Friday, 23 February 2018
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and philosophy of history that explores the developing intersection of African/African Diaspora culture with technology. It combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentrism and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique the present-day dilemmas of black people and to interrogate and re-examine historical events.
Thursday, 22 February 2018
Black Panther - links to music project
Recommended Listening: Run the Jewels - Legend Has It
Kendrick Lamar - Pray for Me
One part of Black Panther that kicked off my interest was the collaborative soundtrack, orchestrated by Kendrick Lamar. An artist whose work I’ve been infatuated with since the age of about sixteen, I feel like it's fitting to now centre my work around themes he has raised in the world. A lot of his music has a strong lyrical foundation and discusses heavy themes while making it accessible for everyone to understand. At the same time, nothing is dumbed down or sugar coated, which is the element I love the most, because it's not afraid to tell the truth, at risk of pissing people off. I think that's important in the world today, as basically everything is usually heavily curated and packaged up all nice.
The soundtrack to Black Panther was overseen by Kendrick Lamar, but he doesn't appear on every song. The album is a large collaborative effort with over 20 other artists. Appreciating these lesser known musicians is the triumph of the album in my eyes, as most of them would never normally get the exposure of performing on an album this size for a film as big as Black Panther. I want to continue this theme with a visual interpretation, as I feel the whole point of the film is giving a voice to those who currently have none.
Kendrick Lamar - Pray for Me
One part of Black Panther that kicked off my interest was the collaborative soundtrack, orchestrated by Kendrick Lamar. An artist whose work I’ve been infatuated with since the age of about sixteen, I feel like it's fitting to now centre my work around themes he has raised in the world. A lot of his music has a strong lyrical foundation and discusses heavy themes while making it accessible for everyone to understand. At the same time, nothing is dumbed down or sugar coated, which is the element I love the most, because it's not afraid to tell the truth, at risk of pissing people off. I think that's important in the world today, as basically everything is usually heavily curated and packaged up all nice.
The soundtrack to Black Panther was overseen by Kendrick Lamar, but he doesn't appear on every song. The album is a large collaborative effort with over 20 other artists. Appreciating these lesser known musicians is the triumph of the album in my eyes, as most of them would never normally get the exposure of performing on an album this size for a film as big as Black Panther. I want to continue this theme with a visual interpretation, as I feel the whole point of the film is giving a voice to those who currently have none.
Monday, 19 February 2018
Black Panther - thoughts and responses
I’ve been looking forward to Marvel’s Black Panther for a few years now, but I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did. Race is never something I’ve properly talked about in my work before, while it's always been something I’ve been very aware of.
Being mixed race it's weird sometimes to think where you fit in, as I grew up with very few other black kids in my vicinity, I mainly spent time at gigs and parties where I would be the only one there. (Not a great many black teenagers are going to gigs for bands like The Cribs and Paramore). Not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just something that you become very aware of. In music, books and film I’ve done a lot of research into black history and culture, especially in America.I feel like this last leg of the course should be an opportunity to really say something in response to these feelings and thoughts.
Watching Black Panther in the cinema was a unique experience for me, someone that is there for the midnight release of most of these nerd films, Star Wars etc. So seeing a whole new demographic being opened up to these films in the audience for Black Panther just felt like a really special experience. It's proof that these stories are able to access anyone from anywhere, in the same way that a bullied child finds solace in the heroics of Spider-Man, a young black child can now see himself in characters brought into the mainstream like Black Panther.
Being mixed race it's weird sometimes to think where you fit in, as I grew up with very few other black kids in my vicinity, I mainly spent time at gigs and parties where I would be the only one there. (Not a great many black teenagers are going to gigs for bands like The Cribs and Paramore). Not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just something that you become very aware of. In music, books and film I’ve done a lot of research into black history and culture, especially in America.I feel like this last leg of the course should be an opportunity to really say something in response to these feelings and thoughts.
Watching Black Panther in the cinema was a unique experience for me, someone that is there for the midnight release of most of these nerd films, Star Wars etc. So seeing a whole new demographic being opened up to these films in the audience for Black Panther just felt like a really special experience. It's proof that these stories are able to access anyone from anywhere, in the same way that a bullied child finds solace in the heroics of Spider-Man, a young black child can now see himself in characters brought into the mainstream like Black Panther.
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