First research

The assignment brief was handed out to us. We were instructed to choose 1 question out of the 10 questions provided. Question 6 was chosen which was 'Look at some artists whose works rely heavily on the use of words and lettering. Analyse the changes which happened in typography and its use as a part of modern or contemporary art?'.

The key words of the question are bolded to simplify the question. Barbara Kruger came to my mind at first because of her works consists of black-and-white photographs overlaid with declarative captions—in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique or Helvetica Ultra Condensed.

“The Future Belongs to Those Who Can See It”

Untitled (Your body is a battleground)

Graphic artist, print-maker and designer Anthony Burrill is also best known for his typographic, text-based compositions, including the now-famous Work Hard and Be Nice to People. His distinctive voice is lent authenticity by his commitment to traditional image-making processes and materials.

Anthony Burill's famous posters.

I've also leaned onto the art of graffiti as they're writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall or other surface, often within public. Some artists uses it as a vehicle to convey their messages using graffiti.

Revolution - Ben Eine

Dream On - Max Rippon a.k.a RIPO

After trying to think of other artists who uses text frequently, I thought of Jake Weidmann. Jake is an artist and master penman who uses words written in calligraphy and turning them into a piece of art.

Semblance by Jake Weidmann

Steward by Jake Weidmann

While researching more on calligraphy the idea of Islamic calligraphy came to me. So I've decided to dig more about it. I've seen modern Islamic calligraphy art being sold in malls. This shows how the ancient art of Islamic calligraphy has evolved with its use as a part of modern or contemporary art. 

The phrase Bismillah in an 18th-century Islamic calligraphy from
the Ottoman region and called Thuluth.

                                     

             

Modern islamic calligraphy art

I have also explored calligraphy of different languages and came upon Ahn sang-Soo. A Korean artist who transform simple Hangul alphabets into an artform.

Ahn Sang-Soo's works deconstructing hangul letters.

  

Another work by Ahn Sang-Soo, deconstructing Hangul
letters that is related to the picture in the background.

The reason of this findings was to compare the changes from traditional calligraphy to 

modernity. I wanted to find out can typography be revolutionized in designs. The theories

that I've chosen to support my findings are Gestalt's theory in typography and design principles . The term Gestalt means 'unified whole', which is a good way of describing the over-arching theme behind the principles: "if you collect together your design elements in an arrangement using one of the approaches, your design will fell more connected, coherent and complete."

References

Artsy.net. (2016). Barbara Kruger - 27 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. [online] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artist/barbara-kruger [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Cargocollective.com. (2016). visualounge.com — blog. [online] Available at: http://cargocollective.com/visualounge/Ahn-Sang-Soo [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Creative Bloq. (2015). The designer's guide to Gestalt Theory. [online] Available at: http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/gestalt-theory-10134960 [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Creativereview.co.uk. (2013). I Like It: What Is It? by Anthony Burrill – Creative Review. [online] Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/november/i-like-it-what-is-it-by-anthony-burrill/ [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. (2016). [online] Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9c/a4/11/9ca411d8d17d1cdb8f5cfaf8de595e73.jpg [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Spraydaily.com. (2016). Max Rippon – aka Ripo – Spraydaily.com. [online] Available at: https://www.spraydaily.com/max-rippon-aka-ripo/ [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Weidmann, J. (2016). Semblance. [online] Jake Weidmann Artist and Master Penman. Available at: https://www.jakeweidmann.com/collections/calligraphy/products/semblance-by-jake-weidmann [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].

Weidmann, J. (2016). Steward. [online] Jake Weidmann Artist and Master Penman. Available at: https://www.jakeweidmann.com/collections/calligraphy/products/steward-by-jake-weidmann [Accessed 13 Jun. 2016].