Ok, I appreciate this is a long blog but I’ve tried to re-work my existing idea to cover the criteria and so have detailed the whole process of the project.
It’s not waffle, I promise!
I’ve kept with my same theme, as it’s something I’m really enthusiastic in exploring. The problem was communicating the idea graphically and fulfilling my aim in carrying out a live whilst uncommercial project.
Look/Don’t Look
My proposal is to highlight the printed media’s fascination with other people’s misfortunes, in a communicative graphic format that also measures influence and consequent reactions.
The aim is to collect every printed instance of schadenfreude found in 1 tabloid newspaper, 1 broadsheet and 1 trashy magazine over a period of 1 month. This means a range of ‘misfortunes’ affecting ordinary folk, politicians and celebs can be gathered.
Three posters would be designed from the shapes of these cuttings categorised into; Comedy, Jealousy and Justice and printed onto newsprint in Cyan, Magenta and Yellow for each. Postcards could be produced with each shape printed and the actual text and source on the reverse.
The content of the cuttings will also be translated into illustrated strips to be inserted into a constructed moving image device (zoetrope).
To question whether the media encourages/influences us into feeling schadenfreude, these posters of the collated news and the visual tool would be placed at 'Viewfinder Photography Gallery' in Greenwich where visitors would be asked to participate in choosing a category and shape, then given the corresponding postcard to read the salacious, comedic, or perhaps political story. They would then be offered the chance to view that news story play out simply in the form of basic moving image.
What I’m really interested in capturing, is the reactions of people experiencing schadenfreude whether it be with smirks, opened eyes, shocked expressions - if you like it’s the ‘physical manifestation of a private emotion’. I would record these reactions photographically with a view to exhibiting the images back into the gallery space from which they were sourced.
Ultimately, I’d like this imagery to form new content for the zoetrope or possible short stop-frame films to be displayed at the show where visitors would be watching another’s experience of schadenfreude without knowledge of the stimulus.
I recognise that the project relies heavily upon public participation, which is a risk, but as the gallery is located in a busy area with many tourists and students, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain the responses needed.
I feel this project reflects my interest in thought-provoking print based graphics, raising debate on social issues, whilst demonstrating skills in collaboration, print and photography.
Also a substantial body of work can be produced.
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