Zongbo Jiang
Digital
Spring Term Assessment 2021
25/03/2021
“Visual Activism”
WEEK 1 11/01
.PETA states,
“Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On
Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way”
WEEK 2 18/01
Animals are not ours to experiment on.
They feel pain and fear just as we do, and their overwhelming natural instincts – like ours – are to be free and to protect their own lives. They don’t want to be locked in a small cage inside a laboratory.
More than 9 million animals are used in experiments in Europe every year. They may legally be poisoned; deprived of food, water, or sleep; subjected to psychological distress; deliberately infected with diseases; subjected to brain damage; paralysed; exposed to skin or eye irritants; burned; gassed; force-fed; electrocuted; and killed.
Millions more are bred to suffer from debilitating genetic modifications, are used as breeding machines in the cruel supply chain, or languish in cages without being used for experiments until they die.
Peta UK
As before I created work that had a balance of characters and environment, I want to focus more on building the characters to tell the story.
WEEK 3 25/01
Animals Are Not Ours to Wear
Animals are not ours to wear or carry our possessions in. Before their skin or hair reaches shop shelves, animals endure a life of misery, pain, frustration, and fear, and many are skinned alive.
Every year, more than 1 billion animals are slaughtered in the global leather industry. Sheep raised for wool are routinely mutilated, abused, and eventually killed. Foxes, minks, and chinchillas spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages just to be slaughtered for their fur. The exotic-skins industry claims the lives of millions of snakes, alligators, seals, zebras, and other animals.
Since more and more designers are embracing vegan fashion, making compassionate choices is fun and easy.
PETA UK
PETA
19 Images of Animals Used for Clothing That You Need to See This London Fashion Week
Posted by Saskia on September 17, 2020
Wool
When lambs are just a few weeks old, their ears are hole-punched, their tails are cut off, and males are castrated. Farmers use knives, hot irons, or tight clamps to sever parts of the animals’ bodies, often without painkillers.
Mohair
Shearing is extremely stressful to goats, who are prey animals and therefore terrified of being pinned down, vulnerable, and completely defenceless. Goat kids who are being shorn for the first time sometimes cry out in fear.
Leather
Before being turned into belts and bags, many animals used for leather endure all the horrors of factory farming – including intensive confinement inside filthy cages or pens, castration without pain relief, chronic infections and disease caused by extreme crowding, and a terrifying trip to the abattoir.
Fur
The fur industry has long been a byword for cruelty, killing millions of animals a year in horrific ways in order to profit from their skins.
Angora
Angora rabbits are typically kept inside small, filthy, bare cages and face the ordeal of “live plucking” up to four times a year. During this process, they’re often physically restrained as workers yank the hair out of their sensitive skin, leaving only the fur on their heads.
Cashmere
Workers typically comb or shear goats for cashmere once a year, in the spring moulting season in April and May. According to one farmer, shearing is “very stressful” to the animals and robs them of natural insulation, leaving them vulnerable to low temperatures and illness.
Exotic Skins
Animals exploited for exotic skins may be poached from the wild or raised on squalid farms and killed in the most gruesome and painful ways before being imported to Europe and used by “luxury” brands
Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse
Every animal deserves a chance to thrive in a responsible and permanent home.
But for every companion animal who lives indoors with a human family and receives the attention, health care and emotional support that he or she needs, there are thousands just barely surviving. Millions of domestic animals never know a kind human touch and live hard lives on the street before dying equally hard deaths. Others suffer neglect at the hands of unfit guardians or are victims of deliberate cruelty.
PETA UK
Over a year after PETA Asia visited coconut-picking regions in Thailand and found use of forced monkey labor, a new PETA Asia investigation has now found that monkeys are still being used at many farms and that monkey schools and coconut-picking competitions using monkeys are still in operation. Even though retailers around the world stopped purchasing Thai coconut products, the Thai coconut industry, including Chaokoh and the Thai Food Processors Association, and Thailand’s ambassador to the U.S. are actively misleading global brands and consumers about the continued use of monkey labor.
WEEK 4 01/02
Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
Animals are not circus acts or toy trains. Yet many are imprisoned for life, forced to perform in ways that are unnatural to them and that may result in injuries or even death. Shockingly, there are still industries that profit from animals’ misery in the name of entertainment.
At home or abroad, always stay away from places that keep animals in captivity, use them in cruel spectacles, or treat them as profit-making machines. It’s time to make our society truly compassionate by banning all abusive pastimes and “sports” that harm animals.
Elephant Rides Are Wrong
Elephants’ spirits must be broken before humans can climb onto their backs. Handlers separate baby elephants from their mothers, tether them with ropes, starve them, gouge them with weapons, and beat them mercilessly for weeks on end. Those who survive this hell spend their lives in servitude under the constant threat of punishment. They’re often worked to death.
Animals Are Not Ours to Eat
Cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and fish have feelings, thoughts, and personalities, just as we do. Yet the meat, dairy, egg, and fishing industries treat them like machines, with cruelty that’s hard to swallow.
Humans don’t need to eat animal flesh, milk, or eggs to live. In fact, we’re healthier if we don’t! Going vegan is easy, and it’s better for our health, the environment – and our consciences.
WEEK 5 08/02
Artists working with data
Jan Švankmajer
WEEK 5 08/02
Working off the illustrations based on my research, I started to build and experiment with different character designs. Also testing out different software and approaches to new techniques such as using hair and drawing on the skin.
I tried to incorporate the shapes of the skin when it removed back to the body. Playing around with different materials and shapes.
After building the character, I wanted to try and combine 2D and 3D elements together to help tell the story. So I created some illustrations and applied them to background, also playing with using them as prints for the garments on the characters.
WEEK 6 15/02
Here I have drawn marks on the body to add more details to the work to further refine the characters and tell the stories in a more detailed way.
Bullfighting: A Bloody Execution
When designing the clothes for this character I tried to make it marry with the movement of the character, whilst also linking to the colour and style of traditional bullfighting garments.
After reflecting on the earlier characters, I thought that there was too much detail that the message got lost. So with this character I decided to focus more on shape, colour and patterns to show these aspects.
WEEK 7 22/02
Your development of “hybrid” characters make the
concepts more relatable by using humanity as a vehicle for association, and this is powerful.
The balance becomes important so as not to lose the message and impact if they become
too abstract.
After reflecting on the work review I wanted to focus more on these elements. Also to try and not make the characters too detailed or abstract that the message is lost and isn't conveyed.
Under the Skin
Paul McCarthy
Patricia piccinini
After this research I was inspired by the form and shape and thought that this could be applied to the character based on the skin and fur being removed. I then played around with molding the shape of the character to give that sense of movement and removing the skin.
With this character I wanted to try playing with different colours and poses to further focus on the idea of a 'green product', but the topic is the opposite of this.
When creating the bull character I went back to my earlier research as I wanted to use the elements of the abuse they face to create the form of the character. The colour and shape and movement of the body reflects the torment that the bulls go through before, during and after the bullfight.
When moving forward with the 'animals are not ours to experiment on' character, I wanted to create a second character that showed da different side to this topic as it is so broad. Here I look more at cosmetic testing as I felt that it would be interesting to portray within a character.
WEEK 8 01/03
Notes 5th March
Zongbo- How do you describe yourself and what do you do? Your web feed is a great documentary but how will you edit this to present? You will have sub 10 secs to get peoples attention (6 secs if you believe what research says).
Holly called your work “Visual Activism”- how do you feel about that descriptor?
Consider where is the endpoint for what you are doing-how many characters are you aiming to create. The new ones set against white backgrounds have a very different feeling to the ones in sets/worlds. It feels like a series of rooms-how will it be encountered-is it a gallery? Or is it more like Dantes Inferno/Jodorwski Holy Mountain where all is combined into a huge Melee something like the film Mother:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother!
What is the narrative/Text/Voice? What do your characters say-do they have a voice or is it narration, or just text?
After the tutorial I began to think about how I can catagorise myself and my work. The term' visual activism' was mentioned and I thought that this is something that reflects what I am trying to do. But i also needed to think about how this can be translated into my work.
Also think further about how I can present the work and get this message across in a short time. I thought about just focusing on the characters and the details on their bodies and garments.
“Visual Activism”
From research I wanted to think about how to show the human involvement, but not so direct, so I created this character that can feature in the designs to show the actions that affect the animals for example over feeding them, or removing the skin etc. I also wanted to focus on this with the stance of the characters to too, to further back up visually what the issues are.
For this clothes design, it follows the shape pf the body and also acts as a cover for what is often unseen. There is a gap in the middle that offers a little look, but we are often not able to see the full extent, or we don't want to see it.
Here I tried to add some illustrations into the design for the clothes to further add to the aesthetic and connection to the topic. The colour is also significant, the black is the cover up and underneath is this rich red that represents the blood and death in the industry.
As creating work under the idea of visual activism, I wanted to mirror the form of activism within protests. So I thought that I could add flags that kind of act as banners to make further points and references to the topic the characters explore.
Also with using illustrations on the garments, I wanted a similar effect to using the flags. Combine this with the addition of the little characters, I wanted to create something that when added together visually was striking and told a story of this issue.
Here I have some rough illustrations based on skin and fur that is typically farmed in the industry and I wanted to apply this to the character to more subtly send the message and add more details to the work.
WEEK 9 08/03
Here I added the little characters to show the control of the monkeys and how they go into the trees repeatedly to retrieve the coconuts. Also with the illustration below I wanted to create something that had a reflection of the products, which are usually seen as refreshing and exotic, but have a kind of dark edge to it to reflect the reality of the origins of the product. so i added these cartons of coconut water around the character to just show this is what they are working for and to show this juxtaposition.
Here I added the little characters to the larger ones, where you can see them applying the make up or plating around with the equipment to reflect the tests that are done on the animals. The characters are bound and hanging from this metal structure to show how they are held and trapped for these experiments. I also created some illustrations that I applied to the large test tubes to more subtly show the the tests that these animals endure.
Here I added the illustration of the highlight how the bull is trapped in the dark before the fight and then brought out in to the light to make it disoriented and confused.
Here I tried to use the flags to heighten the effect of the design, but it didn't work, so I transferred the drawings on to these balls that more subtly shows different aspects of the story. I then moved on to making the stage move so you can se all the aspects of the characters also playing on the idea of a stage and entertainment. As the stage moves you can see the red appear which represents the blood of the bull as the fight progresses and they become more injured.
Here I wanted to try add some flags as I did with the other character to match this idea of an audience in the crowd. I create some illustrations to use this idea of celebration and also look at the traditions of the 'sport' and how that can often be sued as an excuse as to why these fights still happen.
WEEK 10 15/03
After rendering the videos I focused on what sound would accompany the visuals. Firstly, I was interested in the idea of a soundtrack that used a song or music, but after viewing The Holy Mountain and researching works David Lynch etc, I thought that a crafted sound design would help shape the work better. I collected a number of sound bites from everyday life and found some samples of animals and began to build layers of sound to enhance my renderings. I wanted to use the sound in a reactive way to the visuals, so that there was a pairing between the two and build up tension to maintain a mood that made people reflect on the visuals. With each video, I used sound to further bring forward the ideas I am focused on whilst also using background noise to shape and build an environment.
When looking to the final work I wanted to have a couple of versions that showed the elements of the work in different ways. The videos show a 360 look are the character and zoomed in details of the work with movement. The images I used a magnified lens to zoom into the details of the characters to share the message.
Gulp, Rip, Buzz, Woohoo, Wha-psh are a collection of five videos including digital characters which explore the concept of animal welfare. The work is inspired by PETA’s ethos; ‘animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for our entertainment or abuse in any other way’. As a form of 'visual activism’ the collection reflects data and research to share the issues in an alternative form, to open a conversation about how we can improve the way animals are treated by us and within these industries.
Buzz looks at the mistreatment and use of animals in experiments, of which more than 9 million animals are experimented on in Europe every year. Two characters are attached to a metal structure as if they are hostage referencing how the animals are trapped and caged in the laboratories. One of the characters focuses on the cosmetic testing on animals, the rabbit- like figure is marked with various colours around its face, it’s eyes are removed and the body is misshapen pointing to the results of this testing on animals. The other character further references the entrapment aspect, the head piece the character wears is reminiscent of equipment used in medical experiments, including electric shocks.
Wha-psh is based on the abuse of animals focusing on the coconut industry in Thailand where there have been reports of monkey labour. The monkey’s are chained and forcibly trained to pick coconuts. They are removed from their habitat, beaten and tortured and made to work for hours to collect coconuts.
Woohoo offers an insight into the ‘tradition’ of bullfighting, highlighting the torture and exhaustion the bulls face before being killed. The characters are placed face to face within an arena, to reference how this is usually portrayed as a fair fight. However the bull is severely wounded and typically isolated in the dark for 48 hours prior to the ‘fight’ to deliberately cause them confusion and anguish. The stance also refers to how the bulls are made to look dangerous, but are just trying to protect themselves. The number of weapons in the bulls body indicate the extent of the torment they experience, only when they are mentally and physically drained are they killed.
Gulp references the often unseen or overlooked happenings within the meat and dairy industry. The character references how the animals are overfed to ‘fatten up’ and fast track growth before being killed for meat. The central part of the character further shows the excessive size the animals are made to be, there are smaller characters pulling from underneath referring to the demand of these products. The character is positioned on a small surface pointing to the lack of movement the dairy cows are allowed to have throughout their lives. The base of water and soil references how the combination of these problems not only have an effect on the animals, but contributes to the destruction of the environment too.
Rip looks at the treatment of animals when removing their skin or fur to be made into clothes. The character is stretched referencing this idea of removing, the skin is red and blotchy pointing to how the animals are abused and slaughtered to meet the demands of the industry. The smaller characters are on the body removing these materials as the main character is in this stance of trying to escape. Material cascades to the floor from the body as if it’s being torn from the animal to be made into an item of clothing, referencing the mistreatment and torment the animals experience through this process.
Buzz looks at the mistreatment and use of animals in experiments, of which there are more than 9 million animals are experimented on in Europe every year. From cosmetic testing to medical experiments the animals are confined to cages and suffer severe injuries as a result of the tests. The tests range from ‘poison’ tests for chemicals to electrocution.
Gulp references the often unseen or overlooked happenings within the meat and dairy industry. The character references how the animals are overfed to ‘fatten up’ and fast track growth before being killed for meat. Also how dairy cows are refined to tiny spaces, unable to move and turned into milk producing machines. Also referencing how the combination of these problems not only have an effect on the animals, but contributes to the destruction of the environment too.
Wha-psh is based on the abuse of animals focusing on the coconut industry in Thailand where there have been reports of monkey labour. The monkey’s are chained and forcibly trained to pick coconuts. They are removed from their habitat, beaten and tortured and made to work for hours to collect coconuts.
Rip looks at how animals are treated when obtaining materials for fashion. Referencing not only how animals are slaughtered to meet the demands of the leather industry, but how they are also abused, tortured and sometimes killed for materials such as feathers and wool.
Woohoo is based on the mistreatment of animals as entertainment, focusing on the ‘tradition’ of bullfighting. The bulls are often isolated in darkness for 48 hours prior to the ‘fight’ to increase their confusion and anguish when they are released into the light of the arena. The bulls are typically physically and mentally drained before they are finally killed.
WEEK 11 22/03
Final Show Plan
Here I have began to research further about the aesthetic of my final work, I have been looking at Bosch's painting as a reference of space and layers including 'The Seven Deadly Sins' Also looking at films suggested to me such ass Mother! and thinking of the style and the possible use of mother nature as a central character for my final work to tie all the different topics together through the central character.
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After looking more into Dante's Inferno I wanted to consider the idea of layers within my work. So there would be more of a structure and layers of the different issues earthlings face when they are all presented together.
Also looking about how mother nature has been portrayed in different ways. Although I don't want the central to be specifically mother nature but this kind of figure that is related to all the dilemmas of earthlings.
This illustration depicts the idea for my final work which will be a 'moving painting', which was inspired by the paintings of Bosch, I plan to show the everything in the frame, to emphasise the grandeur of the problems together. There are four different layers to the 'painting': social, human, animal and environment, the structure is inspired by that of 'The Seven Deadly Sins'. The camera will then zoom using first person view, for the viewer to see details of each story, the camera will then go down through each of the levels. After this each one will walk from the frame: social, human, animal and environment. The characters will cross a bridge which represents the bringing to light of these issues in a different way to how they have been seen before to share the issues that we face as earthlings.
I also watched Paprika which inspired how I am thinking about connecting the different layers. I think that the way the film connects different spaces through camera techniques could be interesting to play with to make a more seamless connections and smoother piece to view.
working with digital agency
In terms of where I see myself fitting within industry, I firstly see myself becoming a freelancer and working with different digital agencies on projects. Not only within fashion, but other areas as well. Working with agencies I will be able to sell digital clothes and characters and working on collaborations.
To take apart and reshape concepts around digital in a sustainable way. Also to nurture digital sustainability to create new ideas and ways of working and to introduce these to not only traditional fashion brands and systems, but . To work with them on areas such as branding and communicating with their audience.
The Immersive Kind
The Immersive Kind is a multi-faceted art and advanced technology organisation that amalgamates as an extended reality creative studio, a 24/7 global online community and open digital arts platform. It is made up of a multidisciplinary and expansive team of architects, artists, creative technologists, neuroscientists, artificial intelligence engineers, and data scientists.
We offer opportunities to collaborate with the XR studio and access to emerging artists pioneering advanced technology tools. We work towards redesigning and inspiring inclusive and 21st century approaches and solutions to the digitalisation of society.
Create A Digital Label
To create a brand that continues to work as 'visual activism', creating more work sharing issues. Also to collaborate with fashion brands and other creatives. At the same time working with other companies not only based around fashion. Below is an example of where I have been collaborating with a fashion brand, with this I have created characters and spaces. These will then be passed on to someone for them to garment design.
