​Shirin Neshat
The piece that followed my investigation into satire and how it carries a message in the media was successful, as it managed to encompass a lot of what I had discussed and discovered. Different forms of satire can impact people differently, and often its caricatures and cartoons tell the same story as the article next to it, and it seen by more. Neshat’s deep, meaningful pictures reflecting her sense of home and banishment from her homeland, Morland’s vibrant and colourful cartoons poking at every big story and politician, and Billingham’s often surreal photography capturing the essence of his childhood all carry a message in their own way, and are seen by millions. However, there is something missing. Satire is huge and impactful, but outside of the glossy magazines and newspapers, in the real world – does it have an impact? Yes, it carries a message but what true impact does it have – other than causing the occasional chuckle or thought. Art has the ability to cause movements and incite change, yet satire does not.
So, I wanted to investigate further into what type of art is used in the media, and what leaped out at me was propaganda. I looked back through my book and initially saw I had paired it up with satire on a double page, but it is so much broader and arguably more powerful, with the ability to make a difference. Its progression over time is intriguing – from war posters to royal navy adverts on tv, and it is ever constant. The world war posters are famous today for their impact, and the royal navy advert “sure I was born in Carlisle, but I was made in the royal navy” is a British cultural phenomenon and known up and down the land. So, like satire, it carries a message, but can also encourage people to act. So I started some investigation into propaganda both modern, old, and from around the world.
The global pandemic in 2020 changed everything, and in China the “propaganda machine” began, with the Chinese state-owned media reshaping the narrative and convincing people to stay indoors and combat the virus. Now, a year later, their lives are almost back to normal, and the propaganda posters remain as a reminder as to what happened and what has been learnt. Interestingly, the image has similar properties to other, older propaganda, suggesting that the format of bold singular colours with a photo works and is effective.
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John Heartfield works with photomontages. I discovered him whilst looking at how propaganda not only has the ability to incite change, but also manipulate common news stories, providing a strong link to fake news, which has been a hot topic in recent years. He was a pacifist, and risked his life to combat the fascist propaganda, using art to carry his message forward He manipulates photos, as seen above, to carry forward a message. It’s like modern day photoshop in many regards – which carries with it themes of misuse and distrust. Heartfield’s propaganda had the power to carry whatever message he wanted – and it saved lives. Heartfield’s anti-Nazi art became famous on both sides during WW2, and he used fascists’ own words and images against them. His message was clear: “You must oppose this madness, escape, or do both.”
My look at propaganda around the world also allowed me to discover both Cuban (above to the left) and Chinese (right) propaganda. The Cuban is simplistic outlines of people and figures, done in bold big lines and bright solid colours. In China, a very similar approach to Russia, with angular lines and big bold colours. Despite research, I could not find a link between the two, however, it is definitely interesting. Either way, both designs are undeniably simplistic yet effective.
A branch of art very similar to propaganda is mascots, and throughout history there have been many, and this one by Marius Rossolin is famous all around the world – the Michelin man. Although not bringing about change or carrying a message, the design and aesthetic is similar to other images on this mood board, and it is possible for a mascot to carry a message and be the face of a revolution or army. Mascots for sports teams have become icons and a reason for belief in teams. A recognisable character can have so much control. Mickey Mouse takes thousands of pictures with children every day, and immediately he is an image of dreams and movies and magic. In a way, mascots are propaganda with a face, making it all the more powerful
Shepard Fairey’s propaganda posters have become iconic. They’re simplistic, bright, and carry a powerful message. Fairey is a graffiti artist and social activist who became famous for his poster on the left – and especially considering the president that followed he aided Obama to become known as a symbol of hope for America. Fairey stated that “Art is not always meant to be decorative or soothing, in fact, it can create uncomfortable conversations and stimulate uncomfortable emotions”
So, his propaganda carries weight - a message - and has an impact to everyone who sees it.
Russian avant-garde really intrigued me. Above are pieces of work by el Lissitzky and Rodchenko, both artists who used their art to incite change in Russia. In 1917, he long dynasty of Russia were comfortable and in luxury whilst the people suffered, and the desire for a new government led to a revolution. To contribute, artists dropped painting and used angular lines and geometric shapes as an abstract language to portray their commitment and wish for change. Every abstract piece had a hidden message and symbol. This was a really interesting topic and I loved that even in adverts or posters artists could have their hidden message, adding fuel into the fire of the revolution.
My research into different type of propaganda allowed me to see both the similarities and differences in propaganda around the world. Similarities included bright, solid colours and simple themes and messages. Also, looking at all the images I’ve found the colour red is prominent. Most importantly however, they all brought about changes or topics or ideas.
For me however, the most interesting piece of research I did was on the Russian Avant Garde, and how they hid their messages in the abstract angles and lines in their pieces of art. Famously, Rodchenko’s poster for the Lengiz publishing house, seemingly an innocent poster to any onlooking Royal – has in it the revolution. Any member of the public would have seen the woman shouting surrounded by the abstract lines and felt inspired, felt change coming. The act of propaganda hiding in plain sight was a really interesting concept, which is why I decided to then research Rodchenko.
Alexandar Rodchecko was a founding member of Russian constructivism, which was an avant-garde movement that occurred towards the end of the 19th Century. His work was constructed of politically motivated photography, posters, paintings, and sculptures, which has obvious links to my the first element of my unit exploring satire, whilst also providing a nice link into different type of propaganda and it’s effects around the world.
He was born in 1891, and was influenced by Kazimer Malevich, whose supremacist style contributed to Rodchenko’s aesthetic. From 1918 to 1922 their influence was obvious, as Rodchenko increasingly developed a geometric style by using a ruler and compass. He slowly became more concerned with photography whilst still providing a message, similar to Neshat in a few ways.
This piece by Rodchenko was completed in 1925 and is simply and advert for the Lengiz publishing house. The title is “Book in all Branches of Knowledge”, and the world books is projected from the mouth of the woman, loud typography. The triangular shape embodies a megaphone. the poster was a model for how voice had been typographically approximated
So after all my research I went ahead and made a replica of Rodchenko’s work – large scale and with coloured paper. The work allowed me to understand his way of the working – the precision and angular lines playing a key part in my understanding. The result is largely successful and would work well on the side of a publishing house, screaming to the public.
After this, I wanted to create a version of Rodchenko’s work with my own message. So I switched the colour pallet so the main prominent colour was blue and the primary colour of the NHS. I used orange to compliment the blue, and green to compliment the red so each of the colours gelled together and made the overall poster stand out. The word ‘protect’ is a message that has been shouted around the media and news when talking about the NHS, and before taking a primary source photo to take the photo, I thought a better idea would be to add an actual mask to the piece. It is ironic in a way; the triangular megaphone shape is meant to be the enlarging of a message, a visual representation of a shout, yet a mask is supposed to cover this up.
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This irony allowed me to realise that not all propaganda is positive – of course most propaganda arises from negative situations (i.e. the world wars & coronavirus) however some propaganda can carry a negative message, or seek to dissuade the public from a person, organisation, idea etc. So, I decided to invert Rodchenko’s work. For every white, I worked with black, and for every colour I went to the other side of the colour wheel. The design is essentially the same, but instead of a growing megaphone shape the shape gets smaller, reflecting the decreasing amount the cries for ‘more’ is heard. Which reminds me – the message behind this poster is the wages of nurses and amid the praises the NHS receiving the wish for higher salaries and a better quality of live for nurses up and down the land is becoming quieter. The photo is of my mum in a mask – although ideally it would been a nurse.
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These pieces were different, although the same. They had moved my research into Rodchenko slightly forward, but I had yet to find something I thought was truly successful. I stuck with the idea of the NHS and thought about what I could include in a poster. The clapping that occurred up and down the land sprung to mind, and initially I thought I could put clapping hands in a Rodchenko template where the photo would normally be, but that was too simple. I wanted to bring something different to his work. So, I decided to take several pictures of clapping hands, and create windows all around the page. I filled these windows in with all the colours of the rainbow – a link to the NHS – and stuck the words NHS in the middle. Aesthetically, it works, whilst also retaining the simplistic, angular style of Rodchenko’s work. It could be argued all the colours make it look crowded and messy and I should have stuck to only two or three, but both the message it’s bringing across and Rodchenko’s design is evident.
I wanted to take it further, and I felt I had sufficiently explored Rodchenko’s work on a 2D scale. So I went to my laptop and went to ‘paint’ and then proceeded to insert these 3D objects – a doodle if you like – having different objects on different planes. I pushed the triangle which would have a word – the message – to the very front and used the other shapes in the background. I liked the idea as it added another dimension to Rodchnko’s work – and if done properly could add a whole other meaning to the idea of the message in the angular lines rather than the pictures or words. The message could be in the gaps between the shapes rather than on the shapes. However, the software I own and what it’s capable of held me back.
But I tried again, this time it took a bit longer to try and keep it precise. I included the rainbow colours spectrum of the NHS on each side, and also included one of my primary source Neshat photos, as it represented the fear and confusion surrounding the coronavirus when it first appeared. Crucially, there are 3D elements to this piece. Below is the 3D view. The word slowly and slowly gets closer to the viewer expressing the importance of each syllable.
I even tried to use an app called 'mixed reality' where I projected the 3D elements into real life. My dreadful laptop camera managed to catch the above photograph, and I thought it would be nice to include a video of someone shouting the word.
Here's an example of where I took things global. In Russia, during the coronavirus, there have been a lot of questions revolving around the validity of their claims. They claimed little to no cases and little to no deaths. However, the reality has been revealed to be far different. So, I created a piece inspired by Rodchenko to mimic this. I created 2 different images. One just black and white colours and the other proudly showing off the Russian flag. I put the two on top of each other, only having Putin’s face showing through a circular hole. it told a story; an initial impression of bright and colourful Russia before lifting this up to reveal the true story of what was occurring. It reflects the stories we are told with the media, with Russia having no deaths, no cases, before looking underneath to see the truth.
When it came to creating a final piece for my research into Rodchenko, I wanted to utilise the layered effect I had just been working with, pushing information up and into the face of the onlooker. Of course, I had to keep the angular lines in place, and the success of the NHS clapping experiment meant I wanted to include hands in there also.
Eventually I created a piece that had different elements protruding. The word ‘protect’ pulled right from the government coronavirus propaganda and the latter half of the word was raised, stressing the part of the word that would be stressed whilst shouting. I used a Neshat photo as the figure shouting out, as I thought it contrasted well with the loud bold colourful backdrop. In the photo my sister is scared and uncertain from inside, just like the hands were clapping and praising from inside. It showed both the positives and negatives of the NHS response, but still very much being Rodchkeno style of simplistic and bold.