Week 1.2 Daily Exercise

Today in class we did an exercise where we were given two words, and tasked with incorporating those words into several thumbnail sketches about a certain issue of inequality in New Zealand.

My inequality issue was elderly abuse, encompassing different aspects such as neglect by family, mental health issues and loneliness and isolation.

Balloon:

I explored ideas of balloons used at birthday parties with no attendees – showing neglect. I also used parody in the form of the house from the movie Up with all the balloons to make it fly – however the house flying away could be a metaphor for housing affordability, or the old person is standing on the house flying away as the family walk away, unbothered. I also explored parody in the form of an arm reaching out of a drain holding a balloon, with the caption “Doncha want affordable healthcare?” a reference to the movie It.

Moon:

The word moon offered some great ideas and visuals for loneliness and isolation – I thought of ‘the old man in the moon’ looking down at earth where everyone else is. My most poignant image is the one of the elderly person looking up at the moon with the caption “My Only Constant Companion”.

Poster:

I chose to make the image of the old person looking at the moon as my poster this week. However, due to time constraints as I had work very soon after class, this poster had to be made in a rush and is nowhere near as good as it could have been had I had more time.

However, I think it is still a very poignant image and an idea I can certainly build on. I played with scale, making the old woman smaller and the moon larger, to make the elderly woman appear dwarfed, very small and alone in the huge black void of the night sky – isolated.

The caption is “At least you’re still here” – the idea that the moon has been with her for her entire life, always in the night sky – no matter how many of her companions pass away or forget her, the moon will always be there. I think it is an effective, heartbreaking image.

Rhetorical Devices and Visual Solutions:

Parody:

• Potentially a parody of space propaganda? Images of old people being forced into spaceships / strapped on, with captions like “Be free of your burdens!” “Send em off to space!”

• Images of clown with a balloon and captions about “Affordable healthcare / housing” etc being down in the drain, with images of the elderly people eagerly climbing down / reaching for the balloon.

• Parody of Up – houses flying away with balloon, unaffordable housing for elderly people, or perhaps a hospital or medical centre flying away for unnaffordable healthcare? Or elderly person themselves flying away on the house whilst their family are blissfully unaware of their loneliness and isolation.