DR. ME Norman Mailer: Final

DR. ME Norman Mailer: Text Poster

I chose Tim Minchin's monologue of which I have mentioned thousands of times throughout the year. This will most likely be my content for the kinetic typography brief so far though this could change. I wanted to explore how it would look in different mediums. I had to cut it down considerably even removing entire numbers to fit the A3 page but the parts I did keep were the most important.

Occasional Adress - Tim Minchin

1. You Don’t Have To Have A Dream.

Americans on talent shows always talk about their dreams. Fine, if you have something that you’ve always dreamed of, like, in your heart, go for it! After all, it’s something to do with your time… chasing a dream. And if it’s a big enough one, it’ll take you most of your life to achieve, so by the time you get to it and are staring into the abyss of the meaninglessness of your achievement, you’ll be almost dead so it won’t matter. I never really had one of these big dreams. And so I advocate passionate dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals. Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye. Right? Good. Advice. Metaphor. Look at me go.

2. Don’t Seek Happiness

Happiness is like an orgasm: if you think about it too much, it goes away. Keep busy and aim to make someone else happy, and you might find you get some as a side effect. We didn’t evolve to be constantly content. Contented Australophithecus Afarensis got eaten before passing on their genes.

4. Exercise

Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run… whatever… but take care of your body. You’re going to need it. Most of you mob are going to live to nearly a hundred, and even the poorest of you will achieve a level of wealth that most humans throughout history could not have dreamed of. And this long, luxurious life ahead of you is going to make you depressed! But don’t despair! There is an inverse correlation between depression and exercise. Do it. Run, my beautiful intellectuals, run. And don’t smoke. Natch.

5. Be Hard On Your Opinions

A famous bon mot asserts that opinions are like arse-holes, in that everyone has one. There is great wisdom in this… but I would add that opinions differ significantly from arse-holes, in that yours should be constantly and thoroughly examined. We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and beat them with a cricket bat.

Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privilege. Most of society’s arguments are kept alive by a failure to acknowledge nuance. We tend to generate false dichotomies, then try to argue one point using two entirely different sets of assumptions, like two tennis players trying to win a match by hitting beautifully executed shots from either end of separate tennis courts.

6. Be a teacher.

Please? Please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You don’t have to do it forever, but if you’re in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. Just for your twenties. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke – we need male primary school teachers. Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.

7. Define Yourself By What You Love

I’ve found myself doing this thing a bit recently, where, if someone asks me what sort of music I like, I say “well I don’t listen to the radio because pop lyrics annoy me”. Or if someone asks me what food I like, I say “I think truffle oil is overused and slightly obnoxious”. And I see it all the time online, people whose idea of being part of a subculture is to hate Coldplay or football or feminists or the Liberal Party. We have tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff; as a comedian, I make a living out of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank-you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff.

9. Don’t Rush.

You don’t need to already know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. I’m not saying sit around smoking cones all day, but also, don’t panic. Most people I know who were sure of their career path at 20 are having midlife crises now. I said at the beginning of this ramble that life is meaningless. It was not a flippant assertion. I think it’s absurd: the idea of seeking “meaning” in the set of circumstances that happens to exist after 13.8 billion years worth of unguided events. Leave it to humans to think the universe has a purpose for them. 

However, I am no nihilist. I am not even a cynic. I am, actually, rather romantic. And here’s my idea of romance: You will soon be dead. Life will sometimes seem long and tough and, god, it’s tiring. And you will sometimes be happy and sometimes sad. And then you’ll be old. And then you’ll be dead. There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence, and that is: fill it. Not fillet. Fill. It.

And in my opinion (until I change it), life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much as you can, taking pride in whatever you’re doing, having compassion, sharing ideas, running(!), being enthusiastic. And then there’s love, and travel, and wine, and sex, and art, and kids, and giving, and mountain climbing … but you know all that stuff already. It’s an incredibly exciting thing, this one, meaningless life of yours. Good luck.

Thank you for indulging me.”


After collecting the content I applied it to A3, using the illustration at a lower opacity in the background. Finally, I added a thing border using the same colours. Again, thinking back to the idea of something to 'keep' I always think humour wins out, and humour that is advisory in my opinion is a win win.

DR. ME Norman Mailer: Printing

When it came to printing, I used the studio printer, which though infamous for problems I believed would do me well. I used a thick, yet flexible newsprint stock with a smooth finish. I figured that a smooth stock would be a fitting juxtaposition for the chaotic colours and style.

I planned to print the piece at A3 but did a test of A4 in the orange design. There was a malfunction with the printer and it caused the black inks to be replaced toward the edge of the screen. The ink congealed and created a rough texture all throughout specific bits of the collage. it felt so interesting and I was estatic with the surprise mistake gone right.

I did the same but with the A3 and it too turned out the same. I was so happy with the results I sent that, instead of the clean version. This could have been a mistake, as the clean version is striking, but knowing the audience, being them, I felt they could appreciate only more wierd-ness/chaos.

Below are closeups of the where the ink did not adhere and also how it is displaced. The colour is not accurate and a result of lighting/scanning. The colour is accurate to the mint/green seen eariler.

DR. ME Norman Mailer: Colours & Patterns

This was the product after the digital manipulation. With layers I added shadows and block colours within specific buildings. There are no rules in terms of composition and lighting. I wanted it to be confusing and have no real context in terms of location and placing.

I'm very happy with the visual at this stage. The heights and shape of the buildings look nice. If I had more time, I would have liked to create something that was a lot more detailed in terms of intricacy. Perhaps this it something I can explore the next time I use collage.

After trailing the 'island' image, I didn't like the vast difference so instead, I flipped the image and created a reflection. The task was to blend the two and alter the reflection slightly so they don't look so uniform.

I don't yet have much of a online presence. so I just wanted to send DR. ME a piece of work that they would want to keep. I took this from a workshop in Level 4, where we were asked to create something that someone would 'want to keep'. Back then it was something I didn't engage it too well but now, I revisited the mindset when it came to this brief.

Whilst digging through old patterns I found floral illustrations, which I refreshed and utilized here. Again, weaving it throughout the buildings. I wanted it to look busy and very hand-made. It's interesting to bring back old creations and find a home for them in new designs. It reenforces my want to do  things outside of 'course work' and continue the life of a doodler, because it call comes in handy.

I then moved onto creating a background. I chose an orange, due to the undertones in the image overall. I felt it was most fitting, and was well placed with the loose yet clear theme. There was a fear that the main collage would be lost within the busy background but this was not the case. The whites of the building are a nice contrast and adding the white layer of the doodle texture was a good way to add depth and business. 

Willing to explore further I looked into other options of colours settling on a mint colour, inspired by the bright green seen in the center of the collage. I liked the second option better. The clean colour was a nice stark difference from the busy elements and only added to it's beauty in colour and saturation.

This will mot definitely be my final piece. I feel there is always the chance of over working a project this 'craft' based. I'm incredibly happy with the outcome and look forward to sending it off.

DR. ME Norman Mailer: Digital Development

The collage was scanned in and from there developed. Using textures I had already had and other sketches and digital illustrations I had in old corners of my files. These pieces were cut and copied and drawn over to mimic the original style of the collage.

Using a digital tablet, lines were thickened and darkened to create more dimension between all the buildings. Saturation was increased and details were added to the buildings.

The original base was removed, as the collage grew I felt as though it didn't match the rest of the image, so I plan to replace it with an 'island'. The image at the bottom shows a quick mock up of this and the visual I want to playing with.
From here I want to look at backgrounds and a way to have this finally look like one fluid piece.


This was a very therapeutic process. Being able to get hands on again with a project was so refreshing. This being weeks after I spoke about being more tactile and using mixed media.

I appreciate the anticipation of this not turning out how I think it will and I feel evolution comes naturally to hand-crafts as supposed to digital work. I still love both, but being able to explore this route has so far, been great.

DR. ME Norman Mailer: Collage Making

It started with a base. A stage from a magazine page. From there it was decided that I wanted to create a city scape on top of this, as a 'floating city' image. In my spare time I scribble draw city landscapes. My idea developed to create a larger version but from mixed materials as supposed to pen.

   
It began by looking for content to create a collage with. There was no real vision for my final piece but I knew I wanted to be tactile and gluing and sticking and cutting.

I went to the Students Union and collected all the free flyer, magazines and materials I could get my hands on.

First steps were to sketch out the vague heights of the buildings. There needs to be a rough idea of a composition to work to so I could see where things were going etc. I cut out pieces and colours and roughly matched them to the pencil marks. Additionally, the images were continued as seen on the base image, to create a full circular base.





It was at this stage that I was thinking about colour palettes and whether it's something I should input at this stage. For now it is an aspect I'll incorporate gently, instead of deciding now.
The images used consisted of patterns, colours and type. I drew up buildings around the textures and colours, keeping the aesthetic as old English buildings. The patterns and colours were intertwined with the illustrations. It adds depth and more detail to the overall image so far.

Finding the line "Lets fill this town with artists". I liked how it resonated and though out of context was still a nice sentiment. The next step is to take this further through digital manipulation.