Walter Benjamin Project

STAGE 1- read / absorb / analyse / confuse

This project was my first MA project-Walter Benjamin project. The primary aim of the project is to develop a creative link between theory and practice.

At first we read, absorbed, and shared reflections about Walter Benjamin’s text ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’. After reading the paper, we were told to think about what concept of ‘Aura’ is.

It’s so hard to read such a difficulty academic theory for me, who is International student.

So at that period, I found translated text and many different commentaries and analysis about this text to help me understand this theory deeply.

I was very confused for the MA course began studying theory, as before BA's education in my country, whenever started a project, the teacher would told us to search the definition in this area and to search the field of good artworks, then analysed them.

After the first presentation, I found that my analysis is not enough, the overall generalization ability is not enough, and way of thinking was too much emphasis on small details. My way of thinking was arrangement of type from top to bottom , rather than divergent thinking.

STAGE 2- exhibition / analyse / confuse

In the second stage, I visited the exhibition ‘Postmodern: Subversion and Style’ and analysed the exhibition in relationship to Benjamin’s paper.

Most influential among the 'Postmodernism' exhibition, arguably, was these friendly and animated product designs. It is fascinating for these pastel-coloured, toy-like objects- to be put a friendly face onto appliances that were normally functionalist and severe.

1. Brilliant Michele De Lucchi, who had created convincing product designs in the postmodern style: a set of prototypes for the Italian manufacture Girmi.

2. Alessandro Mendini's artwork- redesign of a 1940s chest of drawers-by transforming an Art Deco chest of drawers into a jagged neo- Futurist collage, festooning a sofa with ornament derived from Kandinsky paintings, simultaneously mocked modernist art and design history.

His strategy of 'redesign' – in which an exciting thing was rearranged and/ or decorated- was a clever and expedient way to make a charismatic, photo-ready object.

CONFUSED- I was asking myself...

Isn't it a personal matter to see the exhibition? Why it is a part of the school education?

*  Learning is not a teacher to teach you weather it is to do or not. It decided by yourself. The teacher is on the side to guide you and help you, rather than to inculcate all of knowledge to you.

*  In design and life, it is very important for a designer to see other artist work and get inspired from them. Continuing to accumulate in the design and life is a matter of cardinal significance.

Benjamin's theory is a theory a long time ago, What is the connection with the postmodernism exhibition ?

STAGE 3- practice / group discussion / problem / confuse

Before MA education, I had never done the practice based on the theory. So I do not know how to started the practice, even though we had the discussion of whether 'Aura' is existance or not.

I carefully tried to started with ‘Digital bring human a new Aura’, and began to proceed from the way of photography. Then I found my series of photos, which was took from a small hole in the exhibition(2011Degree Show of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) of works of art. The holes’ inside are placed the micro-architectural street model. [photo 1]

After group discussion, I found that I should not just limited to the surface of theory, but deeper to find how to solve the problem.

So I started to re-think theory with digital, film and media.

Occasionally, I went to WhiteChapel gallery to see the exhibition, and found the book 'Paper-craft Design and Art with the Paper', which has a lot of excellent artworks. I began to consider the material of paper to do this project. I have not tried paper-craft design before, so why not to try this area?

So I began to consider the paper and media’s relationship. I thought to use the newspaper combined with the concept of the paper plane to communicate information to the audience, in order to represent  the relationship between the media and the people.

Then I was thinking about human and digital media's relationship. The concept of 'delivery information' was formed.

At that time, we had Genery Theory discussion in English Support course, we talked about 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre and many political issues about China. Then after I saw many different documentary in Youtube about these issues. I began to doubt media.

Before this course, I haven't doubt news from media before.

PRACTICE OUTPUT

Based on  ‘Mechanical Reproduction’ and digital media’s expand, mass information are made by different media and the Internet.

I searched different countries official media's logo to represent media's position and use small ‘ball’ to represent ‘human’.

When mass media communicate information to humans, while people also convey kinds of information to media, which forms social interaction.

THE CONCEPT

When people receive mass information from digital era, we should keep critical thinking about it.

THE FAILURES

When I show my work to classmates, they can understand what I want to communicate, but if I don’t say the small ‘ball’ represent ‘human’, they wouldn't think about that.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT

How to analyse and focus on the research are important.

How to make experiments based on the research is more important.

Not just limit to Graphic Design area, try more field.

REVOLVE

In this course, I felt that I did not have a good combination of theory and practice.  I was not good at analyse the theory and practice based on the theory.

Do not be afraid that my views are wrong, do not be afraid to lose face,  school is the palace I can make mistakes and grow. Learning from the mistake is important.

Critical thinking and process are very important.

Group discussion is a way to share knowledge and learn from others. Listen and accept my audience's comments and opinions and then critical think about my work to choose my own way to achieve it.

I was very dynamic in the process of  practice  discussion, and I had full energy to see different  exhibitions, but I usually did not  bring with the problem to see the exhibition, and always look at the form first, but careless about what the relevant content communicate to audience.