Tea Baggers

Members of the Tea Party movement, known by some as Tea Baggers, are protestors of the “liberal agenda;” basically any new laws and legislation that they believe go against their welfare and the welfare of the country. They got the name of their group from, obvious to most Americans, the protestors of taxation without representation – the Boston Tea Party. Both have their similarities. Comparatively, they are both political extremists. However, the activists at the Boston Tea Party, assumedly, did not put people’s lives in danger. The Tea Baggers were known to cut people’s brake lines when the health care bill was passed, not to mention, as the picture shows, debatable abuse of the first amendment to the point of slander.

And this week looking at a something not a political cartoon... the muppets. Specifically a video I stumbled across earlier this week, which can be found here. Most of the muppet characters are animals, with a varying degree of human behaviors. Animalized people or humanized animals, or however they might be considered. This particular video uses ironic humor. And singing muppets. It also breaks down the viewer/subject issue somewhat towards the end. While culturally animal characters may be used as a more acceptable way of analyzing human behaviors at times... I'm not really sure of the cultural implications here. All animal!muppet characters can talk. And sing. The most commonly used human muppet characters (who do show up here) are generally in the role of spectators/critics, often either breaking the forth wall or coming close.
In comparison with the Simpsons- less based on family life/routine life style. Simpsons resemble- and presumably are- humans, though abstracted appearance may have some similar advantages as using animal characters- lightening the mood, making exploration of bizarre behaviors more acceptable.

MAD at Obama

MAD magazine a long and rich history in caricature work. Started in the 1950s by EC comics, who are also responsible for Tales From The Crypt, and now owned By DC comics, creators of Batman and Superman. The comics feature a recurring mascot character named Alfred E. Neuman, whose origins can be traced back to 19th century character, The Yellow Kid. The magazine specializes in comical comic strips, often parodies featuring grotesque caricatures of public figures.
MAD has mocked many a president in its time, and now it's Obama's turn at bat. here MAD not only mocks the president, but also the peoples perception of him. In the first one we see an issue from the first months of the his presidency. Mocking the media concern with his first 100 days, with his first 100 minutes. The perception of all the worlds problems getting suddenly lumped on his shoulders and Obama feeling the pressure. MAD give him their signature "big head" caricature style. They also exaggerate and mock his smoking habit. On the oval office desk we can see piles of paperwork, newspapers featuring economic collapse headlines, an Obama campaign "change" mug full of coffee (suggesting sleeplessness an stress), a file with a nuclear symbol and IRAN written on it, and what is the most disturbing, gross thing on the table in my opinion, the messy, half drank bottle of Pepto-Bismol. While this cover instantly provokes a laugh, it's pretty damned dark to joke about our nation in such a crisis. Kind of reminds me of Dr. Strangelove humor.
Then we have the latest issue of MAD, with our little wise-ass friend Alfred E. Neuman. Here sporting an I heart Obama t-shirt, but he's got out his sharpie and put an "'ed" after the heart. Joking on the presidents love loss and increasing unpopularity since his election. And believe me this isn't the end of mockery our president will see at the pens of our friends over at MAD magazine.

Murals for the community

As previously stated Rachel and I are painting a mural based on our personal understanding of the class and "truthful misrepresentation." the above images is a mural that I worked on in an area around where I grew up in Dallas, Texas. It is suppose to represent the historical side of this neighborhood. This is an example of working within confines of the area- each panel was used to represent a window as if you are peering into the shop. The mural we are painting is a little more personal and has deeper meaning than just that of a tire shop, bigger too. In the Simpson episode that we watched in class i noticed that Homers "outsider art" was a symbol of his frustrations of never accomplishing anything. Our murals speaks of our frustrations within everyday society- and also about what makes us unique and how we fit but don't fit into the American paradigm.

longevity

Since Luz and I have started our mural we have run into many obstacles, such as a place to paint it, supplies and the approval from what seems like the entire administration staff at Alfred University. We have secured a wall in Harder Hall, and have been working on painting it. However we are reminded by many that it will need to be repainted, making this mural ephemeral. By painting over our mural Luz and I seem to be doing the opposite of what we set out to do. We meant to create a work that is long lasting and makes a statement for others to see about cultural identity. Many of my symbols on my side also have to do with longevity and creation. Such as the symbol at the top of this post, I assume this weeks blog is about the progress we are making on our final projects. By creating such an ephemeral piece it does not seem that we are making much progress and and are losing the characteristics and caricature of this piece.

In our living room...

My favorite thing about caricature is the way that it comes to us, the way it can so effortlessly enter our lives, and our living rooms, with out my noticing. I guess I entered this class with a limited view of caricature (something closer the what Diane Burrows was demonstrating) and have found the class to be a pleasant surprise. But when I consider that Hogarth and his contemporaries’ prints were used as wallpaper, that the comic page comes to your door each morning with the newspaper, and the Simpsons blare out from your TV screen I am amazed at how often I have encountered caricature- something that I was certain I knew nothing about. In some ways I think that perhaps they have become so easily accessible to me that I don’t even notice them anymore, or at least I haven’t considered the satirical/ artistic aspect quite as much as a slap-stick humor. What I enjoyed the most about the reading was simply being reminded that The Simpons was mirroring our culture. That the Simpsons’ family was watching the TV from there sofas, same as we watched them, they represent us, and lampoon us, and we laugh, we print shirts with sayings like “eat my shorts man” and put words like “D’oh” in our dictionaries- all because of a cartoon. Growing up I watched this program with my parents, while I easily enjoyed the humor, the pranks, and the predictable storyline that comes so easily once you “know” each character’s role and subsequent idiosyncrasies I was young at the time and most of the jokes were probably over my head. I was trying to consider the moments in which “fine art” and “high-art” mediums had so easily crossed over the threshold of the home and seamlessly entered our daily lives. Surprisingly, I could really only think of two examples, both of which are superbly kitsch (at least in my opinion) Bob Ross and Thomas Kinkade. While I am in no way promoting either artist, Wikipedia estimates that 1 in 20 households owns a Thomas Kinkade print or memorabilia of his idyllic settings and who knows how many viewers Bob Ross had in his twelve years of painting “happy little trees” on The Joy of Painting. Caricature is not only accessible in terms of content, but also in the fact that it is so easily obtained. It doesn’t require trips to museums and galleries, or long viewing lines, or more than a few dollars to own, we probably all have some sitting around our houses without even knowing it was there. I wonder if it is possible for “fine” art to become a part of our daily lives as well?

Society

This caricature was accompanied by an article, "The Upstaging Of High Society," in a 1995 issue of The New York Times. The article discussed the lost interest in high society, and the increasing obsession of models and actresses. The author, Dan Shaw, states "Town & Country, which used to have a policy that only real women (i.e. socialites) would appear in its fashion stories and on its covers, now puts run-of-the-mill fashion models on its covers." At this time, the media was beginning to devote more and more space to Hollywood.

This caricature is an interesting representation of the ranking of society/the media's valued influences; the faces of the socialites of the time are all placed on the lower branches, representing their decrease in value, as the model, Kate Moss, is placed on the highest branch, representing her increased power and influence. This caricature is an interesting mock up of the idea of the fashion plate; all the people, although having human faces, are drawn as birds, and given pearl necklaces. They are all arranged accordingly on a tree, for their 'photo shoot' as a photographer is arranging his shot.

When fashion plates first became popular in the media, they were seen as representations of high society women. These women had the most power and influence over the societal trends of the time. They helped define the proper way women dressed, acted, and the activities they should carry out. They were pictured in photographs and illustrations of popular magazines and news papers, serving as a template for everyday women.

When i think of the 'fashion plates' that exist now, I would say that they mostly consist of some kind of celebrity influence. Famous faces of pop culture fill a majority of front pages of magazines sold. They appear in pictures throughout fashion articles, showing us what to and not to wear, setting the newest fashion trends and having a great influence on the items made and sold throughout stores.

For my caricature i am interested in using the idea of a fashion plate, in order to show the way our societies values and ideals have changed throughout time. This article and caricature are great examples of the shift in the value and influence of Hollywood on the media. It is interesting to see the transition of values of the media, once pictured "real women" of society, replaced by fake, idealized celebrities of today.