Papers by Barbara Brownie
Barbara Brownie, 'Alien Scripts: Pseudo-Writing and Asemisis in Comics and Graphic Novels'... more Barbara Brownie, 'Alien Scripts: Pseudo-Writing and Asemisis in Comics and Graphic Novels', paper presented at the 3rd Global Conference: The Graphic Novel, Oxford, UK, 3-5 September, 2014.
In May 2013, the FSB expelled an American diplomat on the grounds that he was spying for the CIA.... more In May 2013, the FSB expelled an American diplomat on the grounds that he was spying for the CIA. Listed among the alleged spy’s suspicious possessions were ‘means of altering appearance’. It was later revealed that this disguise kit contained a variety of wigs and sunglasses. These paraphernalia were so ill-fitting that they seemed to belong in a comedy performance, but they provoked some serious debate. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, former CIA operative, Robert Baer, described the thick-rimmed glasses and stick-on moustaches that he and his colleagues had worn to break up facial contours. The aim of these disguises was to make people remember ‘something other than the face’. An individual’s identity is bound up in his or face more so than any other body part. Passport photographs, portraits, and other images related to personal identity, tend to feature the face. It is for this reason that criminal photo-fits tend to feature only the head, and why criminals’ disguises concentrate on concealing the face and head. The problem with any mask or facial disguise is that it immediately marks someone out as a wrong-doer. The mere act of wearing a mask may itself be considered morally questionable, as it is a deception of sorts. The ‘mask has come to connote something disingenuous, something false’. It is overtly a disguise. David Napier observes that it is this sense of an incomplete identity that drives audiences to seek out the secret alternative identity hidden underneath. The mask is ‘known to have no inside’ and this ‘invit[es] the audience to peer behind the mask’. This paper will explore the problem of the mask and its use in disguise. While effective disguise often necessitates the use of a mask (or other artefacts that distort or conceal the face), facial disguises often heighten the observer’s sense of curiosity about the identity beneath. Taking recent and historical examples of physical disguise, the paper will identify why the mask is the cornerstone of disguise, and simultaneously the disguise’s greatest point of vulnerability.Non peer reviewe
Barbara Brownie, Jayne Smith, and Rebecca Thomas, ‘Temperature testing leading to ongoing curricu... more Barbara Brownie, Jayne Smith, and Rebecca Thomas, ‘Temperature testing leading to ongoing curriculum evolution in Creative Arts modules’. Presentation to HEA Annual Conference 2017: Generation TEF: Teaching in the Spotlight, 4 July – 7 July 2017, Manchester, UK.
Barbara Brownie, Acts of Undressing: Politics, Eroticism and Discarded Clothing (London: Bloomsbu... more Barbara Brownie, Acts of Undressing: Politics, Eroticism and Discarded Clothing (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016), ISBN: 978-1472596185
© Barbara Brownie 2020. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is publi... more © Barbara Brownie 2020. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Film, Fashion & Consumption, Volume 9, Number 1, 1 May 2020, pp. 5-21(17): https://doi.org/10.1386/ffc_00009_1.
Part 1: Mapping the Field: Categories of Kineticism Chapter 1: What is Kineticism?Chapter 2: Glob... more Part 1: Mapping the Field: Categories of Kineticism Chapter 1: What is Kineticism?Chapter 2: Global v. Local Perception, and the problem with Global BiasChapter 3: Local Kineticism and Fluctuating Identity Part 2: Issues in Transforming Typography Chapter 4: Illusory Space: The Page and Screen as a Virtual EnvironmentChapter 5: Legibility and Asemisis in Fluid Typography Part 3: Case Studies Chapter 6: Fluid Branding: Channel 4 and its imitators Chapter 7: Telling Titles: The credit sequences of Kyle Cooper and his peersChapter 8: Visual Poetry Conclusion Bibliography Appendix
Dress, 2017
List of Illustrations Introduction Part 1: Origins and Evolution Chapter 1: Superman: Codifying t... more List of Illustrations Introduction Part 1: Origins and Evolution Chapter 1: Superman: Codifying the Superhero Wardrobe Physical Labour and the Construction of Masculinity Performance in Combat The Costume as Biography Superman the Brand The Archetype and his Imitators Chapter 2: Identity, Role and The Mask The Mask and Issues of Identity The Identity of the Mask Power, Authority and the Privileged Few Face-ism How Dress Defines Role The Deceit of the Masquerade Chapter 3: Evolution and Adaptation: Form v. Function 'Sucked Into Silliness' Real-life References: The historical and the sporting. Technology and Utility The Pursuit of Credibility: Hyperrealism and assemblage The Decline of the Costume Part 2: Identities and Ideals Chapter 4: Wearing The Flag: Patriotism and globalization Stars and Stripes... and Spandex Conflicted Identities: Nation v. Race Exoticism and Primitivism in Batman Incorporated Chapter 5: Dressing Up, Dressing Down: A Spectacle of Otherness, and the Ordinariness of the Civilian Alter-ego Performing Ordinariness Playing to the Reader Unmasking Clark Kent Self-Objectification Method in the Masquerade Chapter 6: Channelling The Beast Physiognomy and Anthrozoomorphism The Bird Men Ritual and the Animal Spirit Part 3: Harsh Realities Chapter 7: Superheroes and the Fashion of Being Unfashionable Fashion Outsiders The Gender Divide The Cycle of Superhero Fashion Evolution into Eternity Chapter 8: Superhero Cosplay Participatory Fandom / Imaginative Reconstruction 'I'm your biggest fan': Competition and Authenticity Spectatorship and the Cosplay Spectacle Sewing and Making: Masculinity and Manufacture Chapter 9: Real-life Superheroes Masked Vigilantes and The Reality of Costumes Masks and Manifestos Parent Power Part 4: Case Studies Introduction to Case Studies Chapter 10: Watchmen Deconstructing the Costume Men without Humanity Masks without Men Chapter 11: Iron Man Who is Iron Man? Automated Dressing The Hyper-abled Hero Chapter 12: X-Men Uniforms and Unity The Yellow 'X': Marking the Mutant 'Other' Notes Bibliography
Deception: Spies, Lies and Forgeries, 2016
Frame Escapes: Graphic Novel Intertexts, 2016
Superhero narratives are distinguished by the hero's negotiation of the relationship between two ... more Superhero narratives are distinguished by the hero's negotiation of the relationship between two constructed identities, one ordinary, one extraordinary. The superhero, whose costume emphasizes otherness, shelters in the guise of a civilian, in a performance of ordinariness. Prompted by Jacob Riis' invitation in 'How The Other Half Lives' (1890), journalists of that era engaged in performance of ordinariness in search of transstatus empathy. These journalists cloaked themselves in a 'signified cloth granting liberation and opportunity.' The clothes reduced their status, masking their profession or prestige, and they found themselves empowered. The disguises allowed them normalcy and anonymity, thereby enabling relationships and activities previously out of reach. Dressing down in civilian wardrobe, the superhero engages in similar trans-status disguise. By concealing otherness, he is liberated from the responsibilities of the superhero lifestyle and the extreme attention it garners. Superman's civilian masquerade provides the freedom to engage with normal human society. We can consider his Clark Kent persona in terms of the trans-status observations emerging from social experiments that utilise disguise to enter a closed social group. Kal-El of Krypton is a 'covert operative' who originates from outside the subject of his study, and disguises himself in order to infiltrate the group. He learns their costumes and customs via his rural Kansas upbringing, and then in adulthood and the urban sprawl of Metropolis, positions himself as 'one of them.' Superman's relationship with his civilian alter-ego differs from that of other superheroes, who acquire their superpowers later in life. Spider-Man, for example, can be equated to a 'retrospective participant observer': he is able to model his civilian disguise on his own past experiences of ordinariness. This paper will compare trans-status disguise in superhero comics to the activities of undercover journalists and social scientists, exploring the concealment of otherness through the performance of ordinariness.
Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 2007
Current understanding of the nature of type assumes it to be static, with properties of form and ... more Current understanding of the nature of type assumes it to be static, with properties of form and colour. With the introduction of temporal media, typographic artefacts may additionally have properties of behaviour. Temporal media allow type to perform and evolve. ‘Fluid’ (Kac, 1997) type, as it appears in onscreen, is ‘dramatized’ (Helfand, 1997). A single form may present multiple letters through processes of morphing, rotation or deconstruction, and multiple forms may present a single letter through processes of reorganisation. Analysis of such artefacts not only requires us to re-evaluate our understanding of the nature of type, but also to reassess the notion that a single letterform may only have a single identity. Referencing examples of typographic performance, this paper will discuss the nature of fluid type, and propose that current typographic theory may need to adapt in order to respond to the introduction of temporal media.
As a hybrid of typography and digital animation, kinetic typography has arisen from two distinct ... more As a hybrid of typography and digital animation, kinetic typography has arisen from two distinct histories. Studies of typography take for granted the fixed identity of the printed sign, whereas digital animation frequently features kineticism leading to transformation. It is perhaps for this reason that studies of kinetic typography do not offer adequate exploration of typographic forms that transform and change identity. Though texts on temporal typography offer thorough analysis of temporal typography that moves or is serially presented over time, these studies do not allow for examples such as MPC's Channel 4 logos, in which pictorial objects transform into a numerical character, or the typographic animation of Komninos Zervos and Dan Waber, in which forms morph between alternative typographic poles. This article will propose that, in order to address the current lack of understanding of transforming type, it is necessary to look beyond the fields of digital animation and typography, to the holographic poetry of Eduardo Kac. Kac identifies, in his holopoetry, forms that escape "constancy of meaning" as they appear to transform between linguistic and pictorial poles. Kac's terminology may be applied in the examination of "fluid" forms in temporal typography, leading to an understanding of the ways in which transformative behaviours differ from simple motion or elasticity.
Theorists including Michael Worthington (1998) and Jessica Helfand (1994) recognise in temporal m... more Theorists including Michael Worthington (1998) and Jessica Helfand (1994) recognise in temporal media the capacity to add additional dimensions to typography. ‘Type in motion’ is indeed an established field of typographic practice. In most cases, however, texts fail to acknowledge that temporal media allow type to do more than just ‘move’. Contemporary examples feature typography that evolves, or exhibits behaviour, further blurring the boundary between image and type. At present, no method of analysis, or even terminology, exists to sufficiently identify and describe this kind of typography. Perhaps the most appropriate term, ‘fluid’ typography, was identified by Eduardo Kac (1996) as typography that presents different identities over time. This aptly describes the typography that is currently encountered, for example, in MPC’s Channel 4 identity, in which the figure ‘4’ is constructed from environmental objects. These objects are, for a time, pictorial (a part of the landscape), then their identity changes; they become abstract components of a letterform. Kac’s term, however, was never intended for such artefacts. It was formulated specifically for his holographic poetry, in which letterforms appear to change when the viewer changes his or her physical location relative to the hologram. Similar features can now be seen in contemporary, digital examples, such as the fluid, typographic works of artists such as Dan Waber and Komninos Zervos. Yet these examples go further than Kac’s own works. They present forms in flux that are, in a moment, text, and in another, image. This presentation will propose a definition of ‘fluid’ typography that can incorporate this new form of temporal typography, and observe how theorists have, as yet, failed to acknowledge this unique hybrid of text and image. I will ask how typographic theory can be updated to allow for such type, propose new terminology to distinguish varying forms of temporal typography, and propose methodologies for the analysis of ‘fluid’ typographic artefacts.Non peer reviewe
Clothing Cultures, 2015
Dressing-up' has often been seen as a gendered activity. In particular, costumingthe design and c... more Dressing-up' has often been seen as a gendered activity. In particular, costumingthe design and creation of costumes-has been viewed as a female pursuit. However, contemporary events and artefacts, particularly those related to fandom, frame dressing-up in contexts that are more acceptable to male audiences. Via cosplay, historical re-enactment, and the personalization of characters in online games such as World of Warcraft, a new generation of men are becoming more engaged with costume. This article will identify contemporary influences on the perception of the wearing and construction of costume, particularly with regards to costume as an expression of masculine ideals. It will discuss the costume as a marker of hypermasculinity, authority or preparedness, and identify how traditionally feminine domestic spaces and activities have been coopted by a new generation of males. It will present domestic activities such as sewing as rights-of-passage on the path towards masculinity.
Journal of Design History, 2013
Fluid typographic forms (letters, numbers, and other characters), which transform over time to pr... more Fluid typographic forms (letters, numbers, and other characters), which transform over time to present new identities, are employed in a new kind of temporal typography. These forms, and the behaviours they exhibit, are most commonly seen in temporal media, including television idents, credit sequences, and typographic animation. However, fluidity is dependent on characteristics that were developed historically, from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. It has become possible to retrospectively identify the ways that historical developments anticipated fluid transformation in temporal typography. Some categories of fluid behaviour would be impossible if it were not for the concept of the letter as malleable, as a three-dimensional object, or as modular. These characteristics permit processes, or fluid behaviours, through which a new identity is introduced to a changing form. This article demonstrates that these three characteristics are reflected in three historical developments: the use of the transformable grid in the development of Romain du Roi, three-dimensional nineteenth-century typefaces, and the modular lettering of Josef Albers, Theo van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck.
Fashion: Exploring Critical Issues, 2012
Fashion is often described as asserting or reinforcing social or professional bonds, but rarely i... more Fashion is often described as asserting or reinforcing social or professional bonds, but rarely is such a fixed bond established as when garments physically link one body to another. We may be familiar with shared garments in dramatic costume, as in Chinese dragons or pantomime horses, but there are also examples of everyday garments designed to contain multiple bodies. Examples include Lucy Orta's collective wear, Dana Karwas and Karla Karwas' Party Dress worn by five women simultaneously, and Aamu Song and Johan Olin's Dance Shoes for Father and Daughter. These garments not only assert relationships between wearers, but make that relationship inescapable by physically binding bodies together. By linking or binding bodies, these shared garments restrict movement, and ensure choreographed motion, forcing the wearers to move as one. This establishes a hierarchy, placing one wearer in control of motion, and others in subservient positions. This paper will discuss the wearing of shared garments, focusing in particular on how forced choreography affects issues of identity, interpersonal relationships, and social hierarchy. It will observe how shared garments may challenge or reinforce ideas about the relationship between fashion and identity, and will explore the social motives behind the design of such garments.
Writing Visual Culture, 2022
Introduction to Volume 10 of Writing Visual Culture, peer-reviewed journal. Publication of papers... more Introduction to Volume 10 of Writing Visual Culture, peer-reviewed journal. Publication of papers from University of Hertfordshire's Theorising Visual Art and Design (TVAD) symposium 2021 called, 'What the World Needs Now is Artists and Designers Engaged with Science'.
Journal of Design History
Fluid typographic forms (letters, numbers and other characters), which transform over time to pre... more Fluid typographic forms (letters, numbers and other characters), which transform over time to present new identities, are employed in a new kind of temporal typography. These forms, and the behaviours they exhibit, are most commonly seen in temporal media, including television idents, credit sequences and typographic animation. However, fluidity is dependent upon characteristics that were developed historically, from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. It has become possible to retrospectively identify the ways that historical developments anticipated fluid transformation in temporal typography. Some categories of fluid behaviour would be impossible if it were not for the concept of the letter as malleable, as a three-dimensional object, or as modular. These characteristics permit processes, or fluid behaviours, through which a new identity is introduced to a changing form. This article demonstrates that these three characteristics are reflected in three historical developments:...
Barbara Brownie, Jayne Smith, Rebecca Thomas, ‘In Another Instant: Focus and Interaction in Creat... more Barbara Brownie, Jayne Smith, Rebecca Thomas, ‘In Another Instant: Focus and Interaction in Creative Arts Learning’, paper presented at the European Conference on eLearning (ECEL), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, 29-30 October, 2015.
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Papers by Barbara Brownie
This book draws together speculative fantasies in sci-fi films such as Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the engineered spacesuits Biosuit, and the NASA Z-2 and with catwalk interpretations by the likes of Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, André Courrèges, and Iris van Herpen. While the development of commercial space agencies has led to new concerns for style in garments for outer space that re-think fundamental design principles such as drape, high fashion has experimented with new possibilities for weightlessness that extend far beyond the 1960s vision of Space Age metallic fabrics and helmet-style headwear.
Brownie takes the reader on a fascinating journey from fantasy to function and to form, deepening our understanding of this new category of fashion that is prompting new approaches to garment design and construction both on earth and in outer space.
As we are increasingly obsessed with dress choices as signifiers of who we are and how we feel, an investigation into what happens as we remove our clothes has never been more pertinent. Divided into three main sections, 'Politics', 'Tease' and 'Clothes Without Bodies', Acts of Undressing discusses these key themes through an in-depth and eclectic mix of case studies including flashing at Mardi Gras, the World Burlesque Games, the ripping of uniforms in the Star Trek television series, and 'shoefiti' used by gangs to mark territories.
Building on leading theories of dress and the body, from academics including Roland Barthes and Mario Perniolato Ruth Barcan and Erving Goffman, Acts of Undressing is essential reading for students of fashion, sociology, anthropology, visual culture and related subjects. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/acts-of-undressing-9781472596192/#sthash.CY3m7OhU.dpuf
"This remarkable book illuminates the rapidly evolving ecosystem of typography. On the pages of this carefully researched study, letterforms come alive as creatures with deep histories and unexpected behaviors." -- Ellen Lupton, Curator, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, USA
"Barbara Brownie's Transforming Type is an exciting and thoughtful look at typography that has been liberated from the printed page. Its range - including historical and contemporary references - is truly impressive. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the power of type and how it can be applied in new and cutting edge ways." -- Andrew Byrom, California State University, USA
This paper will propose that, within the practice of motion branding, transforming type has been largely neglected by existing theorists and its importance to wider marketing trends overlooked. It will discuss how branding has adapted to incorporate the features of the medium of television, and propose new methods of classification for the associated processes of metamorphosis, construction, parallax and revelation. It will be observed that previous texts on transitional letterforms have tended to focus on changes in global arrangement and in doing so have neglected to recognise the significance of changes that occur at a local level, within individual letterforms. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, with examples including idents and bumpers from Channel 4, Sky, FOX, Five and MTV. New methods of understanding these artefacts will be introduced, with emphasis on how they affect the relationship between broadcaster’s identities and the medium of television.