RON MAGNES
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TITLE: Steel Life
ORIGINAL LOCATION: Ron Magnes website BIG IDEA: Stylized icon representations MAJOR THEME: Depicting banal objects in a glorified manner for social commentary MEDIUM: Digital art VISUAL COMPONENTS: Balance, color, line, pattern, texture CATEGORY: Pop art DESCRIPTION/INTERPRETATION: There is a sandwich, a bottle of beer, and a bottle of Heinz Ketchup centered in the image resting on a table. The objects rest on a flier that in part reads ‘A Pittsburgh original’. What would be textures and shadows in reality are comprised of bright colorful patterns. The entire image is created using bold lines and bright colors. The objects have a geometric stylized feel. The depicted food items are iconic to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, particularly the Primanti brothers’ sandwich. The artist is taking something that is banal and glorifying it in typical pop art fashion. There is irony that any sandwich could be iconic, and then again that this happens to be an iconic sandwich that represents a city. These layers of irony are simultaneously humorous and manipulating. The work simultaneously glorifies and mocks the status of iconic images by relating to concepts of consumerism and media manipulation. |
USE IN TEACHING: The use of icons and irony in images lead to many possible uses in the classroom. In addition to pop art images, we would also examine various advertising images and discuss the role that the media plays in our perceptions of commodities. Students would select an object and create a painted visual representation that depicts it in an iconic status. They should choose an object that is seemingly banal, but when glorified through a pop art style depiction, seems desirable.
Classroom discussion questions include: Think about how you usually feel about these objects when you see them in real life, how does the way the artist depicted these objects transform their meaning? What do you think the artist is attempting to say by depicting these items in this way? Can you think of any advertisements that also take a simple subject and make it appear desirable? Do you think you could make a commentary about consumerism by picking an object you see every day and transforming it to seem iconic?
SOURCE: www.ronmagnes.com
Classroom discussion questions include: Think about how you usually feel about these objects when you see them in real life, how does the way the artist depicted these objects transform their meaning? What do you think the artist is attempting to say by depicting these items in this way? Can you think of any advertisements that also take a simple subject and make it appear desirable? Do you think you could make a commentary about consumerism by picking an object you see every day and transforming it to seem iconic?
SOURCE: www.ronmagnes.com
