When Is A Skirt More Than A Skirt?

'Question: When is a skirt more than a skirt?

Answer: If it’s short enough - or sheer enough - or shiny enough – a skirt can also be a signal and incitement to rape, according to a significant minority of people in this country. In the context of sexual violence, aspects of women’s appearance are frequently cited as indications that they were “asking for it”.'

A few days ago a new advert was aired on Scottish television to help change certain people's attitudes towards rape. Figures from surveys show that some people believe that some woman can be to blame for being raped; whether this is for wearing a revealing outfit, being flirty or being too drunk. I think the majority of the public would agree that these opinions are ridiculous, and that's where this new advert comes in.

The advert opens with a guy chatting to a girl in a club, he checks out her outfit before turning to his friend and saying 'she's asking for it.' The ad then flips back to earlier that day when the girl in question is in a shop looking for a skirt. She asks the shop assistant have some advice on which one to choose; 'I'm going out tonight and want to get raped, I want a skirt that will encourage a guy to have sex with me against my will.' After the sales assistant suggests what skirt would be more 'suiting' the advert ends with the girl saying 'as if!'

I have to be honest the advert had quite an impact on me and I haven't really watched an advert before that is so direct and hard hitting. I really hope that it has the positive impact it is hoping to achieve as I think its remarkable that people can have such prejudice opinions towards rape victims.

I was unable to download the video but you can watch it at http://www.notever.co.uk/

'Play Me I'm Yours'

"It doesn't matter if you're a world-class virtuoso like Beethoven or a guy who took one year of lessons like Bloomberg, just sit down and let your fingers do the talking," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement about "Play Me, I'm Yours" art project, in which 60 pianos have been placed throughout NY city for people to play for free. "

I was watching the news yesterday when I saw this interesting piece on an art project taking place in New York. Pianos were dotted around the city including public parks, streets and plazas. Major locations included the Lincoln Centre, Brooklyn Bridge and Staten island Ferry Terminal. The idea being the project was to get the public engaging with one and other again.

"Every Saturday morning Luke Jerram would see the same people washing their underwear but no one would talk to one another.He realised there must be invisible communities right across cities where people share the same space but do not engage. So, he had the idea of putting pianos on the streets to act as a catalyst to get people communicating. Now, beyond the horns and the traffic of the streets of New York, his project seems to be working - the air is filled with the sound of music."

I think this is a very unusual approach to get people communicating, most people would think the best way to get people talking is through a club or meeting. However I love this fun, interactive approach which is more likely to get random members of the public talking to one and other. Even if people only take a few minutes out their day to play/ listen to music I can see how it could bring people closer. In such a busy city, where people are always on the move it would be interesting to find out how successful a project such as this is.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/play-me-i-m-yours-piano-project-in-new-york-33284?cp

A Year Gone By ...

Last night I went back to the college that I attended for 3 years, to see their end of year exhibition. It was odd to think that only a year ago it was me that was running around trying to get everything finished and presented on time. Therefore it was a nice change to be able to walk around the room, and take time to look at the work that had been produced over the course of the year. It was also really interesting to see the different outcomes created in response to briefs I had been given whilst at college. It made me think that it isn't really that long until it will be me running around like a headless chicken again! My degree show may be two years away, but how time flies. I was lucky enough to have been given the chance to see a sneak preview of the Graphics work, prior to the Degree Show opening. It was very inspiring to see the work that has been created, some of which was both conceptually brilliant but also beautiful to look at. What did you think of this years show?