Research Task: Otherness

For this research task, I must explore imagery that creates the sense of 'us and them', or 'otherness'. I took to the Bridgeman Education Website and tried to find imagery that fit the tone of 'otherness'.

The definition of 'otherness' is described as 'being or feeling different in appearance or character from what is familiar or expected or generally accepted'~ Cambridge Dictionary.

To understand 'Otherness' the viewer has to be the part of the 'us' to look at the 'them', whether you're of a certain race, religion, gender, sexuality-- any slightest difference where one viewer will see it a different way creates the meaning to the illustration/painting/etc.

My first initial thought I had when reading that definition and attempting to put into words and research this topic, was another illustration I researched previously which was the 'Beer Street' and 'Gin Lane' by William Hogarth. Both were stark different from each other showing the 'otherness' of both sides, they were showing the chaos of Gin Lane and the upbeat Beer Street. However it got me thinking, when does the otherness apply? Back then, this could have been informative and factual, whereas looking at it from 2025 perspective it paints a morbid picture of an illustration that could be dramatized.

Gin Lane showed the devastating effects of gin-drinking, the morbid realities and the destructive behaviors that possibly came out of drinking gin. Beer Street showing the merry people getting on abut their day, well-fed and overall looking optimistic. If you're looking at it from one side to the other, it would make an assumption of what it's like for the other side. To approach it differently, I would make Beer Street slightly more realistic, they're still drinking alcohol, it's not all jolly. Yes, the initial thought is there but by creating it this way creates a distance between the artist and what they actually have seen. This is historical though, so I maybe wrong-- who knows; by showing two sides creates the divide and allows for both sides to experience the 'us and them'.

Beer Street and Gin Lane, 1751, William Hogarth

As I continued looking through the database, I started to pick up on the ones I was choosing as what I thought was 'otherness'. That was, Satirical Illustrations. Another question came into my head, 'is satirical illustration an example of otherness?', could it be defined as so, because in most cases the illustrations are being manipulated a specific way to tell a story or a "joke"-- but in those cases are a variety of illustrations that showcases prejudices and hateful attacks that aren't true.

'Reception of the Diplomatique and his Suite at the Court of Pekin', c.1793. James Gillray, Colour Etching.

This piece exaggerates the Asian men portraying them in a way that is untrue, it's hurtful and gives the wrong impression to those viewing the illustration. Drawing them the way they actual look like would still get the message across that there is intimidation between the two groups, however by creating it this way suggests an underlying harmful comment.

'Girls I Didn't Marry', U/A. (Colour Litho)

This piece assumes that every woman suffragette was some old and wrinkly lady which wasn't the case, it was a variety of women who stood for what they wanted-- a vote. To make the line closer between the subject and the viewer, have a range of different women illustrated, have a joke that women could also laugh at, have a sign that can make women laugh when they see it. Get rid of 'Girls I didn't want to marry' to something that doesn't put down women because no one wanted to marry them.

This illustration enforced men to believe that the woman wanting the vote are just someone you marry, enforcing the values that women shouldn't vote simply because of them being "old women who hold a grudge". When reality, everyone had the right to vote, men and women should be equal.

Reflecting further in to the topic of 'otherness', I find it difficult to put into words everything I see wrong with the variety of illustrations that I looked through on the Bridgemen Education Website and throughout the web; I come from a stereotypical white nuclear household, and when I watch the news and all the injustice happening around the world I'm immediately disgusted with the harmful actions and words that are being inflicted on the minorities. Yes, I'm a woman and I face some stupid comments and prejudices, however many people have it worse off than me-- and it's so devastating and I will never know what that's like.

Reflection

I'm not good with words and so when approaching this research task I made sure to be as clear as I could, it may sound terrible still. I wasn't sure what to expect when researching for this task and there was very little I could find, to look for images I browsed for hours and then had to refine the search into satirical illustrations just to attempt to understand the term 'otherness'.

I feel like maybe I did ramble on a bit, but I found this research task so difficult. I tried so hard to find suitable imagery that I was comfortable with showing on my learning log that I could then identity how I think they could have created the sense of 'divide'/'us and them'.I had more images and I knew what I was seeing was not a reflection on society, and saw the distance between the subject and the artist/viewer. But I just couldn't find technical art terms that would be appropriate to use...