David Carsen

I found David Carsen work to be very exciting in many ways. I am really pleased as to see how free the typographic outcome makes ones work. The bright colours and free flowing  type, personalizes the poster a little more which helps the viewer to understand and appreciate the poster bait more e.g. In the poster the images was made to help Barrack Obama's political campaign in 2008. the bold text saying Hope, Change are all of what he was trying to achieve when he gets into office. The blending of the colours may symbolise HIstory in the making where he became the first Black president of the USA. Hope being the largest of the texts also has a double meaning being that it breaks down Barriers and stereotypes where that no matter your race, gender, background you can make it in America as a minority child growing in that society. The dark coloured texts are well represented throughout the image as this represents the minorities in the country. The fading texts symbolizes the older boundaries that are breaking away with each generation. The image has a diverse colour range which in turn spreads the message of equality, the image relates to american history due to previous issues with racism, segregation and mass in-equality. The second of the 2 images has more photographic and illustrative elements in it to that of the first, with a wide range of colour in all parts of the image. The use of Drawn and hand made elements in the image adds to the degree of difficulty the artist has to go through to create the image, I found that the hand made elements are moulded into the image in a very subtle way making them seem as if they were apart of the original image. The artist thinks very carefully about the theme in which he works on and I believe that a lot of the thought process is fully focused and based around that theme,  in this second image he is trying to illustrate a surfing Contest in Rio De Janeiro however after translation the typography become much more clear to who it appeals to "Pablo Ugartetxea surfb animus favela surf club eavela of cantagalo peacock and pavavaozinho 28 shantytown camps along N.12, 1 and Ipanema, Rio de janeiro". The image suggests a Oxymoron as a viewer who does not understand Portuguese you view the image differently and the typography, as it doesn't affect you

 however with understanding of the words in translation such as 'animus' which means to have a ill will arousing active hostility. having this information changes your perspective and thoughts on the image.  The artist has achieved what he has set out to, in being that the letters on a page is art. In the image at first glance I had different thoughts on the image until it was made clear what the words actually say and mean. the background seems to be blend in with the text but due to the translation and your thoughts you see it as materials found the Favelas and Shantytowns, it seems that the background is pealing away which in term is symbolism for the active hostility that is rising.

I believe that David Carsen's work is very strong and interesting, there is a lot going on in the images with such bright and inviting colours that really catches the viewers eye, however it is the level of complexity with the images and there meanings which really cause the work to stick. The way in which the artist molds the words into any environment and still has the ability to get his point across is what art is about I think with this new found understanding He is someone I will regard as one of my favourite graphic artist. In regards to my own work I will be taking theses elements through to create my own work without making it too complex. I will also try to work with in meaning of Inside outside and in-between to create my outcomes.