To get a more deeper understanding of where my uncertainties for space and art can interact, I looked this article about the book called “The Dialectics of Art” by John Molyneux.

The book talks about how art is affected by the conditions of how the world was when this particular art was created. The author approaches art with the understanding that, creating art is a social process, All art is produced in particular circumstances and the various attitudes it expresses the society and its ideas. The author’s opening argument centres on Marx’s concept of alienation, that unlike most other forms of work or labour in capitalist society, the work process of the artists is unalienated.

For Marx, alienation under capitalism is the way the system works. Alienation is a product of the fact that capitalism is driven by blind, competition, the competition for profit. Marx argued that capitalism has deformed art in a number of ways. Learning more about this book made me come across an interesting term called, “art-washing”, The tax-free endowments given by big corporations to the big art galleries shows that leaders understand the importance of what has come to be called ‘art-washing’.

This word made me think about the term “greenwashing” which is being used quite a lot in today’s time due to decieving nature of corporations wanting to seen more sustainable than they actually are. The pressure of being sustainable is actually being put upon the consumers instead of the big corporations which are actually the ones who are harming the environment.

To get more information about consumer sustainability, I read an article by sartorial magazine, titled, “Thrifting is not guilt free”. “Gentrification and high-jacking of thrift store items is a reflection of the larger, systemic inequality that arises from exploitative capitalism which values profit over narrowing the wealth gap and protecting the planet”.

“No ethical consumption under capitalism” by many anti-capitalists because the very nature of capitalism is to exploit those on the bottom. Every worker is paid less than the value of their work, in order for those who own the means of production to make a profit. In other words, as long as this capitalist structure exists, a mass shift into thrifting may solve some ethical dilemmas but will inevitably cause others to surface. We as people of this generation are trying to make conscious choices as consumers. This is not enough to combat the major issues such as climate change, unfair wages, and outsourcing of labor if we don’t address the larger source of the problem. Many companies come to mind when I hear about mass produced fast fashion such as shein, h&m etc. As pointed out by one of my classmates, who witnessed a canada goose display at oxford street covered in plants, that none of these tactics are actually very convincing in make the company look better.

References:

http://sartorialmagazine.com/fashion-1/2020/6/28/thrifting-isnt-guilt-free

http://arthistoryunstuffed.com/marxism-art-artist/

http://www.e-flux.com/journal/43/60205/art-without-market-art-without-education-political-economy-of-art/ 

http://www.counterfire.org/article/culture-under-capitalism-why-art-is-alienated-the-dialectics-of-art-review/

Project 3: Box of Uncertainties

In Tuesday’s session on 24th January, we were presented with an activity, to cut down a brief to 30 words, then to 8 words. To basically make us as students do an exercise which makes us think and makes us engage with the brief. We were then presented with what an intervention is, An intervention or series of interventions are undertaken to give form to the question and gain evidence and new knowledge through external testing.

When I first heard the word intervention, my mind went straight to my friends, when any one us has a problem or has been doing something which is negative for them, we all gather, sit together and talk to that person, funnily that was what we deemed as an intervention, how we felt the need to intervene.

As I thought more about it, a research intervention and a friendship intervention were quite similar, as you question something, gain evidence about it and then create new knowledge, as if one feels strongly about a certain topic/object, they investigate more into it. Another conversation we had in class was about reflection.

My first memory of reflection was writing personal diaries as a kid, as we discussed more about different memories of my classmates with reflection, the common theme among our group was imposed reflection. In many stories which our group shared about reflection, it was clear that we only reflected in that situation because we were forced to, such as standing quietly in the corner of the room if we did something bad, writing a letter as punishment to reflect on our mistakes. These stories made me think how that has had an impact on my ability of reflect now as an child, and how my perpective is quite different now as an adult who now wants to reflect on things willingly.

For our tutor session with David on 23rd January, My classmates and I discussed about the different uncertainties that people have. Whereas I on the other hand had decided to focus on the box instead of actually finding my uncertainties. It was quite important to pick an uncertainity, but for some reason I just could not. When I started to think about things that I am uncertain about many things which I am curious about came to mind, such as space and art.

When I started thinking about space, I thought about the uncertain questions such as about the vastness of space? Are we alone in this universe or not? etc. For art I started thinking about what makes art “art”? Who decides what is deemed as art? What makes art sellable? The problem with both these topics as pointed out by my tutor was the sheer scale of the broadness of both the topics. These topics sparked a conversation about epistemology, which is the theory of knowledge, and how we come to gain knowledge about things which are uncertain. In the tutor group we then started discussing about art, and how art is valued, craft is not, how art is used to fufill propoganda, and how design is a whole other aspect of art which is known for providing solutions.

My tutor also pointed out how my topics are not applicable for everyone, due to cultural differences, many people in the world do not have the luxury or aren’t connected to resources which make them think about topics such as space and art. After the tutor session, me and one of my classmates were having a discussion as to how her country and my country are similar in these aspects as both of them are “third world”, and due to the amount of corruption, people not having access to basic necessities, and have so many other challenges to overcome. It is clear that thoughts about space and art would be the last thing that people from our countries are thinking about. This made me think about how there is a different meaning of uncertainties for each and every person due to cultural differences.

Project 1: Box of Uncertainties.

As I joined the course later, I happened to miss the briefing for Box of uncertainties, however I did look upon the brief on 18th January, it struck me as very fascinating because it was meant for us as students to interpret what we want our box of uncertainties to be about. When I first read the brief at home, my mind went into a very outcome based mode. Instead of opening up my mind to the possibilities of things that are uncertain, I started thinking about how I will be presenting my uncertainties, which made me think about the mode that I would present my uncertainties as, such as a stop motion video, an actual box, use post-it notes, maybe a hand drawn box?

Instead of focusing on what my actual uncertainties should be I started thinking about the Box. What my box could be? What should it look like? The concept of actually choosing uncertainties to put within my box seemed kind of daunting as compared to thinking about the box. Various concepts came to my mind when I started thinking about a box to showcase my uncertainties. Such as a gift box, A gift is always wrapped in some kind of wrapping paper, even though the reciever is not sure what he or she will get but is certain about the fact that it is in fact a present. The other concept which comes to mind when I think about the box is a box of playing cards. Everyone who has dealt with playing card is aware, about what each card in the box is, such as joke, queen of hearts, etc etc, but once the cards are shuffled, and if you pick one it is uncertain which card will show up.

So again the question remains? What is my uncertainity? Only thing certain thing about life is Uncertainty.