I) AIM
The aim of this project is to explore the issues of gender with special focus on femininity. A small to medium-sized website will be produced taking into account various theoretical approaches. The final product will make use of digital images and audio.
II) INSPIRATIONS
The issues of gender and sex difference have been my interest for the last two years. I read and attempt to expand my knowledge on these issues on my own and I plan to
deploy the various readings I have come across so far, for instance Judith Butler, Margaret Atwood, Eve Ensler and many more. Last summer I worked as a translator for a photographer who delivered a series of lectures on the female genital mutilation. This topic is extremely shocking and I feel it should be included in my project too. I am deeply considered that women are discriminated in many respects in the whole world and we have to think what we can do to change the status quo. It is important to underscore that I want to shun a pessimistic approach of the overwhelming oppression of the females. There are some voices which say that the subordinate position of the women in the West might be the result of that they implicitly consent to their lower status in the society (this might lead to the theories of hegemony by Antonio Gramsci). As a German psychologis
t and theorist Ute Erhardt states women lack assertiveness and use specific linguistic structures that make the society treat them as worse. Finally I want to mention my most recent inspiration. Having watched the collection of Madonna’s video c
lips made me think about the ambiguity of femininity. Women are not only victims but a lot of them are strong and dominative. I realise that the scope of my project is very wide, but I want to present my reflections and search for ways to empower women.
III) QUESTIONS FOR THE RESEARCH
There are several aspects I am interested in. First of all, I will try to examine whether the females are really “the worse sex”. Assuming that we are living in the world where “the masculine” is
a standard I will ask to find a females’ way through it. I will investigate what it is to be feminine considering both positive aspects (such as motherhood, creativity, independence) and negative (violence,
prostitution, circumcision etc.) The issues of discrimination through language will be examined. Finally, agreeing with Michel Foucault that language is not only influenced by thought but also influences the way we think I will be investigating what can be done to change the discriminatory patterns of talk.
IV) SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT
I will produce a middle-sized interactive website using software as following: Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver. The navigation will not be obvious; the structure will resemble the spider web. I want my audience to wander like in haze, discovering the narrative consisting of various elements. This will be like a journey in jungle or forest to underscore how complex and multi-dimensional is the issue of womanhood. As I want to keep the visual feeling simplistic, I will use mainly black and white, and limit other colours to minimum.
I) TARGET AUDIENCE AND SUITABILITY
My product will be aimed at people aged 16 and more who are interested in arts and society. Ideally those people would be frequent gallery-goers and familiar with some aspects of visual culture. The project is aimed at wide range of social groups; feminists, chauvinists, sexists or media students are all welcome.
The finished product will be uploaded online. Through use of interactivity and original ideas regarding the interface design I will attempt to keep attention of the audiences.
II) TIME MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW
a) Pre-production
Until the end of week 7- Although a lot of research has already been do
ne, there are few theoretical aspects that will need to be expanded. First drafts. Taking pictures of the forest, most probably in the Richmond Park. Manipulating pictures in Photoshop.
Weeks 7-9- Developing visual formulas and further selection of the materials. Producing a business card.
b) Production
Week 10- The start of actual production. Creating of a poster.
Week 11- Presentation of work in progress to the group in order to get feedback. Further work with consideration of the group’s feedback.
c) Post-production
From Christmas vacation on- final polishing of the product. Testing on audiences plus eventual corrections. Evaluation and submission of the final product.
VII) BLOG ADDRESS
My blog address is Ewak0634996.blogspot.com
From the week 5 I am starting to keep regular notes on all issues relevant to the production.
AFTERWORD
Looking back I can say that I have kept my time objectives so far. I have most of the visual material collected and I started working on the images of the forest. The picture on the right is a sample. I want to work out an ambience of a mystery. I am thinking of reducing the amount of colour just to black and white and a bit of gray. I will put some more samples of my work on the forest pictures soon and I will be grateful for feedback. I am intending to use these forest pictures as a background. There will be a white text field spreading on the background when the audiences click a button.
I have 2 ideas regarding the buttons:
I) A invisible button that will have to be found by the audience
II) A visible button created that would fit with the topic of the background picture, for example button in shape of a leaf or a bush.
Probably I will use both types of buttons. I intend to create some mysteries and riddles for my audiences and such an invisible button they would click by accident on would add to a sense of being lost in the forest.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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