Steampunk

Steampunk is a subgenre that is a hybrid of history, science and fashion. Steampunk is a style that is based around what the Victorians thought the future would be like. This often is confused with the Gothic aesthetic. Steampunks' style is heavly based on mechanics. This is shown through their outfits. For example a Steampunk may wear a pair of steam goggles with their outfit. This style is heavily influenced by fantasy and the  idea's of what the future would be like. For example at this current moment we believe that the  'future' will consist of spaceships and minimalistic catsuits, whereas the Victorians image of the future was heavily based of mechanics and steam engines and massive steam powered devices.
Although Steampunk is a recognised fashion genre people have started to use it as a theme to their weddings. This see's the bride and groom, along with the quests all dress up in a Steampunk fashion.
What i especially like about this sub-genre is that is heavily influenced by  future and technology. These two things are common subjects in my work that i wanted to explore for my pomotion work.

Here are some Steampunk images that inspired me in my creative process -

Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is a British surrealist and instillation artists born in 1965. He is known for the controversy that surrounds his work and also known for being a member of the Young British Artists (YBA) that dominated the art scene in the 1990's. This group also included other known artists such as Tracey Emin. Along with other artists he recreated the British art scene and brought attention to the country's modern art scene.
There are many reoccurring scenes in Hirst's work, two of them are mixing the concepts of both life and death, another is publicity and privacy. I looked at Damien Hirst's art during my creative process as my message was really similar to those in his work. I really like the aesthetic value of his work as well. I looked at his most famous works such as 'Mother and child devided', ' Away from the flock' and 'The anatomy of an angel'. I liked the contrast of life and death in these pieces of work and the preservation of life but i also liked the idea of making something that is private and  not usually assessable to the everyday public.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces by Damien Hirst -

This piece is entitled 'Away from the Flock'. I like this piece because of its preservation of an animal that many people would be too afraid  or conscious of approaching. I like that he has captured the sheep in a majestic pose and encased it so it becomes a piece of art and not just a run of the mill sheep. I liek the boundries that where crossed with this piece of art. It would of had people questioning ''Is this art?'' 

This piece is entitled ' The anatomy of an angel'. I like the surrealism in this piece and also how Hirst has taken a fantasy or a mythical creature and tried to make it almost relateable. He has shown the audience the insides of an angel and made it have the same insides as humans. I think there is something really strong about this piece of work.

This piece is entitled  'Mother and child devided'. I really like the way Hirst has broken down the boundried between publicity and privacy in this piece of work as we never usually get to see the innards of a cow. I like that he has captured birth and death all in one piece as well as giving the public an oppertunity to look on the innards of a pregnant cow.


Damien Hirsts work will continue to inspire me through my work as i like how brave and bold his artwork was. I also like the idea of exploring things we never normally do. I believe that i did this with my image of a baby inside a womb, it almost divided the privacy of the baby and the publicity of putting it on a magazine.

evaluation

The message that I am communicating in my project is the idea that there is a generation of people living on this world that are born into a universe where we depend on technology and electronic equipment to get us through everyday. The people living in this generation are named ‘Generation Z’. I have looked at the work of others to draw inspiration from. Artists such as Damien Hirst and subculture movements like steampunk have inspired my project. However the Internet, history and evolving, inspired a large proportion of my work. I am fascinated by the growth and eventual death of the human race. Therefore I wanted my design to explore this idea. The bag that I have created is designed for people who are willing to make a statement with their looks and people who are the fashion innovators. The print I have used is moderately subtle but the message and graphic is a conversation starter. The image that I used is off a baby inside the womb, I decided on this image as it represents a new generation, a new life and a new start. The colors I used in the picture are typical pink tones that reflect the ones of a womb. I then had the idea to layer a microchips data base on top of the baby and cut around it to it appeared to be traveling through the baby’s unborn body. The colors of this were a lime green shade that allowed the image to take on a much more electronic and futuristic vibe.  I also made several other designs, which included a mobile phone in the womb which was an ironic, humorous statement about giving birth to actual technology and a baby scan picture that had been exploited even before birth by being used as a window’s computer background. Out of these designs I chose the one, which showed a more apparent message, as I want my audiences to identify with it more. I then got to actually making my bag; this step was really simple as I inserted my image onto my bag by using a heat press. This process was simple and quick. After this I got onto the promotional stage of my bag. I had an idea in my head for a still life campaign/editorial shoot, which included my bag lying inside a broken keyboard. I wanted this to signify the destruction of the technological age and the ending of a world relying on Wi-Fi and electricity to get us through the day. I then made several smaller but publicly effective promotional images to market my message and exploit my idea. I done this by photo shopping my image on top of a billboard and a giant advertisement bag. I also wanted to show that my image had a deeper more cultural message so I decided to create a magazine cover for well known controversial magazine ‘TIMES’. I thought this magazine was perfect for my image as it is a magazine that deals with the problems and the troubles in modern day society, politics and culture.

The tactics I have used in my image are ones of shock and exploitation. I really wanted the person on the receiving end to stop and think for a minute about the actual day and age that we live in. I also think that the image is shocking as it shows an inside of a womb, a baby in naked and unborn state being objectified to the modern age of technology. In my personal opinion I believe that my bag idea is would work aloud better as a piece of art or an image on a magazine instead of a design on a bag. However I do think that the image looks good on a bag and is wearable for those willing to convey a message and a strong style in their look. I mostly like the image because of it’s simplicity, although the image is not vibrant and doesn’t explore multiple images, lettering and color, I still think that it is a design that has a bold message and a bold finish. Probably my most favorite thing about this is my message, I think it is a unique message that nobody really thinks about or publicizes. My only downfall of this design was that the image was subtle in contrast to where I could of went with the image.  I had such a strong theme that I could of allowed myself more creative freedom to do what I want.. The ending product was still really good and allowed me to work with it and was great to style and make into an editorial which I really like.

Fashion Editorial/Commerical spread

For the next stage of promotion for my bag i have chosen to set up a editorial/commercial shoot.
I wanted the focus to be on the bag itself so i decided not to use a model and instead opt for a still life shoot.
I had the idea of smashing up an old keyboard in my head a few months back when i was given the brief so i went out looking for a keyboard, luckily i found one in a local charity shop for £1. I wanted to smash it up to represent the end of technology, the rejection of generation Z. I really like how the images turned out as i think they have a strong styling. I also liked the idea of working with still life styling as an alternative to using models as i have never really experimented with it before this shoot. Here is my finished product :

Final idea - Promotion

For the promotion of my bag i wanted to put the image on the front of a magazine which had politicly and culturally interested people reading it. I thought that Times magazine was the perfect magazine as it balances out controversy, culture, art and politics. 

I think that this image looks really strong on the front of this magazine. I have also chosen to have white text with the image as i think it makes the writing really stand out of the page and co-ordination the colours used perfectly.  Times magazine is perticuallary known for their strong statement making magazine covers and i think that this image would work well with their theme and their audience. 

I have placed this image on a billboard. Billboards are a good way of creating buzz they are exploted to a wide bunch of people. This image will make people interested with the idea of the photo and furthermore get them to think about the message.

For this promotional strategy  i have taken the idea of using a giant bag campaign used by H&M. This type of promotion will attract attention because of the size. I think that this sort of campaign combines fashion and instillation art.

Fashion for a cause

Fashion for a course -

Many fashion designers contribute to charity's and help raise awareness for causes. Many designers create a small collection or a collection of t shirts which the profits will go directly to their chosen charity or cause. Designers such as vivienne Westwood , Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs have all created collections that contribute to raising awareness for different causes. Fashion is a good , eye catching way of making a statement and raising awareness for different causes and charities.


Vivienne Westwood  -

Vivienne Westwood is an amazing contributor to raising awareness for several different causes and charities , she does this through fashion. Fashion is a great communicator of messages as it is wearing and long lasting.  Vivienne Westwood has famously designed a collection of t shirts for 'Red nose day' which showed historical characters transformed with a red nose as the theme for that years  red nose day show was 'funny for money'. The sales of these t shirt helped raise nearly £75 million pounds for family's and individuals that are effected by poverty, illness's and other conflicts. Vivienne Westwood has also recently made a collection of clothes that support and raise awareness for Climate Revolution.

What is Climate Revolution ? -

Well in the words of Vivienne -
"The Revolution is already begun. 
The fact of man-made climate change is accepted by most people. Through every walk of life people are changing their values and their behaviour. 
In 2008, the New Economics Foundation announced their “100 Months” campaign – the amount of time they estimate we have to stabilize the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before the risk of uncontrollable planet warming becomes unacceptably high. We are now halfway through; with 50 more months to go - therefore we have to do it by the next Olympics. We have a choice: Hell or a Future better than the human race has ever known. Act fast against Climate Change." 

This is writen on her Website , you can also gain more information about the cause at http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk

Vivienne Westwood has also done work for many other charities.

Final Ideas - bags

For my porject i had to create a bag which exploited a perticular message. For my message i chose the theme of Generation Z and the birth into technological age. Here are my final 3 ideas  and the meanings behind them-

Bag 1 - Technological fetus-

This image was constructed by taking an image of a baby inside the womb and then altering it and layering other images ontop of it to make the baby look as though it had electronic hard drives running through it. This is to symbolise that the baby has technology in it's blood and that although it is not even born yet it is still subjected to technology.

Bag 2 -  Mobile Fetus - I wanted to take the idea of the baby being born into a technological age and create a humourous edge to it, i done this by making the baby a mobile phone. I think this is an ironic statement as people treat phones as though they are children and they rely on them for happiness just as a parent would to their children. 

Bag 3 - This last bag shows a baby scan being used as a screensaver on a computer. I wanted to create this design as i wanted to point out the publicity the baby goes through months before it is even born. The baby is not even born yet but still it's image is already projected everywhere, including the computer. I took inspiration from people posting baby scans on facebook. This breaks down the boundary between publicity and privacy which is a common aspect in my project.