Updated Research Plan
I would like to update and reconfigure my research plan. I am starting to feel like I have really limited myself and what I am researching about Japanese culture, does not entirely relate to my practice any more. My practice has developed, and so my research needs to follow.
I have already researched the initial research project question, I proposed; a research project based on the idea of studying what is ‘cuteness’ in terms of an aesthetic taste/style. I want to examine the trending of “cute (kawaii)” based art in western popular culture. I hope to explore why there is this increase in popularity and if this has any affect on sales of artworks. I’d like to discover whether the west has embraced a new sense of aesthetic by taking inspiration from the “kawaii” movement, and how western traditions and ideologies affected the east, with relation to art movements and cultural styling. But I feel that this is unachievable to fully research at the moment. Most of my sources are outdated and I simply cannot find viable up to date references.
Have you ever found yourself smiling when presented
with a cute character in a website or video game?
Maybe you have noticed that a virtual character displays
a personality of youth or excitement, or a friendly demeanour.
Designers often purposefully enhance such characteristics to
impart positive feelings and to help establish a micro-relationship
between the user and the character. For instance, in Japanese
culture, the “cute” aesthetic known as “kawaii” is used by many
organizations for many purposes, including mascots for the police
and warning signs for dangerous areas as well as for video game
characters. (Cheok, 2008)
I feel that this research is needed because it is clearly a current trend. I believe that research has not yet fully bridged this gap of knowledge as to why the movements have become so popular and the affects of it on the wider society. I want to investigate the trends of the internet, such as why are cats so popular. I feel it is necessary to look more closely at the affect we have on each other and our understanding of certain terms, such as “cute”. Has western aesthetics been influences by “kawaii” culture, or has the internet created another world, a digital world where there is no age, race or gender and people can be who they want to be, and look at what they wish. My interest is to invest my time in understanding this phenomena is an issue I feel is a big concern to traditionalists which is why I would like to branch my project in this direction.
The process of cultural globalisation does not always imply cultural homogenisation.
Rather, it can be seen as a process of cultural ‘globalisation’ and hybridisation where
cultures continuously interact with and interpret each other to engender a hybrid
cultural form. (Monden, 2009)
I feel I have a strong external rational to continue with this research led project. I feel it is a needed study and will benefit the academic society. This is very contemporary work, and it will be difficult to find exact sources as this subject is fairly unstudied. I will continue to research into this subject matter and expand my knowledge on the subject.
Statement
My research is relevant to my practice because I what I have been looking at and what I have been creating match. I needed to branch out my research to expand my generalized knowledge of the subject, so I could make work and notes that were informed and intelligent. I have found key texts that have helped me with my practice significantly, such as helping me understand the forms of lines, and what are the benefits and disadvantages of digital illustration. I have also learnt how to develop my own style and this is very prominent looking through my practical work. My early practical work is rough and unpolished, and thanks to research and knowledge, it has actually helped me to relax and to have more confidence in myself; which enabled me to illustrate better. I am glad that I took the time to research thoroughly, because the time that I spent reading and thinking really helped me to develop academically. I could not have done the practical project without the assistance of this research project. It would have come out, uninformed and as a general amateur mess.
Summary
I have employed a variety of research methods. I have tried to collect a wide range of different types of sources, such as academic books, magazines, websites, gallery guides, dissertations, and videos. I gathered these sources by looking on-line, going to the library, and buying magazines. On-line places that I have searched are, Google, Google scholar, my Athens, and jstor. I found jstor to be the most useful source of references, and was the most efficient to use and to manage. I have had to collect most of my sources from on-line because it is the most up to date form of information. Because what I have been researching has not yet been made into any actualized books (that I can find) I have been stuck using internet sources. I am not entirely proud of these internet sources as they do not have any academic viability, and they are not connected to any institutions that would moderate the content. On-line sources need to be views with a pinch of salt, they are not restrained in the way that academic papers are. But in this case a few of my sources are unable to be purely academic because of their sheer structure in strangeness and internet subcultures. I used a mix of research lead practice and vice versa, as this gave me the most openness for experimental ideas, when one method got stale, I would switch to the other, this meant things stayed fresh.
Key Words
Cats, Culture, Cute, Design, Digital, Drawing, Illustration, Internet, Kawaii, Meme, Post-modern,Tattoo.
