Banksy Exhibition ' Laugh Now.' - Amsterdam - Moco museum.

The exhibition consisted of a house like space with two floors and around 8 rooms. But the piece that were exhibited within the building where not just images on paper spray painted and printed , they were some of the actual works that had been taken out of there original place. A vast majority of them were on concrete and road signs. It was really interesting to see the images in there original form but  at the same time I think that defies Banksy's wishes for the work. In order to see the work now you have to pay around 10 euro in order to see it , when originally it was in a space that could be seen for free and by anyone , not just a certain audience. There is an element to Banksy's work that is anti commercialism , but the more media attention he has got the more his work has been commercialised. This is emphasised by at the end of the exhibition they make us leave through the gift shop. There is high demand for Banksy's work and I think it is a mixture of the medium of the work and the messages they communicate. The issues he decides to tackle include war, technology and the evolutions of human behaviour.

A couple of pieces that stood out where firstly the auction house where a piece saying ' I can't believe you morons buy this shit.' This piece seems like a statement against the selling of art initially and the commercialism of it , but in a way is an attack at the people who take Banksy's work and sell it on for millions. Because quite rightly he is angry because he will probably see none of that money and he has no control over the right he has over his work. However that is a risk , he places his work on property that isn't his so by law the owner of the property could sell it.


The second piece includes the piece with a small boy praying surrounded by church windows, but centred window is covered in graffiti. There are several ideas you could pull from this , he could be making a statement about how the art in stain glass windows hold the same value as graffiti. That this is how art has evolved.  Another angle could be a personal one for Banksy. That his religion or the thing that he respects and worships is graffiti.

Overall however Banksy also covers a lot of ethical issues that other artist may be a bit carful to touch upon. Especially given that by law, he is committing a offence in placing his work on other peoples property, which can be seen a vandalism. However in doing this he is making the messages heard internationally and it can be seen for free by a number of people. So the people taking the work away and selling it as wells as placing it in galleries are depriving an significant part of the intended audience. But then the media highlight a new piece largely so this is a key way of distributing to that international audience.

The exhibition was highly advertised in Amsterdam and from the reaction of the people in it , it is obvious that his work is widely loved a there is something to be said for seeing it for real instead of an image, you appreciate the risks of the work more and the messages the communicate.

Do the right thing - EYE Magazine and Steven McCarthy essay- Who's responsible.

Published 15th March 2011 : UCL seminar to discuss the ethics of graphic design.

• 1994- 'First things First ' Manifesto was published issued by Ken Garland and twenty one colleagues.
• The manifesto is still as relevant today and the subject it addresses ,the same as 30 yrs ago.  
• 2000- published again but signed by 32 designers - re printed in Adbusters.
• Steven McCarthy - Who is responsible? - Eye blog.
• Tibor Kalman - ' designers , stay away from corporations that want you to lie for them.' Billboard by Jonathan Barnbrook 1999 - (image above.)
• University College London talk- discusses whether designers work with , for or against users. Using visual communication as a political and social tool.
• Who's responsible - Steven McCarthy :notes
• Hans - Rudolf Lutz- ' One of the tragedies of the design scene is that it always acts too late.'
• Design educators ' to foster an ongoing dialogue and debate about design ethics, sustainability and design education.'
• Conference in Katowice- poland- context - indutrial city 40 mile away from Auschwitz.\
• Posters of Roman Cieslewicz and Henryk Tomaszewski ( examples below).
• ' Responsibility comes with a weighted obligation to the audience or end user.' 
• ' In discussing ethics and design, there are at least three different levels for us to consider. The first has to do with professional behaviour in daily business interactions. The next level deals in specific professional expertise needed in such areas as accessibility , usability , consumer safety and environmental practise. This leads us to the third level which is about overall professional values - a broader framework for moral principles and obligation in life.'
• Why do values have to be 'professional'. 
• Why response after a crisis - why not during or a prediction of the consequences?
• 'Consideration of design's social, cultural, economic, political and personal ramifications must be acknowledged if we are to be truly responsible.' 

Roman Cielslewics (above) Henry Tomaszewski (below). 

Emails to potential charities to collaborate with.

• West Yorkshire Playhouse - Theatre of sanctuary-
• Reach out Leeds - LGBT Asylum seekers and refugees. 

Refuge: Transforming a broken refugee system.- intro and chapter 1.

• Authors - Alexander Betts- political scientist, Paul Collier- Economist. 
• There goal' has been to writes for a generalist audience , to engage intelligent and interested member of the public keen to understand the origins of the ' refugee crisis' and explore with us ideas for a workable solution.' 
• ' It seeks to rock with the constraints and opportunities of the contemporary world and channel them into a system that can provide refugees with autonomy and dignity.'  
• 2015, spark in large refugee numbers coming from the poorest parts of the world to some of the richest.
• Mass violence in Syrian 2011- the civilians involved mainly moved to countries like Jordan , Lebanon and Turkey, however this then offers limited options.
• Only when 700 people drowned crossing to Lampedusa ( Italian island) did the media start to pay attention and claim it to be a ' global refugee crisis.'
• Total that year 3,000 from drowning. 
• Migrant Smuggling- by gangs.
• 2016 Europe effectively dose it's doors.
• Not allowed work.

The purpose of refuge:

• 1648- treaty of Westphalia- ' refuge entails..., when face serious harm at home , they should be allowed to flee and receive access to a safe haven , at least until they can go home or be permanently reintegrated else where.' 
• Cold War Iron curtain- 

• 'Eurocentrasim'
• the rules apply to the people fleeing from persecution but not disorder.
• UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) built camps, but they unincidentally turned into percent resting places.
• '...refuge is about fulfilling a duty of rescue. Born out of out common humanity, it is based on the simple recognition that we have shared obligation towards our fellow human beings.
• Entitiled to expect 3 things: rescue, autonomy ' route out of limbo.'
• 'Contary to popular belief , most refugees are not in camps, over half now live in large cities like Nairobi, Johannesburgh.
• Half world's refugees in ' protracted refugee situations.' Two decades average stay-'people are born into camps, grow up in camps and become adults in camps.'
•  lack of support from international community.

The need for a new approach"

• Status quo changing.
• Cold War: Extremist religions has replaces extremist ideologies. 
• 'It has to be about restoring people's autonomy through jobs and education...'
• Different models for different countries. not one size fits all. 
• Dag Hammarskjold- ' was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.' 

Part 1 - Why is there a crisis? :

• To be a refugee you have to cross an international border however many who are fleeing the violence are not in a position to do that so they are Displaced NOT Refugee.
• number of people displaced - 65.3 million.
• 'Global modernity has not only produced technological miracles like the iPhone , and more than 1, 800 billionaires , it has broken all records for the human tragedies that constitute displacement.' 
• Rich ge richer and the poor get poorer concept ?

what drives refugee displacement ?

• 'people seeking refuge are not fleeing poverty , they are fleeing danger.'
• 1935-45 - rise of fascim- dangerous for Jews.
• Creating huge civilian dislocation.
• society collapse into mass violence.
• Legitimacy
• Fragility.
• Democracy 
• Libya- Colonel Gaddafi.
• Gaddafi over throne , country did not develop but defended into violent rivalry.
• 'A third factor leading to increases in fragility is technology.'
• tear gas, phone tapping.
• social media.
• chance forms of social protest.
• Obama- Yes we can! campain.
• social media confronted state violence.
• links countries and people together.
• Another factor price of natural resources ' super cycle.' - up to 2013.
• Nicolas Berman- geo-referenced all the mineral resources extracted in Africa , unlike them geographically to outbreaks of organised violence...' 
• Arab Spring- linked claimed partially to the super cycle.

Islamic Extremism:

• less military more exposed to far worse mass violence.
• Mass violence , lack of milliarty , ISIS.
• 'fat tail phenomenon'?
• ISIS- situation greatly amplified by Russian bombing.
• Yemen - worst global displace meant of 2015.
• extreme example for flight, German Jews.
• Boko Haram.
• Refugees are not migrants.
• Top countries that refugees flee to in the past 4 decades:
• Pakistan.
• Iran.
• Ethiopia 
• kenya
• Uganda.
• Tanzania.
• all countries of emigration but also close by.
• key message for these part-
• 'The underlying process of refugee generation is clear enough: a large group of fragile states is each exposed to a small but significant risk that it will implode into mass violence against civilians that generates displacement . Many of these displace will probably remain in their own countries , but many others will seek havens beyond the borders.' 

George Grosz.

Important art by George Grosz:

• The faith healers (1916- 17 )
• A funeral: Tribute to Oscar Panizza (1917-18)
• Germany: A Winters Tale (1917)
• Life and work in universal city (1919)
• Shut your mouth and keep on serving (1927)
• Peace II (1946)

Grosz was a significant artist and was associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit or the New Objective movement. They where members of Berlin's DADA collective.

After the horrors of World War 1 Grosz decided to focus his art on social critique, he mass published drawings that fitted into DADA's satirical and critical mood. But his style was initially stated to be degenerate , however this later changes due to what he claimed was a loss of faith in humanity. Moving from political propaganda to work that depicted more caricatures of social life in New York. 

The main mediums used by Grosz were Pen and ink , also occasionally coloured with watercolour. the images where mass circulates around working class and radical groups- thus allowing the Grosz'z message to travel and reach a more diverse audience , more than a paining hanging in a gallery. 

This particular piece by Grosz highlights the divide in the class system.  in the background you have the factory / manual workers. Also a man hiding behind a pillar , from what looks like the man patrolling the wall, with have very minimal features and blend into the background. But the man has a walking stick , no hand and is wearing a war uniform, and he looks old too. On the other side of the wall in front is a very wealthy looking man. Who looks well fed compared to the rest of the people in the image, wearing smart cloths and is carrying a brief case , which suggests that he earns a good sum of money. The poorer the class the further back in the image they are and the less obvious they are to spot. Grosz did this intentionally to show societies view of the classes and the influcense the richer class have. 

Fluxus

- International avant garde collective - artists and composers , 1960's. Still continuing today.

- Started off as a smalle international collective but was characterised as sharing attitudes instead of a movement.

- Experimental music roots- John cage - famous for creating the piece 4 mins 33 seconds silence.

- Fluxus played a significant role in questioning the definition of what art can be.

-Fluxus had no single unifying style. seeing themselves as and alternative.

- Audiences and spectators where also used to collaborated with in the pieces.

- Accident and humour where important elements to the pieces.

- Artists involved included - Joseph Beuys , Dick Higgins, Alice Hutchins and Yoko Ono.

-Yoko Ono create a piece of performance art entitles 'cut pieces' that consisted of her sitting on the floor, fully clothed in a room and having people approach her with scissors and cut piece of clothing off her.  It is a surprising how powerful the act is when you watch it , it communicates a lot of messages. The main being the key feminist intentions behind the piece. Ono was is well know for being a active feminist and the piece was particularly cutting edge because it requires the audience to come into very close contact with the artist and this had never been done before. Watching the film, it dose bring the issue if the objectification of women to light. And the act of watching it feel wrong from my perspective as it feels like you are instructing on her privacy.

- The silence performance by John Cage, the purpose to make people listen to there surroundings. It was also part of the curiosity of Cage that inspired him to write the piece. he wondered what would happen if he sat down a the piano and didn't play anything. The audiences reactions where mixed , they mostly stayed silent for the first minute then protests started or the audience began making there own noise. The audience did start to understand the contrast between the quite and the noises they created , but also an insecure and unpradicitblity of it. They don't know what is going to happen next and panic sets in. The piece blurred the lines between art and music and just established them as art forms that could work together.

Spiral - Artists- collective 1963.

- Newyork base African American - aimed to address how African American artists should respond to American changes in the political and cultural landscape.

- formed as a direct response to the march on Washington for jobs and freedom.

- Work described as Abstract expressionists.

- Mixture of paint and collage. Symbolises the merging of different communities and traditions.

- Some of the artist associated with the movement included - Charles Alston , Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, Caitlin Douglas, Richard Mayhew, Hale Woodruff.

Tate - Can art change society?

- ' Can art influence the way we think and act as individuals , and as a society ? How do artists make and create change in the world today ?'

- A vidio at the top of the article showed how the arts can have a positive influence in a hospital environment. dance , music , film , literature, and poetry, and craft workshops. Escapism - it delighted , moved and uplifted people.

- Catsou Roberts- Director , vital arts . Arts in health , Tate exchange.

-' It's a way of protesting but, in a nice, plight and youthful way.' - David Tovey - state of the nation - Tate exchange.

- Bojana Jankovic- who are we project, Tate exchange.

- Peter Liversidge - arts in health - wrote proposals on invitation to write jokes. ' I think art , it can't necessarily change society but it can invite people to think.'

- Bern O'Donoghue - who are we ? project.

-' I don't think that art can change society. I don't think it's one artwork that dose it, I think it's the collective effort of artist and institutions togther.' - Bonjana Jankovic.

- Movements in art history have tried to change society:

• DADA- silliness and nonsensical behaviour in everyday life.
• Fluxus - promoted a revolution in art , living art and anti art.

Situationst International - Significant role in revolutionary Paris 1968. Exposing the divide between artists, consumers , and the means of production.

The Dada Art Movement.

• Dada was an art movement formed during world war 1 in Zurich. To projected negative reactions to the war. It was a movement not just made up of art by poetry and performance, and all the art forms often include satirical and nonsensical themes.
• The main reason for the movement include that the artist felt the war called into question every aspect of society. Their main aim was to eliminate traditional values in art and to create a new forms of art.
• Hans Arp- ' Revolting by the butchery of the 1914 world war, we in Zurich devoted ourselves to the art , while the guns rumbled in the distance , we sang, painted and made collages and wrote poems with all our might.' 
• Founder - Hugo Ball.
• Dada involved- Marcel Duchamp , Francis Picabia, Kurt Schuritters. Questioning the fundamentals of western art and subsequent influence. 

Anti Immigration protest in Germany - New York Times Video.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/world/europe/big-anti-immigration-rally-in-germany-prompts-counterdemonstrations.html - The New York Times- Big Anti- Immigration rally in Germany prompts counterdemonstrations. - Melissa Eddy - Jan 12 2015.

• A series of protests and counter protests.
• Brings to light questions ' About weather Germany will ever live up to it's open arms ideals and accept a growing number of refugees, as well as those descendants of immigrants who have been here for generations.' 
• Tens of thousands turned out to anti - immigration rally in Dresden - some of the protesters where asked to wear black ribbons to represent the 17 victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Politicians strongly disagreed and and claimed that it was exploding the victims.
• 30,000 people turned out for opposing march in Leipzig against a call for the city to be the first anti Islam march.
• Followed by 35,000 in Dresden who blocked the route of anti immigration marches.
• The paper claimed that the marches 'have become a platform for germans who feel sidelined by mainstream politicians, who claimed they have gone too far in making their country attractive to foreigners...' 
• Caricaturists Against Pegida- group of artist.
• 'Pegida is cynically seeking to exploit the Paris attack.' states anti - immigration protesters. 

The Jungle.

The Jungle is a major makeshift migrant camp in Calais. There has been attempts to demolish it several times before including recently , but it is contagiously being rebuilt. This video above by Channel 4 given a small insight into what life is like inside the camp but also gives some of the migrants views on what they think the UK is like. Some almost depict England as the utopian world where no one sleeps rough and there is work, but it is really evident that even if you walk around any major city povity still has a strong presents. Also I think as a country we are becoming increasing hostile to people emigrate in to the country and even more so to refugees. I think that western media and Social media so play some role in this for both sides but it is a worry that it is not just the Uk but the west as a whole. The video below was filmed last year in February.

This is an example of how social media is giving out messages that have a bias view and generalises the people who are migrating. Even the name of the individual(s) who posted the video can be seen as saying a bit about the state of the UK. Also the high number of views do prove to an extent that it is being listed to. It could be interesting to try and find out why some in the westerns who are anti immigration want to publicly state their views.

Guardian article - Eurostar train held at Calais reaches London after 16hr delay.

A train that was traveling from Calais to London was held up just outside the Channel tunnel. The tunnel is the one of the only way with which refugees and migrants can get across to the UK illegally with out going over water. The train was delayed due to the migrants in the tunnel trying to pass over from France to England, police where used to try and move them from the tunnel and the train. After 3 and half hours the train then had to go back to Calais and travellers had to wait till the morning. This artical was written a year ago, but the other day my brother was on his way back from Paris and his Eurostar train was delayed outside the Euro Tunnel, it was already delayed and it was the last train of the day. It was outside the tunnel for 3 and half hours but they continued with there journey to London , but he told me Eurostar had mentioned that people where inside the tunnels.

It is incredibly sad that the people who have escaped and traveled to Europe from places like Syria which is at war (where they are at risk of chemical weapon attacks and bombings.) Eventually get across to Europe but there journey is so dangers and shows there desperation. It is also interesting that commercial companies like Eurostar are not really doing anything to try and help the situation in a positive way. They are a extremely lager company that charges a lot of money to travel on there services but because of the crisis, both the migrants and the company are suffering. Eurostar is loosing profit from the train delays and the situation is clearly no improving. A negative way in which to try and resolve it is getting the French police involved that dose result in violence. This clip below is from 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/02/eurostar-train-held-at-calais-reaches-london-after-16-hour-delay. - artical.