I need a break from staring at my laptop….yet what am i doing now, choosing to take a break by procrastinating on here?
Well, the dissertation is a slow process, another 5,000 words more to write on the wonders of Pop Art, Music and Sir Peter Blake’s screenprint of The Beach Boys, 1964. I keep picking up books and realising that there is a load more to write. Which i guess is way better than having writers block.
I know this will probably bore anyone who is reading this…but i just need to clarify what my dissertation is about to myself and get it out of my system.
It’s all about Mass culture, consumerism and the dreaded word, postmodernism which is so complicated i feel like chucking my laptop out of the window. Obviously as the print is about the Beach Boys, a large chapter is devoted to the influence of music which leads on to my final chapter on the status of the artist in a commercial world-is the artist recognised in the commercial world at all? This reminds me of James Jean’s illustrations used by Prada or Kate Moross’s t-shirt designs for TopShop which i’ve blogged about recently.
The large majority of buyers recognise the designs as part of the brand rather than making the link to the artist themselves.
Especially when i recently went into Topshop and spotted a top that had vague Prada influences. It features the colours seen in the Spring Summer campaigns and collection. While it’s not a direct copy, it echoes the black lines and colours of the illustrations. The identity of the artist is further diluted in that people may recognise it for the Prada influence rather than the influence of an artist on/for Prada.
I’m a little bored by it all now, so can’t wait to see the end of it. Even blasting a little bit of the Beach Boys Good Vibrations doesn’t do it for me anymore, but what i wouldn’t do to be on a warm, sunny beach right now with the ocean at my feet, splashing in the ocean…..and not stuck in my room surrounded by piles and piles of books.
On a slight side note, i read that Heath Ledger’s wake was at his favourite beach in Oz, where his friends and family all gathered, splashed in the sea and generally celebrated his life. A really lovely goodbye, and was more joyful than sad and depressing. I think thats the perfect way to say goodbye…
Anyway, I better go back and write some more on the dreaded dissertation…
