Description -
Title: Wonderful Tonight
Dimensions:
28 x 35 cm
Month
of Completion: March
Explanation of the piece: Our given task was to create a box that included
visual and materialistic culture, both from global and local culture, and it
had to be personally relevant. I collected global and local objects/images and
created a composition to portray a message of how globalization is
overshadowing the beauty of local culture, making it somehow under-appreciated or forgotten about. The objects are personally relevant to my own culture as well as the culture that I live in. I often find myself doodling on whatever object I can find, and therefore decided to do the same with my box, using the stick figures, these stick figures are all over the place, which is how I see my own identity. These stick figures also represent those who are for globalization, and those who are against it.
Visual Culture -
- Van Gogh: Starry Night influence
Van Gogh
was the very first artist I became familiar with, when I was only at a young
age. I was very fascinated with his sun flowers and Starry Night and I believe
that he was part of what influenced me to continue exploring art.
-
Whirling Dervish
These
whirling dervishes belong to the Egyptian culture. I was inspired by an artist
named Taher Adbel-Azim, who used a whirling dervish as a subject and combined
this with spiral movements. The whirling dervish contrasts with Starry Night,
as Starry Night is pop-culture art whilst whirling dervishes are local culture. Although the dervish stands out, it seems as if the Starry Night whirl is overshadowing it. This shows how globalization overshadows local culture
-
Billboard: De Standaard, Cultuur.
When I
was going through a Belgian newspaper, I came across the culture section. As I
am focused on culture as a theme, I stopped to read across the page hoping to
find anything interesting. I decided to use the title of the page, which said
"De Standaard" (name of the newspaper) on the left and
"Cultuur" (=culture in Dutch) in big, capitalized letters. I wrote
globalization on the billboard, covering the word 'culture'. This again shows the overshadowing effect of globalization
- The Ramadan Kareem image is commonly found on products during Ramadan itself. Ramadan is a great part of the Muslim culture
Materialistic Culture -
-
Wonderful Tonight label
This is
the name of my very first piano exam piece. It has always been my favorite and
is always positioned on my piano, which I pass by every morning as it is
positioned in the entry hall. I used it because I thought it was appropriate as
the setting seems to be at night, due to the use of dark blue colors and
'wonderful' is ironic as the setting is chaotic
- Coca
Cola can
To me,
the Cola can is an example of one of the most globally known products. No
matter what language it is written in, what size, or what drawing is on it,
people will immediately recognize the brand. This is due to the recognizable
colors (Red background and white letters) and font (swirling, white font). I
have an obsession with Coca Cola for some reason, it is also what keeps me up
when working late on IB work, and therefore I consider it personally relevant.
The stick figure represents someone who is against globalization, and is trying
to save local culture. It is pulling the cola can down although the can is much
larger than the stick figure itself
-
Paintbrush
The
paintbrush represents art. Not only am I passionate about art, I am constantly
working on art related things and therefore I used the paint brush as it is a
daily occurrence to me. The paintbrush is held by a stick figure who used this
to write the word "Globalization" on the billboard (Banksy, graffiti
inspired). This stick figure is represented as someone who is for globalization
and who disregards the importance of local culture.
-
Globe
The globe
represents globalization. I faced Egypt (Africa) towards the viewer on purpose,
however, it is overshadowed by the billboard (=globalization).
- Stone
scarab
I bought
this stone scarab on my very first visit to Egypt a few years ago, back when I
didn't know anything about the culture yet. The scarab to me is a typical, well
known symbol linked to Egypt and is highly linked to tourism.
-
"Music For Life" badge
Music For
Life is a Belgian charity event organized by Studio Brussel (Brussel Radio
Station). I chose to include this badge because of my love for charity, music
and radio, and because it is relevant to my personal culture. However, this the
badge is connected by a string and seems to be pulled into the swirls of Starry
Night. The stick figure on the ladder is trying to hold the badge in place.
-
Paper planes
The paper
planes represent my love for travelling. Also, globalization is possible mainly
due to transport by plane
Strengths and Weaknesses -
Weakness:
I could
have added more objects, because the materials that I now have are the bare
minimum required. However, the box may seem too unorganized if I added more
objects, due to the busy, colorful background
Strengths:
I like how
all my objects are linked to each other, and the materials create a scene
telling a story rather than that it are just objects placed randomly.
