Survey of Design – Page 2

Survey 4: A Grimm Collection of German Tales

(left image) *“Die Brüder Grimm*“, drawing by their younger brother Ludwig Emil Grimm, (right image) Jacob (left) and Wilhelm Grimm in an oil portrait by Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann.

Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786-1859), better known as Brothers Grimm, were born in Hanau, Germany to stay at home mother, Dorothea Grimm nee Zimmer, and lawyer and jurist father, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm. Philipp’s death in 1796 plummeted the family into poverty, and, being the eldest surviving siblings-3 Grimm children had passed away as infants-the brothers assumed responsibility for the household. Favouritism towards higher born students was evident throughout the boys’ childhood education, and yet each graduated head of his class due to unwavering academic dedication. University was no different; they had to request to study law, were excluded from applying for financial aid, and couldn’t afford to participate in student activities. After a lifetime of study, Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm became two of the most important German scholars of their time. Collectively, they held the titles of author, editor, librarian, German studies professor, philologist, folklorist, and lexicographer.

German studies: The field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. (1)
Philology: The study of literary texts as well as oral and written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. (2)
Lexicography: The art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.(3)

Title page and illustration from the first volume of Grimms’ Kinder-und *Hausmärchen* v.1, 2nd edition. (1819)

As librarians, the Brothers Grimm had low income but were content with the amount of time they had for research in the position. They had basically dropped their pursuit at becoming lawyers, like their late father was, and instead dedicated themselves to literature. They didn’t write any of the tales, as people often believe, but collected the mostly orally sourced tales into two volumes, the first editions being published in 1812, as Kinder- und Hausmärchen–Children and household tales, or more commonly known as Grimms’ Fairy Tale. Public school had recently been made compulsory in Europe, so there were more literate middle-class people reading, and their books spread like wildfire. The books were commercially successful, but the violence and sexual content made them less well-received than they would have been sans explicit material. Families were interested in having a more child-friendly version of Grimms’ Fairy Tale, so they started sending in their versions of the published tales. This gave the brothers plenty of material for the revised second edition, published in 1819. The 7th edition of Grimms’ Fairy Tale, published in 1857, is the one most people refer to for retelling and translating. You can read the original 200 tales and ten legends, as translated by Margaret Hunt in 1884, at the website World of Tales, through this link: https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Grimm_fairy_tales_Margaret_Hunt.html#gsc.tab=0. A prime example that displays the violent stories that were cut is How Some Children Played At Slaughtering, and you can read it below. This story has been collected from two sources, and each was copied from the website for Children and Youth in History.

How Some Children Played At Slaughtering
I
In a city named Franecker, located in West Friesland, some young boys and girls between the ages of five and six happened to be playing with one another. They chose one boy to play a butcher, another boy to play was to be a cook, and a third boy was to be a pig. Then they chose one girl to be a cook and another girl her assistant. The assistant was to catch the blood of the pig in a little bowl so they could make sausages. As agreed, the butcher now fell upon the little boy playing the pig, threw him to the ground, and slit his throat open with a knife, while the assistant cook caught the blood in her little bowl. A councilman was walking nearby and saw this wretched act. He immediately took the butcher with him and led him into the house of the mayor, who instantly summoned the entire council. They deliberated about this incident and did not know what they should do to the boy, for they realized it had all been part of a children’s game. One of the councilmen, an old wise man, advised the chief judge to take a beautiful red apple in one hand and a Rhenish gulden in the other. Then he was to call the boy and stretch out his hands to him. If the boy took the apple, he was to be set free. If he took the gulden, he was to be killed. The judge took the wise man’s advice, and the boy grabbed the apple with a laugh. Thus he was set free without any punishment.
II
There once was a father who slaughtered a pig, and his children saw that. In the afternoon, when they began playing, one child said to the other, “you be the little pig, and I’ll be the butcher.” He then took a shiny knife and slit his little brother’s throat. Their mother was upstairs in a room bathing another child, and when she heard the cries of her son, she immediately ran downstairs. Upon seeing what had happened, she took the knife out of her son’s throat and was so enraged that she stabbed the heart of the other boy, who had been playing the butcher. Then she quickly ran back to the room to tend to her child in the bathtub, but while she was gone, he had drowned in the tub. Now the woman became so frightened and desperate that she did not allow the neighbors to comfort her and finally hung herself. When her husband came back from the fields and saw everything, he became so despondent that he died soon after.

Fairy tales evolve over time to represent the current culture. Both a form of education and entertainment, they’re often used to teach children moral lessons. The oldest known tale is ~6000 years old. Verbal and pictorial depictions of Grimms’ collected tales have evolved drastically throughout the centuries, and different renditions can be viewed below. The Grimm Brothers made a significant impact in the world of German literature and linguistics and triggered the professional study of folklore. A large number of our favourite Disney movies and shorts, including, but not limited to, Sleeping Beauty (originally Briar Rose), Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and The Frog Princess (originally The Frog Prince), are based on Grimm’s tales.

(From left to right) The Wild Man by Andrea Dezsö (2014), The Poor Miller’s Boy and the Little Cat by Lisbeth Zwerger (2012), The Goblins by Maurice Sendak (1973).

(Left to right) Hansel and Gretel by Wanda Gág (1936) and The Boy Hidden in the Fish (The Sea Hare) by David Hockney (1970)

Image Citations:
https://www.reprodart.com/kunst/ludwig_emil_grimm/jacob_und_wilhelm_grimm.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Grimm.jpg
https://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/grimm.jpg
https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/07/20/best-brothers-grimm-illustrations/

Information Citations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm
https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Grimm_fairy_tales_Margaret_Hunt.html#gsc.tab=0
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_studies
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philology
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicography
https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/113

Survey 3: A Death Sentence Called “Columbus”

This engraving was created by Flemish painter, Joos Van Winghe, and Belgian engraver, Theodor de Bry. It gives a visual to the horrific acts committed by Spanish explorers to the indigenous people of Guanahani, as described by Bartolomé de las Casas.

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of Guanahani (what is now known as the Bahamas), and ultimately delivered a death sentence to the indigenous people, the Taíno (tie-ee-no), which also encompasses the Lucayan (loo-kai-en) people, both of which are part of the Arawak (air-uh-walk) language group, who inhabited the island. The Spanish explorer immediately noted “…They should be good servants.” New World diseases, forced slave labour, and brutal murders, all brought on by Christopher Columbus and his crew, led to somewhere between 80% and 90% of the Taíno population dying within 30 years. Bartolome de las Casas was one of these Spanish explorers for decades, but he renounced the actions of Columbus and his fellow crewmates in his book A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1992). The following is a graphic excerpt from this text:

“They [Spanish explorers] forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were so many sheep herded into a pen. They even laid wagers on whether they could slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut an individual’s head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers’ breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks. Others, laughing and joking all the while, threw them over their shoulders, shouting, ‘Wriggle, you little perisher.’

Christopher Columbus is still a widely celebrated man in America, but Indigenous Day has now been introduced to our calendars, and it is slowly, but surely, taking over Columbus Day. That man took hand in horrific acts against the indigenous people of Guanahani and sparked a continuing trend of violence against indigenous people that still ails the world now.

Symbols and their meanings from the Taino Museum website.

A pictograph from the Pomier Caves that depict a story about the
missionaries coming to Hispaniola.

The Taíno people deserve to have their history told. They were a culturally advanced nation that had an efficient agricultural production system, a matrilineal based lineage system that led to independent women with full reign over their bodies, and even village plazas for ceremonial events and social activities. Symbols were important and prevalent in Taíno culture, and a large number of petroglyphs and pictographs can be found all over the Bahamas, Puetro Rico, and other islands of the area. The largest collection of rock art in the Carribean can be found in the Pomier Caves, which is a series of 55 caves containing approximately 6,000 drawings, carvings, and pictographs.

Information Citations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/14/here-are-indigenous-people-christopher-columbus-his-men-could-not-annihilate/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomier_Caves

Image Citations:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/WN6QVTQ2QJAMXA7H2TRH4X7IC4.jpg&w=916
https://tainomuseum.org/taino/symbols/
https://tainomuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/taino-village.jpg

Genocide, Slaves, and Can-Can! An Invision Mood Board

Screenshot of my Invision mood board for the Gold Rush (1858), CP Railway construction (1881-1885) Chinese Head Tax (1885-1923), and Art Nouveau (1891)

I’ll admit, this mood board was a test of my patience. Invision’s layout system is hardly organized (don’t those two usually go hand-in-hand?), my peers consistently reported that their board hadn’t saved, and the need for keywords on each photo felt like unnecessary pressure. That all being said, I am very proud of my work and recognize that even if I struggled with the platform, it is of value to explore. History is a subject that I (try to) approach without bias and I pack an immense passion for uncovering the voices and stories of-often purposely-forgotten minorities. My format is aesthetically pleasing, each source is cited, and new knowledge is jam-packed for readers to discover. I would confidently give myself a 10/10 for this assignment.

Survey 1: Fashion and Technology in the Han Dynasty

a) Spring Morning in the Han Palace by Qiu Ying depicts activities regularly done in the Han Dynasty

b) Emperor Wu is depicted here in traditional Mianfu robes

The Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE) brought forth some of the most crucial technology and fashion statements in early Chinese culture.

The term ‘hanfu’ was devised recently, and refers to a wide range of traditional, or traditionally inspired, Chinese clothing. There were four main styles worn during this time period: mianfu robes, shenyi hanfu, ruqun hanfu, and duanda hanfu.(1) ‘Dark Style’ was the top colour trend in clothing and predominantly exhibited in mianfu robes, which were exclusively worn by princes and nobles.

c) An illustration of a Chinese woman wearing curved front shenyi hanfu

Hues such as black, brown, and red would be integrated into this “coronation costume” (direct English translation of mianfu). The general public had less access to Dark Style, and so their clothing was generally dyed with pigments such as khaki or green. Everyone was able to express their culture with prints that featured important creatures like tigers, dragons, phoenixes, and astrological symbols, such as stars, the moon and auspicious clouds.

d) Mulan wears ruqun hanfu in her self titled movie by Disney

Shenyi hanfu means “wrapping the body deep within the clothes,^“(2) and it was a primary article for both men and women. There were two styles of shenyi: curving and straight front. You are most likely unknowingly familiar with the next form of hanfu, ruqun, through watching Disney’s ‘Mulan’. It is one of the earliest and most basic designs of hanfu.

e) A replication of the average peasants duanda hanfu

Composed of a shirt and skirt combo, females generally had highly decorated pieces, whereas males wore simpler versions. The final clothing style of the Han period was duanda hanfu. This was composed of a shirt and pair of trousers. It was daily clothing for common people, made of cheap cloth for farmwork.

As stated earlier in the post, the Han Dynasty brought incredible inventions that changed the course of life in China. Agriculture, cartography, medicine, and many other areas of practice and industry were improved. Some notable inventions were waterwheel powered bellows, the mechanical chain pump, a pendulum seismometer, new herbal remedies, and much more. Even with all of this new technology at play, the Han Dynasty is most arguably known for discovering the paramount process of papermaking. An excerpt from Wikipedia explains how the Han would make their paper: “…mulberry tree bark, hemp, old linens, and fishnets were boiled together to make a pulp that was pounded, stirred in water, and then dunked with a wooden sieve containing a reed mat that was shaken, dried, and bleached into sheets of paper.” (3) Li Ziqi is a Chinese blogger who creates content that conveys intimacy and tranquillity and connects viewers to ancient traditional processes on serene countryside property. Watch the video embedded below to understand more about the ancient Han papermaking process.

f) Li Ziqi demonstrates the traditional Han paper making process in this YouTube video

References for information:
(1)https://www.newhanfu.com/what-is-the-han-dynasty-clothing.html
(2)https://medium.com/@learnchinese/chinese-shenyi-clothing-8b27655af393
(3)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_Han_dynast

Media Citations:
a)https://www.laviezine.com/1860/top-10-most-famous-chinese-paintings/
b)https://i.pinimg.com/originals/43/6b/eb/436bebb6a79a1c2a54910357bd879ce3.jpg
c)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shenyi.svg
d)https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/c7/94/f7c7942555b2809a2dc71d05eba04d76.jpg
e)https://www.newhanfu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/What-did-ancient-Chinese-peasants-wear-3.jpg
f)https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/01/a-relaxing-video-demonstrates-the-detailed-steps-of-making-paper-by-hand/

Yearbook Spread

As you likely know by now, I’m Tobin, and this is my yearbook spread! Any project that requires me to talk about myself is a difficult one. As much as I’m an open book, I still like to keep a lot to myself. When we were given this assignment, I immediately thought “okay, what would make a good design?” I had plans to create a poster that would put text in paint labels and my name across a paintbrush. A beautiful design in my head, but not truly personal to me. After seeing a couple of my peers’ progress, I decided to switch my thought process to “what design would I love?” I took some inspiration from graphic novels, tv shows, and video games that I love, and came up with this. The hands are a direct copy of a previous art piece that I did; one of my favourite works. The representation of myself with the mask shows the face that I have needed to put on for survival throughout my life. Luckily, I don’t need that mask much these days. I would give myself a 10/10 for my spread because I’m proud of myself for being vulnerable and expressing the style that I want to be known for. Take a look below for close-ups of each section.