Assignment 5b - Research Proposal - Studio Brief

Last semester I completed a studio brief based on the idea of ‘Culture’, I decided to focus on wall art and graffiti. After exploring various methods of primary and secondary research throughout the first and second semester I have realised how important good research is, it is the basis for a successful project so within this research proposal I will look at how I could have applied the methods I have learned to my studio brief and with my broader range of knowledge, could have produced a better body of work.

My Cultures project focused mainly around wall art but also taking influences from graffiti which I see around me every day. Firstly I decided to look all the way back to cave painting and wall art from thousands of years ago. My main influences came from the aesthetics of cave paintings but I think one thing which I would have done differently If I was to begin this project again would have been to further investigate graffiti today and look further into cave paintings and wall art to try to get a proper understanding behind the paintings, emphasising that they are not just something pretty or interesting to look at, but that they have meaning, they tell a story.
Taking this as my main aim I think I would have chosen to research literature as a starting point to gather information about the importance of wall art, where and when the first wall art was created or discovered, was this the first attempt of humans passing information through time? Was it effective and did it carry out its original purpose? What about wall art which we see today, some people feel that graffiti is destroying the look of our cities but others class it as art, a skill even. Maybe the ‘artist’ is simply trying to get a their own point across or tell as story through their wall art just like they were doing through cave paintings all those years ago. I would attempt yet again to conquer ‘cross-search’ which I struggled with in the first semester, I am sure if I gave it another go I would come out with better results given time. I think this would definitely be a useful resource as well as using the internet to gather information. One downfall with using the internet though is that all websites cannot be trusted therefore I could not be sure that all information gathered would be valid. Otherwise I think this would be a really handy tool as it is easily accessible and is not particularly time consuming.
 Another method which I think would also have been beneficial and interesting to use for this project would be the analysing of photographs, referring back to assignment 1 ‘The Consumption of Design‘. In the case of graffiti I could have studied images of wall art being carried out in public places and try to understand what the purpose of this happening was, what I could tell from the art itself and from the person carrying out the activity as well as studying the way people react seeing the wall art. Relating to the cave paintings I think it would be interesting to study images of various wall art and cave painting to try and understand for myself what the artist was trying to convey through the images they depicted, where were the images sited and to whom would they have been aimed at?

I think one method in particular which would give me the best results would be undertaking interviews with specialists in this field, whom I’m sure would be more than happy to assist me with my research, informing me on something which they are presumably passionate about. I think I would have gathered very useful information which would aid me in my research and it would be information that I can trust. Something else I would have done would be to attend a museum featuring wall art exhibits. I could have talked to members of the public within the gallery/museum, questioning them on how they feel about the exhibits as well as how they feel about graffiti which they see today, is it a good or bad thing? A gallery would be a peaceful environment which I’m sure the subject would find less intimidating, a museum is someplace in which you could almost lose yourself in, so to speak, so hopefully I would be able to get a decent amount of good information from them, given I asked the correct questions.

On the other hand, carrying out interviews with graffiti artists would also be a good route to go down, it would have allowed me to get a better understanding of ‘their’ side of things. Why they produce these pieces and what they aim to achieve doing so. Is it possible to change the way people think about graffiti? Instead of it being seen as something bad can it be used to build communities maybe? An example of making graffiti a more positive thing, would be a club in the town which I live in which holds ‘live art’ nights in which artists come along and create ‘pieces’, as suggested, live and whilst the music is playing and people are dancing along, the atmosphere buzzing.

In conclusion I feel the most beneficial method of research would be undertaking interviews with specialist within this field and also the public and how they feel about graffiti today. I think carrying out these methods would give me a deeper understanding behind the subject and therefore allow for a stronger body or research followed by strong development and outcome.