As a designer/creative artist, is your practice political?
Discuss with reference to a critical incident you have encountered. Own Title: Unconscious political design and design as a form of escapism. Name: Ada Hyczko Course: Design for Art Direction (DAD) In regards to myself as a creative artist/designer, I believe my practice is mostly unconsciously political through a form of escapism. During my DPS year, I have been experimenting with different mediums such as film, illustration, poster design, tattooing and visual art. Not having a set brief which falls under particular categories or is needed to be based around political topics, I have noticed that I have been creating what comes the most natural to me. I do not mean that politics are not important to me, but when it comes to being creative, basing my practice on political factors is not my immediate response. I think that politics and society have a general influence on everyone’s daily lives, personalities, and beliefs, therefore some of this influence regarding artists which do not class themselves as political is definitely unconscious. Escapism is “the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.”. I believe a lot of my art since I have been young has been a form of escapism and a healing journey from anything that affects my mental health in a negative way. I mostly use art and design as a way of detaching from reality, which explains why I do not consider myself as a political designer. Due to politics being so relevant in everyone’s lives, political design makes me wonder whether some viewers may view my work as a political statement even if it is not meant to be political. On the other hand, during my first and second year of Design for Art Direction, I have created a short film about women’s safety, a zine surrounding body image and a visual essay exploring sex work. All topics which are considered quite close and personal to me, as a woman. Feminism is “a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes”. With that being said, I have created political designs in the past and I have always believed that any design can hold and send powerful messages to the public. My current project for the DPS SIP, was originally supposed to be a political zine including multiple collages made from used, second hand or free magazines, newspapers or catalogs or selected 3 final collages printed out A1, about the current cost of living crisis in the UK and how people of different social classes are affected/ the harsh divide between lower and upper class people during this time. However, as much as this is close to me and I am part of the people affected by the cost of living, I was not passionate enough about this topic to spend time creating something to reflect mine and other people’s emotions as well as try to send a powerful message in regards to the government as well, because I don't want to be faking my feelings or sending the wrong message. Reuben Pater, in “Politics of Design”, states that “Designers have a position of power because they are (partly) in control of the messages sent”. Instead of this zine, after finding my passion for tattooing during my DPS year, I have decided to create a short-documentary type interview video with a few tattoo artists for my SIP, whilst also starting my own freelance tattoo business/journey. This relates back to my point that as an artist my practise is mostly unconsciously political through a form of escapism but also my work is heavily driven by passion rather than politics. (617 Words) Bibliography https://www.google.com/search?q=escapism+definition&oq=escapism+defi&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i512l5j0i22i30l3.5994j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=is+feminism+political+or+social&oq=is+feminism+pol&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i512j0i15i22i30j0i22i30l6.3708j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Reuben Pater, “Politics of Design”- “Designers have a position of power because they are (partly) in control of the messages sent”
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