Text and Image Essay
Text and Image
The reason I have chosen to work on this topic is due to the exciting and intriguing versatility aspect it carries. Within modern day life, the World is dominated and bombarded with text to either tell us something, warn us about something or even to potentially persuade us to buy something therefore text is thrown at people and each time it can mean something totally different. Varieties of different text colours, fonts, shapes and sizes can all be used within my work to express such powerful meanings. Text can also be applied to an image in a number of different ways. It can be used on an image through the use of paint, Photoshop, stickers, and even pen and a number of other ways and these all highlight how diverse the theme is. Another thing I admire about this chosen theme is that the time spent on a text and image piece can range from a couple of minutes to hours and days therefore the meanings behind pieces of work can be created almost instantly or over a long duration of time. Before starting the work on this theme, I was already aware of the great creations by artists such as Gui Borchert and Matt Siber who both use text to bring an image alive in two very different ways therefore I knew I would potentially use these as inspiration for my work.
At the start of the theme, I looked at several ways in which text and image can be presented. One of these included the clipping mask tool in which an image fills the letters of a word. With this example I filled the abbreviation ‘YNWA’ with an image of the Shankly Gates. Both aspects of the image represent the rich history of Liverpool and therefore creates such powerful messages especially if you are a fan of this club. Despite this though, I wanted to show how text can have an impact without the use of editing and Photoshop.
Therefore after huge amounts of research, I came across the work of Dave Gibbeson and his cigarette box piece. Gibbeson showed how text is dominant within our lives and we have no way of stopping it from being there as he found the cigarette packet on a walk without knowing he would eventually picture it. Just days after becoming aware of Gibbeson’s ‘Beach Litter’ piece, I replicated his work by taking a photo of a cigarette box whilst taking my dog out for a walk which again shows us how text is a massive aspect of our lives especially with the strong warning on the packet.
As my intentions before I started the personal investigation where to look at how our lives are full with text, I wanted to really emphasise this further within my work. Through this I looked at the work of Brazilian artist Gui Borchert’s whose typography portraits are nothing short of remarkable. Borchert fills in an image with words associated with the subject which gives endless opportunities for different ideas. From the typography portrait of his hero Ronaldo to his political typography portrait of Barack Obama, Borchert shows just how important text and image is. With this I created a number of different typograhy portraits including ones with different text, fonts, colour and many more different features.
This is an example I created which features an image of Donald Trump which is filled with text that reads “Make America Great Again’ which was Trump’s slogan during his successful campaign to become President of the U.S.A. To me this is almost like propaganda as I believe I have created something visually appealing that is supportive of Trump’s campaign which further reinforces what text and image can be used for in the world today.
As a further representation of text and image in the world today, I went onto look at the work of Matt Siber and his ‘Floating Logos’ project. With this he shows the dominance of big industries and institutions by removing their structure so they appear to be more dominant. Therefore I decided to picture the sign of BP, one of the companies Siber uses in his project, and through Photoshop I edited how the metal structure that was holding it. With this I believe I have shown how text and the company it is representing to be superior over us and have more dominance and power. Looking at Siber’s work I believe has been instrumental to my development of text and image as I believe he is one of the best artists in showing the impact of text and image today. Therefore I looked at ways I could somehow develop what I have done. One way that I came up with was removing text from different signs and therefore removing their instructions and identity. Doing this shows how in certain situations, we would be stuck without the inclusion of text and this piece recognises how important and impactful it is in our lives. I believe this style of photography and editing is very subversive as it is going against something that has been established. It also has a trick and teasing nature attached towards it as it’s something that appears to be real but in reality it’s fictional. This is the type of work I enjoy creating as It plays and engages with the person looking at it whilst at the same time having an impactful message attached to it regarding text and image in the world.
One of the first artists who was influential in my work was Gui Borchert. His work showed me how meaningful the theme of text and image actually can be. His typography portraits represent how dedication towards an image can create such a great impact for the person looking at it. Borchert has been quoted saying before, “I believe that loving what you do, and having passion in your work is the key for good work.” This is backed by his piece on Brazilian legend Ronaldo in which Borchert has used thousands of words that relate to the footballer. The idea of an image being built from text is quite unique but very intriguing as it contains two very important aspects of life, text and image, and combines them together. Borchert has also been quoted saying before, “I am very passionate about design, art and my work. I believe all forms of visual communication as ways to express an idea, a thought, a concept, an emotion, a message or even a visual experiment. I also love typography, photography, and illustration, I think design means the ability to work on several different mediums, and I also believe that art and design can be very powerful ways to make a difference in the world.” This reinforces the idea that the artist believes the impact text and image have on today’s world is huge. When talking about his career and work, Borchert has said, “Any design work should have an idea, a concept behind it.” This suggests that the artist aims to try and communicate a strong message to the audience with every piece he does which is a mindset he has influenced me to try and follow.
Another artist who has helped develop my theme significantly is Matt Siber. In particular his project on ‘Floating Logos’ which highlights how bombarded and full the world is becoming with text. In relation to this project, Siber has been quoted saying, “At the time, I truly felt that this would be a relief for people, that I was lifting the burden of this barrage of public messages. As soon as I finished editing the first piece I realized that much of the communication was still happening in visual form.” This suggests that Siber feels the pressure businesses and industries put on people in the world today is impactful. Therefore by removing the structure, it shows how dominant these signs and logos are over us. What I admire about Siber’s work is that they’re also very visually pleasing as well as having a great message attached to them. This is the type of thing I hoped to replicate when developing my final theme. Siber has also stated that his Floating Logos project can be drawn to “religious iconography, the supernatural, popular notions of extra-terrestrials, or science fiction films such as Blade Runner.” This would suggest that Siber feels his project is very unrealistic whilst at the same time still reflecting the world today as we are becoming more and more alienated from the big businesses and the rich
Overall the aim for my final pieces of work is to produce something that is not only visually attractive but also something that potentially communicates an important message to the person looking at it about text and image. Hopefully from my work, people will get a real insight into how text and image is becoming something we largely depend on and at times we are vulnerable without it for example on road signs with missing instructions.
Bibliography
1. http://www.bakmagazine.com/gui-borchert/
2. http://www.bakmagazine.com/gui-borchert/
3. http://www.bakmagazine.com/gui-borchert/
4. http://bombmagazine.org/article/4281/matt-siber
5. http://siberart.com/projects/floating-logos/project-info/
