Photography Practitioner - James Mollison

James Mollison

Book - The Disciples. Fans dressed as celebrities

Exhibited at Photographer's gallery London when I visited over summer.

The tone of voice Mollison has is very similar to that of my OUIL505 Project last year, except  the subject of his work is the fan's relationship with the celebrity. His images from 'The Disciples' shows how the fans of each celebrities take on their chosen muse's looks & identity, suggesting a strong relationship and understanding of each public figure. This could further represent the influence such celebrities are having on their fans' attitudes to their own identities, or even their perhaps their lives.

V&A Visit

Theatre & Performance

"The Theatre & Performance collections in the V&A record the history and practice of live performance in the UK. The largest of their kind in the world, the encompass everything from theatre architecture and stage technology to film, photographs, posters, scripts, costumes and tickets. 
These galleries show the whole spectrum of live performance, from circus,and rock to pop and opera and drama. The objects on display represent the ingenuity and hard work that goes into creating a live performance, as well as the glamour and magic of the final show. Alongside the objects are films, computer interactives and interviews with contemporary practitioners. Together, these give a unique insight into what happens both behind the scenes and on stage." - V&A Museum 

Celebrity 

"Celebrity is both a means of selling a performance and a by -product of it. The range of famous people shown here shows that celebrity is not just a modern phenomenon, and talent has never been the only passport to fame. 
Celebrity can be fleeting, but it can also confer immortality of a performer or artist through the production of souvenirs, mementos and commemorative editions." - V&A Museum

The above quote is most relevant to my research - showing that no matter how long someone stays famous, their performances and products are what remain to be treasured. 

Madame Tussauds Visit

I visited Madame Tussauds over the summer, and I found it so fascinating. The fact that the public are happy to treasure statues/figures that only resemble the stars that they see on their screens seems quite bizarre. Most are in awe when they see these sculptures - and perhaps act similarly (but on a lower level) to how they would if they were to come face to face with one of the stars. The public are starstruck and want to take selfies on their phones with what is essentially wax. This isn't hugely different from admiring a work of art. The figures are exhibited, as well as mementos in the V&A performance sections from celebrity icons in the past. Celebrity image is so valuable to western culture that even the clothes/ fashion famous people wear, their merchandise etc. is important to fans.

Illustration Practitioners - Hattie Stewart

Hattie Stewart 

Hattie Stewart 

Hattie Stewart manipulates images, in a way that is similar to how I approached my COP practical work last year, when I drew portraits composed of the items people 'need' to construct their identities with. 

 "Her signature doodle style"... "decorating images from pop culture with accessories, stripes, googly eyes and emojis and generally elevating them beyond magazine fodder and 
into something entirely unique and infinitely bolder." - It's Nice That 

Working over the top of normal celebrity images from the media, Stewart creates her own artwork. This could suggest that viewers need to take what they are presented lightly, finding their own truths in what they see.

This could be an approach I explore for my celebrity Context of Practice work, as I am researching similar themes. 

     

Illustration Practitioners - Victoria Will

Victoria Will

In 2014 during Sundance Film Festival, Victoria Will set up a tintype portrait studio and made handmade portraits of celebrities. 

I find the fact that she used traditional methods to create celebrity portraits put a unique twist on the documentation of celebrities -the pictures we are used to seeing in the media are usually taken with digital cameras and sometimes manipulated. These photographs feel more authentic and true.  

The use of celebrity images in her work suggests that portraits of celebrities can be approached in more traditional ways, despite 'celebrity' being a relatively new phenomenon. Social media, magazines etc. renders the celebrity image meaningless and disposable, whereas these images add more value.  

Illustration Practitioners - Jon Burgerman

Jon Burgerman's Famous Friends

'Jon Burgerman’s Famous Friends examines our celeb obsessed culture' - It's Nice That

Jon Burgerman has recently been working on creating images for Instagram that show how obsessed the public is with celebrities and their life, and how we "curate our lives towards perfection"
“I’m also trying to show that in most cases these things are actually pretty mundane. So I’m ‘hanging out’ with celebrities, but we’re not doing anything that fascinating (apart from shooting up with Obama of course). Celebrities’ Instagram feeds are often littered with multiple selfies and photos of their cats. They’re just as dull as us normal people!”

 This is quite a noteworthy project that informs me and my practice as it's fun and light hearted when dealing with the social issues of attitudes towards celebrities. This is a similar direction that I want to take my practical and conceptual work for Context of Practice. 

Life After College - Help I've gained

   After we had a week completing 'Be your own boss' I had the chance to have a 1:1 Career advice/ coaching session with ingrid; a lady the college hires to come in and talk to students about what to do in preparation for when we leave. Although the course is very helpful and supportive about this, it was good to get some extra advice over the summer.

   When I told her I was interested in becoming an illustrator for product design companies, she told me that I must try and contact companies for work experience as soon as possible. This is because it can be very difficult to get into contact with companies for placements, as well as the fact that the people who will be able to offer me a job in this field will usually only do so if I have experience. 

   She also pointed me in the direction of a website called 'Prospects' (http://www.prospects.ac.uk)

which gives post graduate career advice in specific areas of study. It also helps with CVs and Covering Letters. 

   I have also spoke to my friends on the printed textiles course here at Leeds College of Art; a course that encourages placements to be sorted before the 3rd year, asking how they got their placements, what types of things they sent out to people, how they got in touch with companies etc. 

   From this I want to make a plan of action for how I will contact people in the industry, as well as being prepared with questions to ask. 

Contacting People/ Agencies/ Practitioners/ Companies

As a starting point, these are the people that I want to contact that I think will  help me identify things I need to know in order to develop my practice, I can also try and target certain people for potential work experience. Once I start networking, I should have a clearer view of the industry and therefore a sense of what I need to do in order to be successful. 

Companies that sell illustrated products:

• Paperchase
• Ohh Deer
• Urban Graphic
• Tiger Print 
• Hallmark 
• Colours May Vary

Practitioners who make illustrated products:

• FAYE GOLLAGLEE
• MEG WILEMAN
• KELLY BLAKE
• BHAVI ILLUSTRATIONS
• JAMIE MITCHELL
•  SOPHIE CORRIGAN
• GEMMA CORRELL
• SANDRA DIECKMANN
• LAURA GEE
• JAMES BARKER
• HANNA MELIN

Practitioners who Illustrate for clients (Editorial/ Portraits)

• Marco Ventura 
• Josie Jammet 
• Mr Bingo 
• Michael Gillette
• Stuart Patience
• Hello Von

Teaching 

• Career Track tuesday
• Ambassador Work 

I also want to try and meet people/ organise stalls at events such as print fairs. I met a girl in Be Your Own Boss in the summer who is part of a group called 'I AM Collective' - they are based in leeds and run events in different venues. Such events celebrate the arts and music, bringing people of similar interests together in order to network. They hire bands to play, and have artists selling their work. I have yet to contact her to enquire about being part of this.