Aloïse Corbaz

At 32 years of age, Aloïse Corbaz was made to live in a psychiatric asylum due to her diagnosis of schizophrenia.  After she was admitted to the hospital, she began to experiment with creative writing and drawing.  The artistic culture of Art Brut latched onto her as a prime example of the raw art and talent that can arise out of the imagination that is not influenced by the societal constraints and expectations of art.

In her time of painting, drawing, and writing, she created a large body of work, producing hundreds of pieces including full notebooks of writing, gigantic scrolls, and individual paintings.  Her choice for medium included traditional lead, coloured lead pencils, and crayons.  She loved to work on both sides of the paper, canvas, or scroll as a part of her creative process.

                                           

http://www.schizlife.com/the-art-brut-of-aloise-corbaz/

OUIL401 End of Module Evaluation

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have learnt how to produce work from an academic body of writing, how to pick imagery from a text and turn it into a visual piece of work. 

In addition, I have learnt how to use Harvard referencing and how to research academic paper and how to analyse passages from texts. I'm not sure if I applied them that effectively but it's definitely something to build on into level 5.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes?

I have enjoyed looking at data that has been informed by human experience and the feelings of other people. It's helped my practical outcomes be very honest and close to the heart - but with humour.

This module has been my first chance at creating a piece of work with a matter that I am serious about, so being able to research artists that feel the same way as me has helped me gather a better understanding of what I am serious about and made my practical outcomes stronger.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

My visual outcomes were a lot stronger than I was expecting them to be, I was really confused by what we had to do for this module at the start of the year but when I started to visual investigate it became a lot easier for me to decide which route I want to take, the crits we had later on in the year also helped me decide. There's a playfulness in my work which helped me be loose which sprung from not really knowing what to do so I just sorted messed about and I had no boundaries so it helped create something I wasn't expecting this module to take me.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I've been really bad at blogging this module and collecting all my research into one place - I researched certain things but I forgot to note it, or blog it or reference it in anyway so there appears to be gaps in my research which I'm really worried about. 

I think I could have been more profilic with my sketchbook, created more things to play with and investigate further.

5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module?

• Taking the module a bit more seriously. I think because it lasted throughout the whole year and it's quite a slow module, I just put the work to the back of my mind and didn't really think about it until the last year months. 
• Attending all the crit and peer tutorial sessions. I shy away from these things because I get insecure about my work but when I attend them no-one is judgemental and people give me some good idea. I think if I'd attended all the sessions my work would be in a better position than it is

• I found out at the start of the year that I could possibly be dyslexic and I had a test to see if I'm at risk and if I should take the proper test which lasts 3 hours. I was at high risk but I kept putting it off taking the test which would lead to extra help and I think my essay was the result of not asking for help. There are well written parts of my essay but I had to go over with friends in order for it to sound right but it wasn't enough help for me. So next year I'm definitely going to take the test. 
• More thorough research, maybe instead of reading a bit of the journal or skimming the book, perhaps I should read the whole of the journal and the book - then I will come across more interesting information to add to my argument and could develop my practical work further.

• Think more about artists, during my studio practice modules I always have an illustrator in my mind. Why should COP be any different. 

Essay

Visual Journal

Resolved Images - collage advertisements

I took some more awful photos of me brushing my teeth with Ovaltine. I laugh everything I look at these pictures. I guess these are my resolved images?

Successes

• They're gory and ridiculous - embody the anti glamour thing
• They're naive and have a handmade look about them - a contrast to the usual polished and clean toothpaste adverts

Weaknesses

• Even though their background have come from misrepresentation I'm not 100% if that shines through - they kinda seem like an anti-capitalism protest art and not so much for women, I could have possibly stressed that more?
• Are they resolved as they possibly could be? I could have probably done more for the finishing look but  I was going for  a 'naive, messy look'
• I could have probably looked at more 'anti-glamour' artists

Where do I go from here? Ideas about resolved image

After the final crit, I've got more ideas on how I should do my resolved image. I have given up on the 'campaign idea' and gone more towards making a sort of a gross 'anti-glamour' advert. I'm sticking with toothpaste idea because it's universal and brown teeth are gross I guess? I had three different rough ideas

• Should I make it into a gif - a  gif advertisement of me brushing my brown teeth
• A collage advertisement using my brown teeth - similar to normal adverts - but all handmade with photographs
• Or a toothpaste advert that has been created on Photoshop with digital type?

The basic set up of a traditional toothpaste advertisement.

I attempted a gif... but my idea for a gif were going to be someone putting toothpaste on a toothbrush and putting it in their mouth. But because I had no-one to help me or anything to stand my phone up on and it was very hard getting the angle right... I gave up on the gif idea. I could have just done it of me brushing my teeth but that would have been kind of boring?

Final crit feedback

In the first half of the crit, Siobhan answered the questions on the sheet we were given and then in the second half of the crit me and Bronte had a little chat about our work. Very helpful day!!

Comment on the relationship between the content and practical responses so far

• Considered lots of different aspects of the question - been quite broad
• The use of slogans and captions is useful

Comment on the clarity with which the visual responses and theory are connected, How and why does one process inform the other?

• The misrepresentation page is v.good
• Intriguing ideas - maybe need to be translated into a different format (photographs?)

Comment on the visual quality of the practical response

• Free & explorative
• Good use of character and colour
• Great bits of collage - try doing pieces that are all collage maybe?

What issues need to be addressed ahead of the submission deadline?

• Write a proposal!
• 3D ILLUSTRATION
• Good ideas - make them into photos, hands on face

My action plan before the deadline is to...

• Blog everything!
• Go towards a resolved image - create an advert

Early toothpaste ideas - pics

I took the whole 'anti-glamour idea' and tried to play with it. I looked awful today so I capitalised on that, put some lipstick on and then proceeded to put Ovaltine all over my teeth. I've been trying to come up with a toothpaste advertisement idea and I just thought about how no-one in toothpaste adverts has bad teeth and I know they wouldn't sell any if they did but I'd sorta like it if they did. I did some drawings from the pictures I took but I'm not sure how far I could get with them, up to this point my style has been quite loose with collage in the mix so I don't know if these drawings fit in. I definitely want to stick with the putting ovaltine on my teeth thing, not sure where to go next.

Mega crit feedback

I'm kinda ashamed of the work that is in my visual journal so I only showed a few things in the crit that I was most happy with. I regret this because it didn't really help everyone understand my work and I think I could probably have got more feedback if I'd shared everything flaws and all to the rest of the group.

Comment on the breadth of initial ideas produced in response to visual or theoretical research

• strong basis for a visual research project
• meaningful and really deep, fight the struggle

Comment on the visual investigation and development of ideas in response to the brief? Journal, blog or other examples of work

Strengths

• experimental, abstract, interpretation of women's struggle

Suggestions

• maybe look at using collage more, I can see the middle one translating well in that

Comment on the visual quality of the developing work in response to the brief

Strengths

• It would be interesting to see you develop the anti-glamour quality of the work. Think crude, informed, visuals

Suggestions

• maybe print them out? :)

Comment on the effectiveness of the work in response to the problems set

• Really interesting work, communicates your idea really well

Self Evaluation

I really like the collage aspects of my work so I think I'm going to carry on with this. I think I'm going to use collage in order to create something anti-glamour, and give the use of collage more meaning rather than just aesthetics?

The clarity of my work could be improved, it's a little messy and a little hard to understand. Others will benefit from it more than me because they'll actually be able to understand my work.

I might try add photography as an element in my work - I haven't tried this before. It could add new depth and meaning to what I'm trying to say - especially if I involve myself.

Maisie Cousins

On her website is says 'Her approach to making art is hedonistic and performative. She explores themes of power, femininity, nature, technology, the body and indulgence. '

I love Maisie Cousins work and I think it relates to my theme because it's a little bit disgusting but a little bit beautiful? She pushes boundaries on how we view women. The women in her artworks aren't always conventionally beautiful. They're different looking. She presents naked women in beautiful and some what 'sexy' settings but with slimy details like slugs and grass, she confuses our perceptions of beauty with an off putting twist.


"Most of my work stems from a personal place and I guess I’m sick of seeing imagery aimed at me that I cannot in any way relate to. It’s very boring and dishonest. I think it’s important for art to be relatable." - Maisie Cousins 2016

Outsider art influence

I've been watching 'Journeys Into The Outside with Jarvis Cocker', a tv series presented by Jarvis Cocker where he visits various countries such as France and USA to experience the outsider art in the countries. I particularly like the French man who covered his whole how is broken crockery and shells.



Some consider outsider art to be  'art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by those on the outside of the established art scene, such as psychiatric hospital patients and children.'

But also 'the English term "outsider art" is often applied more broadly, to include certain self-taught or naïve art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions.'

I am using Outsider Art as my influence because these women who aren't represented are possibly seen as outsiders to to the glamorous media. It's a good way to express our feelings of neglect through outsider art because a lot of outsider art is never found (possibly found after death) and that could represent that their voices will never particularly be heard.

Here are a few of my favourite outsider art pieces.





I love how raw and bad these pieces are, they are alive and have a presence which classically trained artists cannot emulate!

Focused advertisements - Toothpaste?

I've been looking at Toothpaste advertisements and a lot of them are just women with nice teeth stood next to a tube of toothpaste. I think I've chosen toothpaste to focus on because not all women/people use something like mascara or lipstick, but most people use toothpaste so it's a very universal thing. The women in these advertisements always have very beautiful teeth but not everyone does? Where are the adverts for the women with terrible teeth?

Tracey Owens Patton

Some more advertising/campaign ideas

I've done some visual investigation and tried out with the whole campaign idea. I'm not sure if I 100% like it, I find the slogan thing a little bit cliched and there's only so far I can go with the imagery at this point other than people looking a bit weird. 

I got bored of trying to create characters and stuck with what situation I could put them in so I tried an abstract idea - I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the characters are all different shapes and there's so many of us out there but only one shape is idealised... I don't know. I don't like it but I guess it was fun to draw the shapes.

Proposal

My intentions for my practical work are to try create pieces of work that help represent women who are not represented in traditional advertising. I am investigating how women are perceived, where it be extremely beautiful and there isn't a lot of room for non-conventional looking women. Most  advertisements only include incredibly conventionally beautiful women, who are cis, usually white and heterosexual - I want to try and show there is women beyond that. I am going to look closely at advertisements of cosmetic products because that's where I feel women are mis-represented the most. I want to explore the feelings of women when they don't see themselves in the advertisements.My possible outcomes include creating the work of a fake advertising agency that create their adverts including everyone or a campaign to encourage people to boycott companies if they feel they are not represented within the advertisements.

Focused theme: Backlash against mainstream advertising

I want to create a campaign where women revolt against advertising companies and boycott their products - they don't listen to and buy from companies who use the same tried and tested ways of advertising.

Another thing that really annoys me are advertising companies that use feminism to sell thing to women, such as

• Dove's real beauty campaign
• Cover Girls #GirlsCan
• Unilever (maker of Dove etc) get women to talk about their insecurities that they've created 

Carol Rossetti

Carol Rossetti is a illustrator based in Brazil. She created a very prolific series of propaganda style illustrations in order to empower all different women by presenting  women who are happy about themselves which society and the media usually make them feel bad about. Her illustrations were heavily researched and their is a real woman behind all of them. Her work relates to my theme because it's letting women who aren't always represented in the media have their say about their body and life.

How I plan to transfer my essay theme into my practical work...

My essay mainly focuses on misrepresentation of ethnic minority women within advertising. A friend pointed out to me that it's possibly not my right to create work on something that is not necessarily something I struggle with as I am a white woman, so I think I'm going to bring my practical work back into something broader - the misrepresentation of women in general within the media.

I started by writing out so synonyms to 'mis-representation' and see what I could draw from these words. This was a good starting point because I was so lost because I felt my essay subject was quite serious and I was afraid of insulting people, so I wanted to strip it back a little and just react to simple words instead of diving into the heavy stuff.

My images are very basic but I'm happy that they convey some sort of meaning even if its my first attempt at creating something for this study brief.

My synonyms are : adulteration, colouring, distortion, exaggeration, fabrication, false light, falsification, lie, misstatement, mutilation, not a true picture, slant, strory, stretch, tall story, twist, untruth

Some advertisement ideas - practical work

I'm not exactly sure what I want my campaigns/advertisements to be about - I know it's anti-glamour though. Toothpaste is floating around my head but I'm not sure why. I've took some inspiration from Carol Rossetti's work and thought about about putting handwritten words into my work just to make that little bit more personal. I think instead of a story I might try to create a slogan? A sort of manifesto slogan. WE DON'T NEED YOU... Very Bikini Kill. Something along the lines of 'include us or we won't include you'. I want the characters in the images to be alien-like? Not conventional, slightly weird, outsiders perhaps?

These are the images I am going to use for my essay