Entry No 2

TRANSFORMATION IN ART

Barbara Kruger, (1987), Mary boone Gallery - "We don`t need another hero" [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.maryboonegallery.com/artist_info/pages/kruger/detail2.html [Accessed 06 November 12].

As I was carrying out some research on the internet, I came across a paper entitled “Art and Transformation” by Debora Wood (an artist and critic). In her writing, Wood mentioned various artists whose artwork involved some kind of transformation. One of the artists that Wood wrote about is Barbara Kruger, an American conceptual artist. Much of Kruger's work consists of black-and-white photographs with simple but significant statements laid over them — in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique or Helvetica Ultra Condensed. Her works often include use of pronouns such as "you", "your", "I", "we", and "they".

 

The above image "We don’t need another hero" by Barbara Kruger shows a little girl pointing to the bent arm of a little boy. If one had to look at the image only, as if the words were not there, most probably the first thought that comes to mind by the expression on the little girl’s face is that she is amazed by the strong muscles of the boy.  Perhaps she is telling him: “Wow! What big muscles you have!” and at the same time, the boy is looking back at the girl with one eyebrow raised, making sure that he is impressing her with his strength and masculinity!

 

Combining this image with the words, “We don’t need another hero,” transforms the girl and boy from innocent children into wise young adults. The boy’s tightly closed fist now shows that he is aggressive and in a way it shows that females should be careful of men because they are superior to them. The girl, on the other hand, is like a spokesperson for society and seems to be saying, “We don’t need any more of your kind. The man is no longer the champion in our society. Men and women are equal.”

TRANSFORMATION IN DESIGN

 

kirstendirksen. (2011). Space saving furniture that transforms 1 room into 2 or 3. [Online Video]. 27 July. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nljmEUeLbY&feature=player_embedded. [Accessed: 06 November 2012].

Nowadays designers of furniture are aware that traditional designs are not as popular as they were before. 

 

Modern people want their rooms to be used into more functional ways, especially the bedrooms, dining rooms, sitting rooms and writing areas because of the lack of space available at their homes. The reason for this lack of space could be because most people cannot afford to buy big houses since the value of immovable property is on the increase, or the reason could be due to the various changes that are taking place in our world such as scarcer resources, urbanizing and growing in population.

The above video shows furniture that transforms one room into two or three rooms, such as a bookcase rotating 360° to transform itself into a large bed, with the lower part of the same bookcase changing into a desk, a coffee-table transforming into a dining table, etc ... The designs invented are space-saving and the transformations involved are ideal for our modern way of living.

TRANSFORMATION IN FILM

The Four Feathers (2002):
 

 

The film starts with a British officer Harry Feversham (Heat Ledger) playing rugby with his best friend Jack Durrance (Wes Bently), followed by a scene showing a ball organised by the regiment during which Harry's father, a general in the regiment, announces the engagement of Harry to Ethne Eustance (Kate Hudson).  Happiness, fun, merriment and love is revealed in the first few scenes of the film.

Later, Harry and his friends are given an order to go and fight a war in Sudan.  The year is 1884.  Harry is devastated by this news, unlike his friends.  One moment he is over the moon, looking forward to his future happiness with Ethne, when suddently his plans are shattered with the news of his involvement in war.  He now feels that his world is coming to an end and we start seeing a transormation taking place in Harry's life.  He is scared and keeps on thinking of the worse.  Everyone takes it against him, including his father and fiancée, when he announces that he will not be going to Sudan to fight.  His father feels so dishonoured that when Harry approaches him to have a word with him, his father tells him, "I don't know you" and simply ignores him.  Before the regiment ships out to battle the rebels, Harry receives four white feathers (symbolizing cowardice) from his friends and fiancée.

 

Harry feels guilty. He finds his courage and decides to track down his friends in Sudan. He disguises himself as an Arab and with the help of a slave he manages to mingle with the Arabs without blowing his cover. Harry goes through a very hard time in order to rescue one of his friends who was captured by the rebels and to help his best friend Jack to escape from Sudan after Jack loses his eye-sight when he accidentally back-fires with his own gun during the battle.

After all the suffering that he experiences in Sudan, Harry finds happiness again when he returns to Ethne and marries her.

Harry not only redeems his honour and matures into an adult, but he also transforms himself from a coward to a hero.

 

 

RyKey2201. (2008). The Four Feathers - Trailer [High Quality]. [Online Video]. 26 December. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ_MrNPOzG4&feature=player_embedded. [Accessed: 06 November 2012]. 

 

 

References:

 

www.faircompanies.com

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240510/