Arts and Culture - MA Blog

Source: https://www.kooness.com/artists/keith-haring The theories of German art critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin were pivotal in the ways in which we think about art. He belonged to the Frankfurt School, a group focused on Marxist studies that developed social critiques after the members fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Benjamin’s generation experienced changes to mass culture including radio, television, cinema and magazines. In his most famous text,  The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction , he suggests that mechanical reproductions of artworks cause the loss of the halo or aura of the original piece. This aura arises out of the artwork’s presence in the time and space in which it was created. By creating mechanical reproductions of these pieces, the aura is diminished and loses authenticity.     Source: https://editoraunesp.com.br/blog/128-anos -de-walter-benjamin-e-sua-contribuicao-para-a-teoria-critica At the beginning of Benjamin’s most influ...

  In Douglass McGray’s article,  Japan’s Gross National Cool ,  he discusses the success of Japan’s appeal and reflects on its global influence (McGray. 2009). This is a form of soft power which is hard to measure yet is visible everywhere. Japan’s soft power ventures are successful, as they present cultural artefacts which are intrinsically Japanese, with an air of foreignness to overseas consumers whilst also pertaining to that country’s tastes and preferences. These products also appeal to the Japanese population for their representation of foreign tastes, whilst also being Japanese. For example, Hello Kitty has the appeal of being both English and Japanese, whilst Super Mario is Italian, yet inherently Japanese. This is particularly prevalent in the globalised Japanese food culture. The strawberry and goiabada sushi from my trip Japanese food culture has gained mass popularity on a global scale. In my recent travels to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, t...

2020 was a year characterised by the Black Lives Matter Protests. The UK protests highlighted the aspects of Britain’s dark colonial past. The toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol epitomised a national acknowledgement of Britain’s implication in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and symbolised a rejection of the honouring of Slave traders. This period of confronting Britain’s colonial tyranny inspired introspection amongst museums, spaces with typically colonial  histories. National Museum Wales thus decided to revise the way it displays its large-scale portrait of Sir Thomas Picton, a British Army officer, crowned a Welsh hero for fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Picton was involved in the colonial slave trade in Trinidad and was famous for his horrific torture of enslaved peoples, particularly for his trial for the torture of a 14-year-old girl, Luisa Calderon (Epstein. 2007). This case has been brought to light in the Reframing Picton Exhibition in National Museum Wale...

Source:  https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63088009.amp In my Globalisation module this week, I was tasked with giving a presentation on a subject that had interested us in the module so far. Inspired by our most recent topic, I chose to present on dark tourism. My presentation focussed on the Jeffrey Dahmer tours in Milwaukee.   The dark tourism industry often runs into controversies and causes much upset. This industry has further immortalised the legacy of the murder of 17 men and boys by Jeffrey Dahmer. Visitors to Milwaukee can now go on tours of the area in which Dahmer lived, clubs he frequented, and other places where he lured his victims before they met their tragic end. The creation of such tours and the continuous interest in serial murder tourism poses the question of why? The ethics of these tours must also be questioned, especially when the crimes remain in living memory.   This strange phenomenon is further exacerbated by the dark tour...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-63234124.amp My first lecture of my Global Cultures MA discussed the pattern of the industrial sites of the past becoming sites of leisure in the contemporary age. These sites are most typically used for educational purposes, as they offer their visitors an insight into working-class history and the most important industries of the past. Yet in last week’s news, we saw the re-opening of Battersea Power Station. Located on the south bank of the Thames, the coal-fired power station which once produced a fifth of all London’s power has now re-opened on 14 th   October as a giant shopping centre. Boasting brands such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and Aesop, shoppers can access a plethora of high-end brands and other dining and leisure opportunities.     The ten-year process of the transformation of an abandoned power station into a super-shopping centre indicates that the innovations taking place within the capital and na...