Death of a Button: Act I...

After last week's two failures, I've decided it was time to retool my concept and design. Although, I'm still using the button as a subject of aggrandizement, the object itself has become much less prominent; in fact, in what I'm calling Act I (not yet complete), the button does not even make an appearance until the end. I've made this decision because my past work has become mired in lackluster animation that's both stagnant and unimaginative...

Now, as to concept--I've decided to achieve aggrandizement in the most absurd of ways: I'm going to eulogize a button. In itself, the act of eulogizing a human being, is aggrandizement (perhaps the ultimate form, when combined with martyrdom); however, I wish to make a point with this ridiculous anthropomorphism: by performing the act of eulogy for a button--something that obviously neither dies, nor performs any actions other than the joining an article of clothing--I am making reference to many of our own forms of aggrandizement that are just as absurd. As time goes on, I'll make this connection clearer...

Act I, deals with the concept of death from life--that this button is somehow dying so that other forms of life may flourish (ridiculous, I know). Visually, I've chosen to represent this concept through the use of abstract, living tears that seem to form from nothingness and coalese back into nothingness; I've also given them a snake like appearance, in reference to some creation myths that see the snake as a creative force. The text will eventually read "so that others might live, the button must die."

Fun with Letters

This second assignment, dealing with the expression of letter forms, is based upon aggrandizement of the ego. This idea is communicated through the constant use of the "i" letter form, and excerpts from the resignation speech of one Richard Nixon--which I believe in itself is the essence of aggrandizement: misconstruing and building up a criminal action(s) into some sort of civil service because his supposed intent was for the good of the U.S. I communicate this concept through the use of choppy animations that alter the position and appearance of letter forms, but essentially leave the underlying message/image intact throughout much of the animation. Also, although I never use an actual button image or reference, this concept is analogous to one of my key concepts in the ongoing button project: aggrandizement through added complexity that changes the images/buttons somewhat, but fails to change the underlying image.

From our discussion, it’s become clear to me that how something comes to be aggrandized is debatable; however, what seems to be concrete is that the methods by which something becomes aggrandized are various, and many. Objects (both tangible and intangible) can become aggrandized by scale, position, and even the amount of attention paid to it—to name a scant few of the possibilities…
What has also become clear to me is how undeveloped and far too general my concepts for this project are: I haven’t tapped into the multitude of directions that exists in the simple button; I haven’t researched the history and current usage of the button, nor have I ventured past the metaphor of connection and explored other analogies that can be made as well…
One thought that’s popped into my head is how so much of life is simply aggrandizement; there are so many facets of our culture, worldwide culture, that isn’t essential to survival, but is aggrandized to seem as though it is necessity. Take mass consumption, for example—since the 50’s, we’ve all been taught—in some form or another—to seek to and want to buy the newest, biggest, most technologically advanced products out there. Even though most of these things are not necessary, and in some ways may be harmful by bringing a sort of intellectual stagnation that distracts us from the things of actual necessity, we’re imbued with a perceived need for consumption.
I don’t want to get stuck on just the idea of consumerism, however: there are plenty of other facets of everyday life that serve as examples of aggrandizement—not just American or industrialized…
An example that I believe holds true for all human history is myth and religion. For these systems of beliefs to function, the subjects that deal with—good, evil, saints, God, gods—must be raised above the mundane and everyday. It’s not as though we can find entertainment in a mythic character that isn’t extraordinary in some way, or worship some saint that perform some phenomenal act, or actions; no, we worship or at least pay ample attention to myth and religion, because their subjects surpass the everyday man and woman…
When you think about it, aggrandizement is really a tool for societal cohesion and hierarchy. In order for societies to exist, there needs to be this general sense of what is important—basically, what is right and wrong. I believe you can trace so many behaviors such as fashion and etiquette to learned behavior that became engrained in our genes; in other words, although wearing what celebrity trendsetters are wearing isn’t essential to our own, immediate survival, the desire to do so is—or at least once was.
One has to wonder if groupthink is as important as it once was, when humans were far fewer, and day-to-day survival was a much more precarious thing; in turn, one has to wonder if aggrandizement is as important as in previous times, or just a learned behavior that’s as useful as our appendix.