social individual.

I see it as a metaphor, 'the baby suckling on the teet of consumerism'

As a graphic designer i have become much more aware of Avan Gard ism. The combination of imagery and text related to its audience is a key importance for communicating a strong issue or subject.