Gender Identity - Malala Yousufzai

Malala Yousufzai is a girl from Pakistan who was brutally attacked by the Taliban due to going against the grain and wanting an education in her country. This made international headlines which made the vast difference of gender equality in eastern counties. She began actively writing blogs, and news articles about the education system which the Taliban put in place to stop girls having a right to education after primary school.

She was an inspiration to many girls which allowed her to earn a name for herself which made her known by the BBC. A few years later however the Taliban failed an assassination attempt on her way home from school on the bus.

The view of women in countries like this have not developed over many years, equality is taken for granted in western countries. This may be due to lack of education, or religious views being manipulated so that fatalities like this can happen.

Modernism - Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

Modernism was an art movement which started in the early 1900's which used a new style, new tools and new artists appeared. Constructivism was a part of Modernism which held a dominant part in Russian Propaganda.

El Lissitzy's 'Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge' is a modernist work of art which is a lithograph during the Russian Civil War in 1919. The Red wedge is a representation of the Russian Revolution edge which were against the 'white' anti-revolutionaries - Capitalists.

The wedge is shown to be breaking into the white circle with shards coming off. This denotes 'invasion' or breaking something. In this case a, group/army of people. Even though the lithograph is in Russian, due to it's bold visual display, it can be depicted by anyone. This was handy during the revolution due to many working class people not being able to read, they could still read the propaganda, allowing more people to understand the political meaning behind the poster.

The red triangle is a sign of strength, it dominates the image thus denoting the stronger side.

The words on the image actually simply saying 'beat the whites' or 'beat whites' so is even simple to other classes who can read the poster. Although the words do not stand out on the poster due to the dominating strong shapes.



(2012). Utopia/Dystopia. Available: http://utopiadystopiawwi.wordpress.com/constructivism/el-lissitzky/beat-the-whites-with-the-red-wedge/. Last accessed 25/04/2013.

Semiotics - The Treachery of Images

This painting of a pipe is painted by René Magritte which was painted to show deception from what is actually being seen. Under the painting it says, 'This is not a pipe'. Which is meant to explain that it is a picture of a pipe and not actually a pipe. To an audience which do not know french people could
read it.

The aesthetics of the painting are very smooth using highlights and shadows to illuminate the most important part of the image. The background colour compliments the pipe due to it being on the same hue scale. The type itself is just basic scripted text, made to look like someone has written it. This makes it more personal.