Programme about Lewis Carroll on radio 4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b010t6hb/Great_Lives_Series_24_Lewis_Carroll/http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b010t6hb/

Again the issue of photographs of children comes up.

photos of kids i've taken. Are they ethically ok or are they porn, inappropiate?

Fetishied object

Alessi salt and pepper mills
‘Salt and pepper mills, in thermoplastic resin. The close contact with the National Palace Museum of Taiwan’s artistic collections offered by the "Chin Family" project has allowed Stefano Giovannoni’s imagination to run wild, pushing him to measure himself against, and apply his contemporary and very personal interpretation to, the millennia-old tradition of Chinese applied arts. The result is a family of characters, flowers and fruits, each of which interprets a domestic functional role, echoing the grace of seventeenth-century ceramic objects while at the same time openly declaring their modernness.’ (From website)

§  What “need(s)” does it fulfil?

They work very well, look and feel nice, but all they do is grind pepper or salt.

They are part of a design collection

§  What is it’s “exchange” value? (and how is this calculated?)

This is calculated on its aesthetics, not just it’s actual practical value.

They are part of a collection, so this increases their value.

Its actual value as a utility is not much, it’s a pepper grinder!

They cost is £34 each

‘In political economy and especially Marxian economics, exchange value refers to one of four major attributes of a commodity, i.e., an item or service produced for, and sold on the market. The other three aspects are use value, value and price.

Thus, a commodity has:

• a value
• a use-value (or utility)
• an exchange value
• a price (it could be an actual selling price or an imputed ideal price)

These four concepts have a very long history in human thought, from Aristotle to David Ricardo,^[1] becoming ever more clearly distinguished as the development of commercial trade progressed. This entry focuses on Marx's summation of the results of economic thought about exchange-value.’

§  What is it’s “symbolic” value?

These represent a trend and an interest in art and design

The value is because it is an Alessi design

This collection is not exclusive, but is specialised, you need to be familiar with the designer and to be able to offered them

§  What is it’s “real” value? (and how do you calculate this?)

For me the value is less than the asking price. Why do we need a pepper grinder that costs £34?

You can buy a cheap pepper grinder that does the job, but probably not brilliantly and wont last long, but you can get a very good one for less than £34

I feel the main value of these objects is their design, not how well it does the job.

·      How is it’s “symbolic” value constructed? Who by? And who benefits?

It’s symbolic value is constructed by its Alessi brand.

It is a collectable that has been constructed by the designer

People who enjoy collecting, like my sister, benefit from it’s symbolic value

The designer and the manufacture benefit from it.

Because its part of a collection, people will want to buy more.

Alessi are very good at taking a simply kitchen utensil and creating a beautiful collectable piece of art that has a practical worth. Very clever, but not needed.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/why-this-photo-cost-hospital-a-charity-bonanza-20110104-19f54.html

This is a case from Australia, but I think it is ridiculous that this couldn't be auction off for fund raising for a hospital due to the fact that he has his top off!

link to Bill Henson

http://lilithfilm.tumblr.com/post/470580955/inspiration-bill-henson-photographer-nsfw

http://www.ozwebhub.com/blog/2008/05/28/police-remove-bill-hensons-nude-photographs-from-gallery/

Jo Spence

I think she was the photographer that took photos of my family in the late 70's early 80's.

She took some photos of my sister with a peg in her mouth and looking too sexy for her age.

I will have to find more out about them.

Her website is under construction, but it looks like she did a project of her last days, while dying of leukemia.

http://jospence.com/default.aspx

Sexulisation of children

Controversy of sexulisation of children on the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11924087

Brooke Shields
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/brooke-shields-by-gary-gross/

Bill Henson

Photo of people dying.

 Photo of David Kirby as he died from Aids taken by Therese Frare, who has now apparently become a wedding photographer.

http://www.theresefrarephotography.com/gallery/2004gallery900.stm


Is it is ok to take photos of people dying?

Don McCullen, from the exhibition 'Shaped by war'.

Panorama

I watched this a couple of nights ago, it followed up some of the debates from the last lecture.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xj6mb/Panorama_Too_Much_Too_Young/ 

Booggie night

This is part of my sister job!
After putting this video on You Tube the sales of The Boog bath ballistic went up.
Clever bit of free marketing

Severn Beach

While doing research for my photography project 'Silence' I found this website with a nice little film in it done by someone at UWE. For my project I have taken photos of 'Tubbies amusments and haven't been able to find out much about it. This film adds to the idea of silence, and I found it quite sad.
http://cargocollective.com/mattygroves/424637/Severn-Beach

Intertextual artefact

Pixar use references from their other films. In this scene from Monsters Inc Boo is showing the squeaky ball from Pixars first film, Luxo Jnr, which is also in the Toy Story films, The Incredibles, Up and others. Boo is also handing over her Jesse doll from Toy Story and Nemo from finding Nemo.
By using these references Pixar/Disney are strengthening their brand and also giving the adult viewer an added interest to find them in the films.