Written component 4
How has your original position changed as a result of your further work?
position in w1：Explore the eating body movement’s symbolic value through iteration for challenging the possibilities using graphic design research in the anthropology discipline.
position after practice: The action of eating can be used as a metaphor, visual symbol, and ultimately produce the political value at the image level, such as ‘animality’ and ‘similarity’.
In the beginning, I thought the action of eating could be used as a visual symbol to symbolize some social phenomena. But how and why can eating symbolize what? I don’t have an accurate understanding.
With the deepening of research, I gradually found should not only study the eating’s body as a symbol in term of semiotics. The particular reason for this is the symbol uses a special sign which has a more complex meaning or spiritual quality. A symbol can obtain such ability mainly through repeated use in the culture (Zhao, 2013). The research on the concept of anthropological ontology led me to study eating itself. Just as the anthropologist Bruno
Latour outlines that anthropology provides an entrance to study the present because it precisely took ontology seriously at last, not as a symbolic representation (Kohn, 2015).
According to the development of the concept, the visual experiments always are the cornerstone in the establishment of the final position. These graphic practices give me opportunities to consider visually, such as finding the resemblance between me eating hot dogs and monkeys. Or the eating actions of various characters are similar in the imagery.
Eventually, it causes me to strip off the cultural meaning of the body and turned to concentrate on the biological facts. Our common “animality” and “similarity” are derived from the ape-man ancestors, which are body habits that have been engraved with genes. The position after iteration has more improvement in-depth, and solid evidence.
Where have holes or gaps appeared in your research, and how do you expect to fill them in future work?
In the five weeks of practices, I’m still more concerned about how to investigate eating action through the combination of diverse anthropological theories and graphic design, which regard as the tool itself. There is lacking is a further specific argument for the study of “eating”. How should this “animality” and “similarity” be applied? One example that embodies these two points is the well-known short films ‘Next Floor’ (2008) by Denis Villeneuve, which uses appetite to metaphor the greed of social class. Perhaps I can return to my previous point of comparing class exploitation to “cannibalism”, a cannibalism society we are living in right now. At the same time, it still should start from the physical body level, such as the innate desire to eat meat, hunt, and compete. This can profoundly comprehend the political value of the moving image of “eating” that I pushed to interpret in the entire process.
What existing networks of knowledge do you have access to that could reinforce your practice?
Using illustrations and collages to show the action of eating is always my interest. But when I tried to make an animation before, I got the suggestion about it didn’t use real eating images made it look very mechanical. So how can I keep the organic action and try complex visual effects at the same time is what my work requires to maintain? Making moving image collages base on actual shoot video clips could be a choice. Traditional art like oil painting and sculpture has numerous researches on the performance of body dynamics. The combination between tradition and digital in a collage may bring the opportunity.
How do you want to use the summer break to keep the momentum going in your project?
First, I have an idea of installation design during practice. Making a mirror installation with several fragments to observe the action of eating. The broken lens makes the splitting possible. Maybe a large number of fragmented frames will bring me new inspiration. Secondly, there are many submissions requires at the same time during the semester. The vacation allows me to make more complex collages animation.
Bibliography
Zhao, Y. (2013) ‘Redefinition of Sign and Semiotics’, CJJC, 35(6), pp. 6-14. Available at: http://cjjc.ruc.edu.cn/CN/abstract/abstract36.shtml (Accessed: 26 May 2021).
Kohn, E. (2015) ‘Anthropology of Ontologies’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 44:311–27, pp. 311-323.
Next Floor (2008) Directed by Villeneuve, D. [Short film]. Canada.