Capital and Commodity - Advertising

This lecture studied the overwhelming role of capitalism in our society, the value we attatch to purchased items in relation to status, and the effect of advertising.

Foodtown Advertisment. Photographed by myself on 19/05/2010. Bus from Otara to Britomart

The advert I have selected to study in closer depth is a set of Foodtown posters situated around the upper walls of a bus. I will concentrate on one in particular, as it is the poster which initially caught my attention.

The element of this advert which intitially baited my interest was the fact that the story does not immediately have an obvious purpose to the viewer, other than to provide interesting facts on the benefits tomatoes and potatoes. Usually, if there is a narrative within an advertisement, it will be evident at some point throughout the text. This narrative, however, concentrates soley on objects which are not a brand in themselves. A bus is a perfect place to situate this advert as most viewers will not have another visual activity, thus they will be looking for visual stimulation and have time to read the advert in full. When I reached the end of the advert, I was confused as to what it was advertising, as I had not consciously absorbed the information on the left hand side of the poster. This enticed me to indulge my curiousity, and I saw it was an advert for Foodtown, which, by chance, we happened to be passing.

The combination of image and text works very well in this situation. The two types of visual information compliment each other as whichever the viewer is drawn to first invites a glance at the other side of the poster. It also covers two types of audience - those who respond more strongly to text, and those who respond more strongly to images. The image is appealing and the text opens 'Native to South America...' which sounds interesting and exotic - not qualities one would necessarily usually associate with a tomato as they are so common in everyday life. Personally, I processed the facts about the goodness of the products, then looked at the image and considered how easy it would be to make the simple, delicious looking dish. The advert states the recipe is available at Foodtown. Immediately, it has created a situation where the viewer is tempted by the product, and provided an affordable, easy outcome for attaining it.

The right hand side of the advert appears to be quite harmless and non persuasive. The standard, simple looking font, lack of brand and simple title 'Tomatoes' puts forth a non biased approach. Hand in hand with the simple facts, it gives the impression of endorsing a healthy lifestyle and the wellbeing of the viewer and providing light entertainment, as opposed to driving hard a sale. This gives an impression of goodness, inviting the viewer to trust the advertiser. The Foodtown name and logo at the top left of the image provides context. It does not seem to appear to attempt to persuade the viewer to shop there, but it subliminaly imprints the identity of the mind of the viewer, whether or not he or she consciously ignores it. I also like the linguistic choice of vegetables featured - potatoes and tomatoes. Visually and sonically, these words are similar and this creates a harmony. It also caused me to look twice to check that I had read the word 'tomato' correctly in the first instance, as the text continues on without a break to discuss potatoes, and this jolted my attention. Foodtown have cleverly disguised the fact that they are advertising their own produce. Usually, when a supermarket advertises a product, it is of a certain brand. The lack of branding associated with vegetables is used to their advantage here, adding to the non biased impression they wish to convey. The viewer would probably not stop to consider the advert long enough to realise that they only sell Foodtown vegetables. This may seem blindingly obvious, but the lack of slogan sitting all over the product adds to the 'we are not trying to sell you anything, we want what's best for you!' message.

The red and yellow colour scheme is rather unimaginative yet effective. It is famously used in advertising for many food brands, particularly within the fast food industry, such as MacDonalds and Wendys. Perhaps this fast food connotation highlights the simplicity of the preparation of the dish. The bright, contrasting combination creates an eye catching aesthetic. I was also drawn to it as it reminded me of pop art, which is obviously a movement in itself to appeal to a low culture art society, as well as being based on this advertising culture which appeals to the masses.

Much of the human reaction to colour is subliminal, and consumers are generally unaware of the persuasive effects of colour. Some basic colour theory denotes that red represents speed, passion, excitement, strength and urgency. A key nugget of information with regard to the colour red, is that it enhances the metabolism, increases respiration rate and raises blood pressure. It is also the colour most commonly used in national flags. The use of red, therefore, would grab a viewer's attention and subliminaly create a sense of excitement and urgency, as well as having physical affects on the body in relation to food consumption. In nature, yellow is one of the most unignorable colours. Some connotations of yellow are joy, hope, optimism, idealism and sunshine. Thus, these colours together make a powerful and persuasive combination to sell the product by creating positive, passionate energy towards attaining the pictured sustenance. The colour scheme is reflected across the poster, emphasised in the red and yellow of the tomatoes and potatoes.

A further strengh of this adversiting is that almost identical posters are repeated all over the bus and occupy the entire advertising space. The repetition hammers home the effect and different recipes are used to hold the viewer's interest.

This is a clever advertising technique for the reasons I have discussed, but also because it is an easy way to entice a consumer into the shop, which would then persuade them to spend more money on further products.

Further advertisement on the same bus. There were others but it was rather impractical for me to capture them all!

I will briefly also discuss this advert, but in less depth. The main difference is the featured product - broccoli. The viewer is reeled in with an interesting fact, informed of the health benefits, kept interested with another fact then hit with the claim that brocolli is 'a form of protection against cancer'. This is rather a large claim to make. Cancer in our society is currently a seemingly uncurable disease to many people, just as influenza and other ailments have been throughout history. This sentence would have a strong influence, and leaving 'cancer' as the final word definitely creates impact.

This advertising dumbs down information and therefore the viewer, increasing the chance of selling the product. Even the name 'Foodtown' is patronising and obvious - as a person who did not grow up with Foodtown, when I first arrived in New Zealand, I found it comical that a supermarket would have such a dumb sounding and literal name. This goes hand in hand with the advertising to create a consumer who is used to being targeted in such a way, ensuring this method will continue to work.

Materiality & Surface

The first element of this study concentrates on materiality - this is effectively the media used in an artwork, and the artwork originating from experimentation of the media used, as opposed to a pre conceived idea. The topic relates strongly to abstract expressionism, such as works by Jackson Pollock, whose work is about the material qualities of the paint, and does not represent any sort of form. This style of working can be used to push boundaries of what the medium of paint is capable of. It can be used to explore innovative ways of creating art, rather than using traditional media in traditional styles. Of course, experimenting with materials is not limited to paint - it could be applied to anything, and anything can be used to create art.

Number 8, Jackson Pollock, 1949

I am interested in looking at this concept within the medium of photography and 'painting with light'. The word photography actually comes from two Greek words: phos, meaning light, and graphis, meaning drawing. Light is the most important element of photography, as it is in the capturing of this that images are created. Painting with light allows the photographer to create abstract images and manipulate the image in the process of capturing the photograph. The first known works which used this technique were Man Ray's Space Writing series. Man Ray was notorious for pushing boundaries within photography. It is also interesting that although Pollock's work is abstract expressionist, he was in fact influenced in his early works (of the 1930's) by certain aspects of the Surrealist movement, and also in his 'action paintings', which he started in 1947.

Left - right: 'The Bull' by Pablo Picasso, 1949, part of the 'Space Writing' series by Man Ray, 1937

I stumbled upon this untitled, anonymous image as part of an online blog. I love the idea of 'painting with light' and I think this image captures this very well. The swirling patterns created by the light create an abstract expressionist style, but the forms are still visable. There was no information available on this image, other than that it is a photograph, but it appears to me as though it is either a composition or an existing image which has been photographed using a long exposure with various lights in motion used to create this effect. The lighting gives the dappled impression that light does as it reflects off or travels through rippling water. I love it because it is an abstract take on a traditional nude in composition and form.

A plentiful resource for looking at contemporary light painting is the website flikr.com. Many artists have experimented with this way of creating imagery and they have achieved some excellent results. An artist whose work I particularly identified with is contemporary photographer Nathan Stewart, A.K.A. 'stewedman', originally from the States, but currently residing in Poland. I have included some of my favourite of his light paintings below, and they were all captured within the last two years or so. He is interested in visiting dark locations and using his own collection of light sources to create abstract light paintings. Some of his light sources include glow sticks, firery steel wool and fairy lights. Unlike Pollock, Stewart does not necessarily dismiss form entirely, but the medium and brush strokes of light and experimentation with this technique are the focus of this collection of works. He has taken a medium and attempted to push the constraints of what is possible with his experimentation. In this way, one could compare the way he treats light with the way Pollock treated paint.



First row (left to right): The Green Ghost, It Came From The Stairs (B&W), Hallway Light Painting 3
Second row: Light Painting in Fort Bema 3, The Space Man, The Giant Red Orb
Third row: Lights 2, Lights 1, Green Shower

These 'paintings' are all recent and it is interesting that titles mostly reflect the image created directly by the use of the technique and medium, highlighting his emphasis on working this way.

The second element I will observe is the surface element of artwork. Through art history, it has often been fashionable to present flat work to look as real and as three dimensional as possible. During the 1960's, a style of art emerged which embraced experimenting with different styles of more flat looking art, such as within poster imagery. This did not attempt to create a three dimensional effect. I particularly like the work of Tadanori Yokoo, and the combined use of graphic imagery and photography within the work. His work demonstrates themes of mysticism and psychadelia, and his graphic design styled posters of the 1960's often invite comparisons with Andy Warhol.
















Left: I'm not sure of the title of this image, Right: The Trip 1968

Anne Barnard is an American photographer whose work originates from photography, in the form of photographs and photograms. She utilizes the surfaces of her images by overlapping patterns

She comments: "Spots and marks, gobs and blobs, tangled up unrecognizable jumble that mumbles and shouts; the edge of a pattern; the lines of a hand; a body as it steals through time: I like the where, what and how of these things. They cause me to wonder. I like the projected meaning they present. I like the disintegration of meaning they invite. Identity is a state of flux."


Left to right: dna 11l black and white silver gelatin print, photograph/photogram 1998, dna 14d
Black and white silver gelatin print, photograph/photogram 1998, dna 18d Black and white silver gelatin print, photograph/photogram
1998

To me, this quote highlights her use of pattern to reference identity and time. Just as each piece can only be captured at that particular moment, identity and environment are constantly changing. The artist is taking control by manipulating these factors herself within her artworks. My response to the black and white imagery above would be to say that she may be looking at how we all disappear over time. Eventually our identity is removed, and we fade back into the blackness we came from. She may also be considering how our identity is perceived differently by people who impose their own views and traits upon us, as she has imposed her own patterns onto the figures. She has constrained the figures with pattern to that moment and her implications.

I love the way she alters her photographs by interrupting the surfaces with patterns and shapes, sketches and photograms. They are removed from their realistic origins to be images about patterns and concealed and revealed aspects. There are visual references to poster art in this way. Man Ray was the first to experiment in this way, but Barnard also uses colour photography, a medium he did not have available. These works below are experiments taken from her website and untitled, but they strongly reflect the psychadelic themes of the sixties. This is evident in the bright colours and swirling patterns, but emphasised with the woodland background. The collage technique used adds to this too this idea of experimenting with the surface.


There is a darkness in these works which I am attracted to. The almost childlike patterns and bright colours against the cut up, woodland backdrop add a foreboding element to the work. The innocent looking doodles on the surface have mind altered or possible drug inspired connotations, and the repetition of the circles within each other and in ordered fashions almost becomes ritualistic, perhaps conjuring ideas of witchcraft or entrapment. Could this be interpreted as addiction?

The Original Star Wars Movie (1977)

The archetypal role of Luke Skywalker in the movie Star Wars is that of the romantic, naive 'chosen one', of special powers, who is on his journey to becoming a hero and saving the world. He is a typical main character of a mythical adventure movie, encompassing hope, innocence and following his heart in all of his actions.

Skywalker demonstrates these qualities in many ways, and this is often emphasised in contrast to other characters, particularly Hans Solo. His naivety is highlighted when he calls Solo's spaceship a 'piece of junk', and is informed it can make light speed at 0.5. His youthful hopes and dreams are demonstrated in his comment 'I wish I could fly a ship!', in comparison to the more experienced Solo, who already can. Perhaps the main difference between the two characters is in the decision making throughout the movie - Skywalker thinks with his heart, as opposed to Solo, who thinks with his head. Until the end, money is his incentive for joining the adventure whereas Skywalker is there to save the princess and the world from the start. Often, when they make small triumphs and Skywalker is elated, Solo brings him back to earth, so to speak, and he jolts him out of misery and self doubt in times he needs to act fast, for example to fly the ship. Solo supports Skywalker and adds a sexy, rebellious, rougher element - he is the character with the love interest. In action sequences he often leads the way or stays behind to hold off pursuers, protecting Skywalker. In this way, he could be compared to Aragon in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, if Skywalker were Frodo Baggins.

From the beginning on the movie, the viewer is aware that Skywalker is a dreamer. He stares into the picturesque sky, yearning for bigger possibilities. He is part of a greater energy, the force. To feel the force flowing through him, he needs to tap into his unconscious, let go of his conscious self, and act on instinct. Obe Wan even tells him to close his eyes, as they are deceiving, and turn off his targeting computer when firing the missile to destroy the Death Star. When they are trapped in the garbage shoot, Leia and Solo attempt to find a practical solution, by physically pushing against the walls, but Skywalker lives in hope until the last minute, when his belief in C3P0 saves them. He makes his way through the movie through a series of lucky occurances such as these, adding to his character of the chosen one.

Skywalker wants to see himself as a typical Prince Charming in a fairytale, however, this is not necessarily the case. This notion is summed up in his line "I'm Luke Skywalker! I'm here to rescue you!" when he rescues Princes Leia from her captive state. However, it is not a fairytale ending as he does not seduce the princess.

There are obvious comparisons between Skywalker and Frodo. Both play the unlikely hero from a simple background who posess the inner power to stand against the force of evil, plucked out of their small town life, and taken on a whilwind adventure against the odds, supported by a brade team of comrades collected along the way. Their fathers have both had epic adventures.

By the 1960's, Lord of the Rings was one of the most influential fantasy stories in the Western World, and George Lucas has often cited Lord of the Rings as a great influence on Star Wars. Tolkien wrote that myth and fairytale seem to be the best way to communicate morality, and in fact that may be their primary purpose.

There are many links between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Obe Wan Kenobe is a clear comparison to Gandalf, the old, wise, mentor to the hero. Both work on the premise that there is a greater force at work. The jedis can feel each others' presence through this, and the evil force in Lord of the Rings can feel Frodo's presence whenever he wears the ring. Both narratives involve a dangerous journey against all odds to the only place where they can save the world.

One is able to compare the archetypes to those in many other stories. R2D2 reminded me of Toto from The Wizard of Oz movie - the loyal friend who is always in the background and does not speak, but is vital within the plot. Dorothy lands in Oz as a result of chasing Toto, and Skywalker is searching for R2D2 when he finds Obe Wan. Both movies, and Lord of the Rings also, involve the transportation of precious cargo - the ruby slippers, the ring and the information about the Death Star. The Tin Man in Wizard of Oz is very similar to C3PO, and Chewbacca is similar to the cowardly lion, the supposedly intimidating looking character who lacks courage and comes across as rather cute and lovable.

One could compare this movie also to the Transformers movies. Princess Leia, in particular, reminded me of Mikaela - the sexy, female role who surprises the audience with her power, intelligence and ability to defend herself. Bumblebee cannot speak and is the sidekick to the main character, Sam, much like R2D2 to Skywalker, Chewbacca to Solo, and Toto to Dorothy.

These are some of the many archetypes evident within Star Wars, although the list of possible comparisons is endless.