For our amplify theme I have chosen to look into the effects of dog fights. While this is not a usual focus in society I feel that it is just as important and deserves to have light shed on the hurt and dangers caused by it. With the time I have my aim is to both explore the pure horror involved in this act, along with how this can cause a risk to both people in the community and the dog themselves. As well as this, I want to be able to celebrate the dogs that have been wrongly banned for this. I feel that no dog is bad by nature and that it's down to the owner to encourage good behaviour. Because of this I want to be able to support those owners that now fear for their dogs safety and secureness in society.
My heart dropped watching this documentary, seeing the conditions these poor animals are forced through was truly horrific. Some literally born into the world of chains and abuse, forced to watch as one dog rips into another. It makes me angry to think that these dogs are blamed for being aggressive when I’ve just seen their attempts of escape in those pits, only to be kicked back into the ring by the boot of a human. These animals are not aggressive by nature, they’re driven crazy at the hands of people eager for money and adrenaline. Even after that they’re cowering in the fight, forced to fight back simply as a self defence for their own life.
When the ASPCA rescued these dogs, you see instant relief. Even when they’ve only experienced harm from people they were eager to love. At the end of this documentary it showed some of these dogs being happy in new homes which therefore shows again that every dog, even after a lifetime of trauma is capable of and deserves love.
I watched the YouTube short ‘Pip’, I feel that this highlights the importance of dogs in society. For years dogs have been bred to hold certain characteristics that are most admired/benefitted by humans.
At the start of this brief we were asked to create a mind map of keywords that we think best represents our theme- thinking of ways we can express them through shape, colour and texture. I really enjoyed this task as it really encouraged me to think deeper about it. From this we had about an hour to fill both sides of an A1 piece of paper, not thinking too deeply about the things we were creating. I found myself getting lots of ideas and it was freeing to be able to get them all down on paper. I was able to let go of 'perfection' and just fully immerse myself in the feelings I was trying to portray.
Initial ideas book
I was surprisingly okay with cutting up my work, and actually somewhat mesmerised by the book it created. Such powerful marks that I didn't know could be so expressive, bold lines and sharp strips of colour. I loved that on every double page spread there was both a positive and a negative portrayal, some fully showing opposites and completely clashing. This was a really helpful task and I think I will definitely use this method again soon but giving myself more time to cover the piece of paper.
Focusing in on the XL bully
I started doing sketches of the recently banned breed- the XL bully. Due to its more muscular structure, these kinds of breeds are usually the main target for fighting dogs. This is when you find people illegally breeding these dogs and training them to do the things seen in the media, again not aggressive by nature but grown in a conflict centred environment. Taking this idea I chose to almost mock the stereotype. It is more common to see these breeds missing both their ears and their tails. This is a completely unnecessary procedure done when the dog is a puppy in order to make them look more ‘aggressive’ and ‘scary’. A completely inhumane act that the dog has no choice in and that can cause them later health struggles.
This was me reflecting on the emotions related to dog fights that people may not think about. Dogs are commonly the centre of many families, with a bond so strong that for either separation is tragic. Losing a dog naturally is absolutely heart-breaking- there's no doubt about that- but at least then a loving wholesome life was still guaranteed.
When a dog is stolen from a home it may be for the purpose of a fighter or bait, either way this would mean a life of pain for any dog. This is what makes it even worse- losing your dog yet still having that anxious feeling of never really knowing what happened to them and if they were in pain.
These were just fast sketches with a graphite stick- simple yet harsh shapes. I actually really enjoy looking at these because you can almost feel the raw emotion from the bold sketchiness of it all. However, next time it may be better to move on with a little more movement or shape to the figures.
Experimenting with photos
I decided to take photos of my aunts spaniel and my golden retriever and add on certain accessories commonly seen as a sign of danger using Procreate. These breeds are not known for aggression, more the opposite and so again my aim was to mock the stereotypes created. Adding studded collars, chains and muzzles to show that really, it doesn’t confirm anything.
This was the first time I properly played around with photos and I actually really like it. The first 2 definitely turned out the most successful and I will definitely be carrying this method through to more projects as experimentation.
Another of the banned breeds is the Pitbull, my idea for this piece was to show them as a puppy. Something so cute and harmless being profiled as this massive danger to society, now banned and unable to fit. Having this bold ‘KILLER’ label surrounding them as society had done to them. This was meant to make the viewer think ‘Oh’, and almost trigger this guilt of how they could be so wrong. However on closer inspection I think the point of this could be falsely read- people who lack the knowledge of how a killer actually is formed may just agree with the literal image.
Because of this reason I created a second image to go alongside it of the puppy pouncing on a ball. Now I feel that it is clear in illustrating that this was meant as a joke.
Focusing on contrast
For these pieces I was focusing on the idea of contrast. Through our studio session we were learning about the multiple different approaches we could use to do this including colour, size and space. I thought the boldness of the blue against the red on top of the black was quite powerful. The red symbolising the danger and anger in dog fights, and the blue embodying the sadness and abandonment felt by the dog. I never realised the power of contrast before this workshop. To push this idea further I need to experiment with size of lines and variables.
When I had my book printed I was in love with how it turned out. And the instant pride I felt- I literally couldn’t stop smiling. What made it special was the fact it meant something to me, throughout first year I don’t think I put as much of my energy into things because I wasn’t as passionate about the subjects. But then focusing my work on defending dogs became such a topic for me that I would obsessively be reading up on things and trying to educate my friends and family around it. Sometimes I’d even find myself getting slightly angered whenever someone disagreed. I really wanted to do this topic justice and because of that I put so much pressure on myself that at first I had no ideas of what to do.
I was stuck on the angle of what I was making- whether it be displaying the stereotypes and the bad things the dogs are put through, or whether to celebrate them as a breed and show viewers that they’re not the ‘born killers’ they assume. The final idea came to me on accident when I placed 2 sketches next to each other. Displayed on the white paper in charcoal was positive images of the bully breeds, celebrating and defending them. Then on the black paper was imagery showing the awful things dogs stuck in the fighting industry are put through. I tried to match up both sides to create a sharp contrast and then added texture pages in as fillers.
I could not be happier with how my book turned out and I think it has such a powerful message behind it. To further my practice I'm thinking of possibly printing out a selection of copies of this book and handing them out to bully breed owners just so they feel supported.
Audiovisual experiments
For this I used rotoscoping which is something I have never done before. This was really useful when planning concepts and thinking of shapes that suit them.
