Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorIrwin, Ronalden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Storm Jadeen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-30T11:42:09Z
dc.date.available2016-09-30T11:42:09Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis mini-dissertation places a specific focus on the City of Cape Town and considers the space between aesthetics, commercial interest and social relevance in public visual communication practices. Instead of making a general statement or providing a value judgement, this research examines the nature of the debate surrounding public artistic practices by referring to three main artists; namely Michael Elion, The Tokolos Stencil Collective and Freddy Sam. The basis of the discussion is centred around the recent controversy surrounding Michael Elion's Sea Point public art sculpture, Perceiving Freedom (2014) and the respective questions it raised about what public space means, who has the right to represent themselves, and what that looks like. By drawing a comparison with Perceiving Freedom (2014) to the visual communicative practices of Freddy Sam and The Tokolos Stencil Collective, this research examines the progression of the debate. This encompasses the ways in which each artist and their work serve to illuminate the different visual modes of engagement in Cape Town's public spaces. Due to the contemporary nature of the subject matter, this debate is engaged with on three different levels. The first level examines the context of this debate and each artist, whereas the second level considers the points where their respective visual communicative practices intersect and engage in dialogue with each other as well as the general public. The last level considers an alternative way of reading the content, context and form of visual communicative practices so that their resulting effect can be better understood. This is done with the use of Marshall McLuhan's (1964) total effect media theory. Although several other prominent South African artists are mentioned in the scope of this research, it is important to note that the focus still pertains to the aforementioned themes of aesthetics, commercial interest and social relevance in public visual representative practices. Therefore Michael Elion, The Tokolos Stencil Collective and Freddy Sam remain the specific focus of discussion, as their respective works are used to illustrate these three themes. The first level of engagement offers a theoretical background to the reader by briefly familiarising them with international street art and graffiti practices. This brief yet concise background allows for a better understanding of the history and politics surrounding unsanctioned public visual practices and how they differ to formal sanctioned and funded ones.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBrown, S. J. (2015). <i>Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22031en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBrown, Storm Jade. <i>"Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22031en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBrown, S. 2015. Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Brown, Storm Jade AB - This mini-dissertation places a specific focus on the City of Cape Town and considers the space between aesthetics, commercial interest and social relevance in public visual communication practices. Instead of making a general statement or providing a value judgement, this research examines the nature of the debate surrounding public artistic practices by referring to three main artists; namely Michael Elion, The Tokolos Stencil Collective and Freddy Sam. The basis of the discussion is centred around the recent controversy surrounding Michael Elion's Sea Point public art sculpture, Perceiving Freedom (2014) and the respective questions it raised about what public space means, who has the right to represent themselves, and what that looks like. By drawing a comparison with Perceiving Freedom (2014) to the visual communicative practices of Freddy Sam and The Tokolos Stencil Collective, this research examines the progression of the debate. This encompasses the ways in which each artist and their work serve to illuminate the different visual modes of engagement in Cape Town's public spaces. Due to the contemporary nature of the subject matter, this debate is engaged with on three different levels. The first level examines the context of this debate and each artist, whereas the second level considers the points where their respective visual communicative practices intersect and engage in dialogue with each other as well as the general public. The last level considers an alternative way of reading the content, context and form of visual communicative practices so that their resulting effect can be better understood. This is done with the use of Marshall McLuhan's (1964) total effect media theory. Although several other prominent South African artists are mentioned in the scope of this research, it is important to note that the focus still pertains to the aforementioned themes of aesthetics, commercial interest and social relevance in public visual representative practices. Therefore Michael Elion, The Tokolos Stencil Collective and Freddy Sam remain the specific focus of discussion, as their respective works are used to illustrate these three themes. The first level of engagement offers a theoretical background to the reader by briefly familiarising them with international street art and graffiti practices. This brief yet concise background allows for a better understanding of the history and politics surrounding unsanctioned public visual practices and how they differ to formal sanctioned and funded ones. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space TI - Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22031 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22031
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBrown SJ. Art, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public space. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22031en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Film and Media Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherFilm and Media Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleArt, outrage, dialogue: a McLuhan reading of three visual communicative practices in Cape Town public spaceen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
thesis_hum_2015_brown_storm_jade (1).pdf
Size:
6.11 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Masters