TJ Denney Art

The part of the Natural History Museum I have chosen to re-catagorise is the dinosaur exhibit. This area of the museum can be viewed as a propaganda display by the Anunnaki, the race of shape shifting reptilian-humanoids, also known as the Babylonian Brotherhood, who some believe, most prominently the conspiracy theorist David Icke, are secretly controlling humanity. This controle is achieved by members of the Brotherhood assuming positions of great power around the world. Within the exhibition we see the dinosaurs as the former rulers of earth and ancestors of the Babylonian Brotherhood. *

The exhibition has 2 main purposes. One is to instill a feeling of wonder at the dinosaurs in the human visitors to the exhibition and subconsiously attune us to the power of their reptilian-humanoids overlords, and the other to serve as a reaffirmation of power and superiority to those of the Brotherhood who visit the exhibition.

Dinosaurs are a presented as creatures of great power and wonder to the visitors at the exhibition, passing under the gaze of towering dinosaur skeletons, with facts about their strength, and images showing how dinosaurs dwarf humans in size dotted throughout the exhibition.

The visitors a forced around a set path for the exhibition removing the abbility to roam the exhibt freely. The layout is also designed to seem imposing the human visitors, with dinosaur skeletons and models looming out of the shadows above them like military guards.

The exhibition moves through what I see to be the following sections:
1 – Empire : Facts on the dinosaurs reign over Earth in years and land covered
2 – Family : Breeding habits

3 – Strength : Displays of strength and weapons such as teeth, claws, horns, skulls and clubs

4 – Biology : Shows of the genetic strength of the species via anatomy

5 – Propaganda : Examples of how humans have embraced the dinosaurs through toys, films and books.

Examples of dinosaur merchandise and film as propaganda fed the human population by the Anunnaki.

This obvious display of perceived superiority from the Brotherhood is comparable to the methods used by the Nazi Party to control the minds and actions of the people through means of propaganda and events such as the Nuremberg Rallies, with focus on key elements of Empire (the expansion of the Third Riche), Family (the Nazi’s Kindergarten and financial incentives for families to propagate the Aryan race), Strength (shows of military might), Biology (the perceived supiriority of the Aryan race) and Propaganda (feeding images and information the the public to bend them to their will). The exhibition sends a very similar message, the underlying theme being that we the reptiles are powerful and have always been powerful. This parallel is no coincidence as Icke believes that the Anunnaki bred with another extraterrestrial race, the “Nordics” to creat the Aryans as a race of human slave masters.

These Nazi propaganda images mirror the themes presented in the exhibition – Empire, Strength, Breeding.

It is believed that the Anunnaki now also inhabit the moon, which is actually a hollowed out planetoid, as their main base of operation. This part of Anunnaki heritage is also referenced elsewhere in the museum where a flight of escalators ascends to a higher lever through a hollowed out planet. At the bottom of the escalators is a dinosaur skeleton, creating a visual representation of the Anunnaki’s history on Earth, rise to power and assent to their headquarters on the moon.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke (information on David Icke and his theories)

For a CTS class project we had to create an idea for place that does not exist and find research material to support and flesh out our idea.

The concept we created was of entering a non-existing place within the subconscious mind. This place would be based on memory and dreams as a means to escape painful reality for terminal patients.

• “The mind can shield itself from ugly experiences, thoughts, or feelings by relegating them to a special “timeless” region”
  Frederick Crews, The Memory Wars – Freud’s Legacy in Dispute

This idea of a subconscious world with the mind as a means of escaping pain came from the use of hypnosis in treating chronic pain patients:

• “Hypnotic training included suggestions to “filter out the hurt” or any sensations by imagining competing sensations.”
  International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

The idea of separating the mind from the body following pain or trauma and constructing a reality from memory was also explored in the film Vanilla Sky.

When thinking about how this reality would be constructed we looked to theory on dreams and memory:

• “Characteristic of dream-memory comes out in the selection of the material reproduced. Only the most significant things that are regarded as worth remembering but on the contrary also the most trivial and unprepossessing.” – Sigmund Freud, Interpreting Dreams

The theory that only the significant memories would be used to build this reality made us think about what the background detail of this world would appear like. This page from the graphic novel “Opus” by Satoshi Kon gives a good visual reference about what the background details may look like. In “Opus” a graphic novelist travels inside his own comic and when traveling into the background details finds people have no real features and the skylines are just cardboard cut outs, as these were details that where not worth the effort creating.

We thought that the world would be Hypereal in appearance as dreams and memory are often exaggerated and can be re-constructed and overlap.

• “In the realm of the hyperreal, the distinction between simulation and the ‘real’ implodes; the ‘real’ and the imaginary continually collapse into each other. The result is that reality and simulation are experienced as without difference – operating along a roller-coaster continuum. Simulations can often be experienced as more real than the real itself – ‘even better than the real thing'”. – The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism, Stuart Sim

This advert is an example of a Hyperreal world, put together from different films and sources, creating a world of different realities folded in on one another:

The land of Oz, from the film “The Wizard of Oz” is an other example of how this Hyperreal world could look, full of saturated colours where people from Dorothy’s waking life reappear as colourful fantasy characters:

This image from the Adventure Time episode “King Worm” shows a multilayered dream reality and how its appearance differs from the real world. In the dream world the hero Finn’s appearance is slightly altered, with the ears on his hat being exaggerated. In the dream world he looks into a mirror seeing another alternative version of himself, suggesting multiple layers to the dream and subconscious:

We found different references to help explain what this world may feel like. This quote from Jean Baudrillard refers to Disneyland and how this “imaginary” place removes us from the notion of the real world and responsibility:

“This world wants to be childish in order to make us believe that the adults are elsewhere, in the “real” world.” – Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra And Simulation

As this world is formed of memory and dreams in the individuals subconscious there is also the possibility that this world could be a dark and negative place, depending on what the individuals mindset is like. We look at the film “Wristcutters: A Love Story” for reference, a film where the characters have all attempted suicide and are in a limbo like world similar to our own except everything is slightly worse, the stars never shine and no one can smile. At the end of the film two of the characters are seen waking from comas following their suicide attempts, suggesting this negative world was perhaps in their heads and influenced by their own depression.

The animated film “Paprika” by Satoshi Kon revolves around psychotherapists entering the dreams of patients to try and help them resolve issues. In the film it is remarked that “The Internet and Dreams are similar, they’re areas where the subconscious mind escapes”. This is an interesting idea as people on the internet and in dreams do not act as they do in day-to-day life and can pursue violent, hurtful or abusive behaviour through constructed personas or avatars. This idea suggests that this non-existing world within the mind of the individual could be a very dark place for some to inhabit.

These are further quotes we found on memory and dreams to help support the idea of this nonexistent place:

• “Memories are blended, not laid down independently once and for all and are reconstructed rather than reproduced”
  John Sutton, Philosophy and Memory Traces
• “Memory is sketchy, reconstructive and unlocalizable. Whether pleasant or unpleasant it decays drastically over time, though less so if the experience in question gets periodically “rehearsed”.
  Frederick Crews, The Memory Wars – Freud’s Legacy in Dispute
• Dream can access to memories unavailable to the waking person is so noteworthy and theoretically significant a fact that I now wish, by recounting other ‘hypermnestic’ dreams, to direct more attention to them. – Iinterpreting Dreams, Sigmund Freud

Our idea for an animation film festival would be the “Drawn War Animation Festival”, examining the changing representations of war through the medium of animation, as well as illustration and comic books.

Since World War 2 animation has played a part in how global conflict has been represented and viewed by the public varying from nationalistic propaganda to being used as a voice of dissent and reflecting the personal effects of war on the individual.  With the festival we would aim to look at how our views of war have been shaped and also changed, and to try and look at these pieces of work objectively and at their merits as animated works, rather than as the political tools that some of them were.

The festival would be a free entry event to encourage people who would not normally watch these films to be involved, and could be held at various locations around the globe, such as the National War Museum in London and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, as the aim for the event is to be educational and to provoke thought and discussion on war and how we view it.

In addition to the film screenings there would also be exhibitions of political cartoons commenting on war (such exhibitions have been displayed at The Cartoon Museum in London) and artwork and layout designs from Studio Ghibli’s film “Grave Of The Fire Flies” and Keiji Nakazawa’s “Barefoot Gen”, aniamated feature films which deal with aftermath of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, and art exhibitions and talks from graphic novelists Marjane Satrapi (writter of “Persepolis”, a story of growing up in Iran), and Joe Sacco (writter of “Palistine” and cartoon journalism works).

These are a selection of animated shorts we would show, which would be shown in date order to emphasis our changing views and representations of war:

The Thrifty Pigs (Canada) (1941)
This Disney animated short is a good example of many propaganda films which were designed to sell savings bonds to help the war effort. It’s an unusual mix of very childish imagery, editing Disney’s earlier Three Little Pigs short to add in references to the war, and dark images of spitfire bombers and crashing planes, and serves its purpose of uniting it’s audience against the shared enemy of the Nazi’s.

Education For Death: The Making Of The Nazi (USA) (1943)
This other Disney animation is very different in tone from the studios other WW2 output, as well as the output from other animation studios during the time. This short gives a frightening look into the what life is like in Nazi Germany, following a young boy through his childhood until he is fully indoctrinated into being a model Nazi. There are brief comic moments but largely this is a very threatening piece and quite different from other animations at the time. This tone is also unusual as it is hard to say if we are meant to feel sorry for the young boy Hans who we see grow up through the harsh Nazi regime, and is portrayed to be a sympathetic character, only for him to grow to be a Nazi soldier and die. Are the audience meant to feel sorry for those living under the Nazi regime? Are they meant to feel happy that they live in the USA? Are they meant to feel compelled to joining the armed forces to go and crush the Nazi’s and kill young men like Hans to try and free them from this harsh reality? Without an ending advertising war bonds this short really stands out from the other films at the time, and is filled with dark imagery realised in the classic Disney style.

Bury The Axis (USA) (1943)
Much of the American WW2 propaganda films often have a ridiculing, slapstick tone and portray Hitler and the other leaders of The Axis as exaggerated comical figures. In hindsight the tone of these films seems somewhat strange as the notion of the war as a very dangerous and real situation appears to be downplayed. This use if this more light-hearted approach to representing the war could be seen as a means of creating a sense of confidence and optimism and unified anti-Nazi sentiment in the viewer and to boosting national moral. However, it could also be seen as a way of sugar-coating the very real threats the war represented and encouraging young men to enlist in the army while keeping them unaware of the danger they would really be facing over seas.

The Millionaire (Soviet Union) (1963)
This Soviet animation is an example of how animation regarding war began to change after WW2. Being released in the year following the Cuban Missile Crisis The Millionaire is an example of Cold War propaganda, created by the Soviet Union to instil anti-American and anti-Capitalist ideals. The film deals with the corrupting power of wealth and how in America even a dog can become a millionaire, showing it’s main character turning his back on his fellow dogs, associating with Nazi’s at up scale parties and growling at protesters for peace.

Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (USA) (1969)
Made during the late 60’s as the counter-culture in the USA was in full swing “Mickey Mouse in Vietnam” was not produced by Disney, who had made so many war related shorts during WW2, but was made by “underground” animators Whitney Lee Savage and Milton Glaser. Savage and Glaser were opposed to the war in Vietnam and show Mickey Mouse, a universally recognisable image of American hope and prosperity, going to Vietnam only to be shot in the head. This film shows a turning point in animations use in portraying war, moving away from the jingoistic propaganda used to unite a country and moving towards individual voices speaking out against war, expressing opinions and showing wars effects on the individual rather than just the homogeneous entity of their Country.

Konflikt (Soviet Union) (1983)
This anti-war animation comes from the Soviet Union and again shows the changing tide in animations depiction of war, showing in very simple terms the escalation of events that can lead to the total annihilation of both sides of the conflict, acting as a grim warning of where the Cold War tensions between East and West could lead.

Yankee Gal (France) (2008)
This is a more modern animation set during WW2 but it’s message can be applied to all war. The short shows how the young pilot is seduced by the perceived glamour of war, represented by the pin-up girl who adorns the side of his fighter plane coming to life and speaking to him in a ritzy club. The girl seduces the young man only to kill him in the end. This film is different from earlier animations about war as it looks squarely at the individual soldier, rather than a whole army or country, and asks us why or what are these soldiers fighting for.

Dans La Tete (In The Head) (France) (2008)
As with Yankee Gal this film looks at the sacrifice of the individual soldier and what they are fighting for. The commanding officer tells them that they will be remembered and will go down in history, where as the angel at the gates tells the main character to have a good death as he runs willingly into battle with a target on his chest to be killed again and again and again, making us ask ourselves if these men are heroes or cannon fodder pushed into battle.

The first animation project of making a 10 second Cut Out Animation based on Cryptozoology using the Rostrum camera is nearly done! The group film is based on the story of the Minotaur and the test shooting and final film has now been completed. It’s been fun, challenging and a little stressful. All that remains is to do the live Foley soundtrack!

As an intro to Contextual & Theoretical Studies we were asked to talk to one of our classmates about themselves and then to find an image that we felt represented them and related to either “Rebellion”, “Disruption, “Dissent” or “The Animated Self”. From talking to Connor this is the image I chose to represent him and “Disruption”.

Connor said that he didn’t “handle freedom very well”, relating back to his time at college where he had the freedom and opportunity to choose his own path and subjects, but then failing to engage with all subjects other than Art, partly because he also had the freedom to do so. Connor said this problem still exists today, having to set alarms every 5 minutes when trying to get up in the morning to attend the course he wants to be on.

This idea of freedom as a disruptive force in your life is something I relate to. Sometimes having the freedom to do whatever you want is a burden and the internal pressure to not squander that freedom is a disruptive to your creativity and state of mind.

I think the idea of freedom as a disruptive force in your life is an interesting one. The freedom to do versus the freedom not to do is certainly a conflict which I find problematic in my own life so I really relate to this