Conectivity

Can Recontextualised ideas be Contemporary?

Recontextulised ideas certainly can be contemporary and it’s something the producer intentionally does to attract the current receptive audience. The original idea or purpose behind an advert or poster etc is often taken away or changed when bought to a fresh audience so that they can relate, understand and be interested by what’s being shown to them. For example taking the ‘Levi’s’ poster below from the 50’s. Above the image of a middle aged man is printed ‘the working cowboy’s brand’, the intended audience is very clear here, obviously targeting males. The fact ‘working’ is also used, suggests the overall is durable and can withstand day to day wear and tear. The intention  here is to sell the overall.  The intention is very clear.

In contrast, it’s interesting to see the change in context when targeting the audience of 2010.  We see the clear difference or change in society's attitude and how we have become de-sensitised to images such as this. The idea of ‘Levis’ being the ‘working man’s’ clothing, no longer exists and now takes on a whole new idea, purpose and audience. The target audience is no longer for the 'working man' but for a younger age range and because of experience and exposure, Levi's in the present tense now represents a young trendy fashion culture.

Notions of Originality

All art is formed by someone who has been influenced by another’s work whether consciously or otherwise. Throughout the history of art there is constant repetition from the Mona Lisa painting made between 1503 – 1506 by Leonardo Da Vinci above. A moustache was added by Marcel Duchamp in 1919 and this is also possibly just as famous as the original peiece. The same.... but different!

A lot of biblical paintings have been re-interpreted by other artists also. Such as the 'The Last Supper' by Leonardi Da Vinci in the 15th century as seen below. This original piece was created as a visual to assist a biblical narrative.

The scene has been mimicked and taken into a whole new context with the image below. The poster was made to accompany a film made in Hong Kong but it’s interesting to see how even biblical art can be taken and used for advertising purposes and because of our prior knowledge, we automatically link the layout of the people, the posture of the women in the middle and the overall atmosphere shown through the photograph to the original peice 'The last Supper'.

It goes to show that there are always notions of originality, but each time a piece of work is ''re-worked' in some way, it is usually for different reasons... maybe to attract a different audience, advertise an idea or to put forward an idea. An image which is familiar to us as an audience will always spark thought because we want to work out and understand the new purpose.