Specialist Study

Wednesday 7th December 2016

Reflecting further on the issues of migration and refugees, I spent some time considering the work of Ai Wei Wei in this regard.

• http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/celeb-selfies-emergency-blankets-dont-float-ai-weiweis-life-jacket-refugee-exhibit-1544523

A gaggle of laughing, smiling celebrities in emergency blankets posing for selfies at a fundraiser arranged by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s didn’t sit well with some Berlin officials.

Ai created a powerful statement on the world’s refugee crisis by wrapping the pillars of Berlin’s Konzerthaus — concert hall — with 14,000 orange life vests to commemorate refugees drowned at sea. as well as to honour the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their lands for safe harbor in Europe.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – FEBRUARY 05: People walk past the ‘Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads’ sculptures by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in front of the Trade Fair Palace run by the National Gallery on February 5, 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic. An exhibition in front of the palace runs from February 6 to August 31, 2016. Ai Weiwei wrapped his bronze heads with thermal blankets to protest against migrants situation in Europe. It is the first time that the artist exhibits his work in the Czech Republic. (Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images)

Své dílo Zvěrokruh, které odkazuje k čínské i evropské historii, představí dnes v Praze jeho autor, světově známý čínský umělec a aktivista Aj Wej-wej. Den před vernisáží zvířecí hlavy vystavené u Veletržního paláce zahalil do termofólie, kterou dostávají uprchlíci zachránění z moře na své cestě do Evropy. Zřejmě tak učinil na protest proti oficiální české politice vůči migrantům. Aj Wej-wej se k současné migrační krizi vyjadřuje opakovaně.

Monday 5th December 2016

I continued to take photo’s of students and family with my fence prop and began to formulate an idea of how I might present these images as a piece on Stereotyping.

Sunday 4th December 2016

Today I began to experiment a little with the prints I had created at the Tara Reid workshop and layering of text over the top.

Saturday 3rd December 2016

I began to explore the issue of stereotyping by looking at headlines from the British media that relate to stereotyping and propaganda. Remarkably typing “Refugee News” into Google and looking at the images, an overwhelming majority of headlines referred to refugees as migrants and portrayed them in a negative light.

I’m not completely happy with this piece at this moment in time. I wanted to use the newspaper logo’s and also add the words “Misled by the Media” to the piece – Considering this Work in Progress at this time.