[Article] "HAMASAKI EXPOSES INDUSTRY!" Ayu reveals the truth behind entertainment's curtain

[Zeke.]

So for my visual communications class we had to pick a form of visual communication to write an analysis on. We had the options to pick from a 5-8 page paper, a 5 minute presentation, a 5-6 minute audio/visual analysis via youtube, or an academic poster. I chose to go the academic poster route.

When deciding on what to analyze, I had it narrowed down to 1LOVE, Because of you, fairyland, or alterna. I also contemplated analyzing the evolution and continued use of the "A" symbol throughout her career.

In the end, I chose to go with alterna and had the poster printed for class with 24" x 36" dimensions. Poured 40+ hours into this. Wondering if you guys agree with my points in analysis? Did anyone draw from the fact that Andrew Lloyd Weber was born on the date in the newspaper and the connection it has to the music video?

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[ストロボ・EdGE]

Neat. An unpopular opinion, but I've never really cared for alterna the song, but the music video truly is something you can dissect. I enjoyed reading this.

Have you ever read Barthes, the French semiotician?

[Zeke.]

No, I have not. This is the first time I have ever really been exposed to the term semiotics and we basically just touch on the generalized definitions within class and view many visual images that exhibit the theories as examples. Thank you for taking the time to read my analysis. I wasn't blown away by alterna when it was originally released, and felt it was highly over-rated (especially compared to her other rock tracks). However, over-time, alterna's uniqueness has made it stand out within her discography and I have all sorts of good feelings about the song now when I listen to it, which is quite often as a matter of fact.

[Marcelo]

Really enjoyed reading your work, good job Thoughtful analysis, made me think, NEVER noticed the Andrew Lloyd Weber detail!

[TeamAyu2004]

Hmmm. I need to try and phrase this right because I don't want to come off as bad or anything!

But I have to say on the analysis side, you didn't really bring forth any new information on the entertainment industry. (Not only that, but I don't really agree with it (not you, just the whole: They sucked me dry and I had no idea what was going on!!!)... not that it doesn't happen because it does, but I think it's a mutual agreement. Both parties are using each other for profit and betterment of themselves.)

Also, and this just depends on how much space you had to work with but there was so much more you could have touched on. Especially on things that really are never brought up.

Like Ayu is a doll to being with. What could that mean? Are girls only suppose to be some kind of manufactured beings and there worth is really only what they can do for others? (I think this touches home when at the end the little girl and the boy are also dolls... but products of the world around them, but having not control over what is going to happen to them in the future)

The clowns? Why are the 'bad guys (entertainment executives)" clowns? Clowns are things that you laugh at, not with. (not only that they look scary! lol) But is ayumi trying to say that this people also fall into the same trap that all the young people in the industry fall into? They want to make something for others, but it turns into something more? Are they being used by the industry as well?

Also on two side notes the fan (which goes from small to large, back to small) and the eye in her mouth. What could these possible mean?)

I have other thoughts as well, but I don't want to bog down this... lol
Like I said, don't take anything the wrong way... just my thoughts on the video and your poster

[Zeke.]

^ No, I completely understand your point of view. I had to omit A LOT of further explanation and analysis because the message needed to be concise and portrayed in poster format without allowing the text to get small. Originally I had further analysis of the scenes where Ayu is white (in the grey room), but those scenes are have enough visual cues and codes in them to do a separate analysis on (Gestalt's Perspective theories of Social and Common Fate, etc.)!

Of course a lot of this isn't anything "revolutionary," but the argument wasn't that it was. A lot of the symbolism and codes used were regarding practices that have become culturally known and accepted within the media/entertainment/music industry, but it's about the WAY they communicated this to the audience and WHY the audience is able to receive, decode, and interpret those messages.

Regarding the clowns: Clowns, in their very basic form, "perform tricks for entertainment" - they perform 'tricks' to entertain people (balloon making, etc.). Clowns are used to portray executives/the media in the video because THEY TOO "perform tricks for entertainment," however, whereas the performance of tricks IS the entertainment for clowns, the media is performing "tricks" behind-the-scenes for the benefit of the entertainment industry. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? It is a play on words. Ayu uses this same metaphor in her video for 1LOVE, where once again, a CLOWN is used to represent the media. To re-iterate, clowns (as icons) symbolize "the performance of tricks for entertainment purposes" - this symbolization is then projected onto the media through the use of analogic codes in the video.

Ayu becomes a robot, a machine, upon making her first public debut. "The minute an individual becomes a form of income for another individual is the minute all humanity is lost." She forfeits her identity - her identity is no longer hers, it is the companies, it is the publics, it is the medias, and it shall forever remain as such because her identity will constantly continue to be sold to the public, even after she is "disposed" of, even after she dies and leaves this Earth, her name will still be used to sell products; her songs will still live on to sell records; her name will continue to sell tabloids and articles. Essentially, her name and her identity will FOREVER be used to garner profits.

Notice in the end scene, she is still singing. Despite the fact that she can still perform her duty (she was hailed as BEST HIT SINGING MACHINE - if she can still sing, why is she in trash?), she is viewed as garbage. She still retains all the "talent" she had when proclaimed a star; the difference is that her talent no longer sells and therefore she is viewed as talentless in the eyes of the media. Notice that her arms have been removed - this signifies a problem with her "body" - she is still able to perform her duty of singing despite this (which can relay meanings of the importance placed on body image in the media and talent truly is not enough - the ENTIRE product needs to be polished in order to be viewed as successful).

Of course, the strings on all the characters (as puppets) are also representative of the fact that the industry is a mastermind game; they people within the industry are all "played" to some extent - they all have someone telling them to do this or that and basically trying to control their actions. Etc.

I also thought the analogy of a popstar's life (not the popstar but the popstar's LIFE, their story) being akin to musical theatre was something that had never dawned on me until inspecting the video further. Literally, is not a popstar's life one giant drawn out musical theatre performance? The "songs" are the musical releases, the "song performances/numbers" are commercialized performances, and the acting, the dialogue, the "story" between the performance numbers is her truth; this is conveyed to the public through tabloids, through social media, through the news, etc. Until the day she dies her musical continues to move forward. This applies for all popstars. If you view their lifestory as one drawn out theatre performance it is quite interesting.

Regarding the white scenes, I was confused by the fan but things that I noticed about the white room is that: everything in the room is used for making music; they are musical instruments. Even the desk and chair which can be used to "sit and write music" at. There is also a dresser/cabinet. Essentially, dressers and cabinets are used to store things. The fan I was thinking, quite literally, could be representatives of "fans" of a music artist. The fans start out small, then GROW (Ayu's peak), and then revert back to being small (no longer at peak, selling less, less fans than at peak, etc.).
Ayu's dichotomy in size compared to the clowns and this interplay represents the growth of the artist within the industry and within the company to the point that the artist has more power and importance than the label itself (this is literally what happened in ayu's case during her peak when avex relied so heavily on her for profits).

With the analysis of the eye in her mouth, I began to think that... well, an eye is used to SEE (the truth) and a mouth is used to SPEAK (the truth). As an artist, a musician's voice is what they use to speak the truth. They see and visual their truth, their real self behind the product, through their lyrics (not all, but Ayu certainly has as she has written all her lyrics her entire life).

As you can see, I have done a thorough analysis and thought many of these scenes through (it all begins with, 'well what does this do/what is this used for? and HOW is it being used in this video?' and then bridging the gap between those two is where the analysis lies) but given my chosen medium, there simply was not enough space to do a "DEEP" analysis. I would have loved to, but it just wasn't plausible. I tried to boil it down to concise imagery. Basic, yes, but believe me when I say there is a lot more behind it. The main objective is to develop a thesis, and the thesis cannot simply be "I will analyze every symbol in the video and explain the meaning"; my thesis chose to focus on the use of the three codes and how those messages were conveyed to the audience through the use of signs (icons, indexes, symbols etc.).

[TeamAyu2004]

Originally Posted by Zeke.

^ No, I completely understand your point of view. I had to omit A LOT of further explanation and analysis because the message needed to be concise and portrayed in poster format without allowing the text to get small. Originally I had further analysis of the scenes where Ayu is white (in the grey room), but those scenes are have enough visual cues and codes in them to do a separate analysis on (Gestalt's Perspective theories of Social and Common Fate, etc.)!

I was also thinking about her in white and in the grey home, the clowns, the sizes, everything. lol. There is actually so much in this video that you can study that it is amazing she put so much thought into one thing.

Of course a lot of this isn't anything "revolutionary," but the argument wasn't that it was. A lot of the symbolism and codes used were regarding practices that have become culturally known and accepted within the media/entertainment/music industry, but it's about the WAY they communicated this to the audience and WHY the audience is able to receive, decode, and interpret those messages.

I guess from the poster I just don't see you coming across on a why? It might just be me missing it, but I read it and I think he is talking about a social problem that we all know about. I do see why ayumi did this video, why she is trying to portray this now. Yet, of course I don't know the full extent of the project. Maybe I'm just questioning the professor's reasoning behind it, lol.

Regarding the clowns: Clowns, in their very basic form, "perform tricks for entertainment" - they perform 'tricks' to entertain people (balloon making, etc.). Clowns are used to portray executives/the media in the video because THEY TOO "perform tricks for entertainment," however, whereas the performance of tricks IS the entertainment for clowns, the media is performing "tricks" behind-the-scenes for the benefit of the entertainment industry. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? It is a play on words. Ayu uses this same metaphor in her video for 1LOVE, where once again, a CLOWN is used to represent the media. To re-iterate, clowns (as icons) symbolize "the performance of tricks for entertainment purposes" - this symbolization is then projected onto the media through the use of analogic codes in the video.

This is actually a perfect example of where I think are opinions and thoughts will clash. lol. I never really considered the guy in 1Love a clown. I consider him one of the 'freaks' or part of the show (may this be on purpose or not) that ayumi is in. Which reinforces my point on the executives being a play thing to some higher power. I also like the fact that you combined executives and media into one entity, which personal, I don't think you should. One influences the other. But the question is which one. I think (and this is just me with altera) Ayumi isn't placing the blame on the executives they are just doing a job which they think is the right way to do it (hence the clowns) and it's the media itself that forces this. Which is brought up with the newspapers and the television show (PV?) at the end. Also towards the end when the clowns are scared of the music when the arm is coming at them and then it looks like they get lured back in by the music themselves. Which begs the question who is actually pulling the strings... lol

Ayu becomes a robot, a machine, upon making her first public debut. [B]"The minute an individual becomes a form of income for another individual is the minute all humanity is lost."[B] She forfeits her identity - her identity is no longer hers, it is the companies, it is the publics, it is the medias, and it shall forever remain as such because her identity will constantly continue to be sold to the public, even after she is "disposed" of, even after she dies and leaves this Earth, her name will still be used to sell products; her songs will still live on to sell records; her name will continue to sell tabloids and articles. Essentially, her name and her identity will FOREVER be used to garner profits.

The part I bolded I think is important just because I partly agree and then don't agree at all. lol. The world we live in is all about making other people your B (if you know what I mean). Any job you do is making money for someone else. No matter how you look at it someone is using someone else to make money. Which just minimizes the argument on the entertainment industry, which I digress, because that is not the point.

Notice in the end scene, she is still singing. Despite the fact that she can still perform her duty (she was hailed as BEST HIT SINGING MACHINE - if she can still sing, why is she in trash?), she is viewed as garbage. She still retains all the "talent" she had when proclaimed a star; the difference is that her talent no longer sells and therefore she is viewed as talentless in the eyes of the media. Notice that her arms have been removed - this signifies a problem with her "body" - she is still able to perform her duty of singing despite this (which can relay meanings of the importance placed on body image in the media and talent truly is not enough - the ENTIRE product needs to be polished in order to be viewed as successful).

This is another point that I disagree with only because we have two different view points on the end of the PV. I actually took this a different way. It starts in the grey room towards the end... when it's just ayumi's face and it's her. No white paste just a picture of her. I think this is her true self breaking free of the 'trap' and the game (think about what she did during her A best era through Memorial address and all the fighting she had with the label.) She herself is the one the throws the the doll away because thats not who she is anymore or never was. She will continue to do what she wants like she always will because she has reached a stage in her life to do that. (I also think this shows in the lyrics, which should be taken accounted for in this PV).

Of course, the strings on all the characters (as puppets) are also representative of the fact that the industry is a mastermind game; they people within the industry are all "played" to some extent - they all have someone telling them to do this or that and basically trying to control their actions. Etc.

Yep yep.

I also thought the analogy of a popstar's life (not the popstar but the popstar's LIFE, their story) being akin to musical theatre was something that had never dawned on me until inspecting the video further. Literally, is not a popstar's life one giant drawn out musical theatre performance? The "songs" are the musical releases, the "song performances/numbers" are commercialized performances, and the acting, the dialogue, the "story" between the performance numbers is her truth; this is conveyed to the public through tabloids, through social media, through the news, etc. Until the day she dies her musical continues to move forward. This applies for all popstars. If you view their lifestory as one drawn out theatre performance it is quite interesting.

Ive never really thought about it this way either... and I'm not too sure what to think about it... lol... it comes to a point when you have to wonder if you are putting to much into something you know? I need to sit down and actually think about that. lol

Regarding the white scenes, I was confused by the fan but things that I noticed about the white room is that: everything in the room is used for making music; they are musical instruments. Even the desk and chair which can be used to "sit and write music" at. There is also a dresser/cabinet. Essentially, dressers and cabinets are used to store things. The fan I was thinking, quite literally, could be representatives of "fans" of a music artist. The fans start out small, then GROW (Ayu's peak), and then revert back to being small (no longer at peak, selling less, less fans than at peak, etc.).
Ayu's dichotomy in size compared to the clowns and this interplay represents the growth of the artist within the industry and within the company to the point that the artist has more power and importance than the label itself (this is literally what happened in ayu's case during her peak when avex relied so heavily on her for profits).

I ahd the same thoughts on the fan. Although all the other objects I didn't think about it, but yes, it is true. I also think that some of the stuff in the video is to just be 'cool' or different. Not everything has meaning, lol. like the size difference and everything... I'm not saying that it doesn't but this is also just an instance where I have to stop and ask myself... am I putting to much into it. Because there is so much that you could study about the scenes int he grey room. Their placements, their movements. Everythig.

With the analysis of the eye in her mouth, I began to think that... well, an eye is used to SEE (the truth) and a mouth is used to SPEAK (the truth). As an artist, a musician's voice is what they use to speak the truth. They see and visual their truth, their real self behind the product, through their lyrics (not all, but Ayu certainly has as she has written all her lyrics her entire life).

I would like to call this The Eye of Truth, lol. I had the same thoughts on this as well after I posted the comment. I do like the fact that she points it at herself first and then at the clowns. Like she had convince herself first then she could convinces others. You know?

Sorry about all the quotes but this is a very interesting topic!
LOL... Like I said before there is also a point to where you can go more in depth then meant. like.. you know, sometimes a blade of grass is just that... grass.
Of course we don't know what is going on inside of ayumi's head when she was doing this video. For all we know she could have had a bad trip on acid and been like. SHIT! I gotta do this! lol.

[Zeke.]

Interesting points,

The point of the analysis was to analyze a form of visual communication using the lenses, codes, and communication techniques we learned in class. The thesis and analysis needed to be routed within lecture materials. Basically, you needed to formulate a thesis (_____ uses *insert classroom principle* to communicate ________ through the use of *insert classroom principles*), and then identify principles learned in class as to how they are used to communicate that message in your thesis. It is difficult to grade an analysis based solely on interpretation (who is to say your view is wrong, it is about how you argue it and how it needed to be argued was through classroom principles). So, essentially I needed to figure out where I saw the principles being used, and then formulate a thesis that connects it all. You needed to use proven theories for reasoning (I chose to identify the use of semiotic signs within Berger's codes of semiotics, which include metonymic, anagogic, displaced, and condensed).


Regarding clowns: There are indexes used within semiotics that help convey a message to an audience through reasoning. For example, you see smoke and you think "there was a fire here", so smoke is an index for fire. I identified the clowns as such because of the indexes that they had. "White face paint + drawn on smile + costume" are all things that are common of clowns so therefore this is a clown. It is hard to explain because the argument is lecture based. Lol. Anyways, there is no denying the similarities between what I view as clown in alterna and the man in 1LOVE - the difference being that Ayu also uses indentifying factors common of circus 'ringleaders' to identify the man in 1LOVE as a ringleader. Look up "ringleader" on google and you will see the identifying factors. A ringleader is: "a person who initiates or leads an illicit or illegal activity." This also makes sense in the video since the 'police' are trying to expose this 'illegal' activity that he is leading. The ringleader is whoring out the people on stage (whose deformities and/or oddities are exploited for cash) to the public but that is another argument and analysis, lol. Basically, my argument for 1LOVE is also media based (how the media exploits the intriguing for cash - notice how Ayu is "A SINGER" in the video but she is being showcased as a stripper - this is sending a message about how sex appeal is synonymous with singers in entertainment now. At the end, the police become exploited in the media - what do police do? they are often considered the good guys - at the end the audience goes wild and my take on this is that there are few things that the media and consumers love more than the story of a fallen star/hero/good guy - this story SELLS).

I understand your logic as to "any job you do is making someone money" but that isn't the point I am trying to make. Your identity specifically isn't being commodified in those cases. In the case of "a star", your identity becomes a product. What is identity? Think about that for a second. It is your differentiating factor; it is how you formulate who you are as a person. When that very essence of who you are becomes a form of currency (for example: tabloid using your name to sell a photograph - the photograph is viewed as currency to the tabloid and traded with cash because they know your name, your photo = $$$), then your very being has become itemized. I know what you are saying and yes that can be argued, but my point is that when it gets to the point that your identity is no longer yours, that is commodification and dehumanization at its finest.

Regarding the doll being in the trash and Ayu leaving it behind, I like this theory. Didn't look at it that way, and was always confused as to how and interpret the point where Ayu's "clean" self is plastered on the TV screens yet she is in the trash.

Now regarding looking too much into things, there ARE theories that explain how difference in size, shape and placement are used within visual communication to convey messages - this is a common practice and no doubt that the interplay between Ayu and the clowns shifting size, shape and placement are trying to convey a message. Those surely aren't for fun - there IS a message there (again, it would make sense with lecture materials). One example is when Ayu becomes big and is in the center and the clowns are scared of her and pointing finger as if scolding and warning "you better not" like a parent would do to a child. This surely represents the artist growing to a point in which the label fears the artist's power. It makes sense given Ayu's history and influence on the company too. The scene with the tambourine I didn't have an argument for. Basically, there is an argument to be made with the grey room scenes, it just involves deeper analysis that I didn't have time to explore after deciding upon the spin I chose to focus on for class.

[TeamAyu2004]

It seems like a very interesting class... but also one of those classes where I think I would be so frustrated because I still beg the question... Couldn't it just be a blade of grass. (lol)

As for the clowns I'm still on the fence about it. (And I dont think we will agree, which there is nothing wrong with that! lol) But I still think it's more that they too are a by product of the media and the industry is not the problem but the media is. It doesn't help that the industry buys into the media but there is no way around it. One person did it to experience, they found out that this works and now they want everyone to do. I may not be expressing myself very well.

I understand your logic as to "any job you do is making someone money" but that isn't the point I am trying to make. Your identity specifically isn't being commodified in those cases. In the case of "a star", your identity becomes a product. What is identity? Think about that for a second. It is your differentiating factor; it is how you formulate who you are as a person. When that very essence of who you are becomes a form of currency (for example: tabloid using your name to sell a photograph - the photograph is viewed as currency to the tabloid and traded with cash because they know your name, your photo = $$$), then your very being has become itemized. I know what you are saying and yes that can be argued, but my point is that when it gets to the point that your identity is no longer yours, that is commodification and dehumanization at its finest.

I have to quote this, just because I think this is another point that people glorify something that should never have been glorified. You identity is constantly defined by your self worth when it comes to living in this world. Take for example working in fast food, subway. You don't know anything about the person behind the counter all you care about is that sandwich they are making. To you that person is only making a product for you (the sandwich person is the singer). You the buyer is paying the sandwich maker for services rendered. (Cd's/stuff). The point I'm trying to make is that the customer no longer views the person behind the counter as a person because they are doing a job. The sandwich maker is the machine and is only worth the time while they are doing something for you, the customer.
And it get worse the higher up you go. You dont even have an identity. Why? Because you are a number. A number that is easily replaced because there are at least ten numbers before you and after you that could fill that gap. Kinda sounds like the manufactured music industry doesn't it (to quote you "When that very essence of who you are becomes a form of currency").
Honestly on this point alone I feel like we could go back and forth forever... lol and its kinda beyond the point of the poster/PV as well, but a very interesting topic itself too.

As for the last part... I wasn;t just trying to throw the size thing away and I'm pretty sure there is meaning behind it I was also pointing out the fact that sometimes grass is just grass you know?

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

It seems like a very interesting class... but also one of those classes where I think I would be so frustrated because I still beg the question... Couldn't it just be a blade of grass. (lol)

As for the clowns I'm still on the fence about it. (And I dont think we will agree, which there is nothing wrong with that! lol) But I still think it's more that they too are a by product of the media and the industry is not the problem but the media is. It doesn't help that the industry buys into the media but there is no way around it. One person did it to experience, they found out that this works and now they want everyone to do. I may not be expressing myself very well.



I have to quote this, just because I think this is another point that people glorify something that should never have been glorified. You identity is constantly defined by your self worth when it comes to living in this world. Take for example working in fast food, subway. You don't know anything about the person behind the counter all you care about is that sandwich they are making. To you that person is only making a product for you (the sandwich person is the singer). You the buyer is paying the sandwich maker for services rendered. (Cd's/stuff). The point I'm trying to make is that the customer no longer views the person behind the counter as a person because they are doing a job. The sandwich maker is the machine and is only worth the time while they are doing something for you, the customer.
And it get worse the higher up you go. You dont even have an identity. Why? Because you are a number. A number that is easily replaced because there are at least ten numbers before you and after you that could fill that gap. Kinda sounds like the manufactured music industry doesn't it (to quote you "When that very essence of who you are becomes a form of currency").
Honestly on this point alone I feel like we could go back and forth forever... lol and its kinda beyond the point of the poster/PV as well, but a very interesting topic itself too.

As for the last part... I wasn;t just trying to throw the size thing away and I'm pretty sure there is meaning behind it I was also pointing out the fact that sometimes grass is just grass you know?

Ha no I understand. The clowns essentially represent the "media" as a whole; not necessarily the people in it. I know I said executives before but they are often the face behind the operation, and in alterna, it says "PRESIDENT" on the door of the room she receives her contract in.

Of course, semiotics isn't do or die - there is not "ONE TRUTH" so varying interpretations are accepted. It is mainly about how you argue your point and display the evidence (the lens you use to focus your argument through). I still hold firm that my argument regarding a person becoming a product, their identity, is very different than the argument you are making. The sandwich maker is supplying you with a sandwich. The sandwich is the product and the human is the distributor. In the case of pop musician's, they can be seen as a distributor of music (the song being the product and them being the distributor and/or producer), however, it often becomes about MORE than the music; the singer becomes the product (everything they do, not just music), and the media is the distributor. It is a very faint line but a line none-the-less in the types of things we are arguing. Yes, everyone is PART of a system, but aside from that you have your own identity that remains yours, even if others don't recognize it who only interact with you through business or if you are providing a service. Where as, with popstars, they have no identity outside of their number because their number is their identity. You see, it is the fact that one is able to remove their identity from "business" that allows them to hold onto that identity. But when the lines are blurred, and your identity becomes your number and your business, to the point you have no separate identity because it has been commodified... well, you get the point I'm attempting to make. A distributor is someone who provides you with a good or service, and in the case of musician's they ARE the good and/or service being provided via the media (as the distributor). Very different than someone working for the media.

Your points are mainly routed in your beliefs about the system and not so much in the message the video portrays. Like for example, my point is that after ayu takes stage she clearly changes. She is transformed into a "machine" and a "product" after being ushered into the industry. She is clearly different than she was before and clearly different than the clowns. This is where my argument lies. A robot represents tasks, very systematic. A robot has no humanity. So, it is a plausible argument to make that since ayu became a robot after joining the industry, that to join the industry is to lose humanity through becoming a product.

[TeamAyu2004]

Yeah we did move from the video to more about what is happening which was my fault. But it is a very interesting conversation on both side. I sadly see no difference in pop stars and someone in a service job or anyone for that mater, but yet again not the topic.
And your argument is sound.
But I will say that just to join the industry doesn't mean you lose something of yourself because not all of them happen that way. But that too is another topic all itself as well!

I hope you get a good grade on it! I would have gone with a different medium just because it is an interesting topic and there is so much to touch on that the poster itself is limited.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

Yeah we did move from the video to more about what is happening which was my fault. But it is a very interesting conversation on both side. I sadly see no difference in pop stars and someone in a service job or anyone for that mater, but yet again not the topic.
And your argument is sound.
But I will say that just to join the industry doesn't mean you lose something of yourself because not all of them happen that way. But that too is another topic all itself as well!

I hope you get a good grade on it! I would have gone with a different medium just because it is an interesting topic and there is so much to touch on that the poster itself is limited.

There is a 12 page thread about alterna which also has many thoughts but I didn't have patience to read it. Lol.

My medium was either paper or poster. Paper I knew I could say more and go in depth, but I felt I never get the option to do something besides a paper and I absolutely LOVE doing visual work so the main draw for me was being able to design the poster in such a way that would essentially become a form of visual communication itself. This way, after the grade is given, I have something that lives on. I wanted to take the opportunity to incorporate design skills and do something I had never done before.

[Chibi-Chan]

I have to say I really like your thoughts regarding the video, Zeke. The arguments you brought up in the thread are way more interesting than the ones on the poster, but well, it's a poster. There wasn't more space left and I think you made a good job! Like it!

[DonkeyKongRemix]

While I haven't taken the time yet to read into this very interesting discussion about the topic, as an art student, I find your work here to be visually appealing! Good job!

I definitely had my attention caught by the title of the thread!

[Huaka]

Really cool! Some thought provoking ideas here. I've had to do poster presentations regarding a topic of my choosing or related to some sort of literature review or light research I had to do. It's so difficult making them, ugh! You have to be concise and to the point in such a small amount of space. Thankfully (or maybe not so), the paper allows for further elaboration and expounding on the points/arguments brought up in the poster.