The Making of an Artifact in the Context of Popular Culture - Essay Example

The making of an artifact in the context of popular culture Art, like any is any form of human creativity is an imaginative reproduction of reality.The understanding of popular culture enables artists to connect profoundly with audience through various modes that have become known as formulas. All works of art share certain elements which enhance the definition of the general patterns as a formula creating specific recipient expectations which the popular artist must meet to accomplish effective conveyance of intended message. Formulas are made of two broad categories which are conventions and inventions. The former entails elements which each genre shares with every other model of its type .Inventions on the other end relate to the innovation of an unexpected turn to any convention of content or form. The featured artifact is drawing of the iconic Former South African President and Statesman Nelson Mandela. The icon chosen for the portrait is the diamond. Diamonds have been salient features in contemporary popular culture. In 1938 the New York advertising agency of N.W. Ayers was commissioned to change public attitudes toward diamonds. The campaign was conceptualized to shift popular regard of diamonds as a scarce, expensive and very hard stones to a symbol of commitment and everlasting love. Thus in 1947 and Ayers advertising copywriter came up with the slogan "a diamond is forever". "As an N.W. Ayers memorandum put it in 1959: "Since 1939 an entirely new generation of young people has grown to marriageable age. To the new generation, a diamond ring is considered a necessity for engagement to virtually everyone."(Sut Jhally: Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture -1990). In the featured artifact the diamond icon represents the immortality of what the featured person has come to stand for. The Portrait pictures Nelson Mandela who committed his life to fighting for the emancipation of South Africans out of the shackles of apartheid. What makes the diamond icon more appropriate in the assembling of this artifact is the eternality of the values of peace and equality. This is what Mandela fought for. These values like a diamond are forever. The banner text also contributes to manufacturing of meaning impact in the artifact. It denotes the that fact that coal and diamonds are formed in exactly the same variables, pressure and heat the only differentiating factor being that diamonds were subjected to more pressure and heat than coal. Again these associative meanings coalesce sound meaning in interpreting the artifact. The meaning in this aspect is drawn from the excruciating and extenuating circumstances in his struggle for human rights. The ordeal would either make him or beak him and as such the very circumstances that made some of his fellow citizens fall made a jewel out of him. The jewel as a crystal three dimensional gazing stock contributes to the whole meaning worth as it has become a popular symbol of excellence and invaluable worth. The artifact employs the meaning dissemination channels provided thorough the conventions and inventions formula. Through the conventions the artifact taps into the significance of mundane appreciation of art, mere drawings of people, great and non-entities as well as objects. Drawings have an intricate appeal to human art appreciation. The Mona Lisa drawing by Learnado Da Vince is arguably the most popular and famous portrait. What has made the artifact famous is the fact that the immaculate masterpiece was hand drawn. The artist used his finger to originate the painting. Drawings as medium are valuable for their appeal to human senses as they express human prowess in creativity and reproduction of reality. The featured artifact, by virtue of being a hand drawn artifact, will effectively prompt recipient appreciation by its nature demonstrative of the human artistic dexterity. This aspect will also be enhanced by the fact that the drawing pictures a prominent international icon. Nelson Mandela is more than just an international celebrity; he has propagated an image or symbol of reconciliation, peace and endurance among other values of himself. This factor broadens the popular culture convention formula through which the artifact makes a quick striking appeal to the recipients who know the featured icon. In the used formula inventions dimension of the formula relates to the surprise or twist element in the presentation of that which is readily expected (conventional) by the audience. This element is encapsulated in the banner text which reads "The difference between diamond and coal is due to that diamonds were subjected to more pressure than coal". This presents a dramatic twist and gem of innovativeness always present in the marketing and advertising fronts. Viewers of the artifact would quickly link the reading with the diamond picture but the real delicacy of this invention aspect is in the conceptual and contextual relationship between the diamond and the pictured persona, Nelson Mandela. Mandela, like the way diamonds are formed was subjected to various forms of suppression and oppression well heightened by his 27 year imprisonment. Those in his era who feared succumbed to the pressure and chose not to expose themselves to further 'heat' and 'pressure'. This typifies the coal matter which never develops to being a diamond due the lesser magnitudes of heat and pressure that it exists under. The inventionality of the formula comes out on the analogous conceptual juxtaposition of the actual diamond and the jewel, Nelson Mandela. The text does not explicitly declare that Nelson Mandela is icon because he weathered various extenuating circumstances in fighting for the emancipation of black South Africans. Effective meaning is derived from both the conventional and inventional dimensions of the artifact that achieve the pragmatic pretext within which the artifact attains profound and desired meaning. The salient allegory employed in the meaning dissemination the featured artifact is the 'good triumphs over evil' myth. The hero employed in the artifact epitomizes the triumph of good over evil, virtue over vice. Nelson Mandela as a hero stands for the principles of equality, peace and tolerance. Mandela pursued the fight for these values against the odds of racism, oppression and subjugation. The climax of his protracted efforts was the victory of the African national Congress Party over The National Party in the historic 1994 elections that ushered a new socio-economic and political dispensation for South Africa marked by independence tolerance and reconciliation. The image of the Mandela Persona has propagated the considerable myth of the triumph of virtue over vice is pervading in various forms of the popular culture. The myths enunciated above are ideal for this artifact which is targeted to the international community. The scope of the target range means that the piece of art should entail elements of global appeal. The myths chosen for the artifact capture and reflect on some of the salient thematic elements in contemporary popular culture. What has shaped the choice of the hero, myths and icon in this artifact is the fact that the portrait is meant for all those who subscribe to the associative, propagated values articulated by the artifact. The popular culture elements taken into cognizance which have influenced the origination of this art piece are intended to enhance message dissemination for a global audience. The stereotypic elements embedded within the art piece to enhance meaning worth involve the iconic significance of the featured hero. The hero has been stereotypically viewed internationally as a flawless human being whose life and persona represents the associative values and virtues of benevolence and nobility. We know in reality that human character and therefore life can not be perfect as humans are not infallible. The current president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki echoed this stereotypic perspective on the icon asserting that Nelson Mandela is an impeccable model that everyone should look up to and emulate. Despite the incontrovertible contributions of Mandela to shaping of modern day societies' values, the awarding of a Nobel Peace prize to Mandela confirms the stereotypic significance also weaved within the artifact. The making of this artifact also capitalizes on these stereotypic inferences that enhance meaning dissemination at global scale though the use of the international icon. The mythological elements articulated by the artifact also allude to the American Dream allegory. The American Dream is belief in the freedom that allows all citizens and residents of the United States to achieve their goals in life through hard work regardless of their race, gender religion and nationality. The dream was spurred from the inspirations of the protracted and eventually triumphant struggles against slavery and all its antics. The provenance of this dream runs parallel to the status quo in which Nelson Mandela emerged heroic. Struggles of Nelson Mandela and many others created, in a related manner, the South African dream nation for South Africans. Given resources, the feasible fronts of marketing this artifact would employ varying strategies of taking the artifact to museums, tourist resort centers and art galleries as well as other point of international convergence. The marketing strategy will be necessarily determined on considerations of the target audience of the artifact i.e. the kind of people who are most likely to buy the portrait. The artifact will be advertised on electronic media channels that have an intentional scope like the CNN and BCC among various others. These channels are ideal for such kind of artifacts since they play as convergence media zones for all the countries they provide coverage on as well as they are accessible in. Such television channels have various interlude programs that feature tourist attraction related artifacts for various countries. For the same reason the artifact can also be feasibly marketed in international travel or related global scope content publications and media. The artifact, well marketed in relevant audience market will appeal through various popular culture aspects that have influenced its origination. The impact of the art piece will appeal to a significant amount of individuals and groups that would in one way or the other and for one purpose or the other subscribe to the values, virtues and various forms of meaning propagated and articulated by the featured artifact. References Sut Jhally (July -1990).Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture (Section: Modern Thought) Accesses July, 21, 2008 from http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/1990/july/Sa17591.htm Nelson Mandela Pictures http://www.starpulse.com/Notables/Mandela,_Nelson/Pictures/ The Jewel http://www.bradleygoughdiamonds.com/pictures/diamond.jpg Read More