Piece Two Draft

I was inspired by a manga/graphic novel I had read called “Ayesha’s Secret”, where a painting was featured of the protagonist as twins, with one twin holding her head. Using that concept, I did a sort of “before-After” sort of piece, reflecting a two extremes. One side has, probably a stereotypical, look of a prostitute whilst the other shows a normal, young girl in school uniform. If you haven’t figured it out, they are the same person.

Changes to be made are the girl’s age: will possibly make her 12 – 15 and less developed. After girl will have bruises and scars painted on her. The Before girl will be painted in bright, cheery colors to extremely contrast the other.

Piece One Draft

First draft of piece one, as part of my series “Taken”…That is a working title. Basically it draws influences from my artist models, mostly Banksy, with sticking to the medium I prefer; Watercolor and Ink on paper.
It depicts prepubescent children strung up on nooses (akin to dying or hung like dead meat) like they are for sale or waiting to die. Balloons were added to the nooses as I think that Balloons are one of the symbols for childhood and innocence. Cloudy skies were added to make the composition less empty and have it grim, dark, etc.

The main colors I have thought of for the final so far are tones of grays, black and red. Lots of paint drips will be added.

Sex Trafficking

Sex Trafficking is a combination of Sexual Slavery and Human Trafficking. These two represent the supply and demand side of the sex trafficking industry respectively. Most victims find themselves in coercive or abusive situations from which escape is difficult or nearly impossible and dangerous. Sex trafficking expands the globe and reflect an intricate web between nations – this makes it difficult for governments and human rights organizations to find a viable solution or end to this problem.
Most trafficked victims are unseen, operating in places where the government or authorities have little to no jurisdiction – this can be in unmarked brothels or even suburban neighborhoods. Some authorities are even bribed to look away or police the area by pimps or gangs who operate sex trafficking. Traffickers, Pimps or gangs use various ways to control their victims, often by force, drugs, emotional tactics or even financial means. The extremes of this can be from gang rape to making the victims succumbing to Stockholm syndrome by telling them they love or need them. This tactic is particularly effective on younger victims as they are less experienced and easily manipulated.

There are different types of trafficking:
Familial Trafficking: where a family member of the victim sexually exploits them for money or drugs. For example a mother may pimp out her son/daughter for money to friends or strangers. This type of trafficking is difficult to detect as the victims have a certain degree of freedom, such as going to school. They may not even understand they are being trafficked or sexually exploited.
Pimp-Controlled Trafficking: The victim is controlled by a single pimp; they can be controlled physically, psychologically or emotionally. In most times, the pimps groom and pretend to care or even love the victim, promising them protection, a home and opportunities in return for loyalty. More than often, it is difficult for a victim to escape due to their emotions towards their pimp.
Gang Trafficking: The victim is controlled by more than one person, a gang. Gangs more than often turn to sex trafficking as it is safer and more lucrative than drug trafficking and dealing. The victim may be sexually exploited by gang members as well as people outside of. Some victims may have tattoos or brands on their bodies as a sign of ownership towards a particular gang.
Forced Marriage: It is where one or both victims are forced to marry without freely giving their consent to do so. Forced marriage can qualify as sex trafficking in some cases; if a woman is sent aboard, forced to marry and to perform sexual acts without her consent or by force repeatedly, it is sex trafficking.
Survival Sex: Not sex trafficking in the common sense but the victim feels the need to perform sexual acts in order to gain common necessities such as food, shelter and so forth. This is considered sex trafficking of the victim is below the age of consent.

Numbers and estimates:

• Approximately 70-85% of human trafficking is for the sex industry.
• Estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children are victims of human trafficking.
• An estimated 300,000 of sex trafficking victims die each year due to abuse, disease, torture and neglect. 80% of those sold into sexual slavery are under 24 and some are s young as 6.
• Research shows that 80% of victims are women. 50% are children.
• 71% of trafficked children have shown suicidal tendencies.
• Belarus, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and the United States are ranked high as destinations of trafficked victims.
• Around the globe, human trafficking has made a profit that is roughly estimated from $9 billion to $31.6 billion. Half of these profits are made in industrialized nations.
• Japan is considered the largest market for Asian women trafficked for sex.
• Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states in the US.
• Brazil and Thailand are generally considered to have the worst sex trafficking records than any other country.

Resources:
“55 Little Known Facts About Human Trafficking.” 55 Little Known Facts about Human Trafficking. Web. 15 May 2016.
“What Is Sex Trafficking? – Shared Hope International.” Shared Hope International. Shared Hope International. Web. 15 May 2016
“Sex Trafficking.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 15 May 2016.
“Facts on Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery | Soroptimist.” Human Trafficking Facts. Soroptimist. Web. 15 May 2016.
Puelma, Alfredo Valenzuela. The Merchant’s Pearl. 1884. Oil on Canvas. Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes, Chile.

 

4B Image Selection

Toulouse-Lautree, Henri De. Self-Portrait in Front of a Mirror. 1882-1883. Oil on Cardboard. Musee Toulouse Lautrec, Albi.

Selfie with Pope Francis. 2013. Huffington Post. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Zoffany, Johann. Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Her Cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. 1778. Oil on Canvas. Kenwood House, Scotland.

N. Hoyer, ed., Man into Woman. An Authentic Record of a Change of Sex. The true story of the miraculous transformation of the Danish painter Einar Wegener (Andreas Sparre). London: Jarrolds, 1933. Photograph: Lili, Paris, 1926, opp. p. 40.

Goldin, Nan. Greer and Robert on the Bed. 1982. Claire Raymond. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Fig. 1: Self Portrait of a Man by Henri de Toulouse-Lautree
This painting was featured in chapter 1 and Mirzoeff talked in length about Toulouse’s self portrait. Mirzoeff talks about how the artist had done the self portrait by painting the reflection from a mirror; this conceals Toulouse’s physical disability by just portraying his head and shoulders (the rest of his body is not proportionate in real life). This relates to Mirzoeff’s idea of identity and the selfie – what is the difference of Toulouse hiding his disability in his own self portrait to someone of now angling their faces to make it more attractive in a selfie?

Fig 2: Selfie with Pope Francis
Mirzoeff talks about the idea of Majesty, that a monarch is God’s representative on Earth; thus over the course of history there are paintings that portray monarchs, or people like the Pope, as such. However here is a selfie of some people with Pope Francis taken at the Vatican. This is a departure from the history of Majesty; here the Pope is in an informal photograph (a selfie no less) and seems to be an ordinary (probably fun loving) man! This changes our perception of this person, who is seen by some as God’s representative on Earth, and totally turns it into something else.

Fig 3: Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her Cousin Elizabeth Murray
The chapter refers to a photographer called Samuel Fosso who visualized how his body was “Africanized” and “Racialized” by other people (and mentions the “white gaze” – how white people see people of colour). This, to me, bought in mind of old portraits of noblewomen, some who had a black child as a servant in the portrait with them, and the case of Dido Elizabeth Belle. Dido was a gentlewoman born from an enslaved African woman and a British Naval Officer; she was raised by her relatives, the Earl and Countess of Mansfield, alongside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. During that time, Dido was classified as a Mulatto and no doubt had to struggle with her racial identity in a time where slavery was the norm in England. Here in this portrait, she is painted alongside her cousin as near equals. I say near equals because Dido is still portrayed slightly behind her white cousin with a costume that has an air of orientalism to them. Their position hints to the differences in their race.

Fig 4: Photograph of Lili Elbe
Mirzoeff refers to Marcel Duchamp’s alter ago, “Rrose Selavy”, the LBGT scene and how gender to some is a performance. No one else is more relevant to this idea than Lili Elbe. Lili Elbe was born Einar Wegener, a painter who was Danish transgender woman and one of the first people to go through sex reassignment surgery during the 1920s to 1930s.

Fig 5: Greer and Robert in Bed by Nan Goldin
I feel that Nan Goldin has a unique look at gender, race and sexuality in her photographs in a way that is ugly, uncompromising but real at the same time. She had portrayed people such as drag queens as a “third gender”, another sexual/gender option. Along with her other themes like sex, drug use and violence, I feel Goldin not only ties in with the Mirzoeff chapter of “How to See Yourself” in terms of identity but gives another perspective of it.

1A Blog Task: Researching the Analytic Essay

1. Explain what an Analytical Essay is.
   An analytical essay is a formal academic piece commonly written by students to respond to a brief/analyze a certain specialized topic. The structure of an analytical essay consists of an argument; and at its core, a thesis – a short sentence that bears your claim/assumption.
2. What makes it distinct from other genres of academic writing?
   Other genres of academic writing include case studies, reports, book reviews, etc. An essay is distinct from these because it features elements of the writers thinking and their voice/arguments. Other genres such as case studies and reports do not allow the room for such elements because they are solely research based.
3. Identify some recommended approaches and procedures to follow when setting out to write an Analytical essay.

• Write in standardized English or its equivalent.
• Consider your tone, and audience. Make sure writing is formal with no informal colloquiums.
• Follow your essay structure and use an accepted reference system.
• Analyze your essay brief: do you understand what it is asking you?
• Research your topic and brief, noting the sources.
• Define and use key words relevant to your brief.
• Record information and notes in your own voice to better understand your research and brief as a whole.

 

Resources:
Clarke, Michael. “The Essay.” Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland. AVA Publishing, 2007. 144 – 167. Print.
“Analytical Essay.” Hints for Faster Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
“Types of Academic Writing.” Types of Academic Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
“Essay.” Essay. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
“Organising the Answer Frames.” Organising the Answer Frames. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Reading Comprehension: The Author’s Voice

Today I did the reading for “Critical Thinking.” Beginning University: Thinking, Researching, and Writing for Success by Andrew Wallace, Tony Schirato and Phillippa Bright.
The text was easy enough to read, has an informal yet direct tone; it is as if I am talking to a tutor or lecturer I already know and that is comforting. A lot of the pronouns they use in the text are you; the text is speaking directly to me to think more critically rather than do surface learning. As I had said before; it is as if a tutor or lecture I am familiar with is talking to me directly.
The author positions themselves as an adviser, tutor and educator; constantly saying “you”, directly to the reader and advising us to broaden our thinking and explaining to us what critical thinking is.
The direct but informal tone, the constant use of the pronoun “you” and that sense of teaching/advising draws my attention more as a reader. I feel like the author had written this for me, or someone of my age group, thus making it easier of them to reach out to us. It is easy to read/comprehend, and despite there being a lot of information, it doesn’t feel like it is being jammed down my throat (Like I feel some lessons do).
I did enjoy reading the text; I feel like I have understood what critical thinking is to a more advanced level (if there is such a thing) and learnt other terms or “branches” of critical thinking like Creative Thinking, Reasoning, Evaluating, etc.

Written Response: Why context is important to looking and thinking critically about a visual text

Too often we will encounter texts or concepts we do not understand and therefore need to find a context for it in order to properly understand it. Context is the “who, what, where, when and why that surround every word, image or artifact.” (Annals, Alison, Abby Cunnane and Sam Cunnane. “Working with Images and Ideas”, Saying What We See: How to Write and Talk about Art. North Shore, N.Z.: Pearson Ed. N.Z., 2009 15 – 39. Print).
Understanding the context and critically thinking go hand and hand; we have to critically engage the text and therefore consider the creators ideas/concepts.
For example we will encounter a painting/work of art from the 16^th century; we as students could be doing an essay or a response to this. Questions we have to ask to find out the context are:

• When was it made?
• What was going on that time period? What were the socio-political and religious stances at the time?
• What were the trends, attitudes and fashion?
• Does this work respond to a specific event?
• What were its intended audience and its reaction at the time?

Jean-Honore Fragonard. The Swing. 1767. Oil on Canvas. Wallace Collection. London.

Jean-Honore Fragonard, an 18^th century artist, had done a painting called “The Swing” in 1767; unknowingly to anyone who first sees the work, it is laden with sexual connotations and context. At first it looks like an innocent painting but it actually depicts an affair. Enlightenment philosophers at the time targeted this particular painting due to its frivolity and demanded more noble depictions of man.
However not a lot of people, unless they do art history, will pick up the context at first glance; in fact context is most noticed when missed. This is the same of all visual texts; at its debut, it would’ve been understood because it was current at the time. But years will pass and the context will become incomprehensible unless there is background information, like the Swing painting.
Another important thing about context is that it will be from someone from another worldview and everyone would see it differently. People have different life experiences and come from different backgrounds and as such, will respond differently to visual text. We will all find different things others will not see, react to them differently and they will shape our responses. It’s all a matter of seeing.

Resources:
Ruszkiewicz et al. “Reading Texts:. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3^rd Ed. Boston: Pearson, c2012. 9 – 39. Print.

Glossary

Perspective: A way of seeing things; how you or someone else sees them. For example if you look at the world from someone’s eyes, you see through their eyes. In drawing this could mean a sense of depth and distance.

Visual: Relating to seeing or to the eyes. Attained and maintained by sight, producing a mental image or relating to or employing visual aids. For example, film is a visual medium.

Visual Culture: An aspect of culture expressed through visual images. It is a created or an observed representation of our world; Visual culture can be represented by paintings, advertisements, comics, and any other medium crucial to the visual component.

Visual Text: Uses a combination of visual features (photographs, stills and graphics) and verbal features like words, dialogue and language features to get a message across to its target/intended audience. Common forms of visual texts are film, television, radio, advertising, etc.

Visualizing: To recall or form a mental image of something that is incapable of being viewed at that moment or not visible.

 Omnipresent: Always there; widely spread or encountered or present everywhere at the same time. This is probably best exemplified by the likes of viral videos or by the omnipresence of the Christian God.

Globalization: A worldwide movement towards economical, financial, trade and communications integration. It implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a boarder outlook of an interconnected world with a free transfer of capital, goods and services across frontiers.

Contextualizing: To think or provide information about the situation in which something happens. To place a world or place into context; context means certain words used with a certain word or phrase that help understand its meaning. It is the who, what, where, when and why that surround every word, image or artifact.

Paraphrasing: To express the meaning of (something written or spoken) in different words to achieve greater clarity. It is essentially rewording a statement.

Naming: A word or a combination of words by which a person, place or a thing is designated, called or known by.

Analyzing: To examine something in detail, mainly to explain and interpret it. It is to separate and entity or a material into bite sized parts or elements; to determine the essential elements or features. Examining key features, causes and possible results, etc.

Describing: To give a detail account of; to tell, depict in written or spoken words. This can also mean to represent by a picture or a figure.

Tone: Is the texts expressive voice, the mood it suggests.

Topic Sentence: Introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Usually the first sentence will the the topic sentence.

Syntax: The arrangement of words in a sentence.

Selfie: A photograph that someone takes of oneself; typically with a smartphone or a webcam and then uploaded into social media.

Self Portrait: A representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, sculpted or photographed by that artist.

The Artist as the Hero: Mirzoeff constantly stresses in Chapter 1 of the concept of the Artist becoming a hero. In this sense, the artist is capable of creating an event and portraying themselves on how they want to be seen as by others.

 The Male Gaze: A term coined by feminist, Laura Mulvey; the expression refers to the way the visual arts such as cinema is structured and has a dominant masculine view. It describes visual cultures tendency to depict the world and women in a masculine point of view.

Performance: In Mirzoeff’s chapter, he uses scholar Richard Schecner’s definition of Performance as a “Twice-performed Behaviour”. According to Schecner, all forms of human activity are a performance, consisting of actions we have taken in the past to create a new whole. Performance might be an artwork, a barber cutting hair or a chef cooking a dish. This also applies to a person’s performance on gender, race, and sexuality in everyday life.

Site II Object: Deed of Sale to Charles de Thierry

Deed of Sale. Letter to Charles De Thierry. 1822. MS. Archives New Zealand, Wellington.

This is a Deed of Sale addressed to the Baron Charles de Thierry. It’s a large A1 parchment with ink writing and calligraphy. I imagine it was written with a quill and ink with a flourish. Again, the technology to view and make this isn’t complicated. They possibly dusted sand over the ink to quickly dry it off.
It was made in August 7^th, 1822, made and signed by three native residents and signed witnesses. The document was made in the Hokianga District, North of New Zealand. This deed was as a legal document that sets out and formalizes the terms of the purchase. It was made for the purchaser, Baron Charles de Thierry, who had purchased 40,000 acres of land. It was used for de Thierry and any other legal representatives he had at the time. It is now displayed in Archives New Zealand.
It’s intended audience was for the New Zealand government (I would imagine, not too sure), the Foreign office in London and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris.
The text displayed near the document says:
Deed of Sales to Charles de Thierry, 1822,
This is Deed of Sale is one of the oldest documents in our collection. “Baron” Charles de Thierry was a French born businessman whose eccentric behavior was one factor to British consolidation of Aotearoa New Zealand Through his friend and missionary Thomas Kendall; he claimed to have purchased a large block of land at Hokianga from Muriwai, Patuone and Tamati Waka Nene. According to this deed, 40,000 acres were bought with 36 axes and includes the tohu (sign or mark) of the rangatira. The sale was later repudiated, but de Thierry said he was coming to set up a sovereign state on the land. This was one reason for further British intervention.
Other people might look at this with fascination and amusement? I can’t really say for other people for a document like this but personally I think the whole sale was a sham. I mean who buys that much land for 36 axes?! I don’t think the locals didn’t quite understood what they were giving up at the time.
As the above text had said, this is one of the oldest documents the Archives house, hence why it is deemed important enough to keep. Another reason could be because this deed of sale is one of the major factors of British intervention in New Zealand and leads up to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Other items that were displayed near the document were a Map of the local Iwi, and Busby’s Address at the Adoption of Te Kara. These items are displayed together because they are all documents of some kind relating to the history of New Zealand and British intervention. These items were displayed near the Treaty of Waitangi; why it is so because these documents lead up to the signing of the Treaty.

Resources:
Turton, Hanson H. “An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand.” Deed of Purchase of the Hokianga District by Baron De Thierry. Victoria University of Wellington Library, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.