I love my typewriter

I will type the text for my fanzine with my typewriter as it has an authentic look to it also fits with my zine name "STATEMENT"

At the beginning of the week, I haven't been as productive as I would like to but last night and today I feel I am making progress. I've been thinking of a title to my fanzine and the first good one is "STATEMENT". The reason for this is pretty self explanatory. But its based on the choices of how people decide to wear their clothes and make a statement no matter how small or big it might be.

I have also looked at different fanzine layouts/booklets and maybe want to represent a sort of cycle of different trends and how they come "back into fashion" so a sort of flip book that can have its pages continuously turned and have the feel of the trends being re visited throughout time.

I've been planning to go to the London zine Symposium for months (which is this week sunday) so I will attend that event. hopefully it will help me understand the whole zine culture even more and sparks new ideas...

Over the years I have been watching all sorts of documentaries ranging from World War 2 to fashion. Here is a clip I have watched in 2008, that has added to my early interests!

youth culture summary

the decades and their youth cultures are: 

+ 1920s/40s  - flapper girl culture

+1950s - rock n roll, teddy boys

+1960s - 'swinging 60's', bands such as The Beatles and The Who

+1970s - Punk, fashion and bands such as Sex pistols and heavy use of drugs

+1980s - Rave scene, hip hop and drug abuse

+1990s - boy bands, girl power

+2000/ present day - technology and re-visiting old youth cultures and creation of new cultures.. such as, nu rave.

I got these two books from LCC, and I'm reeeeeeally excited to read them as I feel they will help me immensely in this project!

Later on today I visited the Ray Johnson exhibtion at Raven Row where I really got inspired by the way the collages and prints were structured and produced.. Here are some images..

I may do my project on the fashion around Camberwell as its up to date on the latest trends etc. I feel my audience would be targeted  at art students around London and people who have an interest in fashion and history..

I really like this culture of Teddy boys. I found these great photos on the net that sums up part of the look from around 1950s. hopefully i will come across someone who expresses themselves through this clothes.

first issue of i-D magazine

From having a presentation today, some interesting things were raised. I now realize that I will stick to my fashion roots and expand on that by documenting trends, attitudes etc. This could be in the form of a zine! This way it allows me to do all the things i love doing.. photography, collage, drawings, printing etc.

Referring back to the book I have on 'Vienna 1900 and the heroes of modernism', there is a connection.. and that's with the publishing of their group and this will be a chance to look at it properly and could lead to something interesting..

I visited the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow and was really interested in the prints, patterns and artist group press. Here are some images I took while being there...

Cindy Sherman

I'm a total fan of her work like many others are. When reading the wikipedia site on her work I came across this and fits again nicely with my project..

"What emerges through these images is a subtle analysis of individual identity, both the fantasies that it generates and the forces that shape it. This immersion in the uncertain, conflictual zones where individual identity struggles with the collective imaginary, stereotypes and issues of symbolic power, can be either playful or—when it touches on horror and repulsion, on the decay and dismembering of the body—very dark"

Tattoo parlour

On Friday, I visited a tattoo shop where a few friends of mine work. I thought it would be a good place to go as my project is on expressing yourself. I managed to get a few sketches and some pictures of the shop and people being tattooed.

By actually spending time at the shop I realized that it wasn't just a phase but a lifestyle and it had an impact on me.

'In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper.'

For my love for the 1920's and the theme to my FMP, I thought this tied in well for my project.. its like the start of rebelling as it was like in the 70's with punk culture.. attitude and risky

Sophie Stevens, fashion illustrator.

I really liked the way she has listed the people as some sort of graph. I also like the image because of my love for black and white drawings.

FRUITS

This book 'Fruits', has totally inspired me since I was 16 years old .. before it became really commerical, I might add. The book has a wide selection of people from the streets of Japan in the clothing that they either feel comfortable in or off shows their interests.
It would be nice to be able to do something similar to this, to document people and thier way of expressing themselves

This week I visited the V&A Museum to look at anything relating to fashion. I came across this part of museum where it displayed the different styles starting with the 20th century from the 1960s where being able to express yourself and have a sense of identity was in full swing. by seeing this, it has pushed me further to want to document all these things around me today and really get an understanding in the cultures that I see on a daily basis.

During my visit, I came across an 1900's section that I fell in love with. Above are just some of the prints that were displayed, and I feel that there is something very beautiful about them. I really like the way they are dated and you can tell this by the method of printing and the style they are in. I would like to have this essense in my project so I will continue to use the rubber stamp method but also try out screen prints, etching and lino/ wood cuttings.

OOps..

I feel as though I have chosen the wrong title for my Final Major Project and followed some wrong leads. I've come to realize that I would prefer to look at people's ways of expression. By this I mean through body language, clothes, attitudes etc.


Last night I watched a documentary on BBC One called "Queens of british pop" and thats when I realized my project needs tweaking abit.

Here is a video clip about Siouxsie Sioux and how her expression through apparence in the late 70s/ early 80s, helped many around her.



Caroline Coon view on Siouxsie's style (Video)

I got this book from library today and its full of art deco goodness. This book has a range of areas within the movement from posters, furniture and just full on art works. It has one of my all time favourite artists, Egon Schiele, as a section. Examples of his work below