Studio Brief 2: Defining the Brief Ideas

Possible outcomes related to my first two essay themes of body image and representation of this in the media. I wanted to stay away from typically chosen themes and explore the less discussed issues I researched in my essays, such as body dysmorphia those with schizophrenia have whereby they see their physical body in another way to others.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder, by Travis Millard

Stemming from this I could do a short video demonstrating visually the thoughts of those with body dysmorphia, pinching and pulling of skin springs to mind with extreme close ups so as to avoid 'the bigger picture' which is the reality of perception that people suffering from this condition do not see. I have an old video camera which I could use to record this on as the grainy quality may aid in this metaphorical representation of not seeing clearly or having an augmented view of reality.

This video would be made to solve a design problem as the majority of the focus of body image issues is on bulimia and anorexia yet I for instance hadn't heard of body dysmorphia before researching. I therefore feel there's been little representation and awareness of this condition so I would like to try explain it to the general public, as the audience can be any age or gender as this can happen to anyone, perhaps to be more specific it could be aimed at those with mental health issues. It's relevant particularly to those with schizophrenia so this video could be shown in doctors/ hospital waiting rooms, therefore the client could be the NHS or other private health care clinics specialising in mental health such as CAHMS for younger people in order to notice symptoms early on.

Another idea could be focused on the Western representation of the idealistic body image, looking at for example rebranding one of the perfume/aftershave adverts I looked at in my second essay. Not only would I be looking to strip the sexist elements, but also deconstruct the Westernised view of 'real men' as featured in the Joop advert I examined as well as the woman featured.

I could hone in on men's body image as this is less focused on it terms on men's insecurities and how advertisements such as this effect men mentally. The design flaw is highlighted as the majority of feminist pieces focus on the female perspective of deconstructing typical ideals while the male is less represented as it feels more of a stab at stereotypical masculinity, in terms of worrying about body image. Men's mental health is also treated like this, hence higher rates of male suicides. I would like to therefore recreate adverts such as this Joop one, using 'the average man' and woman. It seems a ridiculous design flaw to use typically idealistic body shapes for advertisement of a scent, the illusion is created that you will get women like this or that you need to look like this to buy this product, feeding into this Westernised paranoia and potentially damaging personal perspectives of our selves. The design should therefore be more focused on an accurate representation of the product as opposed to the people using it. 

For my final idea, I would focus on the magazine element and create collages, reflective of body dysmorphia, by merging imagery of different body parts to create a disjointed view, possibly in the frame of what looks like a mirror signifying that this is somebody's view of themselves, a body collaged together that looks unnatural and distorted in order to explain to audiences more about body dysmorphia, this may be aimed at a younger audience as it's a more subtle representation of this condition, with less shock factor than the video. This could be hung up in secondary school bathrooms and children's hospitals as well as posters on bus shelters near schools and such, as the audience could be far wider stretched to the general public as an educated tool. The text would explain briefly in simple terms what body dysmorphia is, and the poster would act as a tool to spot symptoms or signs, for children and parents. Often this may be more useful for people's friends/ family rather than the actual sufferer due to the nature of the condition which naturally they may not realise they have.

Feedback

People's favourite idea was the video, they thought the idea of dehumanising the human body was a great way to visually explore the nature of body dysmorphia and found this to be a more stimulating conversation topic rather than the often over explored concept of body image effected by advertising as featured in my aftershave prototype idea. They said it would furthermore be a good idea to play around with the sounds further which got me thinking about using samples to highlight the nature of BDD without having to narrate it through speech. The more obscure therefore seems the better and most fitting with the concept.

They did however like the idea of me using a 'regular' couple to recreate the Joop advert and thought I could extend this humorously and have people slumped on sofas, purposely wearing tight fitting clothes to highlight body fat and so on. This would be a development on the usual more serious commentary surrounding body shaming.

The latter idea was developed further through discussions during feedback as we thought using regular imagery printed out would be better than collages, if I was to later distort the photograph by ripping, shredding or just scrunching it up while it's printed. I should therefore look into artists that play around with paper sculptures and cut outs.