The underground mainsTream was an excellent topic for this week’s reading. It was fascinating to hear about Steven Heller, who is the world’s most successful designer, writer, and producer. In his essay, “The Underground Mainstream,” Steven Heller clarifies the relationship between underground and mainstream ideas. It seems to Steven that mainstream commercials and advertisements are always influenced by underground ideas. They simply steal the original idea and tweak it slightly to make it more mainstream. This is an excellent point. In the reading, Steven Heller took part. Underground musicians were at the forefront of a commercial frenzy. To gain market share, they were given record contracts by labels owned by large businesses. The artists were then advertised and packaged by record labels using the same codes that indicated “alternative” to the growing adolescent market. Advertising and commercials have largely taken elements from the underground mainstream and used them to create groundbreaking ideas. These include taking ideas from the underground mainstream and making slight tweaks to create a new idea or trend. 

After reading about the mainstream vs. underground, I think there are some points from the reading which can be connected to the story of Kay Big Knife. As such, the designers’ works can be considered as part of broader themes such as self-representation or cultural exchange. Chippewa Cree is a graphic designer and digital illustrator who specializes in Native American culture. She integrates the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation scenery throughout her digital art. She uses Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to produce her pieces, where she can use her distinctive bold, precise linework and colorful palettes. Her other artistic style is a mix of Japanese anime, manga, and American comic art. With her visual technique, she brings Indigenous characters to life in imaginary settings such as superheroes, fantasy, and horror. As a result, she frequently questions national and worldwide pop culture’s misrepresentations of Indigenous characters. Her creative forms and themes inspire self-acceptance, hope, humor, and Indigenous ways of knowing by giving her a sense of community. It was fascinating to learn about her life and find her page. She is a fantastic designer who generously shares her talent with us. “

Cree language” by alphabets and orthography from the article Eskimo-Aleut languages. The Eskimo-Aleut languages are a group of languages spoken by the Eskimo and Aleut peoples in Greenland, Canada, Alaska (United States), and eastern Siberia (Russia). Aleut is a single language with two dialects that have survived. Yupik, a language found in Siberia and southwestern Alaska, and Inuit, a language spoken in northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, are the two divisions of the Eskimo. There are various dialects in each division. 

Anime is a prominent animation style in Japanese cinema. Early anime films were largely aimed at the Japanese market, and as a result, many cultural references specific to Japan were used. The huge eyes of anime characters, for example, are widely regarded in Japan as multidimensional “windows to the soul.” Although anime is primarily aimed at children, adult themes and subject matter can occasionally be found in anime films. The founding of Mushi Productions by Osamu Tezuka, a prominent character in modern manga, the dense, novelistic Japanese comic book form that contributed substantially to the aesthetic of anime, began in 1956 and reached enduring popularity in 1961.

Native American art, also known as American Indian art, is the visual art of the Americas’ indigenous peoples, often known as American Indians. One of the most fundamental contrasts between European or Continental and American Indian conceptions is the use of the word “art.” Because, unlike the West, few American Indian cultures allowed art to become an important way of life, and many Native American languages lack a word for “art” or “artist.”If you wanted to talk about a lovely basket or a well-carved sculpture, you had to use words like “well-done,” “effective,” or even “powerful” in the magical sense.

Source: 

  1. https://school-eb-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/levels/high/article/Eskimo-Aleut-languages/109813 # 75302.toc
  2. https://school-eb-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/levels/high/article/anime/471755

​3. https://school-eb-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/levels/high/article/Native-American-art/437992