The Art of Graphic Design and Somethings Wrong by Tracey Emin - Essay Example

The Art of Graphic Design and “Something’s Wrong” by Tracey Emin Graphic Designs in ancient and modern times: The practice of implementing graphic design mostly in the modern trend of artistry has given birth to a common apprehension that this particular art form is entirely a product of modernism. There is no denial of the fact that emergence of capitalism and post globalization commercial upsurge have helped in abundant application of this art but historical references provide clear evidence to the fact that in ancient Egyptian and medieval Italy use of graphic design was quite popular. The artistic traditions of Soviet Russia also convey that Eastern civilization was not entirely ignorant about this form of artistic application (Newark, 2002, p. 6). However, emergence of modernism in the Western social and intellectual discourse has contributed to a great extent in immense popularization of this art form and currently it is considered as “the most universal of all the arts” (Newark, 2002, p. 6). Freedom of expression and reflection of spontaneous human emotions are important traits of modernist consciousness. One of the important reasons for wide acceptance of graphic design is that it encompasses both these aspects and an artistic mind receives a great deal of liberty to express his/her reflection about the society or events happening around through symbolic yet explicit use of imageries. William Addison Dwiggins, considered as the father of modern graphic design, has clearly pronounced his observation regarding application of this art form as, “The printing designer’s whole duty is to make a clear presentation of the message – to get the important statements forward and the minor parts placed so that they will not be overlooked” (Dwiggins; Newark, 2002, p. 10). Such observation clearly suggests that graphic design not only emphasizes over certain important aspects that the artist whishes to focus; rather it elaborates an entirety of observation of the human existence in the modern situation, where every single emotional expression receives equally important treatment from the respective artist. The cosmopolitan social existence of the modern era is a very vital factor, which has provided an extra boost to wide acceptance of graphic design. In addition to this factor, evolution of feminism and Women’s Art Movement during the 70s helped in providing a new dimension to the entire scenario of artistry (Pollock and Sauron, 2007, p. 215). Though constitutionally the Western nations were emphasizing over the aspect of freedom of speech and expression but compared to men, their female counterparts were restrained from expressing their observation of the society or their perception about life. In this context the artistic genre of graphic art emerged as both intellectual and emotional outlet for women artists through which they reflected their spontaneous perception about society and their respective treatment as human being in a very explicit manner. Tracey Emin’s great creation “Something’s Wrong” clearly supports such observation. This piece of art not only includes certain autobiographical elements that convey her perception of life but it also provides the impression of a woman’s suffering in the era of individual liberalization. “Something’s Wrong”, Emin’s other works and recurrence of autobiographical references: One of the important feature’s of Emin’s works is the recurrence of autobiographical references and she uses these aspects so symbolically, yet in a conspicuous manner that not only those create an impression of her presence at the aesthetic level of the viewer but also clearly elaborate the aspect of an artist’s right to express her realization about different aspects of life (Gardner, 2004, p, 204). To understand her creations and fusion of autobiographical elements in her work, we also need to receive an overview of Tracey Emin’s personal life. Since her adolescence Tracey encountered several incidents that played a major role in orienting her perception of life and people. She was sexually abused when she was only thirteen and later, during her 20s she had to undergo two consecutive abortions (Comont, January 2003). All of her highly appreciated works, such as, “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995”, “Leaving Home” (1999), “My Bed” (1998), “Every Part of Me’s Bleeding” (1999) and “Something’s Wrong (2002) clearly bear evidences of such incidents, which created a deep impression over her emotional faculty. Her unfortunate abortions and frustrated love affairs developed in her the conscious fear of death, led her to psychological and social alienation. The stained bedcovers of “My bed”, abundant use of red color in “The History of Painting” and use of neon sign in “Every Part of Me’s Bleeding” clearly indicate her physical and moral anguish during the earlier and most disturbed phase of her life (Gardner, 2004, p. 206). On one hand, these creations represent both her physical pain and pleasure during sexual intercourse and on the other they reflect anguish of womanhood, generated from the realization that women are nothing except mere physical possessions in the hands of men. No matter how much they suffer whether physically or mentally, their anguish will always remain unrecognized. “Something’s Wrong” has added an additional dimension to this realization by creating a shocking aesthetic appeal among viewers. One of the greatest conflicts that most of the graphic artists encounter is a constant struggle between “two models – the model of artist, the model of artisan” (Newark, 2002, p. 11). In a more simplified manner this conflict can be viewed as a tussle, which exists at the level of an artist’s self-discovery process and production of art according to the aesthetic requirement of the audience, so that the works receive proper appreciation (Newark, 2002, p. 11). Tracey Emin, through her works, reflected the fact that she is more focused about fulfilling the criteria regarding “model of artist”, which implies “an individual whose work is concerned with self-discovery” (Newark, 2002, p. 11); rather than receiving wide artistic acknowledgement commercially. Such evaluation of Tracey’s artistic creations receives a stronger foundation as she has reflected over the importance of art in her life during a conversation with Mark Gisbourne, “Some days I wake up and feel art is all what I have left. I feel that I’ve no friends, that I’ve nothing else apart from my art”(Mey, 2002, p. 65). Tracey Emin has always perceived her creation as a reflector of real life, “…my art is about real life,” ( Mey, 2002, p. 65) and her artistic creations receive an explicit feminist connotation through her autobiographical creation like, “Something’s Wrong.” This creation, it seems, has been inspired from her break realization during her abortion. The sketch exhibits a female figure lying exposed with “legs splayed and with odd, spidery flows gushing out from … vaginas” (McGrath, 2002). Tracey, through her creations, often represents issues, which as socially known as nudity or obscenity, in such spontaneous and startling manner that her creations often become subjects of harsh criticism. However, there is no denial of the fact that representation of the harshest realities of life through her graphic designing also creates a different kind of aesthetic appeal at the psychical level of viewers that has rarely been experienced before. This is another important feature of Emin’s work that she always intends to portray the reality in the most realistic way and there is no hypocrisy or attempt to represent the reality to the audience in a covered or comforting manner. The uncensored representation of bitter experiences of her personal life has not only emphasized over the aspects like her alienation, her fear to mingle with others as a normal being or her fear of death or end of her creativity but it also represents certain universal themes. Creations like “Something’s Wrong” go beyond the realm of ordinary graphic description of individual frustration and moral conflict to depict anguish of women regarding making their choices. It is a woman’s quest to survive in the society and wish to receive social support that compel her to make such choices but at the same time deep inside her heart she is always aware that she has committed an unnatural, selfish and murderous act (Pollock and Sauron, 2007, p. 222). To the whole society she pretends to be a virtuous woman but to her own conscience she always identifies herself as an immoral individual. This pain of facing her own guilt everyday, every moment – the pain of identifying herself as an immoral creature, cannot be indentified or shared or consoled by any other human being around her. This is a curse that she has to carry forward for the rest of her life, consciously or unconsciously. In this manner, she always remains to be an isolated creature and by exposing her sensuous appeal, she actually intends to escape gaze of the society, which she unconsciously feels, always trying to find out her acts of guilt. Non-censorship of artistic expression, Tracey Emin and controversy: While asked about political aspects of her work, Tracey Emin clearly conveyed that she believes in “Freedom of speech, non-censorship of soul, I’m entitled to my opinion …” (Mey, 2002, p. 71). This is not observation of Tracey alone, but in different ages, different artists, both from literary and creative artistic genre have emphasized over non-censorship of artistic expression. Yet freedom of artistic expression is regarded an issue, which is not to be encouraged for the purpose of social benevolence. Presence of explicit sexual elements often raises the debate between good arts and bad arts; appreciation of Emin’s work by critics is a strong proof regarding such observation, “…is Tracey Emin an attention-seeking charlatan or a brave new voice in the world of art?” (Comont, January, 2003). The society has developed certain preconceived notion regarding determination of morality and immorality. Despite elements like, sexuality, erotica, gore and death are essential parts of human existence but general human conscience often refuses to accept those just in their actual form, and one of the main reasons behind such refusal is that people love to look at the events happening around through colored glasses. The harshness of reality is mostly rejected because deep inside human beings always want to escape such crudity. Tracey Emin, through use of graphic art, represents these elements of reality in such realistic and unpretentious manner that appeal of her works creates a negative appeal to the socially determined aesthetics of common people. Though Melaine McGrath has indentified her works as “comfortingly dangerous” (McGrath, 2002) but for many of her critics the element of comforting audience’s aesthetics is absent in her works. In this context we can refer to Gustave Courbet’s “L’Origine du Monde” or “Origin of the World”. This painting actually elaborates in a very graphically conspicuous manner the exposed lower part of a female body. Artistically, though this piece of art is regarded as a masterpiece of all times, but it is often condemned due to encompassing explicit sexual elements. Though the 19th century Realistic Movement has played a great part in inspiring creation of such a work of art but in social context appreciation of the “Origin of the World” is still a matter of great controversy (Backhaus, 2007, pp. 45-46). There is no denial of the fact that that such paintings of realism essentially evoke the elements of sensuality as well as aestheticism of erotica at viewer’s psyche but compared to such creations, Emin’s work, though incorporates sexual elements to a great extent, but it does not create a sensuous appeal; rather her works stun or horrify or make the audience to ponder over crudity of modern social existence, transcending the boundary of gender. In this manner, Tracey Emin’s graphic creations, though those include explicit feminist connotation, are capable of generating an extended universal appeal to her audience, irrespective of their gender difference and also successfully represent the plight of human beings in the post modern society. References Backhaus, J.G., 2007. Political economy, linguistics and culture: crossing bridges. New York: Springer Comont, C., January 2003. Somethings wrong: Peter Comont visits an exhibition of Tracey Emins work. Available at: http://www.e-n.org.uk/p-2046-Somethings-wrong.htm, [Accessed 30th November, 2009] Gardner, V., 2004. Auto/biography and identity: women, theatre, and performance. Manchester: Manchester University Press McGrath, M., 2002. Somethings Wrong: Melanie McGrath on Tracey Emin. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue1/something.htm, [Accessed 30th November, 2009] Mey, K., 2002. Sculpsit: contemporary artists on sculpture and beyond, Manchester: Manchester University Press Newark, Q., 2002. What is graphic design? East Sussex: Rotovision Sauron, V.T. and Pollock, G., 2007. The sacred and the feminine: imagination and sexual difference. London: I.B.Tauris Read More