Induction Project

1. Induction Project
September 2021
Harry Statham
Helpful
Link: https://www.britannica.com/art/Pop-art

2. Task 1 – Research – Web source
The movement of pop art began in the 1950’s and served as somewhat of a characterism of optimism for the UK and US during the post war
consumer boom, it also coincided with the globalisation of pop music and youth culture personified by The Beatles and Elvis. While Andy
Warhol is definitely the most famous pop artist, he certainly didn’t start the movement; The main influencers in the beginning of pop art
were indeed Stuart Davis, Gerard Murphy and Fernand Leger. All of these artist depicted in their painting mass production and commercial
materials of the machine industrial age. The name “Pop Art” was coined in 1955 as it features popular culture in the work, it was a revolt
against the traditional views of what art should be, which ended up developing into a lot of the art we have today. Arguably the most
famous/iconic piece of pop art is Andy Warhol’s ‘Marilyn Diptych’.
Pop art is often produced at a low cost and is mass produced, instead of trying to create a rare one off masterpiece. I can only imagine pop
artists do this so that the vast majority can enjoy their works, and not just the wealthy. This form of art can also be very witty, gimmicky
and often comedic. For example, if you know the context of a character or celebrity featured in somebody’s work, the artist can play on
that and flipping the script on said person/figure, thus making the consumer feel satisfied in knowing they understand the irony, therefore
enjoying it more. Traditional art is often parodied in pop art, this is due to the fact that it is what pop art is rebelling against. One of the
things most adored about the art form is the fact it is not trying to be special, unique or even original, but instead it takes things from the
norm, for example a tin of beans, and makes it more vibrant and exciting, proving almost anybody can become a pop artist, skilled or not.
Title/Weblink/Date accessed: Belgraviagallery.com, Britannica.com, Eden-gallery.com
Pop art
examples:
Quotes about
Pop art:

3. Task 1 – Research – Web source
Peter Blake was a well known British artist who was heavily involved in the pop art movement during it’s popularity in the mid to late
1950s. As well as this, he was also known for creating the album cover for The Beatles “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in
1967, which he worked on with his wife at the time, Jann Haworth. He is quoted as saying “I wanted to make an art that was the
visual equivalent of pop music”. During his upbringing, he studied at the Gravesend School of Art, as well as the Royal College of
Art. Two of his pieces in particular can be credited as being reflective of his transition to the Pop Art medium. These two pieces being
‘On the balcony’ made in 1955, and ‘Self portrait with Badges’ made in 1962. The artist’s works are included in a multitude of
collections, such as the Tate Gallery in London, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and the Pallant House Gallery in
Chichester, among others. Later in his life (1983), he was awarded the title of ‘Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire’, and received knighthood in 2002 for his services to the visual arts. Today, he lives in Chiswick, London where he has lived
since 1967. He has 3 children, and has had 2 spouses in his life. The first being Jann Haworth, who was the mother to his first two
children, Liberty and Daisy Blake. After they divorced in 1979, Peter married Chrissy Wilson in 1987, who he had his third child Rose
Blake with. His other best known works include the covers for two of The Who's albums, the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They
Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.
Title/Weblink/Date accessed: www.artnet.com, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Blake_(artist)
Peter Blake
Quotes:
Peter Blake
Art:
Peter Blake painting.

4. Task 1 – Research – Web source
Keith Haring is my favourite artist in general and this is a great time to talk about his work as it is making a
comeback through youth culture at the moment, mostly due to the more “mainstream” clothes shops beginning
to make clothes with his work on it, or “graphics”. His work is somewhat simple but that is what most people,
including myself, like about it. Most of his art involves coloured characters, mainly humans, but also dogs, mice,
babies and aliens doing things like dancing, fighting, disc jockeying and in some cases performing sexual
activities. The majority of his work is done on paper, everyday objects and walls, but there are some 2D
sculptures too. Sadly Haring died at the age of 32 of AIDS in 1990, but his work will live on forever. One of the
things a lot of people know him for is the Change4Life campaign which started in 2009, a healthy eating
movement started to reduce obesity. In which they use his work and form of art in advertisements, such as stop
motion short films featuring play dough figures based on his characters. I’m not sure if the campaign is still a
thing but I’d imagine my generation remember it and feel nostalgic whenever they see Haring’s work.
Title/Weblink/Date accessed: www.haring.com, www.tate.org.uk, www.artnet.com
Keith
Haring Art:
Keith Haring painting in
his early years.
Keith
Haring Quotes:

5. Task 1 – Research – Web source
The Pop Art movement was widespread across not only Britain, but America too. While in the UK, popular pop artists from the
1960’s include people such as Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, In America, well known popular pop artists
include Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Pop art was developed and grew in a Great Britain that was heavily influenced by
American culture. The movement began appearing in America a few years after Britain, somewhere towards the end of the
1950’s. The movement started in Britain with a somewhat academic vision. The focus of the art was to make American pop
culture see more energetic and paradoxical. The art itself was a somewhat parody, they self-deprecated as a way to denounce
the manipulative and powerful western system that influenced societal behaviour. On the other hand, the US used pop art as a
return to compositions that could be referred to as ‘hard-edged’. They used a mix of irony, mundane reality, popular culture and
sarcasm to achieve this goal. This I support from the artist Andy Warhol saying “You need to let the little things that would
ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” this quote alone shows how the American pop art movement was based on making
mundane reality more exciting and colourful to the average person. On the British side of things, Richard Hamilton defined The
movement: "Pop art is: Popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, and
Big Business."
Title/Weblink/Date accessed: https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/pop-art-usa-vs-uk-
origins-differences/
Example of
American
pop art:
Example
of British
pop art:

6. Photoshop tasks
Title/Weblink/Date accessed:
Above: My attempt at recolouring a black and white image, I
chose to only colour the boxers to draw attention to them and
create a colour contrast.
Left: Personal magazine about myself, an embodiment of my
interests.

7. Photoshop tasks
Pop art exhibition poster Evaluation:
For this poster I went for a more simplistic design
which also does a good job of telling the people who
see it what is happening. It conveys all the
information which is important, such as the location,
dates and context. I then added some less important
yet still exciting information, like the variation of
what the art is shown through and when it is from, I
know I have only put 50s, 60s and “Today” but
hopefully this still makes it clear that it is showing art
from in between these periods of time. Other touches
I made were to add quotes from the biggest
newspapers in the country at the top, and to make
the title “BLAM!”, inspired by text speech bubbles
from (primarily) Roy Lichtenstein’s work, in a rather
pop art style font with a similar pattern taken from a
painting to coincide.
One of the biggest problems I faced during this task
was deciding how to colour the background. I
originally had a vision where there would be a pop art
explosion in the background and all the information
inside of it, but as soon as other ideas began to pop
into my head, such as the Keith Haring characters
holding up the title, I decided my new ideas
outweighed the original so I scrapped it, I was then
facing the dilemma of not knowing what to do with
the background, I didn’t want to do white as that is
what I did for my magazine, so I chose another light
colour which also stands out and draws attention,
while also sticking with the theme.

8. Task 2 - Idea Generation [Individual]
For the first main individual task, the magazine cover, I wanted to do a big burst of things I like and am
passionate about, with my main passion being right in the centre. I also included things such as a
barcode, a prominent price, the issue number and the date, I put the date as my birthday which I
thought was a nice touch. In the burst of photos I added my favourite food, activities, sports team,
bands, tv shows and films. The cover is white, I did this because I wanted to keep it simplistic and there
wasn’t really anything else it could have been.
The next task was the photoshop recolouring. For this I wanted an iconic image from the early/mid
1900s, I looked at some from the war and almost did one of Ronnie and Reggie Kray stood together. I
then realised there wasn’t much to colour as they were both wearing black and have black hair, with a
very simple background, so I instead went with one of the most recognisable images of all time; The
Mohammed Ali vs Sonny Liston fight. I chose to only recolour the two fighters and their apparel (Gloves,
trunks, shoes, etc.) because they are of course the stars of the show.
I went simplistic again for the final task of the induction project, with a plain rose pink background
which I felt fit the theme rather well. The title is inspired by the speech bubbles featured in Roy
Lichtenstein's work and is done in a very fitting font, the title is also being “lifted” by Keith Haring's
characters which I felt was quite smart. I then chose to put on the context of what will be featured at
the exhibition, the timeline the art is from (All time, from the beginning of pop art until now) and also
which ways it is exhibited in, from the classic format of paintings, to sculptures, to even more unique
ways, for example the one featured in the poster are skateboards, also featuring Haring’s work.

9. Task 4 – Evaluation – Production
Describe three strengths of your final pieces.
1. For the magazine, I feel I did a good job of expressing myself and interests.
2. I feel I recoloured the Mohammed Ali picture rather successfully.
3. The poster is my favourite of the three, I personally think I laid it out In a very
clean way and had some good ideas.

10. Task 4 – Evaluation – Production
Describe three areas for improvement in your final pieces.
1. If I were to do a similar magazine cover project in the future, I would choose a
different background and cut out all the things I had used so it still looked clean.
2. When I recolour black and white photos in the future I will do the entire
picture. To be fair to me the one I had done in this project was the style I was
aiming for, but maybe wouldn’t work as well with other images.
3. I could have made my pop art exhibition poster more exciting, while keeping it
informative at the same time.

11. Task 4 – Evaluation – Problem Solving
Describe three problems you faced in your project and how you solved these.
1. I had a lot of trouble deciding what colour/design I wanted for the background of my art
exhibition poster and my magazine cover, for the magazine I ended up deciding on white,
as it brings out the colours of everything else pretty well. I chose another light colour in
the form of rose pink for the art poster, I chose this because my groups form of art was pop
art and I feel like the colour coincided with the theme, while also maintaining the
simplistic value I had originally anticipated.
2. With the Mohammed Ali recolouring I had a lot of trouble trying to colour in the crowd
behind him and background in general. I ended up just choosing to colour in the fighters
instead, as I liked the colour contrast and the fact it is highlighting the main part of the
legendary picture even more.
3. When it came to the photoshop grotesque task there were plenty of problems as I hadn’t
used it at all where I went to secondary school, It took me a while but I feel I have picked
up the basics, still with a lot to learn.

12. Task 4 – Evaluation – Working with others
Choose three aspects of your production where you worked well with your team
and this benefited the project.
1. Me and the team worked pretty well together as we were all pretty chilled out
and liked each others ideas, we communicated every so often but were pretty
relaxed in doing our own thing while letting the other two do the same.
2. We had a shared powerpoint presentation which we all put information on
about the artist, then we let each other copy and paste the work we had done
for our individual powerpoints.
3. As I mentioned in the previous slide, I hadn’t used powerpoint at all before
coming to York college. However both members of my team had done and are
pretty good at it, so anything I needed help with they explained to me in a way
in which I would remember and take it in.

13. Task 4 – Evaluation - Feedback
 Discuss the feedback you received from your tutor during the project and how
you used this to improve the project