The Revolution will not be televised, or at least that's what my art project tries to represent. For my art project, I chose to discuss the overarching themes in my painting: technological development and the dichotomy between visibility and invisibility in the digital age through visual art form- a mixed media painting. As a result, I had a guiding research question: How can I portray the dichotomy between visibility and invisibility in the digital age, both historically and presently, through the display of individuals in social change? How can I represent how 'The Revolution Will Not be Televised?' 

My project analyzes the historical work of DPI and 525 lines that were historically created to capture reality for television (Science Direct). My painting has many lines showcasing this effect on the left side of the painting. This shows the depiction of reality regarding the media and its intersectionality with revolutions and protests. In a specific part of my painting on the left, there is a lack of lines showcased on some protestors, whereas in other parts of the left-sided canvas, there are x's on some of the mouths to showcase how the media silences voices that try to speak. These Xs are a homage to the revolution of The Last Poets and Gill Scott Heron's revolutionary songs. For example, Gill famously says the Revolution Will Not be Televised. Again, in my painting, the blended lines that reference 525 lines showcased the overall chaos of the painting as well as the confounding nature of the media and its part in social change and revolution. Just like I, Gill was inspired by the Last Poets to produce radical artwork showcasing how the revolution will not be televised by instituting that comfort and revolution are opposed just like television and the depiction of actual reality in social change are. Ultimately, this gathers the historical sides of how the revolution will not be televised. Then,  the left side contrasts with the newer and more digitally advanced side of media and its intersectionality with social change as the right side has pixels and CV Dazzle makeup, where people are choosing to hide themselves from surveillance cameras during protests(Youtube). This idea of who gets to be depicted and what gets to be depicted regarding the media and social change is exactly why the revolution will not be televised, as the media muddles revolution and creates chaos to actual forms of reality like protests. To further expand this digital sense of who gets to be televised, I added a homage to AKQA's exploration of a Shirley Card that puts Black women and darker skin-toned people at the forefront of depiction, and historically, the Shirley cards were not created to express   skin tones (AKQA). This again goes back to my point of who gets to be televised and this dichotomy of invisibility and visibility in the digital age.

To conceptualize this idea,  I landed on doing a painting. Furthermore, I created this painting using order pastel pencils, gouache paint, and watercolor brushes. As a result, I created a mixed media painting, which is ironic considering my painting explores the dichotomy of what happens when the media intermixes with reality and ultimately prohibits the revolution and the depiction of reality from being televised. I spent most of my time conceptualizing how to create such a unique art piece. Through this, I spent time looking at photos of protests and researching the different levels of television resolution and how that's transformed from the past to the present.

Consequently, I looked over and wondered how I would depict the lyrics from The Last Poets which  had inspired artists like Gill-Scott Heron and I, and how I  would reflect on  my creative project. As a result, I struggled with interpretation and how my artistic endeavors would either conflate or ensure external understanding of what I knew to be true of Last Poets and other revolutionary artists. From this thought pattern illuminated that the revolution would not be televised. I struggled to capture the thought pattern as I struggled with my creativity. Since I was speaking out, or even more so, painting and discussing topics that ranged close, far, and in between my project, I felt I had to do the Last Poets and the idea of how” The Revolution will not be Televised”. justice. Before my project, I did not know Resolution was an innately digital concept. Through this, I had to map out what would begin to showcase the dichotomy of how The Revolution would not be televised then, about the 1970s, to more broad concepts like the depiction of reality in media with new CV Dazzle Makeup to camouflage protestors and newer versions of Shirley cards that are made to depict Blackness or darker skin tones in all forms. Originally, television resolution was cast through DPI and 525 lines, and this revolutionized my art piece- I know it's ironic. It revolutionized my painting because rather than having a painting full of pixels, I began to show the dichotomy between older thoughts and trials of revolution as it relates to the media and the depiction of reality. I began to show this idea of who gets to be televised. This seemingly broad vague concept  felt overwhelming at times. Still, it was a relief to explain what I understood to others and for them to understand that the revolution would not be televised. Ultimately, my project became something I am very proud of, and I hope to do more soon.

References 

“MakeUp Tutorial HOW TO HIDE FROM CAMERAS.” YouTube, 30 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGGnnp43uNM.

Muyumba, Walton. “Rap’s Radical First Act.” The New York Times, 30 Nov. 2018. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/books/review/christine-otten-last-poets.html.

Reframing the Greatness of Black - AKQA. https://www.akqa.com/work/akqa/reframing-the-greatness-of-black/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

Resolution Image - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/resolution-image. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.