Who is Lawrence Zeegen?
The first thing I want to research is - just who is Lawrence Zeegen? I have a vague recollection of purchasing one of his books for the illustration course and reading the majority of it back in August - but who is he as a practitioner? I feel this will help me to understand his sweeping statements if I can understand him as a person... Is he a seasoned illustrator? A newbie? A scholar? From my research, I have discovered that he is, in fact, a Professor and Dean of Design at London College of Communication at UAL London.
From the Ravensbourne website: "Professor Lawrence Zeegen has lectured at conferences and institutions and acted as a design education consultant nationally and internationally - across over 20 countries. Having practiced as an illustrator since graduation with BA (Hons) in Graphic Arts (1st Class) from Camberwell College of Arts in 1986 and MA Illustration from the Royal College of Art in 1989; Lawrence's clients include major international newspapers, magazines, book publishers, design companies and advertising agencies. Lawrence was a regular contributing illustrator for The Guardian newspaper between 2005 and 2010. He is a Trustee of D&AD, a Trustee of the De Le Warr Pavilion and a member of the Design Council Sounding Board." He also has a lot of accolades in terms of being a founding member of design agencies across London and as a design writer for websites and 9 published books.
In conclusion, he is a major figure in the contemporary illustrative world with vast knowledge, insight and understanding of the field. He has written articles, books and lectures and is involved with the practice in an academic setting. Despite his achievements as a respected figure-head, I cannot help but think his original article for Creative Review is quite snobbish and boils down to personal taste... in that he disregards contemporary illustration, particularly at a commercial print fair as 'contemporary eye candy' which is exactly what it is supposed to be, with immediacy without looking beyond the aesthetics on the surface. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the argument he is trying to get across, but I don't think the work of David Shrigley and the Pick Me Up print festival are the places to look to for Earth-shattering responses to society, culture and politics.
Context of the Quote
The meat of the article has a shrewd, condescending tone of voice - commenting directly on an artist whose work is entirely based on parody, satire and pastiche and a print fair that exists to showcase designers' work for them to sell commercially as prints. I do, however, start to agree with Zeegen mid-ay through his rant - in that the 2012 Olympics should have encompassed the work of UK graphic designers, illustrators and creatives, rather than / or alongside fine artists, and that more could and should have been said and done by illustrators and designers in response to this missed opportunity.
"So where does illustration go next? How does the discipline move forward? If the subject has stalled, isn't interested in reflecting upon the big issues or commenting upon the here and now, where is the future for the graphic arts?" He poses some interesting questions and also mentions successful contemporary print publishers that are keeping the discipline interesting (Nobrow, Ditto Press, Landfill Editions, Panther Club) - but isn't that for him to facilitate as a Professor and lecturer? Enthusing the new generation of illustrators and designers he teaches to question forms of communication and visual output? It isn't an undertaking that only falls onto Shrigley's shoulders, surely!
What is Illustration?
The first place I wanted to look was in the works of Lawrence Zeegen himself... What does he define as illustration? Good contemporary illustration? Does he encourage readers to push the boundaries? Honestly, his introduction was rather vague, saying everything and nothing at all - ironically, just like Shrigley's poster! Illustration is hard to define, pinpoint and put into a box which I feel reflects the practice perfectly.
"Illustration is not so straightforward and it isn’t easy to describe or to classify, to type cast or to pin down. It sits somewhere between art and graphic design. Illustration came into existence to help us make sense of our world – to allow us to record, describe and communicate the intricacies of life. It has never been more diverse or disjointed. The concern for contemporary illustration is to resist classification, to surprise its audience, and to remain true to the concept that it is anything but straightforward."
David Shrigley: Brain Activity
The first thing I want to research is - just who is Lawrence Zeegen? I have a vague recollection of purchasing one of his books for the illustration course and reading the majority of it back in August - but who is he as a practitioner? I feel this will help me to understand his sweeping statements if I can understand him as a person... Is he a seasoned illustrator? A newbie? A scholar? From my research, I have discovered that he is, in fact, a Professor and Dean of Design at London College of Communication at UAL London.From the Ravensbourne website: "Professor Lawrence Zeegen has lectured at conferences and institutions and acted as a design education consultant nationally and internationally - across over 20 countries. Having practiced as an illustrator since graduation with BA (Hons) in Graphic Arts (1st Class) from Camberwell College of Arts in 1986 and MA Illustration from the Royal College of Art in 1989; Lawrence's clients include major international newspapers, magazines, book publishers, design companies and advertising agencies. Lawrence was a regular contributing illustrator for The Guardian newspaper between 2005 and 2010. He is a Trustee of D&AD, a Trustee of the De Le Warr Pavilion and a member of the Design Council Sounding Board." He also has a lot of accolades in terms of being a founding member of design agencies across London and as a design writer for websites and 9 published books.
In conclusion, he is a major figure in the contemporary illustrative world with vast knowledge, insight and understanding of the field. He has written articles, books and lectures and is involved with the practice in an academic setting. Despite his achievements as a respected figure-head, I cannot help but think his original article for Creative Review is quite snobbish and boils down to personal taste... in that he disregards contemporary illustration, particularly at a commercial print fair as 'contemporary eye candy' which is exactly what it is supposed to be, with immediacy without looking beyond the aesthetics on the surface. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the argument he is trying to get across, but I don't think the work of David Shrigley and the Pick Me Up print festival are the places to look to for Earth-shattering responses to society, culture and politics.
Context of the Quote
"So where does illustration go next? How does the discipline move forward? If the subject has stalled, isn't interested in reflecting upon the big issues or commenting upon the here and now, where is the future for the graphic arts?" He poses some interesting questions and also mentions successful contemporary print publishers that are keeping the discipline interesting (Nobrow, Ditto Press, Landfill Editions, Panther Club) - but isn't that for him to facilitate as a Professor and lecturer? Enthusing the new generation of illustrators and designers he teaches to question forms of communication and visual output? It isn't an undertaking that only falls onto Shrigley's shoulders, surely!
What is Illustration?
"Illustration is not so straightforward and it isn’t easy to describe or to classify, to type cast or to pin down. It sits somewhere between art and graphic design. Illustration came into existence to help us make sense of our world – to allow us to record, describe and communicate the intricacies of life. It has never been more diverse or disjointed. The concern for contemporary illustration is to resist classification, to surprise its audience, and to remain true to the concept that it is anything but straightforward."
David Shrigley: Brain Activity
http://distortedarts.com/david-shrigley-brain-activity-hayward-gallery-london/
The exhibition in question targeted by Zeegen, David Shrigley's Brain Activity exhibited at London's Hayward Gallery in 2012. Shrigley's work is known to be skeptical, witty, questioning, humorous and silly. He himself commented, "The responses I would like are laughter, intrigued confusion and disquiet."
Looking at Shrigley's portfolio of work, it is clear to see he is an artist of a simple nature. His work doesn't scream 'fancy aesthetics' to me and he purely wants to communicate silly thoughts, ideas and pondering. He focuses on line quality and how to use that to convey his humorous thoughts to share with the people of today through is various social media platforms. There is nothing serious or thought provoking to be found, just a snapshot of someone's mind.
He does have a particular 'style' though and this communicates his wacky personality and message through equally wacky doodles - odd proportions, strange characters, mistakes in writing that are scribbled out, hand-written thoughts - it doesn't concern itself with prettiness or decoration.
Pick Me Up
http://pickmeup.somersethouse.org.uk/2016/
The Pick Me Up: Graphic Arts festival is another target of Zeegen's, but what is it and what is its function? Looking at the website, it appears to be a very popular staple at Somerset House as it has returned for its seventh year this year. It 'features top emerging illustrators and designers as well as more established names in graphic arts.' Therein lies a diverse program of workshops with artist, designers and illustrators, specially selected by an industry panel, showcasing 3D, animated and illustrated installations. Collectives, galleries and studio can take up residence in their own space to meet and network with an audience and platform their work.
The exhibition in question targeted by Zeegen, David Shrigley's Brain Activity exhibited at London's Hayward Gallery in 2012. Shrigley's work is known to be skeptical, witty, questioning, humorous and silly. He himself commented, "The responses I would like are laughter, intrigued confusion and disquiet."Looking at Shrigley's portfolio of work, it is clear to see he is an artist of a simple nature. His work doesn't scream 'fancy aesthetics' to me and he purely wants to communicate silly thoughts, ideas and pondering. He focuses on line quality and how to use that to convey his humorous thoughts to share with the people of today through is various social media platforms. There is nothing serious or thought provoking to be found, just a snapshot of someone's mind.
He does have a particular 'style' though and this communicates his wacky personality and message through equally wacky doodles - odd proportions, strange characters, mistakes in writing that are scribbled out, hand-written thoughts - it doesn't concern itself with prettiness or decoration.
Pick Me Up
http://pickmeup.somersethouse.org.uk/2016/
The Pick Me Up: Graphic Arts festival is another target of Zeegen's, but what is it and what is its function? Looking at the website, it appears to be a very popular staple at Somerset House as it has returned for its seventh year this year. It 'features top emerging illustrators and designers as well as more established names in graphic arts.' Therein lies a diverse program of workshops with artist, designers and illustrators, specially selected by an industry panel, showcasing 3D, animated and illustrated installations. Collectives, galleries and studio can take up residence in their own space to meet and network with an audience and platform their work.
Reflection
Now that I have researched my quote in a much wider context, having a more informed opinion the comments made by Zeegen... where do I want to go with my research? What do I want to investigate? Is it the politics of illustration? Political illustration in itself? Trends in illustration? Taste and aesthetics? Style is popping out a lot to me, and I am considering whether this is a question of style driving content and communicating a message. Style can be an extremely important element in conveying cohesive communication. There's quite a lot of angles to go at and consider and I will need to give this some thought. For the next steps in my research I would like to read Varoom's Style Issue, the Design of Dissent by Tony Kushner and Propaganda by Edward Bernays to support me from a theoretical standpoint and hopefully generate some ideas and content.
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