Mdes illustration online journal

16/04/2015

Blog Entry 27:

Enwrap: Hands in Tandem with the Body

The Embodiment of the Human Hand’s Potential to Comment on the Complexity of Body Confidence and Modesty

Critical Evaluation of the Realisation Project

My project title Enwrap: Hands in Tandem with the Body is indicative of my exploration into the human hand’s potential to comment of complex aspects of the human condition, especially when placed in particular positions on the human body. “Hands are capable of many actions but they are especially good at griping, when they wrap around objects and in a sense take on the shape of the object they enwrap.” (Raynes,2007). This quotation is taken from the context of using the hand in life drawing as a tool used to suggest the form of other areas of the body. Enwrap in the physical sense means to envelop or cover an object so closely that the material or item covering the object takes on a sense of that objects shape; in the non-physical sense to be enwrapped suggests that a person is completely absorbed by an action or object, for example enwrapped in conversation would be suggestive of a very high level of attention and interest in the subject or possibly the person the conversation is happening with. With these two aspects of the word enwrap in mind, my project is designed to encompass the full meaning of this word by the physical way in which my embroidered illustrations of human hand on garments can wrap around and to some extent take on the shape of aspects of the human body, and the non-physical way in which the illustrated hands in particular positions can provoke an emotive response. The imagery in tandem with the human body is designed to provoke the audience to question to whom the hands belong, as how this is viewed can drastically change an individual’s interpretation of the message.

My Realisation project has been shaped around a small number of questions, which have stemmed from work and research done during the Concept module and have developed to become more coherent during the Realisation module and its progression. The first question is similar to that which formed the basis to my Concept and Dissertation modules: Can images of the human hand create a complex visual commentary on the human condition? As many avenues of exploration into how this was possible had been reviewed in the past modules, I was able to begin the Realisation module by narrowing down the subject of what the human hand might have the potential to comment on with a view to portraying how the human hand could specifically comment on a singular complex aspect of the human condition, gender. I began by evaluating my dissertation, specifically chapter two which focused specifically on the subject of gender and images of the human hand. I found that the hand’s capability to cover areas of the human form in a way in which could be suggestive of modesty, touched on by my dissertation was particularly important in discovering my project. After researching the covering position more closely I was able to eventually specify more closely the subject on which the human hand had potential to comment within gender: body confidence and modesty.

The second question which has largely affected my outcome occurred to me later in the project whilst considering how the hand could visually comment on the subject I had decided. I realised that during the Concept module I had focused on images of the hand alone rather than in context, yet in my Dissertation many of the images I had examined had been particularly strong because they had context. Images where the hand appeared in tandem with the body were especially important due to how the commentary could be changed or strengthened by how the hand was placed in a particular position on or with the body and the way this could be perceived. My second question therefore became: How can images of the hand be visually communicated as in tandem with the body whilst retaining focus? After creating a number of samples depicting hands in tandem with the body in the covering position, I realised that to simply draw or paint/

embroider the body along with the hand meant that there was a possibility that the viewer would focus on areas of the body other than the hands. After realising this the design problem was clarified, how can the body be visually suggested without having to illustrate it? Whilst debating this issue I decided again to look back at work for the Concept module as I viewed it as preparatory work for this project and found an embroidery sample on a cardigan, which at the time had been done whilst considering how I might benefit from using the technique, known as free machine embroidery, in my future career as a way of putting imagery on clothing. I noticed that the cardigan sample with a simple line stitch hand image on the shoulder could be viewed as belonging to another person and suggest either a comforting or controlling gesture. I then realised that by creating imagery on clothing and photographing the clothing being worn, the images of the hand could exist in tandem with the body but still retain focus.

After answering the design questions in theory and after I had done a number of samples and mock garments I was able to create 8 final outcomes, 5 illustrated garments and 3 flat framed pieces. The garments were each designed to place the hands in specific positions to be worn in tandem with the body, these positions were simple and could offer a number of meanings depending on whether the hands are perceived to be belonging to the wearer of the garment or someone other than the wearer, I chose to do this in order to create layered meaning through simple positioning to visually communicate how the human hand can comment on the complexity of the subject of body confidence and modesty not just a singular aspect, which I feel successfully answered my original question. I have also photographed the garments worn by models in both a photographic studio and in specific locations; I specifically chose the locations to show how the message or meaning of the illustrations could be affected by the context. The flat pieces were created as a response to the word enwrap to show how images of the human hand can be suggestively in tandem with the body as the hands are in such positions which suggest they are taking on the shape of certain parts of the body which they are wrapped around.

In conclusion, I feel that during this project I have been able to answer my two main questions as intended. I have also developed paint, embroidery and dress making techniques, which I intend to use in order to set up my own business after I leave university. Before doing this project I had never made a garment before and this skill is not very valuable to me, as during Realisation the photographs of my outcomes and samples, which I have shared using social media have gained much interest and I have at present been asked to make and embroider clothing for commission and am considering making this a permanent part of my future practice along side illustrating for publishing purposes. I feel that during this semester I have progressed more toward my professional goals than the rest of my time at university.

16/04/2015

Blog Entry 26:

MA / MDes Visual Communication

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Name: Helen – Marie Kelly

Stage: MA

Date & Draft Version: 17/04/2015 Final Draft

1. Working Title: Enwrap: Hands in Tandem with the Body

The Embodiment of the Human Hand’s Potential to Comment on the Complexity of Body Confidence and Modesty

2. Rationale for the project proposed: Provide a concise, logical rationale for the project, 200 words.

3. Audience: Describe the audience that the project is aimed at. Ask yourself, who will benefit from the process or outcome of the project proposed, whose needs will you meet, who are you communicating with, who are you seeking to persuade or inform?

The target audience for this project is predominantly adult due to the complexity of the subject matter. I believe that to fully appreciate the way in which the imagery can create two opposite commentaries on modesty by understanding that the hand could belong to either the person wearing the garment or someone else, would involve analytical thinking.

The adults at the center of my target for communication are predominantly females between the ages of 20 and 50. Much of the pre-existing work on subjects such as body confidence is aimed at a younger audience, often teenage girls, my project is aimed at those who might be unmoved by such imagery due to the use of visual communication which often includes images of girls at the age for which the work is aimed. Through my research I have ascertained that as women get older many still feel and understand social pressures on how women are perceived currently in western society especially.

Due to the increased age of my target audience from the usual teenage community work is often created to speak to I am able to include aspects of the subject of body confidence, which are otherwise avoided such as seduction.

I have specifically chosen models for outcomes 1,2,3 and 7 of different sizes and ages within my target audience to make the garments to measure in order to strengthen the connection to whom the work is specifically speaking. I have also done this, as I personally believe that as I am not a fashion student, but rather an illustrator I do not have to follow the confinements of designing garments to fit a specific size.

4. Theoretical Framework: Summarise the theoretical framework of your practice enquiry.

This project exists to enquire what it means to be human through the communicative power that images of the human hand can create when commenting on the complexity of the issues involved with body confidence and modesty. The project particularly focuses on how the human hand when placed in tandem with the human body can strengthen or alter what the imagery communicates.

My dissertation was designed to aid research undertaken in the concept module, through questioning the meaning of human hand in art. Chapter two focuses specifically on how the hand in imagery has the potential to comment on gender and explores more deeply into how the human hand conveys this through positioning and movement. I have used this section of my dissertation in particular to form a basis of research of my Realisation project.

Abstract from my dissertation:

…concepts of masculine and feminine, which are empowered or projected through aspects such as clothing, but the human hand in this area is anything but unimportant. The movement of the hand or positioning within a composition, as outlined in Chapter One images of the human hand can signal to an audience certain aspects about a character’s personality or background, along with acting as political signifiers. Gender is a concept in art, which often relies on synecdochal imagery, one or few as representative of the whole: This contrasts greatly with what gender often means to the viewer. Being individual is a human concept, which is not shared with other species, and is strongly linked with gender. The human race defines gender and gender roles in a range of ways, which vary vastly. If gender is key to defining humanity, how does imagery use hand movement portray or extenuate this?

When commenting on the seduction of Marcel Duchamp as Rrose S’elavy (Fig. 7 & Fig. 7.1) Jones states

Rrose s’elavy acts out the seduction of the art object on several levels. She is an image of ‘woman’ constructed through highly sexualized period codes of desirable femininity drawn from a commercial vocabulary of gender signifiers: her clothing, the coy pose and feminine hand gestures…

(Jones, 1993: 21)

Jones describes the hand gestures as feminine which suggests that hand gesture goes deeper than merely overt communication used as a substitute for speech. Much of Jones’ comments on how the seduction is achieved is apparently through “commodifiable” (Jones, 1993: 27) means such as clothing and jewelry, however the movement of the hand as a simple and unstained area of the human body plays its part to convey a certain idea/ feeling just as admirably as the use of man made embellishment.

It is the gesture of the hand that Jones states is suggestive of femininity, not necessarily an action. Gestural qualities here can be considered closer to communication through body language rather than that of the gestures in Bruno Munari’s Front cover Speak Italian: The Fine Art of Gesture, for instance. The ‘gesture’ of the hand has more to do with intertexual attachment to a pose or movement than the movement itself: What does the viewer already think of when he/ she sees a particular hand gesture. The femininity of the subject in the photographs is possibly perceived through gesture due to the delicacy of the movement; the subject does not grasp anything tightly, nor do the fingers fully curl round the areas of the clothing touched, creating an ethereal feeling, of being able to manipulate the environment around oneself through the use of weightless or defenseless action. The precise and delicate motions of the subject’s hands can be likened to that of the Chinese tradition of folding the hands in a delicate manner, a way in which Chinese women show respect.

This particular part of my dissertation explains how the positioning of the hand can be a key element in describing gender. The human hand through simple movement or position can be a very effective signifier to complex human traits. With this in mind I have strived to ensure that the positioning of the hands, especially when in tandem with the body create specific commentaries on the subject of body confidence and modesty.

5. Methodology: Set out the visual methodology you will employ in researching the question you have set yourself. Construct a time-based structure for your visual research and practice.

My methodology is designed to address design problems in an ordered fashion to gradually move the idea generation and image making process forward. The two main design questions I have explored are as follows: How can images of the human hand be placed in tandem with the body whilst retaining focus? And how does the hand when placed in such a way affect its power to comment on the complex subject of body confidence and modesty?

In my main sketchbook(s) have researched how the human hand can be created visually to make successful commentary on body confidence and self-awareness, whilst creating visual samples in my chosen medium of stitch and paint through experimentation, which are desired to answer more specific design problems. For example I have produced a set of samples, which are desired to ascertain the best way in which to keep the painted element in my imagery when applying the imagery to a garment form.

Throughout this project I have focused on how imagery on the human hand when placed in tandem with the body can retain visual focus, this was particularly difficult as when the whole body is represented through imagery the gaze is immediately divided between the hands and the rest of the body. Originally I attempted to address this problem by making the hands the more prominent factor through shading or using transparent fabric to push the rest of the imagery back, this did not work as intended as the visual of the rest of the body was still too dominant, and the hands became part of the whole. Eventually I was able to describe the body visually whilst still retaining focus on the images of the hands in two ways: I created embroidered/painted garments designed to be worn in order to visually represent the human body whilst the embroidered/ painted hands took president as the point of focus, whilst still being specifically placed in tandem with the body of the wearer. Later in the project I also decided to create flat images using the word enwrap as inspiration to create imager of the hands alone in positions to suggest what they might be wrapping themselves around.

Whilst considering how best to visually convey the hand I have also focused on how the positioning of the hand on the body can be used to described two or more messages per image linked to the subject of body confidence and body image. When I realised that making physical garments was the best way to solve my first design problem, I found that I was able to use the fact that when the garment is worn the hands could be perceived as either belonging to the model or belonging to someone else. If the hands on the outcome 1 garment for example belong to the model this could mean that the model is covering the body suggesting modesty or protection from being viewed as naked, combined with connotations that a garment can be viewed as an extension of covering positions the hand can create, this could also be viewed as a way in which the model is drawing attention to certain parts of her body in a seductive manner. If the hands belong to someone other than the wearer, this could suggest that the model is being touched inappropriately by another person or is being protected by this person. I have decided to cerate my imagery with these dual meanings in order to reflect the complexity of the subject.

My blog is designed to research current contemporary practitioners along with other influences, issues and fashions to aid my practice theme along with other such elements of interest relating to my chosen mediums. The blog will also include considerations for how I intend to take my practice further with a view to leaving university and considerations for the future of my career.

6. Deliverables: Please list the outcomes that you envisage resulting from the project.

A set of 5 garments and three flat outcomes designed to be exhibited along with a 64-page photo book and portfolio of refined photographs of the garments on models in the Brigdens Photographic Studio and in location and a disc of all photographs taken.

7. Identify any exceptional practical requirements that the project will

necessitate: Please list anything beyond the usual provisions of the programme.

8. Bibliography: Reference all resources including images following the Harvard system.

Adler. K. and Pointon, M. (eds.) (1993) The Body Imaged: The human form and visual culture since the Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BBC News (2012). Fighting may have shaped the evolution of the human hand. [Online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.york.ac.uk/integrity/harvard_other_accordian.html [Accessed 4th November 2014]

Berlin Painter (480 B.C.) Herakles and Iphikles attacked by snakes. Pottery, Paris: Louvre

Berman, P.g. (1993) Body and body polotic in Edvard Munch’s Bathing Men. In Adler, K and Pointon, M. (eds.) The Body Imaged: The human form and visual culture since the Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Clarke. K. (1956) The Nude. In Nead. L. (ed.) The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity and Sexuality (1992) Routledge.

Carrier. D. and Morgan. M.H. (2012). Fighting may have shaped the evolution of the human hand. [Online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20790294 [Accessed 4th November 2014]

Deepdane Painter (Attributed to) (470-460 B.C), Perseus and Danae. Terracotta Red-figure Pottery

Eakins. T. (1898) Salutat. Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts. Oil paint, 126.4 x 101.0 cm

Fabbri. P.(2011) Beyond Gombrich: the recrudescence of visual semiotics. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Gill, M. (1989) Image of the Body. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Inc.

Gombrich, E. H. (1993) Gombrich on the Renaissance, Volume 2: Symbolic images. 2^nd Ed. London: Phaidon Press Ltd.

Harter, J. (1985) Hands A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth Century Sources. Ontario: Dover Publications.

Hatt, M. (1993) Muscles, Morals, Mind: the male body in Thomas Eatkins’ Salutat. In Adler, K and Pointon, M. (eds.) The Body Imaged: The human form and visual culture since the Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Havelock. C.M. (1995) The Aphrodite of Kindos and her Successors: A Historical Review of the Female Nude in Greek Art. 1^st Ed. Michigan: University of Michigan.

Hawkins. B.W. (1863) Frontispiece to Evidence as to Mans Place in Nature. In Huxley. T.H. Evidence as to a Mans Place in Nature. (1863). In The Zoological Relations of Man with the Lower Animals. (1861) 1^st Ed. (p67 – 84.) London: The Natural History Museum.