Week 9: Message Delivered

How can a message be enhanced through the medium in which it is implemented?

In all honesty, this week was quite challenging for me- mainly due to the fact that I was going through a bit of burnout, so as a result, my thought process and the overall development of this weeks challenge was a bit all over the place.

However, I can definitely say that this weeks topic had me looking down some pretty interesting avenues- and overall, had me exploraing of how method can really help to enhance the message you are trying to get across in your work.

Lecture

This weeks interview lecture included Sam Winston who shared some really insightful ideas and thoughts as to how we should approach this weeks challenge. Here were some of the main points that I wanted to consider:

- Trying to look at things in a more unusual way- or at least consider the different perspectives and interpretations.

- Having a sense of trust when you enter an environment- not knowing what's going to come out, and not letting a preconceived idea cloud your judgement (just be receptive).

- Understanding that if you are afraid to try something new- that fear is usually just excitement.

- Understanding that everything around you can be a tool- can offer your a unique perspective and idea.

Thinking about the processes, materials you use, and the end form- how does that engage with your audience. Your client is the culture you work in.

Workshop Challenge

Taking into account what I had learnt and heard from the lecture, I decided to do what Sam Winston recommended and just go to an area of Cheltenham and observe.

So I decided to have a walk around, and I found myself returning to one of my favourite spots- the Imperial Gardens.

Fig 1.- Cheltenham Imperial Gardens- https://www.visitcheltenham.com/things-to-do/imperial-gardens-p1596073

This area is one of my favourite spots for a number of reasons- it's where I have come to read, write and draw for the past four to five years, it is also fairly beautiful (especially in the spring season, and its away from the (sometimes) overwhelming hustle and bustle of the town centre.

A lot of the words that came to mind whilst sitting here was how beautiful and picturesque Cheltenham was- with its manicured gardens, Georgian-styled architecture of the surrounding buildings and, the overarching sense of the tight-knit community that keeps this place neat, clean and thriving.

It always came as a bit of a surprise to see just how friendly and sociable this place was-there are so many seating areas, benches and areas to vibe and it made me think of the countless times I managed to strike up small conversations with complete strangers.

The general observation I came to was that this whole park had benches and seating areas around the whole square, and overall the whole garden was incredibly manicured, neat and well-structured. Even the people who came to the park during my observations added to the picturesque and tranquil atmosphere; walking groups, people walking their dogs, couples, people on bikes, people reading books and newspapers.

Although most of what I thought of was positive, it was important (like Sam had said), to look at this place in multiple perspectives, to consider all of the angles. And so I made a mind map of the positives and negatives of Cheltenham.

My Word

So the word I decided to use to describe Cheltenham is Idyllic.

For years, many have considered Cheltenham to be a warm, vibrant, luxurious and safe place to live, work and visit- And sure enough, it has a lot of very good qualities.

Although known mainly for its horse racing, Georgian architecture, beautiful gardens, art museums and the festivals, there are so many wonderful and beautiful parts of Cheltenham that it can be easy for people to be dazzled by it.

But like any place, this town does have its dark side.

From many citizens facing homelessness, to a drastic increase in violence and sexual offences, to the impact and unease that comes with living in such close proximity to GCHQ (the secret intelligence and security organisation which is responsible for supplying signals, intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and the armed forces).

Much like the town from the Edgar Wright movie 'Hot Fuzz', my idea was to elaborate of the idea that although this town looks (and is perceived by many) like the perfect place to live in and visit, that it has a secret and sinister undertone which we have become oblivious to- as instead we are bedazzled by the towns beauty and the festivities.

Research

For the sake of this week, and for the sake of my workload, I decided to focus sorely on one aspect- which was the impact and effect that comes with living next door to one of the UK's leading originations for secret intelligence.

Brief Context

GCHQ was established back in 1919, but it wasn't until the 1950's that they established themselves in Cheltenham.

In 2004, they moved into what many affectionately call 'the Doughnut', which is a humongous building (shaped like a doughnut...duh) located on Hubble Road, just a little bit outside of central Cheltenham.

Working alongside Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), MI5, police and a multitude of other sectors, their chief mission is to keep this country safe- both in the real world and online.

Throughout history, 'GCHQ has helped to shorten wars, thwart terrorist attacks and apprehend serious criminals' through the gathering, analysis and production of essential information and intelligence.

Overall, it is safe to say that they are an essential part of what keeps our country and its people safe from harm.

Although you can definitely acknowledge the fact that they have done a lot of good, there is still an underlining sense of paranoia, unease and scepticism that comes with living on their doorstep.

Even just a week before I started this challenge, there was a terrifying news story that came out- a woman who was suspected of working at this organisation, was brutally stabbed by an alleged terrorist (though it hasn't been confirmed that she did in fact work for GCHQ).

But even going back, GCHQ has definitely been through its fair share of controversy and criticism- especially in 2013 after the whistleblower Edward Snowden had revealed that GCHQ had been secretly intercepting and collecting vast amounts of communication data via the internet and through telephone.

This issue had inspired Banksy's 'Spy Booth' piece, which used to be located on Hewlett Road before it got destroyed.

Inspiration

Spy Booth- Banksy

Fig. 3- Spy Booth- Banksy 2014- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-28032154

'Spy Booth' came about in 2014, around a year since the global surveillance disclosures. However, back in 2016, the building it was painted on had been put up for sale and the piece had ultimately been removed (and potentially destroyed) in order for the building renovations to be made (although it was supposed to be protected and preserved by order of the Cheltenham council).

Banksy has been a continuous source of inspiration for my work for a long time as they have opened my eyes to the effects of satirical commentary and witty humour through design.

Banksy's confident and physical methods have always fascinated me- not only do you have to wonder how and why they choose these certain locations (beyond keeping themselves anonymous by avoiding busy areas), but you can also acknowledge the fact that the method relates heavily to the purpose behind the work; to be seen and to make a statement about our current issues.

Can You Hear Me- Mathias Jud and Christoph Wachter

Fig. 4- Can You Hear Me- Mathias Jud & Christoph Wachter- http://www.wachter-jud.net/Can-you-hear-me.html?r9t_locale=en

Another piece that I was fairly familiar with was Mathias Jud's and Christoph Wachter's 'Can You Hear Me'- which wasn't just an art piece but a temporary network that allowed them to literally force the intelligence agencies to listen to everything they and thousands of other people were saying.

This was created on the Swiss Embassy in Berlin as a direct response to the global surveillance disclosures as it had become clear that Berlin was one of the primary targets of these intelligence agencies.

Again, like with Banksy, the method was very physical and, although temporary, was a incredible statement.

Method- Vintage Tourism Posters

With this context and inspiration in mind, the method that I was going to use to get across this message was through the format of a tourism poster.

Initially I had thought about doing an entire magazine cover and a couple of pages but I didn't have the time and I wanted to keep it as simple as I could.

Fig. 5- Swissair Travel Poster- Donald Brun http://www.posterswelove.com/en/swissair-original-vintage-posters/1102-donald-brun-swissair-1954.html

Fig. 6- United Air Lines San Francisco Travel Poster- Joseph Binder https://www.alamy.com/united-air-lines-san-francisco-by-joseph-binder-austrian-1898-1972-restored-vintage-poster-published-in-1957-in-the-usa-image432752396.html

Fig. 7- Torquay Travel Poster- Frank Newbould https://flashbackshop.com/products/torquay-poster-frank-newbould-1945

I decided to look into some vintage tourism posters and found myself drawn to the work of

(in order from left to right) Donald Brun, Joseph Binder and Frank Newbould.

I was drawn to these the most because of the bright and bold colours, the use of illustrative images and the general joyful nature of the poster. I wanted to get across that same style and feeling with my own tourism poster as it reflects amazingly on my chosen word and will offer a nice/ dramatic contrast to the underlining message of the piece.

Development

I decided to refer back to one of my observations- the park benches, and how the imperial gardens are absolutely filled with them.

The reason why was because I wanted to play on the typical espionage trope- how spies would often meet up on park benches in busy areas in order to exchange top secret information without being heard.

My idea was to create a tourism poster that depicted a person sitting/ relaxing on the park bench in imperial gardens, and surrounding them is a boarder where in each of the corners, there are cameras and microphones recording them.

Overall, this concept ended up evolving a lot as I created it, until eventually I ended up with this:

Reflection

Overall, I really like how this piece came out. I got quite experimental with different textures as I wanted to recreate the textures of the stone on the buildings, the leaves, the metallic cameras, the wood of the bench etc.

My favourite part about this piece is the colour schemes I went for as the pastel greens, yellows and reds are reflective of the colours of Cheltenham but also help to create a beautiful vintage effect.

The binary numbers on the newspaper translate to the phrase 'Hello World', which is historically the first program created and has since become a tradition amongst computer science teachers as a way to introduce people to the world of programming.

Also I felt like I had to include a pigeon in there somewhere- I feel like it has become a recurring motif for my work regarding Cheltenham.

I feel like the things I could have done, which I didn't think of until I had pretty much finished the piece, was consider who was going to be sat on the bench. I feel like I could have made it even more subtle/ even more sinister if I had just drawn a 'normal-looking' pedestrian instead of someone who quite literally looks like an old-fashioned spy. I even had the idea of drawing myself sitting on the bench as I draw the people around me.

That could be a cool idea for a project in the future as I could make a series of posters that depict the different demographics of Cheltenham.

References

Banksy Cheltenham Spy Booth artwork 'to be removed' (2014) BBC News. BBC. [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-28032154 (Accessed: March 23, 2023).

Laboureau, S. (2021) Spy booth, 2014, Banksy Explained. Banksy Explained. [Online] Available at: https://banksyexplained.com/spy-booth-2014-2/ (Accessed: March 23, 2023).

Wachter, C. and Jud, M. (no date) "Can you hear me?", Can you hear me? Christoph Wacher & Mathias Jud. [Online] Available at: http://www.wachter-jud.net/Can-you-hear-me.html?r9t_locale=en (Accessed: March 23, 2023).

Winston, S. and Edwards, S. (2023) Week 9 Podcast Form and Function. Falmouth Flexible. [Online] Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-9-lecture?module_item_id=63439 (Accessed: March 22, 2023)

ZoZo, M. (2021) Meet The Artists Behind Your Favourite Vintage Travel Posters, Duende by Madam ZoZo. [Online] Available at: https://duendebymadamzozo.com/vintage-travel-poster/ (Accessed: March 24, 2023).