The Deep

Poster Mashup

This is my submitted entry for the IDES1122 poster mashup assignment. I credit, as a key  influence for this work, the UK based street artist "Banksy", whose street art pieces are, I find, highly satirical in their presentation. It was from a more satirical standpoint that I tried to approach this project so that I would end up with an image that was perhaps a little deeper than just a new product in an old picture.

The evocative original painting is by 19th Century Australian artist Frederick McCubbin and is titled "Down on his luck", over-layed  subtly with the logo wrapper of a Nestle Milo tin onto the swagmans cooking pot / billy and in the background a sign signifying this desolate nondescript parcel of the Australian landscape is not to be used for overnight camping. Seeming only to be placed as deterrent for displaced peoples such as himself. The homeless man down on his luck seems to be staring vacantly, full of broken thoughts, at the empty can and fire infront of him. The use of a milo can seemed to me to be more poignant than just as a piece of twentieth century design for a few reasons. 

1. Milo is an Australian icon, as were swagmen but represent ideas dealing with life in this country that could not be further apart or more disparate in the Australian psyche (Energy drinks associated with sporting activities and The homeless). 

2. The size of the can indicates this was a family sized product and perhaps this reminds the man of a lost or troubling past, in which he may have once felt more promise with a family or better tidings and which are now gone, lost to the world. 

3. The unpredictable nature of the way things get used, re-used or disposed of, once they have served their purpose. (how many uses for an empty Milo can? storage container full of nuts & bolts in sheds all around the country, play-things for kids, as a cooking pot in this case etc.)

The sign, I feel, plays to Australia's current populist attitudes towards the unfortunate and downtrodden. I considered adjusting the sign to read F#@K OFF WE'RE FULL to really drive home the stupidity of the attitudes of a large percentage of the miserable, arrogant, overly nationalistic voices that are so loud at times in this country, in the end though I thought this would detract from the subtlety of the piece and I thought best to leave the sign as a simple piece of bureaucratic nonsense typical of Australia. 

Whew, got to the end of that ramble...! 'til next time. Jes 

One of my favorite aspects of modern art and design is motion graphics. The level of quality in some of the clips that are being created around the world is just sublime. An excellent example reposted from www.motiongraphics.it (the site is italian language but the visuals are universal!!!) - brilliant.
Jes.

Rockband Beatles - Intro (Passion Pictures) from Guillaume Cassuto on Vimeo.

I luurve this, just fabulous. we've come along way from Spokey Dokies...! except maybe for the fixie fashion of putting cards in spokes when you have never been on a poker run or alley cat race or even know what these events are...! cynical old me

The Cyclotrope from tim Wheatley on Vimeo.

Introduction - The rant begins!

Design is a process, a way of life. Every object, however large or small, made by human hands and minds, has been designed by someone with the capacity to influence that object. That said, some design becomes so ubiquitous, so totally ingrained within the fabric of society that it loses the connection in the public psyche with the hands and minds that created it. In a way seeming as though it was never purposefully designed and was always that way. In some sense the design is the progeny of the designer and as such must be released into the world to play out it's own life.  

My name is Jesiah Davis and I intend to use this space to document my progress through-out my degree in Industrial Design at the University of New South Wales. 

Beyond the simple satisfaction of the requirements of IDES1122 Industrial Design: Past, Present & Future.  I intend to explore, critically analyse and share my thoughts about design through this medium.

Jes.