Ocular Ambrosia: A Multimedia Spectacle By Ebony T. Perry Ocular Ambrosia: A Multimedia Spectacle By Ebony T. Perry "If you're going through hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill Table of Contents Introduction: What it is Research Phase 1: Three Inspiring Pre-1950s Artists.....Chapter 1 Research Phase 2: Three Inspiring Post-1950s Artists...Chapter 2 Additional Influences........................................................Chapter 3 The Art Making Process...................................................Chapter 4 Future Plans.......................................................................Chapter 5 Gallery................................................................................Chapter 6 Glossary of Key Terms.....................................................Chapter 7 Bibliography Introduction: What it is Ocular Ambrosia is a series of satirical illustrations and handcrafted art dolls inspired by current social, political, & pop cultural topics. I used Graphic Design, Illustration, and Mixed Media art to bring my concept to life. Each of these mediums is used to create a collection of posters, ink drawings, digital paintings, and figurines to prompt both an emotional and intellectual response from viewers. This collection of works coincides with my interest and academic pursuit of interpreting social, political, and pop cultural topics into a visual art statement laced with satire and humor. The original driving force behind this series comes from my sincere concern with the current state of the world. Today's society is so "plugged in" and bombarded with propaganda, that, as a result, this tactic of ornate brainwashing continues to distract people from moral and truly important values, herding them into the land of detachment. Society has become a circus of clashing agendas. This onslaught of fashionable lunacy is what inspired the carnivalesque tone and title of my series. Another set of curiosities in the sideshow of modern culture that fueled this exhibition, stemmed from my interest in society's fascination with materialism, celebrity gossip, and the reckless behavior of the famous. I have explored the ever- rising dependence on technology, the dwindling right to privacy, and the exploitative corruption of virtue for the sake of profit. Through my illustrations and complementary bizarre figures, I invite the viewer's to prospect for changes in the current order of things. My belief is that we must move away from the typical solutions, break free from a vicious cycle, and wake up the complacent. I want people to understand that my use of satire is meant to trigger a yearning for social change, something I believe the world needs greatly. My choice to creatively exaggerate the issues plaguing our society and to magnify them is so that people, who have come to accept this gradual decay of normalcy, simply wake up and come to realize how bizarre several values in our modern culture have become. Our path back from the land of detachment could lie in reflecting upon these concerns to achieve social change and a united state of awareness. Chapter 1 Research Phase 1: Three Inspiring Pre-1950s Artists The three pre-1950s first artist I selected as a source of inspiration were Sir John Tenniel, George Cruikshank, and Max Fleischer. As the encyclopedia entry on Tenniel notes, Sir John Tenniel is a British illustrator, graphic humorist, and political cartoonist (1820 - 1914). Tenniel is considered important to the study of England's second half of the 19th century in regards to social, literary, and art histories. Tenniel was knighted by Queen Victoria for his artistic achievements in 1893. Tenniel is most noted for two major accomplishments: he was the principal political cartoonist for England's Punch magazine for over 50 years, which was a ground breaking British magazine of popular humor, including a great deal of satire of the contemporary, social, and political scene. Tenniel was also the artist who illustrated Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass."("Tenniel"). When shaping my final thesis for my capstone, I felt that Tenniel's works were extremely inspiring and relatable to what I was trying to achieve. Because he was a satirist, he always sought to draw attention to society's issues and find a way to get the public's attention through his radical images to inspire change. Through creating such works, he played a key role in his nation's moments of political and social reform by echoing the voices of the British public. What struck me most about his work was his style and how honest and sharp his characters are. Even in his illustrations for Carroll's books, one can see the personality in the characters faces. Though his illustrations were mostly ink drawings in black and white, his work collectively made a difference. The way my work contrasts from Tenniel's own is by not just sticking to ink pen and paper, but also by putting digitally made designs and illustrations into the equation. From left to right: "British Lion Attacks Bengal Tiger" (Punch) August 1857 by Sir John Tenniel. Tenniel's "Mad Hatter" from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The second artist I chose to pull inspiration from is one who illustrated one of my favorite stories as child, Oliver Twist. "George Criukshank (1792 -1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. For Charles Dickens, Cruikshank illustrated Sketches by Boz (1836), The Mudfog Papers (1837-38) and Oliver Twist (1838). Criukshank even acted in Dickens' amateur theatrical company." (Morris). What I particularly loved about Criukshank and found to be relatable is we both have a performing arts background and he used that background in his works of illustration. For example, in Oliver Twist his works are very detailed, and it is always clear what character is being depicted in a certain chapter: Fagin is sly and grotesque with a silly charm, Oliver is helpless and trying to find his place in the world, etc. In my own works I can relate to Criukshank because I make clear who my antagonists and protagonists are in my illustrations. In contrast to this Victorian era illustrator, I choose to utilize text along with image in my graphic design works and to make the public get into the character of a social witness. Pictured above: Artful Dodger introducing Oliver to Fagin, From the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, George Cruikshank, (1792-1878/British), Chromolithograph. "Fagin" a character from the Dickens novel Oliver Twist, helped me pinpoint and expose what twisted hierarchies in this world are doing to trap society from realizing their full potential. For those unfamiliar with Fagin, he is described as the "grotesque" leader of a group of orphaned children, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for a roof over their heads (abuse of power to create dependence among the populous). Although portrayed somewhat humorously, Fagin is nonetheless a self-confessed miser who, despite the wealth he has acquired over the years from the work of others, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he takes in - even allowing them to smoke pipes and drink gin "with the air of middle-aged men." One of my own works inspired by the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist was "The Profiteer," a vulture-like character who is an exploiter for the collection of excessive and unfair profit. His motto states, "As long as I come out on top nothing else matters." Another Illustration inspired by Fagin's corruption of youth and a true story in the news is titled "Little Lungs." The story in the news appeared in 2010 and was about a chain-smoking baby from Indonesia, reported to smoke 40 cigarettes a day. Pictured right: Fagin in his cell (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens) 1846 copperplate engraving. "The Profiteer" by Ebony T. Perry (2014). "Aldi" the "Chain-Smoking Baby" from Indonesia: reported to smoke 40 cigarettes a day (2010). "Aldi" (2010). "Little Lungs" by Ebony T. Perry (2014). The third and final artist I selected before 1950 who influenced my work is Max Fleischer (1883 -1972). "Fleischer was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer. He was also a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations." ("Fleischer"). I believe that my work and Fleischer's share some similarities based on style and aesthetic. One particularly great example of this style and aesthetic is a Betty Boop Talkcartoon he created in 1932 called "Minnie the Moocher", in which he collaborated with Musician Cab Calloway for the score. What influenced me most and stayed with me forever was Fleisher's spooky and playful cartoon imagery used to compliment Calloway's story about Minnie the Moocher-- it was as if the song fueled each illustration perfectly. In the same sense, what I found similar in both of our works is that we are inspired by sights and sounds or music and film, and we use playful yet spooky imagery to get our message across to the viewer. While, Fleischer's medium was animation, my own mediums are based in the realms of illustration and graphic design. "Mythos" is one of my own illustrations that includes the use of a spooky yet playful style. Pictured above: Scene from Fleischer's "Minnie the Moocher" (1932). Pictured above p.11: "Mythos" by Ebony T. Perry (2014). Chapter 2 Research Phase 2: Three Inspiring Post-1950s Artists The three post-1950s artists that I selected as sources of inspiration to my work were Sheppard Fairey, Tim Burton, and Hattie Stewart.