Outline
Main argument: Using digital media is not always effective when trying to communicate important issues to younger generations. We need to utilize different techniques of communication if we are trying to effectively make the public change their lifestyle to help the ocean and inhabitants of it.
Supporting evidence: Through my research of the effects of human activity on the ocean as well as my research in different ways of communicating I will be able to accurately propose what the best solution is. I am not giving a solution to fix water pollution, I leave that to the experts, but rather ways those experts can communicate the issues to their audiences. There are already many environmental organizations who are resorting to video production and the creation of aps, my job is to analyze how effective this is. I look to prove that digital media loses the effects that physical art has on humans. The emotion you feel when you see something in reality is incomparable to the numbness you get from digital media. (annotated bibliography at the bottom)
Assumptions: SO what? Who cares about this? People are already doing this and Its not feasible to ask people to change their everyday lives.
Questions:
Is it impossible to influence people’s decisions through art?
What is the biggest reason to ignore information on sustainability and animals?
Am I criticizing or utilizing digital media as a resource?
How do we need to change our tactics when trying to communicate to the youth?
Research methods:
Definitions and trajectories of activism and eco art media
Digital activism and youth, digital environmentalism
Observation of protest artists past work
Research on facts of human pollution and effects on sea life
Tactic star
Tactic: To present the public with an art installation that is eye catching and informative. To create a piece of art that makes you think and makes you want to change your lifestyle for the better.
Resources: by creating an art installation I am forcing the viewer to see it they really don’t have a choice. While I am putting a large amount of effort into even just the logistics of this project it will be worth it if it is executed correctly. Using my resources of the NYC streets gives me an advantage of having a large audience. Using an eye-catching technique of mixing cute stuffed animals with gory organs and blood gives me the advantage of making people want to look.
Target: my message is clearly that human activity harms sea animals and I am giving my viewers the option to dismiss it and keep walking, but I am hoping the image of blood and plastic around a sea turtles neck will become instilled in their mind and make them think again before not disposing of their plastic correctly.
Strategy: my goal is to affect the viewer in a way that is inspirational and effective. By using an art installation instead of media I am already eliminating the possibility of them ignoring it. They may not even open an ad about environmentalism on their email and therefore have no choice to react or not to it, but by forcing them to see my installation I am giving them a choice to act or not.
Message: the persuasive story is that of the dying sea turtle and my objective through communicating it is by pulling on their heart strings. From afar they may see a cute sea animal stuffy and point it out to their kid, but upon closer review they will see it hanging by the neck in plastic and oozing with bottles and blood. The message is that we as humans have to take responsibilities for our actions and there are simple ways to reduce the death of sea animals by simply being less careless.
Tone: I want to attract, repel, and interest my viewer. It’s so gross they want to look away but at the same time they can’t stop looking. It makes them do a double take and they aren’t exactly sure what they are seeing but the objective is clear.
Timing: my timing is perfect especially with trumps recent disregard for environmental issues and the publics clear dislike for his opinions on our earth. The timing couldn’t be better and I think it will only enhance the message I am getting across and hopefully gain me some support on the issue.
Audience: my audience are the everyday NYC livers. I want my installation to inspire them. Whether it is using reusable shopping bags, or donating to an oceanic cleaning organization, I hope when they see my art they will be inspired to make changes in their own lives to help the bigger issues we are responsible for.
Allies: I am hoping my tactic will strengthen the allies by inspiring them to do more. I don’t think people will be too disturbed by my installation and I am hoping for a positive response from the public but is hard to say how people will react on a daily basis to street art.
Research Proposal
In 1937 Pablo Picasso created “Guernica” thus opening the door for artists to follow in his protest art path. As years passed the most common form of visual protest became the graffiti presence spreading far and wide, with the most prominent being that of Banksy. Today we live in a world very different world than that of Picasso, and even that of Banksy. The physicality’s of art have vanished and visual art has progressed towards a technological era. While Banksy is still a very prevalent street artist, many artists have chosen quicker, more stimulating mediums, such as videos shared on social media. I am very interested in what makes our generation stop in their tracks and really feel moved by something. Our form of communicating important information needs to be more than a 60 second video you scroll past on Facebook. I’m looking to research the most contemporary ways to share information while also looking at what has worked in the past. I want to discover and execute a piece that makes you want to change your lifestyle for the better. There are so many aspects of political protest I am interested in sharing but specifically those of the effects human lives have on sea animals.
I want to answer the research question: How can we use contemporary communication methods through visual art to inform the decisions of new generations? The topic I want to address is that we are a quickly evolving generation and it’s going to take just as quick changes in how we put out promotions, propaganda, and other information to young adults. With social media rapidly increasing we have many different people influencing us through our phones and computers, it’s important for people attempting to share information on pollution, animals, and politics to be using the correct techniques to communicate with us. Some other questions I have are: Should we make sustainability sexy? Which medium are we as humans most likely to respond to? Can we generalize how a person will respond to something they see?
In the 2017 presidential elections there were thousands of respondents reported who wrote “harambee as president”. This fact alone makes it clear that many young people are not taking elections seriously and have no interest in saving animals in captivity. My research relates mainly to myself and people my age who are still trying to figure out their beliefs and are heavily influenced by media surrounding us. My research also relates directly to companies and organizations attempting to influence young adults. My interest is in the fact that it would be helpful for organizations like PETA to know how to target its audience in an effective way. Knowing who your audience is and how they will be most influenced through mediums of video, sound, and installation is a vital aspect for any marketing of a company.
Research mapping progress
By creating a research mapping booklet, it allows me to have a 360 view of my research topic and gives me the space to add and edit as I progress through my research. I am very excited to look deeper into my sources and find a comparison between different ways of communicating visually. My research topic began focused only on sea animals and the effects we have on them but has now progressed into taking into account how we communicate information to the public and what works. I have always been interested in marketing techniques and I see that as a potential career path for myself. Mixing my passion for animals and the environment with my interest in entering the marketing world will make an excellent research topic to keep me engaged while finishing out my semester. This project gives me a chance to do something for me and make a piece of art for the sake of making art, not for a letter grade or for a teacher’s approval. I need to focus on my main interests if I want to explore what I can see myself doing long term in my career.
Research Final: Integrative seminar 2
Introduction
I have always been an animal lover, whether it was walking dogs at the shelter, or volunteering at the Marathon Sea Turtle Hospital, I was raised caring for animals. I don’t want to be a vet, and I don’t want to be a dog walker, but I needed to find a way to incorporate my passion for animals into my project. I am a strategic design and management major, so it is fitting that my project would involve some aspect of marketing. Through this final project, I aimed to coagulate my current interests and my future goals to create something informative and interesting to look at. Being a part of a young generation it’s up to us to figure out new and innovative ways to run our society. We all know that sustainability and global warming are huge concerns, but I’m worried about how we communicate those things to a greater population. Its effecting all of us, every single day we are bombarded by advertisements and marketing so its vitally important we understand the pros and cons of the types of visual communications.
In 1937 Pablo Picasso created “Guernica” thus opening the door for artists to follow in his protest art path. As years passed the most common form of visual protest became the graffiti presence spreading far and wide, with the most prominent being that of Banksy. Today we live in a world very different world than that of Picasso, and even that of Banksy. The physicality’s of art have vanished and visual art has progressed towards a technological era. While Banksy is still a very prevalent street artist, many artists have chosen quicker, more stimulating mediums, such as videos shared on social media. I am very interested in what makes our generation stop in their tracks and really feel moved by something. Our form of communicating important information needs to be more than a 60 second video you scroll past on Facebook. I’m looking to research the most contemporary ways to share information while also looking at what has worked in the past. I want to discover and execute a piece that makes you want to change your lifestyle for the better. There are so many aspects of political protest I am interested in sharing but specifically those of the effects human lives have on sea animals.
Research Questions
Using digital media is not always effective when trying to communicate important issues to younger generations. We need to utilize different techniques of communication if we are trying to effectively make the public change their lifestyle to help the ocean and inhabitants of it.
How can we communicate issues of sea pollution to the public using visual art?
How can we use contemporary communication methods to effectively influence our audience?
Should we make sustainability sexy?
Which medium are we as humans most likely to respond to?
Can we generalize how a person will respond to something they see?
Research Findings
For my research it was important I take different approaches when I was looking for different information. When finding facts and statistics on ocean pollution and death of marine animals it works best to read articles and journals throughout history that recorded this. A very different approach was taken when I analyzed the work of Banksy and PETA. I decided to view an online gallery of Banksy’s work and record my observations of his mediums used and concepts explored. By using an observational technique it allowed me to compare and contrast the techniques used. Analyzing the work of an artist and an organization helped my research in marketing. Specifically seeing which ways marketing was used in different events hosted by PETA. Along with observing their work I also read neurological articles about the way our brain perceives and processes information. Through these two research tactics I was able to get a visual and scientific look at the topic. While oceanic cleanliness and visual marketing are two very different topics, they commonly overlap when it comes to my interests. The ways that we market issues in our ecosystem are just as important as the issues themselves and I look to further explore these topics in my professional career.
Ocean Pollution:
- Main harms: Harvesting sea foods, land activities, marine pests.
- 390 million tons of run-off each year in chemicals, pesticides, herbicides.
- Industrial chemicals, sewage, and chemicals in plastic are all a threat to humans as well as animals.
- 40% of ocean is heavily effected by human life.
- Consumption of sea animals: 75% decrease in tuna population meaning they are almost extinct.
- Pollution: 250,000 metric tons of plastic waste in the ocean. Even if you pollute away from the ocean it can be carried to sea by land run-off.
- Ocean resources are being depleted and it is unable to support many species
- Between 1970-2012 there was a 50% decrease in marine life populations.
- Seals, turtles, dolphins, and whales may become entangled in the plastic or mistakenly eat it.
- 100,000 die from plastic consumption or entanglement each year.
Digital Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing
- We feel more emotionally attached to physical things and our brain perceives them as more “real”.
- Physical visual aids have long term connections in our brain.
- The retail market is the biggest spender on digital marketing
- $16 billion this year which is the highest ever.
- While digital marketing is clearly more popular, there has been no proof that the knowledge within it has increased over the past 10 years.
- Social media marketing is cheaper than traditional but it doesn’t seem to produce great results.
- Only 3% of CMO’s said social media contributed very highly.
Observation examples:
Banksy:
Aesthetically Banksy uses a lot of cuteness and harshness in his work, this contradiction is what I find so enticing about his graffiti and installation pieces. As inspiration for my project I took note of some of his work such as his truck installation using stuffed farm animals. Another piece I was drawn toward is of a little girl in a dress throwing a bouquet of flowers, this is the aesthetic that I find most interesting. Banksy has done mostly physical work including large sea animal installations and he usually stays away from digital. One criticism I have for Banksy’s work is that it presents the viewer with the issue but doesn’t give them a solution on how they might help. For my installation, it was vital for me to include an informational aspect for the viewer to learn from it.
Peta:
Peta uses many forms of communication with the public and they are not afraid of being provocative. One example is using a playboy bunny dressed in a lettuce bra serving vegetarian hot dogs to the public, this is a marketing technique of literally making sustainability sexy. Peta has also used performance as a method of getting their point across, putting girls dressed as orcas in a bathtub as a retaliation against sea world in the Macy’s day parade. “Thus, we try to make our actions colorful and controversial, thereby grabbing headlines around the world and spreading the message of kindness to animals to thousands — sometimes millions — of people,” PETA said. Although Peta is not an artist, they use techniques that are artistic and creative as those of Banksy.
Studio process
A large portion of my research for my studio project was understanding why physical or analog marketing is more effective than digital, this being said it was only fitting for me to create an installation. By making a street installation I am forcing the viewer to see it and confronting them with the issue as they walk on the street. I was sparked by the idea to use stuffed animals after seeing a moving installation Banksy did about transportation of pigs, cows, and chickens. I think using children’s stuffed animals adds a layer to my project where its contradicting cute and gory. I started creating prototypes using small animals with organs, plastic, and blood coming out of their stomach. The making process ran quite smooth but it was the installation that would be the tricky part. I planned to wake up early and install multiple stuffed animals on the streets of New York. I would also be including informational posters that explain what the public can do to help the issue of sea pollution. At 7:00am on the morning of my installation I went out to fourth Ave in front of a busy coffee shop and gym and installed my piece. I decided to stand further down the street to record people’s reactions. Although the gym was not thrilled about my gory installation outside the door, it made for some very interesting encounters.
Reflection
Before installing my protest art piece, I knew there was a possibility of it not working. Many New Yorkers aren’t very observant on their daily commute so it would be easy to walk right by my installation without noticing. Thankfully many people stopped, took pictures, and voiced their opinions. For me it was more about the action of going out and setting up a public display of art, but getting the reactions of total strangers is a plus. People would stop and say “not with our president” or even walk by and make noises of disgust. I really important aspect of my final project was doing something physical and not digital. Even though I know the effectiveness and cheapness of digital media as marketing, I still prefer to have more real and more provocative approaches to things I am passionate about. While I know my installation could have been much larger and more realistic, I think I was able to get my point across within the time and material constraints. I look forward to doing installation projects in the future, and I plan to continue voicing my opinion in creative and unusual ways.
Bibliography
Amaral, Kimberly. “Plastic in Our Oceans.” Accessed April 20th , 2017.
Ocean pollution is defined by harmful substances such as oil, plastic and agricultural waste in our oceans. Mining for copper and gold can also pollute our waters. The main causes of water pollution are sewage, industrial chemicals, and land run off. It’s important to understand that plastic travels, even if you drop something on a street it can be carried by wind and rain to the water. It is estimates that 14 billion pounds of plastic is dumped in the ocean each year and it is likely that plastic will encounter a sea animals. Many seals become entangled in fishing line and sea turtles accidentally eat plastic bags. While animal’s safety is a large concern, we should also be aware that plastic emits chemicals into our water that are dangerous for humans and can cause cancer.
Artnet. “Banksy.” Accessed April 5th, 2017.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/banksy/.
For my research, it is important that I make visual observations on how protest artists communicate their messages, there is no better way to do this then to look at the work of Banksy. Many of Banksy’s pieces revolve around war and the use of bombs, he expresses this in a colorful cute way by showing a little girl dressed in pink hugging a bomb or by painting a man throwing a bomb full of flowers. Another technique Banksy uses is large site-specific installations, this be sneaking into a zoo and changing the signs in the elephant cages, or creating a plastic structure around a golden dolphin in Vancouver. Studying Banksy as an artist will give me insight into which visual communication methods are most effective when dealing with topics related to politics, government, and the environment.
Cave, Julie. 2016. “Digital Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing: Which One Is Better?” Digital Doughnut. July 14th.
There are many positives sides to using digital media for marketing. The biggest pro is that you can reach a local and international audience and possibly send your marketing viral. Your audience can interact through digital media by rating it or giving feedback and it is easy to track the progress. The biggest downside to digital marketing is you lose the hard copy material. Neuro exams prove that direct mail is easier to understand and has better brand recall results. Looking at hard copies is 21% less cognitive effort than looking at digital media, however, direct mail is more expensive and more difficult to measure. Brain studies show that physical material is more “real” to our brain and it gets tucked away into our special memory network which is why you are more likely to make connections with it and remember it long term. It actually takes more emotional processing when you get a physical thing in front of you and this is the reason many people become hoarders when it comes to post cards and flyers.
Cowperthwaite, Gabriela. Blackfish. DVD. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. New York City: Magnolia Pictures, 2013.
The very popular Netflix documentary “Blackfish” is an excellent example of how a serious issue is being communicated through the media of film. This film was capable of starting somewhat of a revolution and turned many people and companies against SeaWorld. The film is responsible to changing some of the laws on how trainers at SeaWorld are allowed to interact with the Orcas. Using this documentary as a source will allow me to look at the effects of documentary’s as a form of communication and the outcomes that happened after its creation.
Gray, Jennifer. 2015. “Report: Marine life has taken devastating hit over last 40 years.” CNN, September 17th.
- 40% of ocean is heavily effected by human life.
- Consumption of sea animals: 75% decrease in tuna population meaning they are almost extinct.
- Pollution: 250,000 metric tons of plastic waste in the ocean. Even if you pollute away from the ocean it can be carried to sea by land run-off.
- Ocean resources are being depleted and it is unable to support many species
- Between 1970-2012 there was a 50% decrease in marine life populations.
Miller, Michael E. 2015. “PETA Calls for Walter Palmer to be ‘hanged’ for Killing Cecil the Lion.” The Washington Post, July 30th.
PETA is the largest animal rights activist organization in the world. They must rely mostly on free advertising and “Thus, we try to make our actions colorful and controversial, thereby grabbing headlines around the world and spreading the message of kindness to animals to thousands — sometimes millions — of people,” PETA said. Peta has used many interesting mediums such as street performance and having models serve vegetarian food. I think it’s important for my research because they are right on track in their experimentation when communicating to the public. It will be interesting for me to do a case study on them where I can analyze different approaches they have taken in their projects.
“The Effects of Human Impacts on the Marine Environment.” Ministry for the Environment. February 8th, 2016.
Main harms: Harvesting sea foods, land activities, marine pests.
390 million tons of run-off each year in chemicals, pesticides, herbicides.
40% of ocean is heavily effected by human life.
Ocean resources are being depleted and it is unable to support many species.
