Grayson Perry All Man is a documentary series exploring the
aspects of a man’s role within society where the artist creates pieces of
artwork with researched achieved. The documentary was broadcasted on channel 4
and received positive feedback and allowed the audience to understand how a men’s
role in society can differ and be presented in different ways. For my research I
specifically watched an episode called “Hard Man” which explores the aspects of
men in a working class and industrial society. The episode was set in the North
East of England and highlights the community and the death of the industrial
society. This episode has contributed significantly towards the project as it
was a main influence and inspiration because I previously watched the program
and I found the outcome of the episode incredible. Perry creates a piece called
“Death Of The Working Class Hero” and it was a large scale tapestry piece which
highlights the importance of local industry, community spirit and workers
union. This particular piece was the main reason I wanted to explore the
aspects of “Industry” because Grayson Perry highlighted the importance and
meaning of working class society and I wanted to reinforce this subject because
I am proud of my local industry and the routes of family history. The piece
captures the respect and understanding of community spirit and I wanted to
reinforce and develop this topic further into my project. Within my workshop
task I have studied the specific piece of the “Death of the Working Class Hero”
and developed it into my own style and understanding of the work. The documentary
has been useful as it has allowed me to see another artist’s perspective of the
chosen subject and how he has developed understanding, emotion and respect to
create the detailed tapestry artwork. Also, t has allowed me to gain research
around different communities surrounded by spirit and the closure of industry and
loss of jobs. It has allowed me to understand the roles of men in an industrial
society and the role they have already been given when growing up into man
hood. A contrasting perspective has allowed me to understand the innocence and
emotion surrounded by men which is not spoken and displayed through the typical
male figure and captions to “suck up emotion” and “boys don’t cry”. By
re-watching the documentary it has contributed to my project significantly and
inspired me at the start of the project and development through artist’s
research and critical studies. Also by watching the program it has allowed me understand.
This has contributed towards my research analysis and the study of Grayson
Perry which has been influential and significant when progressing towards the
project of “local industry”. It has also allowed me to observe Perry’s tapestry
works through a Textiles Perspective and how they symbolise a community and
uniting together in difficult and historical times.
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| Grayson Perry and Cage Fighters |
Throughout the documentary Grayson Perry looks at the
aspects of being a working class and “hard man” in a stereotypical role that is
placed within society. The role of masculinity is an important subject
maintained throughout the program and the artist visits the sporting world of Cage
Fighting. The first impression of cage fighting is tough, strong men fighting
for leisure which symbolises historical context and relates back to gladiators
and the Roman Empire. Grayson Perry wanted to change this aspect and display a
sense of innocence through the struggle to achieve and weight loss. The men
interviewed discussed the issue of how men in society cannot open to others and
show weakness. The sense of vulnerability of fighting contrasts with the aspect
of men how can’t show defeat and express sadness.
As Grayson Perry visited Durham in the North Of England, he
studied a march exploring the unity of unions who were displaying justice in
the past, present and future. Men who Perry spoke to described the northern
divide and how they have to defend themselves to show respect and power. They
have been raised to fight in the community which can display the sense of
protection and the justice they faced through the Miners’ Strike. Strong
message was displayed from the aspect of the program which was described as the
“fight to protect” and “fight to serve”. The former pit village was described as
a hard community which has suffered in the past and the march displayed was to emphasise
the importance of protecting and progressing towards the future. The fractured
community uses marches to reinforce themselves and symbolise the heritage and
history they had. Through the miners’ strike, men took their lives when the
battle was lost and they couldn’t talk about it within the working class
society. Hard man are described as soft inside with hard skin through Grayson Perry’s
perspective. The strong sense of pride was demonstrated In the program with a
working class band and a series of tapestries. Grayson Perry overcame the prejudice
fears of working class men with pints through the aspect of his family and
being from a working class background. The conclusion of the piece was to emphasise
that the role of men in the community us to protect themselves in industry. As
the tapestries were blessed within the cathedral the audience achieve a sense
of sadness and loss of a destroyed community. The strong feeling of community spirit
placed Grayson Perry under pressure to deliver artwork with a strong sense of
meaning and respect. As an artist and audience perspective, artwork has never
been seen as centre stage of a church but also blessed through religion.
Grayson Perry explores the topic of male suicide which was a
moving subject which upset me when watching the program. 80% of suicide in the
North East are men and Perry wanted to research into this to find out from
families in the community. Men in the program described themselves as outsiders
and isolated from expressing feelings. It is difficult to talk about feelings
in groups the men and within society as they are not encourage to show how they
are feeling when Perry spoke to them in the community. Tattoos were highlighted
to symbolise respect and memory for others which displayed a sense of peace.
Within the documentary, Perry emphasised that tattoos and
skin was a cover up to hide feelings that are locked up. Children in every
generation are told to hold emotions as you never see “men cry”. The sense of
cage fighting in the community is used to cover up feelings and emotions felt.
The fight between “Man vs Man” relates back to historical context of Romans
fighting as gladiators. A role of men standing out in the crowd in a tribe is
reinforced in modern society in the community for protection and justice. A
cage fighter in the program gave a different perspective and said “it’s healthy
to express themselves and men shouldn’t bottle up emotions they feel”. This was
a moving aspect for Grayson Perry but also the audience as it is taken from a masculine
man in the fighting society.
The banner displayed is personal artwork celebrating the
research achieved from the documentary. It includes the mining community and
two figures who are protecting to serve and survive. Grayson Perry emphasises innocence
through a figure of a child which connects to everyone and the subject of “men don’t
cry”. The “Death of the Working Class Hero” highlights the strength of the
community spirit facing difficult times and how to overcome them. The piece is positive
looking towards the future but also respecting society and communities which
have faced death and loss of lives. The contrasting display of strength and
weakness is highlighted through the work with the conclusion “Time to change
the new role and let go of the past”.
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| The Banner placed in Church |
Also on Thursday 9th March, I continued to develop
a second critical study exploring the aspects of Grayson Perry’s Tapestry works
through researching into pieces exploring social class, society, division and
the role of men. I particularly researched into the works of the blanket
analysed and gain in Grayson Perry’s documentary called “Hard Man” in which he
created a banner that displayed a working class society and how men are
presented in the community named “Death of the Working Class Hero”. This piece
was very influential and was included within the task as it was a main aspect
of inspiration towards my development the project and proposal. It has also
been inspiring when watching the documentary to analyse another artist’s interpretation
of the project and areas in which he has gained inspiration from to create the
outcome. It has allowed me to gain further knowledge and understanding of how tapestry
works are displayed in the community and how they are significant through the
community with the sense of pride, spirit and reassurance. Within the study I also
researched into other banners and Textiles pieces of Perry’s work to observe
and understand further topics he has explored which specifically included
researching into aspects of society and the class divide. Grayson Perry
continues to create the artwork as understandable towards the audience and also
not to demonstrate negative views within society. I wanted to capture this
aspect of his work into my critical study through the choice of media and
experimentation with Textiles pieces and collage. The task has allowed me to
experiment with a variety of materials through fine art and textiles to gain
confidence with techniques previously used to adapt style and the appearance of
Grayson Perry’s work. Also, the task has allowed me to use research, analysis
and evaluation to solve solutions within the studio and Textiles workshop. The
task has allowed me to solve practical and technical problems within the
working studio. Finally, the task has allowed me to use practical skills and
methods to adapt to the style of the chosen artist through experimenting with
collage, fine art materials and textiles. Previously, I created an outline of
two characters taken from the piece “Death Of The Working Class Hero” which incorporated
ink and Gouache to capture the striking studies. To complete the section of the
design I decided to include an embroidered border with black fabric with the
words “Time To Fight” and “Time To Change”. I wanted to make these pieces
engaging through the surface of the design because these words were reinforced
within the documentary and symbolised hope and reassurance within the
community. The task allowed me to experiment with free hand sewing with
lettering and it gave me the confidence to develop this element further into
the critical study. A problem I faced with the outcome was that it was damaging
easily with the cut out of the design being broken from the use of incorrect
scissors. This had an impact on the design and to solve the problem next time I
will use fabric scissors to capture the piece. Next, I focused with other
Grayson Perry tapestry works which included “The Adoration of the Cage Fighters”
and “Middle Class”. These pieces look into the aspects of social divide in
society through class, wealth and geographical. The pieces are influential
towards my project as they research into the subjects of political and social
justice which is a topic identified within the project. I wanted to create a
Textiles piece for these studies but struggled with creating an idea for them. To
problem solve, I gained a variety of recycled materials realting to colour scheme
and the outlines of the piece and collaged them onto the surface of the design.
This problem solving allowed me to achieve an effective outcome on the surface
to highlight my understanding and development of the artwork. I also incorporated
further Textiles methods and embroided lettering onto the surface of the design
to capture the words of justice identified on the “Middle Class Tapestry”. Once
this area was completed I decided to create studies around the works of “The
Adoration of the Cage Fighters”. At first I struggled to capture this piece as
Perry uses pastel and light colour tones to create them on the surface of the
design. To solve the problem, I decided experiment with fine art equipment and
used watercolours as they gain a pastel and light background finish onto the
surface of the design. Also, this material allowed me to work onto the surface and
create further tones and textures with the choice of coloured pencils and paint
to complete the design. The development is presented below.
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| Death Of The Working Class Man study |
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| Developed outcome of the piece |
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| Final outcome of the piece |
Due to me leaving earlier within the workshop, I was unable
to complete the page but within my independently study I completed the sheet
and it demonstrated below. Next, I am going to create another artist study
exploring the Justice works and campaign posters of Peter Kennard.
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