Rationale

My theme is escapist fictions relationship with the development of empathy and what effect it has on societies and individuals. I want to investigate the negative associations with escapism such as avoiding problems and addiction. I would also like to investigate the extent of fictions impact on society since the invention of the printing press. There are many studies that suggest fiction helps us to develop a wider and further reaching range of empathy. Although escapism has negative connotations empathy is broadly seen as positive, however Paul Bloom has written about the problems with empathy for both society and the individual. I would like to investigate societies views of both escapism and empathy and the problems encountered when challenging these views. I would like to try and find processes that are linked to escapism or empathy and use stories, characters and themes well known works of fiction to tackle the pro's and cons of escapist fiction and empathy as a "guide to social policy". A common description of fiction or escapist activities is that they are a doorway to anther world, whether it be a new place to explore or a familiar, comforting place to hide from your troubles. I would like to use the shape of doorways and portals as a starting point for my visual research. My starting point for this theme was Neil Gaiman's views on the importance of fiction and literacy in the development of empathy and life skills. I also want to illustrate all the theories that are key essay research, theories by Dr Hurd, Sana Hussain, Kazuo Ishiguro, Marcus Appel, Raymond Mar, Steven pinker and Paul Bloom.

New ideas

Levels of literature, genre snobbery.

Levels in a computer game. Mario maps etc, end boss

Levels in a cult.

Diving, getting deeper into fiction.

Podium made of books.

Crash test into books.

Colour charts, colour meanings.

Starting My Journal

I made a start on my journal over the last few days. I was struggling to start because I wanted it to be perfect cover to cover when I should have viewed it as a journey. I decided to make some digital images of my ideas to get me started, they are not finished as well as I would like but I wanted to use them as a starting point that I could develop throughout the journal. The images tackle some of the themes of my essay such as genre snobbery and fiction acting as a doorway to a new world. I also tried to illustrate Neil Gaiman's idea that fiction can provide people with equipment and weapons to use in their real lives. I want to work more on these ideas to fine tune the way I am communicating the themes. I think the ideras have worked well so far and could be taken much further, I want to make some book ends, I would really like to try using 3d printing. I never really work in 3d and thin it could be an interesting and useful addition to my practice.

More Image Ideas

I have been refining my ideas for my journal and would like to make some book ends featuring the themes and theories in my essay. This is a progression form my idea to work with doorways and portals as fiction and other escapist activities can act as doorways to new worlds or new perspectives. I want to make book ends that make the books in between into a journey, to have characters change from one side to the other as if they have been moulded by their experiences travelling through the books. These changes could be through age, clothing/equipment or mood/outlook. The book ends could show a child walking in at one side and a confident adult emerging form the other side of the book, someone with no possessions at one side then with equipment to help them with their lives. I would like to depict changes in emotion as well, this could be difficult as any ambiguity in the way I show the emotion or the narrative I am trying to communicate could completely change the meaning. I am going to draw up some roughs of these ideas to try and find out the best ways to communicate the ideas with the end goal being 3D functional book ends.

Image analysis

I have been looking for images the explore the ideas of the just world hypothesis. I found examples of superheroes used to promote positive behaviour like helping others. Super heroes tend to follow the traditional narratives associated with the just world hypothesis. The heroes stand for a set of positive moral values, they often go through struggles but ultimately the heroes will be successful and raised up as examples to the rest of society and the villains will face the consequences for their actions.

This advert was published in 2013 as an advert to encourage people to give blood. The advert uses Spider-Man as example of someone to look up to and want to be like. The advert uses the slogan "you can be someone's superhero" to encourage people to give blood. The advert uses the positive view of these fictional characters to make people want to be like them, to be admired and to help people in need. The choice to use a superhero for this advertising campaign shows the influence the fictional characters can have on the way we act. The characters are beyond reproach, they are depicted as having a perfect moral compass so cannot be cross examined in the same way as a real person. The creators of this advert could have used a celebrity in this advert and it would have worked in a similar way. A sports star or pop star would have the similar level of popularity but with using a real person comes complications, real people have opinions, political affiliations and flaws.

This poster was part of the superman comic book series in the 1940's and 50's a time when racism was a big problem in America. The poster used two methods to try and combat this racism. Firstly the used the term un-American, being American is often linked with a set of values and a feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself. Secondly using superman to teach children about this important issue and effect public opinion. Fictional characters such as superman are well known and popular enough to reach a large number of people. Superman was an outsider that overcame adversity to become an American icon and pillar of justice and morality. Just like the previous poster the use of a fictional hero removes the possibility of cross examining the characters background or questioning their moral stance. Just world belief tells us that good things happen to good people, if we follow the instruction of these super heroes and treat other people well we are encouraged to believe we will benefit in the process. These poster move the just world narratives from fiction into the real world changing the context of the characters and how directly just world beliefs are presented to us.

The poster shows a group of children or teenagers meeting there hero. They are looking at him adoringly and listening to what he says. Superman is presented as a figure of authority that the children look up to. He represents fictional narratives that provide moral guidance for young people without lecturing. This makes the super hero characters revered and popular making them an ideal tool to engage with young people.

Focus

I presented my slides in a peer group and got some feedback on how I can move my project forward. I have strong links between my essay and my practical work, am have started using my practical work to communicate the themes and theories in my essay and research. I am still not sure how best to communicate my ideas and progress my research through image but I got some good feedback today that helped me fine tune my ideas. I want to use shape for the basis of work, I started out thinking about doorways and portals as fiction has been described as a doorway to another world but the idea needs to be pushed further to communicate the theories I have been researching and to help me see them from a new perspective. My research and my practical work ideas are both focussed on the theme of society. As my essay has progressed I have become more focussed on the effect fiction has had on society and new theories that have suggested fiction may even more important than we think. I want my practical work to bring together fiction and society/the real world and the fantasy worlds we visit. I want my practical work to improve my practice, I would like to work in ways I haven't before. If possible I would like to make my practical work into a product that would appeal to fans of fiction. Something I had not though about until talking through my project with my peers is the importance of fiction in education and promoting literacy, I have spoken about it within my essay but have not considered it in my practical work so far. I have read interviews with Neil Gaiman where he talks about the importance of literacy and the genre snobbery in literature. I would like to find a way to tackle the hierarchy in literature and the popular trends that decide what is and isn't suitable for children to read.

I need to start working in my journal as soon as possible, I have started with some roughs outside of the journal but I have been treating the journal as if it is precious and reserved for final pieces. I want to have a number of tests in my journal by the time we hand in our essay draft on the 29th of January. Not finished pieces but ideas tested out. I need to get started and get a better idea of what I want to do. I find it hard to make a plan at this stage without fully understanding my direction. I want to reach my target on the 29th and make a more detailed plan at that that stage when I will hopefully have more direction.

Images and ideas

I want to continue using shape, specifically doorways and portals. I have come up with a list of possible ideas that I would like to explore that could tie into the themes in my essay.

- I would like to make books that have landscapes (new worlds) carved into them. I would like to try and make these both through 2d illustration and 3d sculptures. I would like to use this method to show the possibilities that fiction creates and the new experiences readers can gain from them.

-I found a picture of some book ends that show a character jumping into one side and then out of the other as if they are leaping through a portal through the books. I would like to try and take this idea further by showing the characters growth between the two sides as if they have explored the books and returned older, wiser and better equipped for their own lives.

-I would like to look at doorways that symbolise the progression through life, school doors, university, hospital and even prison. doors that have a meaning much greater than their form and the action of stepping through them.

-In a similar way to the last I would like to look at doors that have hugely differing meanings depending on which way you walk through them like prison or hospital. doorways that don't change but the outlook is almost a polar opposite. This could even include doors like 10 Downing street, becoming prime minister and then leaving for the last time.

-I would like to look at the term gateway drug. The term has mostly been used to describe how cannabis can be a starting point for people that move on to other more powerful drugs but has been used in relation to lots of activities, often activities related to escapism. The use of the term often has negative or harmful connotations but Neil Gaiman uses the it to describe fiction, suggesting that fiction to act as a gateway to other forms of reading as it is one of the most easily accessible and appealing to children.

Study Task 6

I made a 10 slide presentation and uploaded it to issuu. The slides consist of quotes taken from my research and images I have collected that relate either to the individual quotes or to the themes I am addressing in my essay. I have made quite a lot of progress with my essay but need to focus more on image making. I started some roughs before Christmas focussing on the idea of escapism being a door to another world. My essay has evolved since I made those images and is now moving more towards fictions effect on society and individuals. I think my original sketches could still work as a good starting point for my visual research but I would like to try and find ways to visually explore more of the ideas from my essay.

The essay starts of talking about escapism and gradually becomes more focussed on the ways that fiction has shaped our society. Fiction has been heavily involved in major social and political changes. The invention of the printing press, mass production and increased literacy levels have led to increased empathy and awareness. I would like to explore how powerful fiction has been and attitudes towards it. I still want to use the door shapes in my visual research as they are a common feature in fiction and a visual metaphor for escapism. I would like to try and find doorways that link to the other aspects of my essay such as power, social and political reform, self improvement, hierarchy, justice, self discovery and moral attitudes.