Sunday, 1 April 2012
Project 16 deconstruction- terms of Art
Project 16 deconstruction - terms of Art
The philosopher Derrida divided his time between France and California (University of Irvine). He was given the credit (by some) as the founder of deconstruction (the process of taking concepts apart and rejoining then again sideways or inside out etc.). He was made aware of this as he move back and forth between France and the U.S.A. Sometimes they (deconstructionists) insist that there is no grounded perspectives (that all are complete) and that we cannot afford to choose one from another this leads to the concept of pluralism(has more than one ultimate principle) and postmodernism (specifically a reaction against modernism said to begin with pop art) Many see these arguments as important to getting to see all perspectives. While other choose to avoid this. At some point there is no grounded perspective that all are complete and that we can ill afford to choose one over the other - Thus the concept of pluralism and post modernism.
Project 16 deconstruction - terms of art
Project 16 deconstruction - terms of art
Examples of deconstruction of an image in film
CBS mini series The Regan's was presented as a deconstruction of the Regan adminisation.
The film Shriek can be considered as a deconstruction of a popular fairy tale. The terms also used to describe older parades such as Don Quixote and Gulliver's Travels. Which deconstruct the concepts of knightly order and genre of travel goers respectively. Thus the use of this term which is only slightly connected to Derrida's original seems to take hold in various ways in recent years.
Gillian Dyer claims that advertising is "the official art" of the advanced industrial nations of the west (1982)
Some even suggest that this works in the same way as myths and primitive societies in as far as it conveys values and beliefs through providing the onlooker with simple stories and explanations which help them to organise their thought and experiences and to make sense of the world.
Every day we are surrounded be advertisements which ever way we turn we will see some form of publicity (latest offers at supermarkets- billboard- magazine's- newspapers- adverts of television even when going to the cinema). Yet very often we are not aware of the impact these have on ourselves. Advertisers try to manipulate society into buying a new way of life.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Project 15 Author? what Author?
Project 15 Author? what Author?
Section 1 Michel Foucault What is an author pps 949-953
At the start of this essay Foucault is being provocative taking a given and turning it into a problem at 1st glance his question (what is an author) seems pointless as we have become accustomed to the way we think about authors and authorship.
Foucault reminds us that we regard the concept of authorship as "solid and fundamental" the concept has not always existed. It "came to being at a particular moment in history and it could pass out of being in the future".
He also seems to take up or have a habit of thinking about authors as individuals, heroic figures who can transcend or step outside history. Why should we think this way, why not consider the notion that authors are products of our time? According to Foucault, Barthes had encouraged other critics to realise that they could "do without (the authors) and study work itself (Question how can you if you have nothing to go on in the 1st place)?
Foucault then turns his attention to a rival (Derrida though he does not mention him by name) and claims that although Derrida like Barthes presents his views as radical they are quite conventional. Foucault suggests that Derrida recognises the author, but instead reassigns the author privileges and power to writing or language itself. Why does he bother to do this because he enjoys a fight and does not want his readers to assume that being an author is a dead issue a problem that Barthes and Derrida have already solved He wishes to show that despite all their inflated language neither Barthes or Derrida has broken away from the question or the author----much less solved it. Foucault then asks us to think about the ways in which the name functions in our society - names of authors often serve a classificatory function. For example if you were to go to a bookshop or library and were looking for a certain book you would look for the authors name not the title, what it is about, what year was it written or published. You would look for the author. Why do we assume that it is natural to look this way? What if we were to discover that it had not been written by this person would we be disappointed, after all the novel etc would not change. Foucault goes on to introduce his concept of the "author function" this is not a person and not confused with the author or the writer it is more like a set of beliefs or assumptions that govern the production, circulation, classification and reading of the text.
Section 2 Roland Barthes essay The death of the author pps 142-148
Barthes opens with a quote from Balzac's novel Sarrasine where the author offers a description of a "castrato" disguised as a woman (p.142) "this is a woman herself, with her sudden fears, her irrational whims, her instinctive worries, her impetuous boldness, her fussing and her delicious sensibility" (p142) One of the most widely-known features of intertextuality is Barthes claim that of the death of the author. He combines psychoanalytical and linguistic theories to argue that the orgins of the text is not a unified authorial consciousness but a plurality of other words utterances and other tests.
Barthes suggests that the meaning of the authors words does not originate from the authors own unique consciousness but from the place of words within linguistic and cultural systems. The author has the role as a compiler or arranger of pre-existent possibilities within the language system. Each word sentence, paragraph etc.that the author produces takes its origins from the language system out of which it has been produced. This view of language expressed by Barthes is what theorists termed inter textual (to Barthes this means that nothing exists outside the text) he destroys the idea that meanings come from and is the property of the individual author. This synthesises the view that by saying that " the modern sciptor, when they write is always already in the process of reading and re-writing meaning comes not from the author but the language viewed. The nature of writing turns both the traditional author and critic in to readers.
Bathes concludes `The Death of the Author` with the following --- a text is made from multiple writings taken from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contention but there is one place where this is focused, that of the reader not as hitherto said the author. The reader is the space on which all the quotes that make up the writing are inscribed without any being lost a text lies not in its origins (writer) but in its reader so the birth of the reader is the death of the author.
Question In their view does this mean in the context of art the painter is not the author but the viewer is? So when we study a painting we interpreted it as our authorship?
Michel Foucault's
At the start of this essay Foucault is being provocative taking a given and turning it into a problem at 1st glance his question (What is an Author?) seems pointless as we are accustomed we have become to thinking about authors and authorship. In this section Foucault reminds us that we regard the concept of authorship as "solid and fundamental" the concept has not always existed. It "came into being at a particulure moment in history and could pass out of being in the furture.
Foucault also seems to take up our habit of thinking about authors as individuals heroic figures who can transcend or step outside history. Why should we think this way, why not consider the notion that authors are product of their times?
According to Foucault, Barthes has encourged other critics to realize that they could "do without (the authors) and study the work itself.) Question how can you if you have nothing to go on in the 1st place?
Foucault then turns his attention to a rival (Derrida though he does not mnetion him by name) and cliams that although Derrida like (Barthes) presents his views as radical they are quite conventional. Foucault suggest that Derrida reconnises the author, but instead reassigns the authors privileges and power to writting or lauguage itself. Why does he bother to do this, because he enjoys a fight and does not want his readers to assume that being an author is a dead issue a problem that Barthes and Derrida have already solved.
He wishes to show that dispite all their inflated language neither Barthes or Derrida has broken away from the question of the author --- much less solved it.
Foucault then ask us to think about the ways in which the authors names functions in our society - names of authors often serve as a classifactory function. i.e. if you go to a book shop or libuary and are looking for a certain book you would look for the authors name not the name of the book or want it is about (accept for looking under the heading of study, general reading or reference etc) or what year it was published or writtn. Why do we assume that it is natural to look this way, what if we were to discover that it had not been written by this person, would we be dissapointed after all the novel etc. would not change. Foucault goes on to introduce his concept of the authors function this is not a person and not confused with the author or writer it is more like a set of beliefs or assumptions that goven the production circulation, classification and reading of the text.
I think the art work of both Sherrie Levine and Cindy Sherman is explained in the articles by Foucault and Barthes. Their work is a mixture of signs which can be liked or dislikes by the viewer (as with other artwork in depends on the person viewing the subject) One example of this is Sherrie Levine's re-photograph of Walker Evans 1936 photos of a family of sharecroppers in the depression each one using slightly diffrent images so the question one askes is the author Walker or Lervine. At first glance I would say Walker as he did the the orginal then Levine alters the look and gives it a diffrent intrepretation thus giving a diffrent prespective so she could be the author of her photograph?
Cindy Sherman on the other hand does not directly make reference to the orginal work of others. The author became the actress taking on the role. Sherman allows the reader to resonate they own meaning from the image.
The cultural move following the 2 articles with the birth of the reader at the expense of the author makes Benjamins concept of the aura in artwork as not so relevant.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Project 14 Myth is a type of speech
Project 14 Myth is a type of speech
In Myth to-day Barthes claims with a witty saussurean irony that this Lolita this poetess named Minou Drouet had her own system of signs (Barthes explains with a clinical disinterest of a scholar who likes boys not girls). "A tree is a tree. But a tree expressed by Minou is no longer quite a tree it is decorated, adapted to a certain type of consumption laden with literary self-indulgence, revolt, images in short a type of social usage which is added to pure matter". Barthes is out to destroy the "myth of childhood as a poet".
(Minou Drouet was a poet, musician and actress- a talented young lady Barthes used her in his text to show how myth is used in literature and can distort the signifier signified and therefore the sign)
Therefore take language, discourse speech etc to mean any significant unit or synthesis either verbal or visual, a photograph will be a kind of speech for us the same as a newspaper article even objects will become speech if they mean something long before the invention of the alphabet, objects or simple drawing etc. have been accepted as speech (telling a story, an event in history, how people lived and survived).
Myth today is a type of speech not any type language needs special conditions in order to become a myth
Dictionary definition : Myth is a fable or narrative under which is hidden a historical or mural truth an invented story (The Westminster English Dictionary) It is therefore not confined to oral speech it can consist of modes of writing or of representations not only of writing but also photography, cinema, reporting, paintings, sport, shows etc. all these can serve as support to mythical speech.
With regard to the"bunch of roses and a black pebble, roses particularly red roses are passion and love while black pebbles bring to mind coldest and hard these convey emotions Another example is fire - hell different colours associated with heat, anger and hatred. The shape of the heart in any form other than medical represents emotions or love so is not the real representation of an organ. It is another myth that we have created to signify where we associate where our feelings come from. (not in the mind?).
James Ravilious 1939-1999 Photographs in black/white are so profound images of all aspects of local life (Devon) landscape, farming life in local towns and villages and their special occasions each one tells a story.
Ivor Brooks rescuing a lamb in blizzard Miltham Dolton Devon 1978
Archie Parkhouse and Ivor Brooks moving a sick lamb (in an old tin bath) Dolton Devon 1976
The Mad Hatter Tea party By Arthur Rackham 1867-1939
This picture comes from the classic book Alice in Wonderland (a young girls search for the meaning of a confusing world strikes a chord in a peculiar tale of logic and fantasy). It is considered to be one of he best examples of literary nonsense genre and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential especially in the fantasy genre.
Alice is a guest at a " Mad Tea Party" with March Hare, Mad Hatter and a Sleeping Dormouse" who remains asleep in the teapot of most of the time.
The Hatter is most likely to be a reference to Theophilus a furniture dealer know for his unorthodox inventions.
The March Hare, the Hatter and the Dormouse give several examples in which the semantic value of a sentence (A is not the same value of the converse of A) i.e. "why you might just as well say that ` I see what I eat' is the same as `I eat what I see" in logic this is discussing an inverse relationship.
Alice also ponders that meaning when changing chairs around a circular table then places them back where they started. This is an observation of additions on the ring of ` integer's modulo'
In Myth to-day Barthes claims with a witty saussurean irony that this Lolita this poetess named Minou Drouet had her own system of signs (Barthes explains with a clinical disinterest of a scholar who likes boys not girls). "A tree is a tree. But a tree expressed by Minou is no longer quite a tree it is decorated, adapted to a certain type of consumption laden with literary self-indulgence, revolt, images in short a type of social usage which is added to pure matter". Barthes is out to destroy the "myth of childhood as a poet".
(Minou Drouet was a poet, musician and actress- a talented young lady Barthes used her in his text to show how myth is used in literature and can distort the signifier signified and therefore the sign)
Therefore take language, discourse speech etc to mean any significant unit or synthesis either verbal or visual, a photograph will be a kind of speech for us the same as a newspaper article even objects will become speech if they mean something long before the invention of the alphabet, objects or simple drawing etc. have been accepted as speech (telling a story, an event in history, how people lived and survived).
Myth today is a type of speech not any type language needs special conditions in order to become a myth
Dictionary definition : Myth is a fable or narrative under which is hidden a historical or mural truth an invented story (The Westminster English Dictionary) It is therefore not confined to oral speech it can consist of modes of writing or of representations not only of writing but also photography, cinema, reporting, paintings, sport, shows etc. all these can serve as support to mythical speech.
With regard to the"bunch of roses and a black pebble, roses particularly red roses are passion and love while black pebbles bring to mind coldest and hard these convey emotions Another example is fire - hell different colours associated with heat, anger and hatred. The shape of the heart in any form other than medical represents emotions or love so is not the real representation of an organ. It is another myth that we have created to signify where we associate where our feelings come from. (not in the mind?).
James Ravilious 1939-1999 Photographs in black/white are so profound images of all aspects of local life (Devon) landscape, farming life in local towns and villages and their special occasions each one tells a story.
Ivor Brooks rescuing a lamb in blizzard Miltham Dolton Devon 1978
Archie Parkhouse and Ivor Brooks moving a sick lamb (in an old tin bath) Dolton Devon 1976
The Mad Hatter Tea party By Arthur Rackham 1867-1939
This picture comes from the classic book Alice in Wonderland (a young girls search for the meaning of a confusing world strikes a chord in a peculiar tale of logic and fantasy). It is considered to be one of he best examples of literary nonsense genre and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential especially in the fantasy genre.
Alice is a guest at a " Mad Tea Party" with March Hare, Mad Hatter and a Sleeping Dormouse" who remains asleep in the teapot of most of the time.
The Hatter is most likely to be a reference to Theophilus a furniture dealer know for his unorthodox inventions.
The March Hare, the Hatter and the Dormouse give several examples in which the semantic value of a sentence (A is not the same value of the converse of A) i.e. "why you might just as well say that ` I see what I eat' is the same as `I eat what I see" in logic this is discussing an inverse relationship.
Alice also ponders that meaning when changing chairs around a circular table then places them back where they started. This is an observation of additions on the ring of ` integer's modulo'
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Project 13: mini project on structuralist analysis
Project 13: mini project on structuralist analysis
Two examples of naturalistic paintings of a particular genre,
Example one
The artist and his wife and daughter c 1751-2 (oil on canvas) by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
This painting has more of a relaxed feeling. The painter shows husband and wife relaxing the latter taking on the role of the mother the child positioned between the two (the union). Gainsborough holds a piece of paper (an allusion to his work as an artist)- is sitting at the same level as his wife (Margaret Burr the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat) The child could possibly be their first child Mary who died in 1748. It is possibly that the painting was done in that year as a posthumous picture of her. This could explain the look of depressed distraction and the distance between each other (as if the child has come between them). Thomas looks past us, sadly, pointlessly, his red jacket not properly buttoned, his hat not positioned right. Margaret looks nowhere she holds a small posy of white flowers. The child is the only one that look at us holding what seems to be a stringed purse notice her rosy cheeks. The dog drinks from the pool
The landscape has a devastating reflection of their feelings, the tree they sit under is half bare the pool dreary the sky grey - suicidal.
Example 2
_-_The_Girl_With_The_Pearl_Earring_(1665)%5B1%5D.jpg)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (the unknown girl) c 1665-6 Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)
Vermeer's art looks modern in someways almost photographic - the way the light gathers in bright intense areas, the sharp contrast, the dramatic perspective. Some art historians speculate he may have been a camera obsara! But we could be in danger of missing something if we imagine Vermeer as a photographer his realism (any realism) is not a blunt description of the world but an idea. (Jonathan Jones The Guardian 2/11/2002)
The unknown girl floats disconnected from everything around her including you. The power and presence in which she looks at you is incredible as she gazes wide eyed her sensual mouth parted. As the name suggests the pearl earring is the focal point. Vermeer depicts a beautiful young woman with a vibrant blue turban looking over her shoulder to see who is standing behind her (could it be Vermeer?). The luminous pearl earring hangs freely and motionless giving the impression of weight and volume. this complements the white collar of her dress.
The combination of the very dark background and the brilliant use of colour in the turban and subdued colours used in her face and dress draw the eye to the girl's intimate gaze.
The speculation as to who could have been the sitter for this painting was, or could have been a servant girl with whom Vermeer began a relationship and painted her wearing his wife's pearl earring.
next we go on to portrait photography formal and informal
Example 1
George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon Custer 1860-1865
by Mathew B Brady 1822-1896
Like Gainsborough's paintings the subjects in this early photograph adopt a frontal view the sitters are
looking directly at the photographer and the posture is of the subjects is staged. The nature of the pose is similar to the immobility of most of Gainsborough's paintings (it is not natural). Elizabeth sitting hands together on lap straight backed, gown perfectly layed out. George standing in attendance to his wife one hand on the back of the chair the other behind his back neither have a smile (was this deemed improper in those days. I suppose this could have been a personal photo or one used to distribute to his followers.
Example 2
Untitled Firm Still no. 6 1977
by Cindy Sherman
Black and White
Sherman began making the sixty-nine photos in 1977, the first six were an experiment. Fan magazine glimpses into the roles of women played by Sherman herself. The photo looks like a movie still or a publicity pix purported to catch the blonde in an unguarded moment at home (this one lounging on the bed).
Sherman poses as a woman daydreaming, she holds a mirror, (a cliched symbol of vanity) in one hand
Momentarily her blank stare triggers a double-take could she become a victim of crime in a police photo killed by the mechanical gaze of the camera, or perhaps awaiting her lover!
Two examples of naturalistic paintings of a particular genre,
Example one
The artist and his wife and daughter c 1751-2 (oil on canvas) by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
This painting has more of a relaxed feeling. The painter shows husband and wife relaxing the latter taking on the role of the mother the child positioned between the two (the union). Gainsborough holds a piece of paper (an allusion to his work as an artist)- is sitting at the same level as his wife (Margaret Burr the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat) The child could possibly be their first child Mary who died in 1748. It is possibly that the painting was done in that year as a posthumous picture of her. This could explain the look of depressed distraction and the distance between each other (as if the child has come between them). Thomas looks past us, sadly, pointlessly, his red jacket not properly buttoned, his hat not positioned right. Margaret looks nowhere she holds a small posy of white flowers. The child is the only one that look at us holding what seems to be a stringed purse notice her rosy cheeks. The dog drinks from the pool
The landscape has a devastating reflection of their feelings, the tree they sit under is half bare the pool dreary the sky grey - suicidal.
Example 2
_-_The_Girl_With_The_Pearl_Earring_(1665)%5B1%5D.jpg)
Vermeer's art looks modern in someways almost photographic - the way the light gathers in bright intense areas, the sharp contrast, the dramatic perspective. Some art historians speculate he may have been a camera obsara! But we could be in danger of missing something if we imagine Vermeer as a photographer his realism (any realism) is not a blunt description of the world but an idea. (Jonathan Jones The Guardian 2/11/2002)
The unknown girl floats disconnected from everything around her including you. The power and presence in which she looks at you is incredible as she gazes wide eyed her sensual mouth parted. As the name suggests the pearl earring is the focal point. Vermeer depicts a beautiful young woman with a vibrant blue turban looking over her shoulder to see who is standing behind her (could it be Vermeer?). The luminous pearl earring hangs freely and motionless giving the impression of weight and volume. this complements the white collar of her dress.
The combination of the very dark background and the brilliant use of colour in the turban and subdued colours used in her face and dress draw the eye to the girl's intimate gaze.
The speculation as to who could have been the sitter for this painting was, or could have been a servant girl with whom Vermeer began a relationship and painted her wearing his wife's pearl earring.
next we go on to portrait photography formal and informal
Example 1
George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon Custer 1860-1865
by Mathew B Brady 1822-1896
Like Gainsborough's paintings the subjects in this early photograph adopt a frontal view the sitters are
looking directly at the photographer and the posture is of the subjects is staged. The nature of the pose is similar to the immobility of most of Gainsborough's paintings (it is not natural). Elizabeth sitting hands together on lap straight backed, gown perfectly layed out. George standing in attendance to his wife one hand on the back of the chair the other behind his back neither have a smile (was this deemed improper in those days. I suppose this could have been a personal photo or one used to distribute to his followers.
Example 2
Untitled Firm Still no. 6 1977
by Cindy Sherman
Black and White
Sherman began making the sixty-nine photos in 1977, the first six were an experiment. Fan magazine glimpses into the roles of women played by Sherman herself. The photo looks like a movie still or a publicity pix purported to catch the blonde in an unguarded moment at home (this one lounging on the bed).
Sherman poses as a woman daydreaming, she holds a mirror, (a cliched symbol of vanity) in one hand
Momentarily her blank stare triggers a double-take could she become a victim of crime in a police photo killed by the mechanical gaze of the camera, or perhaps awaiting her lover!
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Project 12 Rhetoric of the image
Project 12 Rhetoric of the image
1) Etymology - explains origin and history of words
2) Rhetoric - is a type of speaking, writing, visual work used to persuade an audience of validity or truth in a statement or image
3) Semiotics - the study of signs and sign processes - closely related to linguistics. Is divided into three branches
a) Semantics - Relations between signs and the things to which they refer
b) Syntactics - Relation among sign in formal st ructions
c) Pragmatics - Relation between signs and the effects they have on people who uses them
Semiotics is the common umbrella term to describe both the Saussurean and the Peirean approach (Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce)
Fiske defines semiotics as being essentially a theoretical approach to communications in that its aim is to establish widely applicable principles (Fiske, 1982,p.118) which means that semiotics can be used in anything in the mass media from TV, radio, films,photos, newspapers posters and advents in magazines.
Semiotics is sometimes referred to as "semiology" as the sign of signs or theory of signs others include body language posture facial expressions clothes worn etc.
The advertisers have in their minds exactly who their target is aimed at. Since the making of them is costly and complex business those involved in the production select and choose ways (for example they choose the image, highlighting, typography, focus camera angle etc. (one example is to spray a food product with a substance that gives an extra `eat me` look i.e. a shine)
Such a team will draw upon there own perceived concepts and ideas of what the product is about and the target audience it is aimed at. So in effect adverts consist of many messages (dyer 1986, p.135) but it is up to the individual how they interpret the image they see- and this will be according to the reader/ viewers cultural views.
The first advert I have chosen is that of L'Oreal men expert vita lift (seen in Live magazine supplement (The mail on Sunday) This is a magazine aimed at the man of the house with many articles that are expensive. The adverts is mainly black and white being of Hugh Laurie (who has recently been advertising the product on TV) To the right of this photo the product itself with a red hue round it which makes it stand out for the page. Hugh Laurie has a knowing expression with a hint of a smile with the words in brackets "Keep on being yourself " and under the product (its not a face lift, its a vita lift).
The next is Potters Herbals ( In the You magazine supplement to the Mail on Sunday newspaper). The picture again is in black and white which shows an a gentleman in top hat 1800s clothes, finger to his lips, the background is misty (similar to an early photograph) of the sky line and trees the products are in colour one orange, one green and one pink each with a different product (chest mixture, cough mixture and catarrh mixture) I think the advert is saying that the longer the company has been going (since 1812) the better the product. Also the products being in colour stand out to catch the eye.
The last product I have chosen is that of a perfume product Daisy (Marc Jacobs) (also in the You magazine) This advent shows a clear blue sky a field of daises a woman holding the perfume in both hands raised, face raised to the sun eyes closed mouth slightly open long hair gently blowing in the wind wearing a pure white dress. This gives the impression of a perfume that is light and gives the feeling of warm summer days in the countryside. The colours of the advert are gentle.
1) Etymology - explains origin and history of words
2) Rhetoric - is a type of speaking, writing, visual work used to persuade an audience of validity or truth in a statement or image
3) Semiotics - the study of signs and sign processes - closely related to linguistics. Is divided into three branches
a) Semantics - Relations between signs and the things to which they refer
b) Syntactics - Relation among sign in formal st ructions
c) Pragmatics - Relation between signs and the effects they have on people who uses them
Semiotics is the common umbrella term to describe both the Saussurean and the Peirean approach (Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce)
Fiske defines semiotics as being essentially a theoretical approach to communications in that its aim is to establish widely applicable principles (Fiske, 1982,p.118) which means that semiotics can be used in anything in the mass media from TV, radio, films,photos, newspapers posters and advents in magazines.
Semiotics is sometimes referred to as "semiology" as the sign of signs or theory of signs others include body language posture facial expressions clothes worn etc.
The advertisers have in their minds exactly who their target is aimed at. Since the making of them is costly and complex business those involved in the production select and choose ways (for example they choose the image, highlighting, typography, focus camera angle etc. (one example is to spray a food product with a substance that gives an extra `eat me` look i.e. a shine)
Such a team will draw upon there own perceived concepts and ideas of what the product is about and the target audience it is aimed at. So in effect adverts consist of many messages (dyer 1986, p.135) but it is up to the individual how they interpret the image they see- and this will be according to the reader/ viewers cultural views.
The first advert I have chosen is that of L'Oreal men expert vita lift (seen in Live magazine supplement (The mail on Sunday) This is a magazine aimed at the man of the house with many articles that are expensive. The adverts is mainly black and white being of Hugh Laurie (who has recently been advertising the product on TV) To the right of this photo the product itself with a red hue round it which makes it stand out for the page. Hugh Laurie has a knowing expression with a hint of a smile with the words in brackets "Keep on being yourself " and under the product (its not a face lift, its a vita lift).
The next is Potters Herbals ( In the You magazine supplement to the Mail on Sunday newspaper). The picture again is in black and white which shows an a gentleman in top hat 1800s clothes, finger to his lips, the background is misty (similar to an early photograph) of the sky line and trees the products are in colour one orange, one green and one pink each with a different product (chest mixture, cough mixture and catarrh mixture) I think the advert is saying that the longer the company has been going (since 1812) the better the product. Also the products being in colour stand out to catch the eye.
The last product I have chosen is that of a perfume product Daisy (Marc Jacobs) (also in the You magazine) This advent shows a clear blue sky a field of daises a woman holding the perfume in both hands raised, face raised to the sun eyes closed mouth slightly open long hair gently blowing in the wind wearing a pure white dress. This gives the impression of a perfume that is light and gives the feeling of warm summer days in the countryside. The colours of the advert are gentle.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Project 11 the thorny subject of taste
Project 11 the thorny subject of taste
Dick Hedbdige the bottom line on planet one
War of the worlds
Two different worlds the first Power and Knowledge ordered so as to give written and spoken word to the second mere imagery i.e. scribes (learned people) determine the rules and grammar - draw the line between them and the subordinate caste whose job is to produce a publication of images and written text to the public in general. Each movement is like a work in a sentence - this sentence is called history. In the second world the higher order has been abolished - Truth if it exists at all is first and foremost pictured in images which have their own power and subsequent effects - looking takes over from seeing sensing over knowing words pale in to insignificance. Thus there is nothing behind the image so no hidden truth to be revealed - does this imply that a lot art to-day does not require explanations just a title and what the subject is made of and called?
No meaning no classes no history just a continuous precession of images and or shadowy likeness.
Hebdige makes the distinction between high and popular culture by comparing the magazines The Face (popular cultures) and Ten 8 (high culture) which is used as a springboard showing the difference between modernist and post-modernist visual culture. I think that Hebdige is saying that there is the younger audience defined by The Face who are not moulded by the culture of the older generation. In the modernist world
shown by Ten 8 knowledge is ordered by rules and traditions. Images are situated in a historical and theoretical framework.
In the post-modernist world (The Face) this previous view has been changed the once vertical way has made way for the horizontal, So it is no longer the function of language to explain the origin or functions of the image portrayed.
The key argument of Hebdige against what he call "the peoples of the post" is that he questions the politics of representation and it does not matter if Social Realism has been removed as being superficial. The Face supersedes the traditional (Ten 8.)
Popular Culture commonly known as pop culture is the totality of ideas, perspective, attitudes, images etc. that are deemed preferred though an informal consensus. Also it is heavily influenced by the mass media and permeates the everyday life of people - also the term of the 19th century original use referred to the education of the lower classes the current meaning is culture for mass consumption.
A postmodernist approach to popular culture would no longer recognise the difference between high and popular culture.
High culture definition - Excellence taste in the fine arts and humanities (ballet, opera etc)
Low culture definition - was considered to be Kitsch things low culture was popular with the masses and in poor taste (pop music - cinema etc)
In the light of developments in the media and other branches of the arts and culture in the second world war an analogy Dick Hebdige uses for a Port Modernist world (high) is round.
Examples of contemporary popular culture are
Rita Ackerman African Nurse 2005-8
Ida Applebroog Modern Olympia 2002
Francis Bacon Triptych 1971
Jennifer Bartlett Houses 2005
Maurice Bensyon World Skin 1997
High Round Culture
Edward Hodges Bailey Eve at the Fountain
John Corwall Bernard and the Big Boys
Mary Knott He's not heavy
James White Frank and empties 2003
High Referencing popular culture
Andy Warhol Campbell's Tomato Juice box 1964
Wayne Thibaud Three machines 1963
David Hockney Bigger Splash 1967
Alex Kat Vincent with mouth open 1970
Jim Dine The Robe following her 1984-85
Note: I am now beginning to understand at look at this subject in different ways. I know I have still a lot to learn but it is becoming a little clearer
Dick Hedbdige the bottom line on planet one
War of the worlds
Two different worlds the first Power and Knowledge ordered so as to give written and spoken word to the second mere imagery i.e. scribes (learned people) determine the rules and grammar - draw the line between them and the subordinate caste whose job is to produce a publication of images and written text to the public in general. Each movement is like a work in a sentence - this sentence is called history. In the second world the higher order has been abolished - Truth if it exists at all is first and foremost pictured in images which have their own power and subsequent effects - looking takes over from seeing sensing over knowing words pale in to insignificance. Thus there is nothing behind the image so no hidden truth to be revealed - does this imply that a lot art to-day does not require explanations just a title and what the subject is made of and called?
No meaning no classes no history just a continuous precession of images and or shadowy likeness.
Hebdige makes the distinction between high and popular culture by comparing the magazines The Face (popular cultures) and Ten 8 (high culture) which is used as a springboard showing the difference between modernist and post-modernist visual culture. I think that Hebdige is saying that there is the younger audience defined by The Face who are not moulded by the culture of the older generation. In the modernist world
shown by Ten 8 knowledge is ordered by rules and traditions. Images are situated in a historical and theoretical framework.
In the post-modernist world (The Face) this previous view has been changed the once vertical way has made way for the horizontal, So it is no longer the function of language to explain the origin or functions of the image portrayed.
The key argument of Hebdige against what he call "the peoples of the post" is that he questions the politics of representation and it does not matter if Social Realism has been removed as being superficial. The Face supersedes the traditional (Ten 8.)
Popular Culture commonly known as pop culture is the totality of ideas, perspective, attitudes, images etc. that are deemed preferred though an informal consensus. Also it is heavily influenced by the mass media and permeates the everyday life of people - also the term of the 19th century original use referred to the education of the lower classes the current meaning is culture for mass consumption.
A postmodernist approach to popular culture would no longer recognise the difference between high and popular culture.
High culture definition - Excellence taste in the fine arts and humanities (ballet, opera etc)
Low culture definition - was considered to be Kitsch things low culture was popular with the masses and in poor taste (pop music - cinema etc)
In the light of developments in the media and other branches of the arts and culture in the second world war an analogy Dick Hebdige uses for a Port Modernist world (high) is round.
Examples of contemporary popular culture are
Rita Ackerman African Nurse 2005-8
Ida Applebroog Modern Olympia 2002
Francis Bacon Triptych 1971
Jennifer Bartlett Houses 2005
Maurice Bensyon World Skin 1997
High Round Culture
Edward Hodges Bailey Eve at the Fountain
John Corwall Bernard and the Big Boys
Mary Knott He's not heavy
James White Frank and empties 2003
High Referencing popular culture
Andy Warhol Campbell's Tomato Juice box 1964
Wayne Thibaud Three machines 1963
David Hockney Bigger Splash 1967
Alex Kat Vincent with mouth open 1970
Jim Dine The Robe following her 1984-85
Note: I am now beginning to understand at look at this subject in different ways. I know I have still a lot to learn but it is becoming a little clearer
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Project 10 the society of the spectacle
Project 10 the society of the spectacle.
Weltanschauung - definition comprehensive view of the world and human life. Freud's observation on the notion of weltanschauung were in fact only concerned with religion, he also mentioned art, which for him was "almost harmless and beneficent it does not seek to be anything but an illusion," another definition is that "it is a comprehensive worldview from a specific point of view."
Debord's meaning of the spectacle is possibly "an unusual or interesting science, large public show on an object of derision or ridicule. Does this mean that pushing the bounds of art to such an extent so as to shock and thus become famous for this and not for the artistic value?
Like many like minded people Debord seems to have started a trend that is still attired to though the bounders which are being pushed further. I would like to think that we are not controlled but I think with that amount of advertising (you must have so and so or your live is not complete) we must be dictated to in
some respect although we may not be aware of it.
Reflection the meaning of
Marx view of this is
a) is to regard or treat the process of viewing as if it had concrete or material existence it involves separating out something from the original context and placing it in a completely different area thus giving a different meaning or out look (appropriation art?)
According to Dr Jeanne.S.M. Willette and Art History unstated - Reification is used to further the interests of the ruling class. The desire to acquire certain commodities was based upon an ideology of "success," expressed though objects. The property purchased reinforced the capitalist system, which is dependant upon constant buying which, in turn supports the power position of those who control the mode of production. The desire to own property is legitimated through ideology encouraging consumption. To counter arguments that capitalism exploits the working class, the real consequences of desire is falsified, hidden, or denied in a process called "dissimulation."
Weltanschauung - definition comprehensive view of the world and human life. Freud's observation on the notion of weltanschauung were in fact only concerned with religion, he also mentioned art, which for him was "almost harmless and beneficent it does not seek to be anything but an illusion," another definition is that "it is a comprehensive worldview from a specific point of view."
Debord's meaning of the spectacle is possibly "an unusual or interesting science, large public show on an object of derision or ridicule. Does this mean that pushing the bounds of art to such an extent so as to shock and thus become famous for this and not for the artistic value?
Like many like minded people Debord seems to have started a trend that is still attired to though the bounders which are being pushed further. I would like to think that we are not controlled but I think with that amount of advertising (you must have so and so or your live is not complete) we must be dictated to in
some respect although we may not be aware of it.
Reflection the meaning of
Marx view of this is
a) is to regard or treat the process of viewing as if it had concrete or material existence it involves separating out something from the original context and placing it in a completely different area thus giving a different meaning or out look (appropriation art?)
According to Dr Jeanne.S.M. Willette and Art History unstated - Reification is used to further the interests of the ruling class. The desire to acquire certain commodities was based upon an ideology of "success," expressed though objects. The property purchased reinforced the capitalist system, which is dependant upon constant buying which, in turn supports the power position of those who control the mode of production. The desire to own property is legitimated through ideology encouraging consumption. To counter arguments that capitalism exploits the working class, the real consequences of desire is falsified, hidden, or denied in a process called "dissimulation."
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