Summary for Part 6: Pre-Assessment Tutorial.

Untitled, (2021) Shaun Mullins. For my final assignment I had decided to explore ideas of the politics of self with masks as metaphor for the front that we all put up when with others. This front is a kind of guard that protects as well as projects. At the time of preparing and conducting this

The Self-Portrait A Cultural History

The Self-Portrait A Cultural History, 2015, by James Hall, London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN: 978-0-500-29211-2 This book examines the history of the self-portrait, unfortunately I purchased a Kindle edition which unhelpfully doesn’t provide page numbers, this option is greyed out in the menu; so I am only able to quote location numbers (Loc) as provided

Sexuality, Documents of Contemporary Art.

Amelia Jones, (ed.) (2014) Sexuality, Documents of Contemporary Art, London: Whitechapel Art Gallery. ISBN: 978-0-85488-224-3. This book is a collection of essays and interviews. Many of the artists are involved in performance art in which they will either perform in front of a live audience or video their work. Much of the discussion is in

The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life by Erving Goffman

Goffman, E. 1990, The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life, London: Penguin Books. ISBN: 978-0-14-013571-8. First published in 1959, this book is a little dated in terms of reference to racial circumstances. However, on the whole this is a useful book to read, particularly for visual artists such as actors, and also playwrites, authors, and

Photography and Belief by David Lee Strauss

Photography and Belief (1991) by David Lee Strauss In David Levi Strauss’ essay, Photography and Belief, Strauss looks at how photography is facing new challenges as a result of new digital imaging technology and how this technology is throwing into question the future integrity of photography. Photography as mechanical reproduction almost immediately altered the aura

Assignment 1 – Environmental Portraits, ‘My Other-half’

Assignment 1 – My Other-half “Identity comes from both the observer and the observed.” – Shaun Mullins. In this project, I wanted to create environmental portraits that in some way express the different sub-identities that make up the overall character of a person.  I believe that our identity / character is not defined by one

Reading Task – White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack​ by Peggy McIntosh.

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack​ by Peggy McIntosh. (1988) Notes and Quotes McIntosh starts her essay discussing how men have more power and privilege over women and that although men may accept that women are not treated equally to men, few men would agree that they are over privileged and should give some of it

Reflection Point 2.1

Stuart Hall 1932 – 2014, Jamaican, cultural theorist and sociologist. lived in the UK from 1951, Known as the ‘Godfather of multiculturalism’. Professor of Sociology at the Open University between 1979 – 1997. His writing on race, gender sexuality and identity was considered groundbreaking, with a far reaching impact and descried as, “a spellbinding orator”.

Susan Sontag’s criticism of Diane Arbus

From On Photography, (1977) Susan Sontag, London: Penguin, pages 32-48. Untitled – 1, 1970-1971. Diane Arbus Notes & passages of interest. Sontag begins her essay comparing an exhibition of 112 photographs by Diane Arbus that was exhibited in 1972 in at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York city that drew large crowds