Ism’s

Research of Capatalism

The Ism I chose was Capitalism. With each book various idioms were contextualised about the nature of capitalism and how it is represented as both an economic doctrine and a functional strata of society. I was initially intrigued by the concepts of what capital and money represent. Each book highlighted the origins and placement of wealth and with differing historical backgrounds.

I found this brief would have to visualise the many different perspectives of capital to an audience without words. During this part of the process I explored how to incorporate easily identifiable signifiers as a means of representation. I discovered an old Vanity Fair cover that used the financial times as part of a collage denoting the difference between the rich and the poor.

Starting Development

At each stage I tried to utilise some components that I felt translated capital. For example I printed off £50 notes and Dollar Bills and then explored various ideas around cuto out imagery. Above was an attempt at creating the Comedy and Tragedy masks as money. As I progressed with this idea I realised that this did not communicate sufficiently the Ism of choice. In turn I abandoned this concepts and re focused on a more abstract series of imagery.

                                                     

With this development I played around with identifiable characters, such as the Monopoly Man and a cartoon interpretation of Superman, which I re-created as a superior banker. I felt that I could communicate an overall aesthetic using clean images with a collage of cut out money. I found that I couldn’t plan how each idea would materialise. It appeared more as an accident. By placing the cut out on the paper I illustrated around the collage and then turned it into a concept.

For example, the Monopoly man walking the bull from Wall Street original consisted of the bull on a blank piece of paper on which I then drew

Final Outcomes

 

 

  

Reflection:

This was an enjoyable brief to engage with. I developed an illustrative style that I felt could communicate the Ism without dialogue and in the most succinct manner possible. I utilised key signifiers of the subject to further confound this message and overall felt I achieved this. Each rendering offers a different perspective of capitalism and using the research as a foundation to this subject I created a small body of work that succeeds at conveying the brief.