RESEARCHING SOURCES finding information

LCA Library	1: The cartoon history of Britain.  /  Jones, Michael Wynn  (1971) 2: Illusive: contemporary illustration and its context.  /  Klanten, Robert (ed.)  &  Hellige, Hendrik (ed.)  (2005) 3: A life in illustration: the most famous illustrators and their work.  /  Hellige, Hendrik (ed.)  &  Klanten, Robert (ed.)  (2013)
Google Books (preview)	1: ‘the art of controversy’- Victor S Navasky 2: The Visual Dictionary of Illustration - Page 179 ‘Political illustration- Mark Wigan 3: State of the Art: Illustration 100 Years After Howard Pyle By David Apatoff
Google Scholar	1: The Power of Political Art: The 1930s Literary Left Reconsidered By Robert Shulman 2: A generative theory of textbook design: Using annotated illustrations to foster meaningful learning of science text Mayer, R.E., Steinhoff, K., Bower, G. et al. ETR&D (1995) 3: Illustration: a visual history S Heller, S Chwast - 2008
Websites	1: https://www.transitionculture.org/2013/05/28/sir-quentin-blake-and-the-power-of-illustration/ 2: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/10/world/gallery/the-power-of-illustration/ 3: http://www.illustrationhistory.org/genres/cartooning-political
JStor	1: The Influence of Technical Illustrations on Students' Comprehension in Geography Kenneth N. Purnell and Robert T. Solman Reading Research Quarterly Vol. 26, No. 3 (Summer, 1991) 2: "Old Abe" in Political Caricature: Revisiting the Drawn Lincoln Gary L. Bunker 3: USE OF CONCRETE ILLUSTRATION IN TEACHING- JOHN D. BROOKS

using these different methods i managed to find a wealth of relevant information, its all arguing against the argument within my chosen quote. Im going to argue against the quote using an argument created from information found in the places in the table above. I think this should be fine to do all i also naturally disagree with the quote so i will be arguing in support of my opinion. Illustration has power and influence, it is not withdrawn from the big debates of our society to focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness.  I will argue and attempt to prove that contemporary illustration is still very much involved in societies big debates

politics quote

Where is the content? Where is the comment? It’s all about the materials, rather than the message. It’s all about the quantity rather than the quality. It’s all about design doing rather than design thinking. It’s all style over content, function following form. Illustration has withdrawn from the big debates of our society to focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness.
 Zeegan, Lawrence. (2012) Where is the content? Where is the comment? Creative Review [On-line] Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/where-is-the-content-where-is-the-comment/ [Accessed: 8 September 2016]

For the context of practice brief the quote i have chosen to investigate further is above, and falls under the topic of POLITICS.
I have BOLD highlighted what i think are the key terms in the quote.
CONTENT; things that are held or included in something, what it 'contains'
COMMENT; a verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or reaction.
MESSAGE; a significant political, social, or moral point that is being conveyed.

This quote seems to me to be saying that illustration has lost its political standing and is no longer focused on discussing important social commentary but has now become more of a menial form of little jokes and meaningless tat. It is suggesting that illustration has become almost thoughtless 'It’s all about design doing rather than design thinking' and that illustration has become less of a important political device and is more focused on cheap humour or 'tat'. Function following form, style over content; this suggesting that illustrators are concerned more by how the image looks rather than why they made it. thoughtless aestheics as opposed to considered pointmaking.
I DISAGREE, however, i feel that this may be true for a lot of illustration especially in todays extremely saturated market where everyone is an illustrator on instagram or tumblr doing fan portraits of justin bieber or beckham etc etc. the image is a very powerful thing and if you find the right people illustrators today are still saying very important things and satirists are creating very clever images that can be viewed on multiple levels. Many illustrations can be read mindless and be seen as a small giggle but also if you think deeper perhaps about what the image represents or what it is subtly commenting on then it is still involved in the 'big debates of our society.'

HOW DOES IT FIT WITH THE OVERALL THEME?
The quote is suggesting that illustration today lacks a 'message' or is shying away from society's current big debates. the theme of politics is what is the quote is saying illustration is moving away from. Illustrators apparently now focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness' which i suppose all depend on where you are looking for your illustrations. If you scroll tumblr for example the trending illustrations will be about popular culture and focus on todays current trend, usually focusing around celebrity, which i suppose does not contain much 'content' other than false idolisation.

Context of practice.

so we have 6 topics to investigate that help inform our personal practice as illustrators. As i understand it we must make 3x 1000 word essays that stem from; society, culture, technology, history, politics and aesthetics. Instantly Im interested in exploring some more than others, i would say history and aesthetics aren't as grabbing as the other 4, however Im sure i would enjoy researching them all. I'm interested at the moment in exploring where the boundaries are with image making and in light of recent events i think its a particularly exciting time to be asking questions. when does a joke become offensive, when does teasing become abuse, when does nudity become porn, who considers what offensive and why is it so different, can you say anything cannot be mocked or is that equally discrimination? When i look around i see humans glued to screens and less taking to each other, i think it would also be interesting to explore where the advances in technology will leave interpersonal human relationships. what technology has in store for the people of the future; my kids and my kids kids kids.. etc.

COP begins

Today we had our first COP introductory lecture with R. Hudson-mills. He talked about the importance of the contextual side of an art degree and briefly went over the lectures we have in store for us in the coming year. I am excited by the topics and am looking forward to starting. I also admire Richards passion and politics he clearly holds the topics of the lectures close to his heart so hopefully he will be inspiring.