Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

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but the light…. its so beautiful

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

i want I want the iPhone X. I have a working iPhone 6s but thats not enough. I have had it for 2.5 years. Its time for something new, shiny and sparkly and full of promise. Its over £1000, because the 64 GB one is not enough for me. No, I need the 256GB one, thats more me. That will look after the 15,743 photos that I have on my current phone without it crashing every time I open it.

I have convinced myself that the new iPhone X (Figure 1, Apple, 2018) will answer all my needs, it will be my new best friend, it unlocks upon catching my eye. We will have a special bond. It will be the first thing I look at in the morning, and the last thing I see at night. Plus it is a justified deductible expense, I can use it in my tax return. Thats got to be worth it, no?

It is just what I need. Or is it? (Yes it is)

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Figure 1.

Iphone X as seen on www.apple.com

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Figures 2 & 3 show my recent body of work as seen on my personal instagram profile. By drawing inspiration from retail, brands, fashion and culture I have been including elements of what I see and feel in my practice. I like bright iridescent shiny things. I like translucency and transparency. I have a fragmented outlook of desire vs reality. I am like a magpie always looking, always noticing. But I am not the only one.

As a result, we are the marketers dream. What they thrive on. I am the idiot that is a hyper-consumerist. I buy for the sake of buying. 80% of my transactions are through Amazon. Its just so easy. I subscribe to Amazon prime, I have 3 echo dots in my house, (one for each child and one for the kitchen) and 4 kindles.

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Figure 2 & 3.

Joanna Gilbert, 2018, instagram screenshots of profile

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

We have Spotify, Netflix, sky, Kodi, audible and more. I have my food delivered to the door, and I order via an app on the way home from uni. I am the lazy shopper, all I need is Wifi or 4G. I am the consumed consumer. But the lights… they are so beautiful…. And that is what attracts me and millions of others to putting our hands on our devices to buy, buy, buy.

And like a bug flying towards the beautiful light, we get zapped.

An attraction to light Remembering the classic mosquito scene in A Bug’s Life, where Harry gets zapped (Figure 4, A Bugs Life,1998) :

Mosquito #1: No, Harry, no! Don't look at the light! Mosquito #2: I can't help it! It's so beautiful! (zaps) Woohoo!

It got me thinking, what is it about light that we are attracted to?

I am curious in how brands become superbrands, how retailers cut through the noise and fight for your attention. How on Oxford street I choose to walk into Nike not H&M. Their interiors are WORLDS apart yet the shops are across the road from each other.

Nike is 5 floors of carefully curated atmospheric zones, with fluorescent lights that merge into a rainbow of colour, a live DJ spinning super loud tunes on the decks, staff that are happy for you to take photos and instagram

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Figure 4. Mosquito Scene, A bugs Life, 1998

Figure 5. Photo of Nike Town, Oxford St, 2018

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

(more publicity for them) products that are displayed along side towering plasma screens, with clever sculptures to describe just how the latest trainer is more comfy than the last. Nike provides the shopper with an experience.

I am interested in this… The way Nike is the gallery of modern day. They display their products like an art installation (Figure 5). And in their curated story (both on and off line), they show the message that subconsciously convinces us that this product is exactly what we need (Figure 6). When the reality is we probably don't need it at all.

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Figure 6.

@nikelondon, 2018, Instagram profile screenshot

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Martin Creed, as seen in Figure 7, used the text ‘Everything is going to be alright’ on Claptons Murder Mile. In doing so, he created a paradox with a surprisingly true outcome as shortly after, the area went under rapid gentrification and became full of hipster boutiques, sourdough pizza restaurants, middle class couples and great schools. Property prices are currently around £600k for a two bedroom flat.

During an interview for The Spectator, with Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk, Emin says ‘Neon is emotional for everybody… That’s why neon is at fun fairs, casinos, red light districts and bars. It’s also to do with the way it electronically pulsates around the glass, it creates a feel-good factor. Neon can help people who suffer from depression.’ (Hastings S, 2014)

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Figure 7.

Martin Creed, 1999, Work No 203

Figure 8.

Tracey Emin, 2012, Trust Yourself

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Consumerism desire & disappointment I am linking this into consumerism and desire but there is also an underlying feeling of illusion and disappointment. As consumers, we desire something and when we want it so bad, we give into our desire. But after our desire has been fed and we purchased our non-essential product, we want the next thing and so we are back to where we were.

Consumerism today ensures that people become submissive into believing that the next [insert what is on your wish list here] is exactly what we need, or those Nike trainers will fulfil an internal need. I know it sounds shallow, but other than our basic needs of food, water and shelter - everything else is a luxury or something that shapes our identity or forms our ‘self’.

Back in the 1970s Alvin and Heidi Toffler (Future Shock, 1970) first discussed an economy geared to the provision of psychic gratification in which humans aim for a better quality of life and one where manufacturers of goods add a ‘psychic load’ to basic products.

Edward Bernays, in his landmark book ‘Propaganda’ written in 1928, said if desire is our driving force, then appealing to emotions is the most powerful way to persuade consumers to act. The idea was to short circuit their rational conscious and get them where they were most vulnerable – the unconscious. By linking consumer goods to these desires, consumerism could be used to superficially satiate people, thus ensuring the common man remained docile. And because goods could never truly satiate deep primal needs, people would never stop buying, thus ensuring a constantly thriving economy.

Bernays claimed our base needs are overly satisfied, and creating a personality for a brand that consumers can emotionally connect with has never been so important.

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

When did we become a HyperConsuming society The change in attitude towards consumption, buying, selling and spending proves we are living in a hyper-consumerism era. How did it all begin? When did we start equalising happiness with purchases. What is it that urges us to buy so much?

After World War II some great changes started taking place in the world economy. During the Industrial Revolution, mass production took place. Therefore it created the need for informing consumers on benefits of new and numerous products. It manifested itself through a communication known as advertising. The main goal of advertising was to persuade consumers that they really needed all kinds of products or commodities.

Far more important than this, was the fact that people started becoming economically powerful enough to buy. This is how we became flooded with a wide array of products and even wider array of advertisements. (Aijic, 2016)

The ‘Service Economy’, termed by Victor R .Fuchs in 1968, evolved out of the the industrial economy. The current Fortune 500 list of companies contains more service businesses and fewer manufacturers then previous decades as the environment shifts towards that of providing services in the form of technology, hospitality, retail, health and education. These are often intangible, they are not physical products as such, yet they are often now being packaged as products of the service industry.

The term ‘Experience Economy’ follows on the service economy. Joseph Pine and James Gilmore (2011), in the book, The Experience Economy, discuss that goods and services are no longer enough to create value to the consumer. The value creation resides in staging experiences. Simply selling a good product doesn’t cut it anymore as you need to offer more.

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

I got it I am now the owner of the iPhone X. I got it. It was really exciting at the start. I carefully cut through the cellophane on the box and held my breath with anticipation as I opened the lid. There it was. My new trophy. Exquisitely packaged, brand new and glistening in the light. I relished the moment when you remove the plastic seal, switch it on and it says hello. There was excitement in the house, the children snatched it and asked inquisitive questions about the face ID, and whether the camera really as good as it was supposed to be. They proudly told their friends that their mum has the iPhone X and explored the photo settings then compared the results to the antiquated iPhone 5 we had at home.

They love it. It is their dream to own one. But for the moment they are using mine when I let them.

How do I feel? I do love it. And the photos are totally awesome. But then the excitement from the kids slowed down and has now stopped. The excitement from me slowed down and stopped. Because in reality, it is just a phone. A necessity. It doesn't make me happier or more fulfilled. Its materiality. But it was ‘thought’ that convinced me it would.

I remember one of the first tasks we were given on the MA was to discuss the future of art. It was simple to me. Art should become about experiences, it was about tapping into senses and providing an encompassing immersive experience. One that enabled the audience to connect on an emotional level and create a memory. (However I still mindlessly painted).

I spoke with confidence to my group, as the knowledge I had gained from my marketing background pointed towards this experiential model. I was marketing global brands on an immersive level since the early 2000s. Marketing agencies were selling themselves on the back of experiential

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

marketing concepts. It was no longer about products. It was no longer about brands. Of course, you need a good product and a good brand in order to sell, however it became about brand experiences and connection.

And then I got it. By analysing my emotional connection and desire regarding how I obsessed about the iPhone X and by thinking about the economy and the way brands need to create experiences in order to sell, I was consuming the ‘experience economy’.

Prior to this paper, I didn't realise this was a thing.

But it is. And it is exactly what I am thinking about, talking about and more importantly - experiencing. We all are.

In my marketing days, the aim was to deliver long-lasting, memorable and emotional connections between consumers and brands. By communicating directly with the consumer on an experiential level, an immediate personal experience with the product or service was ignited. And this creates value, trust and loyalty to the brand, resulting in increased awareness, word of mouth and ultimately sales.

When thinking about the future of art, it is no longer about a simple painting on a wall. Paintings will always be a commodity. But for the emerging artist, for the one that wants to cut through and succeed - it is about the experience created. The surrounding context. It is about installation, larger than life, the use of technology, the use of current tools available and the experience.

Take Nike town as an example. They provide an experience, display their hero products through installation art and hang their clothes with the same beauty of a gallery.

Could it be that these flagship retailers are actually streets ahead of art galleries and it is the artists that need to take note?

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

The Museum of Ice Cream I discovered The Museum of Ice Cream via instagram. The co-founder, Maryellen Bunn, always dreamt of swimming in a pool made of ice cream sprinkles. So she created one (Figure 9). Infact, she created a few. Since opening the company’s first location in NY they are now in Miami, LA and San Francisco with more in the pipe line.

The locations are abundant with colourful (art) installations (Figure 10) which tap into each of the 5 senses. Each room is impeccably ‘instagrammable’ and as a result has fuelled a wave of over 200,000 happy children and adults posting studio-esq images with the #museumoficecream hashtag and there is also a following of over 400k on instagram alone.

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Figure 9.

The sprinkle pool at Museum of Ice Cream San Francisco Credit: Katie Gibbs

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

With an entry fee of $28 including cold tastes along the way (value for money), staff are on hand to engage and interact, there are colourful rooms to explore,

a shop to sell products and art installations inspired by the products and the offering - this is branded art at its best. Full experiential branded art. Art that sells products.

Head of Retail, Trina Chan notes the importance of staffing, staff training and staff knowledge and says its “80% customer service, it's 15% product and then 5% add ons.” (Salphini C, 2018).

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Figure 10.

A display at Museum of Ice Cream Los Angeles Credit: Katie Gibbs

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Blurred Lines This Museum of Ice Cream is the retail shop of the future. This puts Nike to shame. This is the place both artists and retailers should work towards. This is pretty much it - in a nutshell (or cone).

The future as I see it, is a blend where art meets retail. So if retailers are moving towards experience and art installations to sell their products, and if artists are moving towards experience and art installations, I see the lines becoming blurred.

Its not enough to have the commodity or the painting now. That has to become part of an interaction, a service or an experience. Lets now look at the galleries of today.

The Tate & Tate Lates More than 100,000 people have attended Tate Modern and Uniqlo’s Tate Lates

events this year and 75% of them are aged 18 to 35. Chris Condron, Head of

Campaigns at Tate, and Ben Cook, Head of Brand at Uniqlo, focus on curating

events for young audiences. (Steven, 2017)

On the last Friday of every month the Tate offers ‘Uniqlo Tate Lates' a clever

monthly experience with the aim of creating an entire night out under one (Tate)

roof. Each month a young crowd venture through the doors and experience

anything from pop up shows, blockbuster shows, discounted food stalls, DJ’s and

a cocktail bar with a great view.

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

This slots in perfectly with the experience economy model, and ensure the

museum reaches a young audience who would not normally pay £15 to see an

exhibition. Figure 11 shows a photo of a Tate Late event.

A similar model can be seen from Zoo Nights, allowing people to explore the Zoo

after hours with relaxing music, street food and entertainment.

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Figure 11.

Tate Late Event, from Tate Late Facebook Page

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Annka Kultys Gallery & Signe Pierce Annka Kultys Gallery in Hackney recently showed Signe Pierce’s work. The show Metamirrorism was an immersive experience full of saturated colour and neon. Working within the realms of the in-between, Pierce creates highly saturated images of every day and plays on how we perceive reality in an increasingly digital world.

What’s interesting about Pierce, is her concern with the concept of reality, she says, “We are living in a society where we see light as a form of therapy with colour, beauty and light coupled with an element of tragedy reflecting the undertone of our culture. (Gamble, 2017)

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Figure 12.

Examples of Signe Pierce works

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Meow Wolf Artist-turned-entrepreneur Vince Kadlubek is the brains behind Meow Wolf - an artist collective and production company that creates large-scale, interactive, multimedia installations (Figure 13). He sees the potential for creativity to transform reality and suggests that where as TV shows and movies used to be an escape from reality, they have now become the mundane norm. He says that now we need ‘mind-blowing experiences’ to satiate the human desire and says artists can lead the way. (Lesser, 2018)

And so in 2015 he purchased his first permanent space in California. The Meow Wolf collective created a space that has been compared to Disneyland and takes paying viewers on an exploration of light, set design and secret passageways filled with neon and Day-Glo forests.

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Figure 13.

House of Eternal Return, Meow Wolf

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

The collective took inspiration from James Turrell’s Light installations and teamLab and Burning Man.

With an entrance fee of $25 the business has brought in $6 million in revenue during its first year and has plans to build two more spaces over the next two years, one in Las Vegas and One in Denver.

In London, The Vaults in Waterloo offers similar immersive experiences.

Victoria Miro & Yayoi Kusama Immersive doesn't have to mean bright lights and expensive technical equipment, although Yayoi Kusama does both. There is also a scale of passive and interactive to consider.

In her mirrored works Kusama leans towards the passive. Here there is a fantasy world of lights and colour that one can escape to and appreciate. Where as in the Obliteration room people are actively invited to cover a white space with stickers.

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Figure 13 & 14.

#kusama instagram hashtag screenshots

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Unit 6 & Joanna Gilbert I don’t have gallery representation. It would be nice, I am not going to lie. But I don’t. And I am not convinced having gallery representation is what it is about now. Instagram is my gallery. Blogs are my gallery. joannagilbert.com is my gallery.

I am my gallery.

As a result of this paper, I can see how my background in marketing and branding relates to my practice. And over the course of the MA, my practice and CRP have merged.

I now understand, as a result of this research, that a collaboration between retailers, gallerists, artists, the technological and marketers is vital. Our aim is the same, to make a memory, an experience. We want to create something instagrammable. I also understand that just like Uniqlo and Tate lates have a great partnership, so can I.

And so I contacted Cushman and Wakefield regarding a vacant shop I walk past every day just to see if I could collaborate with them. They put me in touch with Transport for London and this week I will be hosting a pop up show. (See Figure 14)

I made a gallery.

“There is a vacant shop in Southgate’s Station Parade. It’s called Unit 6. It’s the one next to the tunnel with rectangular postmodern lights that give a subtle yellow glow. Every day I walk past it and admire the

Copyright 2018 Figure 14. Flyer designed to promote Joanna Gilbert’s pop up show

Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

beautiful full length panoramic windows that span the whole length of the shop then curve around corners. It’s empty but breathtaking. There is so much potential for this space. I see it. I believe in it.”

Conclusion I am interested in hyper-consumerism and how purchasing desired items in the ever-changing brandscape results in short-lived feelings of satisfaction. After the purchase, there is an air of disappointment; we are right back where we began, wanting more…and the cycle continues.

Through my practice I have been exploring vacant shops and the possibility they hold. I see the shop with no sign and boarded up windows as something waiting to happen. Its an opportunity. Walking past Unit 6 in Southgate, I wondered how would it feel if we consumed a vacant space? How would that impact our desire to purchase if there is nothing to purchase? Drawing inspiration from Meow Wolf, Signe Pierce and Yayoi Kusama, I devised the Unit 6 pop up show and have called it ‘Nothing to Buy’.

Within the space, I will have 2 projectors each showing an abstract movie (taken on the iPhone X) of the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street. One projector will be positioned internally, and the other will project outside the panoramic windows and into the adjacent tunnel spreading colour outside the footprint of the shop. I am planning on photographing the show with a 360 camera, then using the footage with VR headsets for the final degree show.

The pop-up show aims to be an intervention between retailers and consumers. By projecting only colour and light from the vacant shop (there is nothing to buy) the window shopper, especially if they walk through the adjacent tunnel, becomes a passive participant, making a memory of Unit 6, Station Parade, as it is lit up for one night. Claire Bishop, in her book, Installation Art A Critical

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

History, talks of ‘activating’ and ‘decentring’ space. She says that if the pieces are large enough for the viewer to enter into or experience, it is very different to that of simply looking at a painting or sculpture thus capturing sensory and physical participation. This is what I am setting out to achieve.

The research has shown me that currently, it is not about the actual ‘goods’ or ‘services’ on offer as we are in a saturated market with multiple brands offering the same commodity. It is a about the experience and installation as to whether people connect with the product, brand or message.

By ensuring the projections are large enough for the viewer to enter the space during the pop up show, and by using 360 camera technology to capture the event (and VR headsets at the final degree show), this would allow the viewers to experience the show on a fully immersive level and hopefully create a memorable experience to those at the final degree show.

The paper started with the concept of light and how it is needed to breakthrough the clutter of the world we live in. It looked at Nike and The Museum of Ice Cream as the galleries of modern day, and spoke of blurred lines and the cross collaboration between artists and brands to give consumers something more, something different. Art is a commercial business, artists just don't have the money to invest in the same way that Tate Lates and Uniqlo can. The Meow Wolf attraction are on a successful track and interestingly, that is a collective of artists as opposed to one lone artist. A tribe is stronger than an individual.

This concept of collaboration is key in the widening the understanding I have. If it wasn't for the collaboration between TFL and Cushman & Wakefield and myself, the pop up would not have happened.

So the future? Well its bright. Its collaborative. Its fun and of course, its needs to instagrammable. (Until the next social media platform takes over…)

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

Figure References:

Figure 1. Apple, 2018, iPhone X, digital image, viewed 20 July 2018, www.apple.com/uk

Figure 2 & 3. Gilbert J, 2018, instagram screenshots of profile, instagram, viewed on 20 July 2018, https://www.instagram.com/joanna_gilbert_artist/

Figure 4. Stanton A, Lasseter J, 1998, film, A Bugs Life, Disney/Pixar film, USA

Figure 5. Gilbert J, 2018, photograph, Nike Town Oxford St, London, taken on 20 March 2018

Figure 6. Nike London, 2018, instagram screenshots of profile, instagram, viewed on 20 July 2018, https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkm29i_glxy/?taken-by=nikelondon

Figure 7. Creed M, 1999, Photograph, Work No 203, Everything is going to be alright, taken from http://www.peeruk.org/martin-creed-1/

Figure 8. Emin T, 2012, Trust Yourself, taken from https://www.artsy.net/artwork/tracey-emin-trust-yourself

Figure 9 & 10. Gibbs K. 2018, Photograph, How Museum of Ice Cream gives customers a taste for experiential retail, viewed on 20 July 2018, https://www.retaildive.com/news/how-museum-of-ice-cream-gives-customers-a-taste-for-experiential-retail/517103/

Figure 11. Tate Late, 2018, Facebook Page, public photo of a Tate Late event, viewed on 20 July 2018

Figure 12. Pierce S, 2017 - 2018, Photographs, Annka Kultys Gallery, http://www.annkakultys.com/tag/signe-pierce/

Figure 13. Russell K, 2018, Installation view of Meow Wolf, House of Eternal Return, Santa Fe. Photo by Kate Russell. Courtesy of www.meowwolf.com.

Figure 14. Gilbert J, 2018, Flyer to promote Pop Up Show, Joanna Gilbert

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Joanna Gilbert Critical Research Paper

References & Bibliography

Aijic, A (2016) UK Blasting News, ‘Hyper Consumerism and the Commercial Tidal Wave’, UK Blasting News. Available at https://uk.blastingnews.com/economics/2016/11/hyper-consumerism-and-the-commercial-tidal-wave-001219045.html (Accessed: 20 July 2018)

Bernays, E.L (1928) Propaganda, USA: Horace Liveright Inc, Chapter 2.

Bishop C. (2005) ‘Installation Art: A Critical history’ Routledge, 2005, The University of Michigan

Fuchs V R. (1998) Who Shall Live?: Health, Economics and Social Choice, Singapore, World Scientific Publishing Company,

Gamble, I. (2017) ‘Immerse yourself in Signe Pierce’s neon hyperreality’ Dazed Digital. Available at http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/36245/1/immerse-yourself-in-signe-pierces-neon-hyperreality (Accessed 12 May 2018)

Hastings S. (2014) ‘Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk on the power of neon Contemporary art’s love affair with neon’, The Spectator. Available at https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/11/seeing-the-light-3/ (Accessed: 20 July 2018)

Salpini C. (2018) ‘How Museum of Ice Cream gives customers a taste for experiential retail’ Retail Dive. Available at https://www.retaildive.com/news/how-museum-of-ice-cream-gives-customers-a-taste-for-experiential-retail/517103/ (Accessed: 20 July 2018)

Steven, R. (2017) ‘Tate Modern and Uniqlo on one year of Tate Lates and the Key to a good Partnership’ Creative Review. Available at https://www.creativereview.co.uk/tate-modern-uniqlo-tate-lates/ (Accessed: 20 July 2018)

Toffler, Alvin & Heidi (1970). Future Shock. Toronto New York London: Random House (1970) Bantam Books (1971). p. Chapter 10. ISBN 0553101501.

Lesser C. (2018) ‘A New Breed of Immersive Art Experiences Offers a Gateway to Alternative Realities’ artsy.net Available at https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-breed-immersive-art-experiences-offers-gateway-alternative-realities (Accessed 18 June 2018)

Pine, J and Gilmore, J (2011) The Experience Economy: USA: Harvard Business Review Press. Revised edition of: The experience economy: work is theatre and every business a stage. 1999

Qualtrics, 2017. Welcome to the Experience Economy - Joe Pine. [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOjUxGqh7aA [Accessed 9 July 2018].

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