Thursday 1 August 2013
Goodbye
Finally we finish.... what have we learned about issues in visual culture?
well i dont know about you, but the more i know the more i realize how little i know.
To sum up this entire experience in a word, horrifying! i was happy in my little disillusioned bubble, now i have to see, listen and think. im now aware.
The whole point of this entire class was to open minds, eyes, interests, show otherways of doing things (i think we've done that, yeah ?)
and of course this blog has improved i guess literary skills (???) practice on simulcra (careful people)
The space we work in is an ecology rather than a system. ie. work on something and impact on other work.
Learned the horrifying reality of future creative career, i think all 80 students can safely say they fear for thier futures now. loads of prospects sure but never having a full time job, ten different jobs at once will be the norm and the rest of our careers will be like chinese plates.... well who wouldnt be looking forward to that gloomy outlook.
we learnt a bit about individual design, how all our talents are relevant in practically everything, and back to a few of the four c's, collaboration, i love animation and story boarding and illustration, yet i could end up crossing over to film, or gaming design very easily.
Its amazing how such random things could be relevant to very odd paths.
The whole point was, WE NEED TO BE DOING STUFF NOW.
not next year or when we graduate, but now!
Theres 7 year olds who are making a fortune of ideas.....not even fully developed ideas.
with open source, nothings a secret, you never know wha little idea out of the box could be truly great.
You must speculate to accumulate.
Fundamental challenges.....
-we underestimate how technology is embedded in us. everything is digital
-application of suspended economic models
-application of suspended copyright models
at the end of the tunnel you obviously want to profit from your creation. always remember if it is digital, itll be stolen
Oh fun fact, Did you know 23percent of people that download the digital copy of a book, buy the hardcopy for collectors/sentimental reasons? im one of them.
abit like a movie. if i like it, i waste my money on the hardcopy. its how the world today works.
Though digital is how we live, there is always that desire for material objects, for ownership.
So in a sense many industries like books, film, music, they arent dead, theyre just....different.
keyword glossary:
globalization, culture capital, creative industries, cultural industries, convergence, connectivity, enterpernership, innovation, enterprise.
We've learned its not enough to read or write, you need to network.
we dont have information, we have stuff.
information is the manufacturing of the 21st century.
represent yourself. that means write, be literate, understood!
you have to be able to show these skills in class, in the workplace, on the internet.
From here we should all think about other peoples work, make it our own, recreate.
after all oscar wilde said 'the greatest form of flattery is plagiarism'
its not stealing, its called taking inspiration, remember that.
communicate, collaborate, choose carefully who you collaborate with though. everyone involved should have goals, drive, targets.
Its no longer enough to just research, you have to SEARCH.
wiki obviously isnt enough, you must bury yourself in something if you truly want to learn or create.
process...
-define
-access
-understand and evaluate
- create
-communicate
development
-closed enquirer
-open enquirer
and constant constant constant REFLECTION
rather than focus in you focus out. feed the development.
I know these are alot of one liners, but im summing up the last 12 weeks, in very basic helpful terms.
issues in visual culture are? too many to answer, but we now understand the visuals and how they impact things we didnt even think they would.
And how the world is not what it seems and it needs to be taken advantage of, as this is the golden moment for the creative students.
so.... youd think now id be anylsing everything, but i wont be,i will now build an audit of my skills, constantly take a journal with me, attempt to think outside the box and i will push forward into the future, and try to exhibit myself to a point that i can make a profit at the end of this long dark tunnel before me.
To be honest the main purposes of this class were lost on me, instead i learned more about provoking artwork and tools and the digital revolution than i wouldve thought possible.
I may not be able to articulately describe my views towards both this class and my new found outlook on the digital age and society, but im very happy with this final outcome.
from here im off to work as hard as possible, to get every idea in my head, out there into the world, and hope i can build create and recreate something provoking.
ps. Keep an eye out for my illustrated version of this entire experience. taken from geek fest inspiration.
Claire
well i dont know about you, but the more i know the more i realize how little i know.
To sum up this entire experience in a word, horrifying! i was happy in my little disillusioned bubble, now i have to see, listen and think. im now aware.
The whole point of this entire class was to open minds, eyes, interests, show otherways of doing things (i think we've done that, yeah ?)
and of course this blog has improved i guess literary skills (???) practice on simulcra (careful people)
The space we work in is an ecology rather than a system. ie. work on something and impact on other work.
Learned the horrifying reality of future creative career, i think all 80 students can safely say they fear for thier futures now. loads of prospects sure but never having a full time job, ten different jobs at once will be the norm and the rest of our careers will be like chinese plates.... well who wouldnt be looking forward to that gloomy outlook.
we learnt a bit about individual design, how all our talents are relevant in practically everything, and back to a few of the four c's, collaboration, i love animation and story boarding and illustration, yet i could end up crossing over to film, or gaming design very easily.
Its amazing how such random things could be relevant to very odd paths.
The whole point was, WE NEED TO BE DOING STUFF NOW.
not next year or when we graduate, but now!
Theres 7 year olds who are making a fortune of ideas.....not even fully developed ideas.
with open source, nothings a secret, you never know wha little idea out of the box could be truly great.
You must speculate to accumulate.
Fundamental challenges.....
-we underestimate how technology is embedded in us. everything is digital
-application of suspended economic models
-application of suspended copyright models
at the end of the tunnel you obviously want to profit from your creation. always remember if it is digital, itll be stolen
Oh fun fact, Did you know 23percent of people that download the digital copy of a book, buy the hardcopy for collectors/sentimental reasons? im one of them.
abit like a movie. if i like it, i waste my money on the hardcopy. its how the world today works.
Though digital is how we live, there is always that desire for material objects, for ownership.
So in a sense many industries like books, film, music, they arent dead, theyre just....different.
keyword glossary:
globalization, culture capital, creative industries, cultural industries, convergence, connectivity, enterpernership, innovation, enterprise.
We've learned its not enough to read or write, you need to network.
we dont have information, we have stuff.
information is the manufacturing of the 21st century.
represent yourself. that means write, be literate, understood!
you have to be able to show these skills in class, in the workplace, on the internet.
From here we should all think about other peoples work, make it our own, recreate.
after all oscar wilde said 'the greatest form of flattery is plagiarism'
its not stealing, its called taking inspiration, remember that.
communicate, collaborate, choose carefully who you collaborate with though. everyone involved should have goals, drive, targets.
Its no longer enough to just research, you have to SEARCH.
wiki obviously isnt enough, you must bury yourself in something if you truly want to learn or create.
process...
-define
-access
-understand and evaluate
- create
-communicate
development
-closed enquirer
-open enquirer
and constant constant constant REFLECTION
rather than focus in you focus out. feed the development.
I know these are alot of one liners, but im summing up the last 12 weeks, in very basic helpful terms.
issues in visual culture are? too many to answer, but we now understand the visuals and how they impact things we didnt even think they would.
And how the world is not what it seems and it needs to be taken advantage of, as this is the golden moment for the creative students.
so.... youd think now id be anylsing everything, but i wont be,i will now build an audit of my skills, constantly take a journal with me, attempt to think outside the box and i will push forward into the future, and try to exhibit myself to a point that i can make a profit at the end of this long dark tunnel before me.
To be honest the main purposes of this class were lost on me, instead i learned more about provoking artwork and tools and the digital revolution than i wouldve thought possible.
I may not be able to articulately describe my views towards both this class and my new found outlook on the digital age and society, but im very happy with this final outcome.
from here im off to work as hard as possible, to get every idea in my head, out there into the world, and hope i can build create and recreate something provoking.
ps. Keep an eye out for my illustrated version of this entire experience. taken from geek fest inspiration.
Claire
Art should provoke
Yes you read the title correctly, provoke.
Ive given many examples through out this semester/blog of provoking art such as the 25k newstand etc
Im creating this particular post to recap on the whole technology is our tool, we should use it, but on what? what is art? what do you consider art? what do you enjoy as art?
we all laugh at landscapes stuck in the 19th century, yes they are great artist but they are nothing to do with us, they are just representations at this point.
Our art work should not be landscapes, they should stimulate and provoke.
And i have been saving this one video as a perfect example since it genuinely was the first thing to scare me in a very long time.
and when i say scare i dont mean its a horror, i mean it makes you question everything,and appreciate everything at the same time.
Art is to move you.
Introducing the passing....
I couldnt fin a link, but to simplify it for you all, its short movie.
the screen split into three, three movies play at once.
to the left, the artists baby being born
in the centre a man drowning, properly drowning under water
and to the right, the artists mothers last moments and her death.
yes already strange isnt it, not add an unimaginable noise, throughout you dont know if its the mother dying or the baby being born, and a man drowning, its amazing how all those noises sounds the same, especially as you sit in a state of shock at this real life emtotional moments.
can you imagine a drowning human but not being able to do anything? a baby being born, a glorious everyday miracle, but a brutal looking one none the less, emotional overload, and then to add to this heap of emotion, a very real death bed of a beloved elderly mother.
The creationa dn passing of human life is clearly represented in this piece of art.
The overly all message was blunt.
we live.....we die..... we drown in between.
Its harsh, its blunt, its truth, which makes it even harder.
This kind of art is what i consider provoking, it provoked every sense i have in me.
anger
disgust
shock
horror
helplessness
love
wonder
sadness
can you think of anything else that can provoke you to those lengths? i certainly cant. this from now on is my basis of great art.
forget the landscapes, forget the selfies, this is art. and it provoked me.
Claire
Ive given many examples through out this semester/blog of provoking art such as the 25k newstand etc
Im creating this particular post to recap on the whole technology is our tool, we should use it, but on what? what is art? what do you consider art? what do you enjoy as art?
we all laugh at landscapes stuck in the 19th century, yes they are great artist but they are nothing to do with us, they are just representations at this point.
Our art work should not be landscapes, they should stimulate and provoke.
And i have been saving this one video as a perfect example since it genuinely was the first thing to scare me in a very long time.
and when i say scare i dont mean its a horror, i mean it makes you question everything,and appreciate everything at the same time.
Art is to move you.
Introducing the passing....
I couldnt fin a link, but to simplify it for you all, its short movie.
the screen split into three, three movies play at once.
to the left, the artists baby being born
in the centre a man drowning, properly drowning under water
and to the right, the artists mothers last moments and her death.
yes already strange isnt it, not add an unimaginable noise, throughout you dont know if its the mother dying or the baby being born, and a man drowning, its amazing how all those noises sounds the same, especially as you sit in a state of shock at this real life emtotional moments.
can you imagine a drowning human but not being able to do anything? a baby being born, a glorious everyday miracle, but a brutal looking one none the less, emotional overload, and then to add to this heap of emotion, a very real death bed of a beloved elderly mother.
The creationa dn passing of human life is clearly represented in this piece of art.
The overly all message was blunt.
we live.....we die..... we drown in between.
Its harsh, its blunt, its truth, which makes it even harder.
This kind of art is what i consider provoking, it provoked every sense i have in me.
anger
disgust
shock
horror
helplessness
love
wonder
sadness
can you think of anything else that can provoke you to those lengths? i certainly cant. this from now on is my basis of great art.
forget the landscapes, forget the selfies, this is art. and it provoked me.
Claire
Post modernism Ideas that have been sparked
Ive been dissucssing what the class made me think, but not what some of these made me want to do.
clearly this whol expierence has been veyr motivating to build on my self as an artist.
Certain pieces of art have made mthink outside the box more, but of course i also realise anything i do is building something someone else has already actually done.
i thought of a photo diary, (which apparently has been done to death, even in the moving image form)
a bit like the sounds, i could bring myself back to a time and remember what i seen, what they made me feel or think.
then i thought further on those photo a day things that are quite popular recently (self portrait everyday for a length of time to show the difference in time etc) and figured instead of just photo for a length of time i figured i could deconstruct to reconstruct, like hockney. i could take all those photos and create one final self portrait made up of small portraits.
I got stuck on this digital self portrait because all this self obsessed post modernism talk has made me want to create something that shows it, but whilst finding me along the way.
I could record my random thoughts, the good the bad and the boring, different situations, tones and emotions, then have them along side moving image, and slowly the wors would create my face or name, or a choosen title.
This was inspired by the whole 'sound' post i wrote. where Dr McClure recorded places and times and collaborate them in a project.
Like theoretically with the internet we have the access to exhibit ourselves to well....everyone with internet. you can go global instantly with your work.
Our generation has access to open source!
Claire
clearly this whol expierence has been veyr motivating to build on my self as an artist.
Certain pieces of art have made mthink outside the box more, but of course i also realise anything i do is building something someone else has already actually done.
i thought of a photo diary, (which apparently has been done to death, even in the moving image form)
a bit like the sounds, i could bring myself back to a time and remember what i seen, what they made me feel or think.
then i thought further on those photo a day things that are quite popular recently (self portrait everyday for a length of time to show the difference in time etc) and figured instead of just photo for a length of time i figured i could deconstruct to reconstruct, like hockney. i could take all those photos and create one final self portrait made up of small portraits.
I got stuck on this digital self portrait because all this self obsessed post modernism talk has made me want to create something that shows it, but whilst finding me along the way.
I could record my random thoughts, the good the bad and the boring, different situations, tones and emotions, then have them along side moving image, and slowly the wors would create my face or name, or a choosen title.
This was inspired by the whole 'sound' post i wrote. where Dr McClure recorded places and times and collaborate them in a project.
Like theoretically with the internet we have the access to exhibit ourselves to well....everyone with internet. you can go global instantly with your work.
Our generation has access to open source!
Claire
zeitgeist
I believe at this point i havent actually given Zeitgeist justice. i mean without fail its been mentioned every class, granted its not in the syllabus, it is essential to everything and anything ive spoken of.
zeitgeist after all is referring to the soul of an era.
i mean, its the feel the sound, the emotions and the general working of a specific time.
be it a hundred years ago or fifty minutes ago, the place you are in never really stays the same.
certain moments get you nostalgic right? well they are bringing you back to a zeigeist.
and im using it out of context, sorry.
So to properly describe zeigeist and my interpretations of it, i believe i will discuss well the seventies.
Cheesy yes but a good example.
The lecturer had a fairly amazing phrase to describe it, before the the 60's-70's it was grey,the zeitgeist was grey, and then BOOM, an explosion of colours, and when you think of those times, whether you were there or not, those are the associated colours, right?
zeitgiests and game changers of that time were bands such as the sex pistols and the greatful dead, thier album covers just describe the love hate and confusion of the time.
they had meaning.
infact for the seventies there is a perfect word that describes thier colourful and amazing curious but confusing zeitgeist.... psychedelic!
We discussed this many many times, and though i believed to completely understand it at the time, i get so confused when it comes to actually describing it,so guess the laws of simplicity apply here.
there is a very simple way of saying doing and describing this zeitgeist, but i lack the abilitiesand decided to go in the opposite direction, ie. the long way about and in the end never actually reach my conclusion or point.
Now our main problem was when it came to describing the zeitgeist of our own post modern class, there wasnt one. in the past decade or two, cultures and minorities merged and created individuals who all tend to have similar interests and even dress alike.
you could tell a gamer or book nerd or a jock from the way they dressed, but now we all wear basically the same fashion, we have no actual individualism.
Now i like darker things, i would be a gamer, metal head, punk rocker, im an eclectic in many areas, including music, so i would be hard to define, but so would many of this generation.
And my fashion sense, would be skinny jeans and leather jackets, suitable for my genres an likes,but lets face it, every topshop and newlook have that exact look on every manikins, leaving us all very similar in appearance regardless of taste.
Todays post modern society has merged the minorities and created well....us.
A good example i like though, is the cupcake cult.
as i said i like weird things, i like dark things, and the cupcake cult would be apart of my darker idea of fashion, yet its not the same as the ones in shoes, infact its edgier.
its zombie mixed with cute and cuddly, they are mental contradictions, that question the wearers sanity.
This my only example i could think of that makes my fashion a minority. like everyone else, very little in appearance separates us.
in the end the best to describe our culture zeitgeist as a whole, was apple. we all have the technology and thats the clean cut modern look. apple is our zeitgeist, i dont know if i should be worried or not.
zeitgeist after all is referring to the soul of an era.
i mean, its the feel the sound, the emotions and the general working of a specific time.
be it a hundred years ago or fifty minutes ago, the place you are in never really stays the same.
certain moments get you nostalgic right? well they are bringing you back to a zeigeist.
and im using it out of context, sorry.
So to properly describe zeigeist and my interpretations of it, i believe i will discuss well the seventies.
Cheesy yes but a good example.
The lecturer had a fairly amazing phrase to describe it, before the the 60's-70's it was grey,the zeitgeist was grey, and then BOOM, an explosion of colours, and when you think of those times, whether you were there or not, those are the associated colours, right?
zeitgiests and game changers of that time were bands such as the sex pistols and the greatful dead, thier album covers just describe the love hate and confusion of the time.
they had meaning.
infact for the seventies there is a perfect word that describes thier colourful and amazing curious but confusing zeitgeist.... psychedelic!
We discussed this many many times, and though i believed to completely understand it at the time, i get so confused when it comes to actually describing it,so guess the laws of simplicity apply here.
there is a very simple way of saying doing and describing this zeitgeist, but i lack the abilitiesand decided to go in the opposite direction, ie. the long way about and in the end never actually reach my conclusion or point.
Now our main problem was when it came to describing the zeitgeist of our own post modern class, there wasnt one. in the past decade or two, cultures and minorities merged and created individuals who all tend to have similar interests and even dress alike.
you could tell a gamer or book nerd or a jock from the way they dressed, but now we all wear basically the same fashion, we have no actual individualism.
Now i like darker things, i would be a gamer, metal head, punk rocker, im an eclectic in many areas, including music, so i would be hard to define, but so would many of this generation.
And my fashion sense, would be skinny jeans and leather jackets, suitable for my genres an likes,but lets face it, every topshop and newlook have that exact look on every manikins, leaving us all very similar in appearance regardless of taste.
Todays post modern society has merged the minorities and created well....us.
A good example i like though, is the cupcake cult.
as i said i like weird things, i like dark things, and the cupcake cult would be apart of my darker idea of fashion, yet its not the same as the ones in shoes, infact its edgier.
its zombie mixed with cute and cuddly, they are mental contradictions, that question the wearers sanity.
This my only example i could think of that makes my fashion a minority. like everyone else, very little in appearance separates us.
in the end the best to describe our culture zeitgeist as a whole, was apple. we all have the technology and thats the clean cut modern look. apple is our zeitgeist, i dont know if i should be worried or not.
Its not 9-5, its whatever it takes.
Its 2013 and and the average individual holds down many jobs at once, becaus ethats what you have to do in this econmy, whether you need the money like most of us broke students do, or you simly need to make a presence for yourself.
You need to egt out there, network and showcase your talents, and procrastination (facebook) gets you no where. simply because you need to use everything to your advantage, as a tool, facebook is a tool, but normally also a distraction. you need to constantly be thinking. like ive said before, this is issues in visual culture, and an issue is you need to be doing everything, anything, something, there is no later, the future is here and its moving past you fast.
if its an idea, great, go sell it, someone else will make it, is it something you have designed and want to mass produce, good go onto one of those sites that if enough people like it, you can go to a backer and get your design out there.
after all there is no later. there is now, and now goes pretty quick.
you have to make yourself global (remember simulcra though)
long working hours are the norm
no workplace politics, this is a new world and has very uncertain acceptable grounds
connectivity
information
innovation/enterprise
good at something? better than others? use that !
read- network
anylse - navigate
get the work out there
get your work in the correct places, key elements
write- represent
consume - produce
reproduce - create (get others to create it for you)
communication- collaboration
research - search
keep making until you find your style
these are simplified bullet points of things discussed in the lecture today that were the fundamental elements to making it in this new revolution.
Or at least the ones i managed to write down (we talk faster than i can write)
The find your own style really speaks to me though.
As i said the national curriculum would need changed as this digital industry doesnt allow for us to prosper 'in the box' meaning this whole kill the dangerous ideas thing, isnt working, it will fail, the curriculum should move with times and teach relevant information.
The creative industrys is booming but by the time the youth come to a point they have a chance to create, the creativity has been killed and it becomes difficult to get yourself out of the basics.
This is what i want to focus on, i want to get out of the box, and forget the basics, i want to create, find what im good at specifically, and exhibit myself to the extent i can make something of myself.
pop up businesses are todays money makers, unless you are already well established, this economy is not very loving towards you. get an idea? a product? now quick start, how to sell it, rent a space, not for long, make the money and move on to the next thing. This is the era of coming and goings, businesses appear and disappear over night.
At this point the future is very uncertain but its clear we have to understand and stay ontop of the technology to succeed, be prepared and not be left behind.
Claire
You need to egt out there, network and showcase your talents, and procrastination (facebook) gets you no where. simply because you need to use everything to your advantage, as a tool, facebook is a tool, but normally also a distraction. you need to constantly be thinking. like ive said before, this is issues in visual culture, and an issue is you need to be doing everything, anything, something, there is no later, the future is here and its moving past you fast.
if its an idea, great, go sell it, someone else will make it, is it something you have designed and want to mass produce, good go onto one of those sites that if enough people like it, you can go to a backer and get your design out there.
after all there is no later. there is now, and now goes pretty quick.
you have to make yourself global (remember simulcra though)
long working hours are the norm
no workplace politics, this is a new world and has very uncertain acceptable grounds
connectivity
information
innovation/enterprise
good at something? better than others? use that !
read- network
anylse - navigate
get the work out there
get your work in the correct places, key elements
write- represent
consume - produce
reproduce - create (get others to create it for you)
communication- collaboration
research - search
keep making until you find your style
these are simplified bullet points of things discussed in the lecture today that were the fundamental elements to making it in this new revolution.
Or at least the ones i managed to write down (we talk faster than i can write)
The find your own style really speaks to me though.
As i said the national curriculum would need changed as this digital industry doesnt allow for us to prosper 'in the box' meaning this whole kill the dangerous ideas thing, isnt working, it will fail, the curriculum should move with times and teach relevant information.
The creative industrys is booming but by the time the youth come to a point they have a chance to create, the creativity has been killed and it becomes difficult to get yourself out of the basics.
This is what i want to focus on, i want to get out of the box, and forget the basics, i want to create, find what im good at specifically, and exhibit myself to the extent i can make something of myself.
pop up businesses are todays money makers, unless you are already well established, this economy is not very loving towards you. get an idea? a product? now quick start, how to sell it, rent a space, not for long, make the money and move on to the next thing. This is the era of coming and goings, businesses appear and disappear over night.
At this point the future is very uncertain but its clear we have to understand and stay ontop of the technology to succeed, be prepared and not be left behind.
Claire
Ring Ring, Ring Ring
From bricks to Iphones in less than 25 years, the phone a seemingly going no where item, boomed and was instantly adopted lovingly into society, and developed faster than anything ever.
The research to develop mobile phones were pushed along by two main sectors,
The military
Pornography industry.
Motorola that created the first handheld mobile, surprising right. since they arent even in the top five leading phone brands today, however it is thanks to them development has been pushed this far and is still pushing.
The Nokia was the first, and today is the common joke fore its brick like-ness and the fact it was basically indestructible, a fact i like to think is true as ive had many phones in my lifetime, yet this was my backup, and never ever broke.
Emailing and texting became standard by mid nineties, and from there basically created a new language of its own. A language alot of the world is still unfamiliar and others only speak.
The big phones that changed the history of phones....
The Nokia pushed for smaller phones
The blackberry made emailing and word processing on phones so accessible, other phones had to catch up
then came the Iphone, touch screen. from there everything history
When you realize how fast technology has advanced in the last two decades alone, its actually quite frightening and makes you question quite alot.
Like how does it work ?
Mobile networks are global and use a portion of radio frequency spectrum. designated aa an ultra high frequency for the transmission and reception of thier signals.
This ultra high band of frequency is also shared by television, wifi and bluetooth transmissions.
Mobile devices have thier upsides and down sides like anything.
-paranoia society
We think everyone sees us, they know where we are, who we are with and if they dont, we want them to. or we ask everyone else who they are with and where.
no privacy, whether you want it or not.
-space
we are basically all everywhere
-personal relationships
with this whole constant connectedness to everything, long distance is no longer a problem with relationships, you can talk, speak screen to screen at any given time with whoever you want.
However its the short distance relationships that get the down side of phones, as they tend to be distracting and the usual problem in a relationship nowadays.
This is all amazing and kind of earth shaking, but as long as i can stay on top of this ever changing world of technology, i can easily use it to my advantage, however its alot to take in and also makes you wonder. whats next? im sure a hundred years ago nobody thought man could be on the moon. fifty years ago nobody would imagine computers basically run the world, and even a mere twenty years ago im sure nobody imagined phones would develop to the point we have more in our average phones than high tech computers had when phones were being invented.
The research to develop mobile phones were pushed along by two main sectors,
The military
Pornography industry.
Motorola that created the first handheld mobile, surprising right. since they arent even in the top five leading phone brands today, however it is thanks to them development has been pushed this far and is still pushing.
The Nokia was the first, and today is the common joke fore its brick like-ness and the fact it was basically indestructible, a fact i like to think is true as ive had many phones in my lifetime, yet this was my backup, and never ever broke.
Emailing and texting became standard by mid nineties, and from there basically created a new language of its own. A language alot of the world is still unfamiliar and others only speak.
The big phones that changed the history of phones....
The Nokia pushed for smaller phones
The blackberry made emailing and word processing on phones so accessible, other phones had to catch up
then came the Iphone, touch screen. from there everything history
When you realize how fast technology has advanced in the last two decades alone, its actually quite frightening and makes you question quite alot.
Like how does it work ?
Mobile networks are global and use a portion of radio frequency spectrum. designated aa an ultra high frequency for the transmission and reception of thier signals.
This ultra high band of frequency is also shared by television, wifi and bluetooth transmissions.
Mobile devices have thier upsides and down sides like anything.
-paranoia society
We think everyone sees us, they know where we are, who we are with and if they dont, we want them to. or we ask everyone else who they are with and where.
no privacy, whether you want it or not.
-space
we are basically all everywhere
-personal relationships
with this whole constant connectedness to everything, long distance is no longer a problem with relationships, you can talk, speak screen to screen at any given time with whoever you want.
However its the short distance relationships that get the down side of phones, as they tend to be distracting and the usual problem in a relationship nowadays.
This is all amazing and kind of earth shaking, but as long as i can stay on top of this ever changing world of technology, i can easily use it to my advantage, however its alot to take in and also makes you wonder. whats next? im sure a hundred years ago nobody thought man could be on the moon. fifty years ago nobody would imagine computers basically run the world, and even a mere twenty years ago im sure nobody imagined phones would develop to the point we have more in our average phones than high tech computers had when phones were being invented.
Post -Modernism, Anything and EVERYHTING goes
Modernism basically came from the industrial revolution.
All these people in a big messy gritty built up city, began there way of thinking.
Before people were living solitary local lives, the revolution created time.
I know time has always been about, i mean working to time, to a clock, you had to be at the factory and leave the factory and finish work all at certain times, where as before in the rural lives they wouldve got up whenever they felt it was early enough to feed the cows, or they worked at their own pace and sorted everything before a deadline, so essentially the industrial revolution created time.
The impact of the revolution cant be underrated, as it brought peasants to horrible crowded living in the city for the first time. giving them reason to question the existence of god, and so modernism is born.
Jackson Paula was a famous artist, the most unusual around this time, not for what kind of art was produced, but HOW it was produced. ie. the tools and techniques.
Using basically the most common objects lying about, on a budget jackson created some moving iconic pieces of the era.
My favorite method and tool was a tricycle. Jackson basically attached to a few leaky paint cans to a tric and paddled about on a massive canvas for hours and hours, creating colourful exciting random confusion, it was incredibly post modern, after all modern art is going against all conventions and creating what you want how you want.
Final result was half a foot deep of paint representing confusion and city life. Among all this paint included anything that was lying about and got pushed or dropped in because it was in the way of the tric. this included bottle caps and toilet paper.
So among the revolution the birth of public education was created, and why is this important especially in modern art? well its extremely relevant, they educate the control. I know such a hippie statement to make, but it was, the national curriculums main point was so no big new scary ideas happened among all the peasants in this big new world of the city.
"Give me a boy for 7 years and i will give you a man"
This statement basically means, you never forget the basics. and i know from experience, i could tell you basically everything i learnt in primary school and likely use these basics in everyday life, whereas i couldnt tell you a third of the things i learnt in high school, and i likely dont use it once a week.
In this case these basics in the 7 years the national curriculum is on about, are carried through the low lasses entire life, and these basics include,listen to the boss, the teacher, the guy in charge, because anything else is dangerous. just keep your head down.
Its only recent years that say 'think out of the box' infact even today the national curriculum says stay in the box, when you get to university you may think out of the box. but of course by that stage, you are so in the box theres nothing outside the box for you, you like the box, because youve been taught to forever love this box.
The national curriculum has proven necessary for so many years, however that was for THAT industrial revolution, not this one.
Modernism is obsessed with self,
who we are, where we are going etc.
a good example of this is marx, it keeps us going forward, we have a belief questioned and a new belief born.
marxisim is the modern belief that questions other beliefs. religions that questions other religions.
like basically everything in history, religion has something to do with it.
The industrial revolution made people want to fight, fight for rights, fight of education, fight for better living, bringing them to all this me me me, self obsessed behavior.
It is important because it brought on self searching, self examination.
postmodern thinking includes things like,
-Subjectivity
a key element of post moderisim, big brother is a prime example of this, we sell our subjectivity. its all about you.
The death of the author is important to subjectivity, as its all about you. once something is written the author is dead,gone, it doesnt matter what the author MEANT to write, now its allhat is believed.
-Shallowness
all that matter is how we present ourselves, we lack depth and knowledge because we dont want to know.
-Intersexuality
a fancy term to mix, ie. mash up.
meaning its acceptable to merge others ideas into your own as long as you clearly show you are.
Pulp fiction for example, stole scenes from many movies and lacked a linear timeline.
-Non linear narrative
Internet is a prime example here, normally one thing elads to another, and we research backwards.
-Knowingness
we know we are doing something for affect.
-Minimalism
rejection of elaborate forms
and finally
-Anything goes.
and i mean anything, thus the title. its the rejection of distinction of highs and lows.
We've come to a point that we can no longer like something and get away from something, we have to reject something else.
ie. Beethoven is better than girls aloud.
postmodernism allows us all to be individuals but not, and it allows us and forces us in the same way to have everything and anything acceptable. Topshop is one of the leading stores, and yet everything in it looks like a hookers outfit (im not being mean, im using it as a point, more of my wardrope is from topshop than id like to admit)
postmodernism expects everyone to understand, topshop for example expects all of us to love their cloths and buy them because of fashion, and those not into fashion, are expected to understand that the girls are not out for odd reasons dressed like tramps, it is fashion!
but we also expect all generations to understand that and not misunderstand.
apart of post modernism allows us also not to care what other precieve as acceptable, because its all about ourselves.
Another example of 'anything goes' is a phrase that was used in a tv show recently, one girl was wearing something not to standard of the others and another said "Brittney your outfit is so 9/11" talk about a shock factor, but its also acceptable because its all about what we ourselves deem acceptable, its a world of self obsession and acceptance.
"whoever owns the factories owns the people and whoever owns the industry owns the world"
Claire
All these people in a big messy gritty built up city, began there way of thinking.
Before people were living solitary local lives, the revolution created time.
I know time has always been about, i mean working to time, to a clock, you had to be at the factory and leave the factory and finish work all at certain times, where as before in the rural lives they wouldve got up whenever they felt it was early enough to feed the cows, or they worked at their own pace and sorted everything before a deadline, so essentially the industrial revolution created time.
The impact of the revolution cant be underrated, as it brought peasants to horrible crowded living in the city for the first time. giving them reason to question the existence of god, and so modernism is born.
Jackson Paula was a famous artist, the most unusual around this time, not for what kind of art was produced, but HOW it was produced. ie. the tools and techniques.
Using basically the most common objects lying about, on a budget jackson created some moving iconic pieces of the era.
My favorite method and tool was a tricycle. Jackson basically attached to a few leaky paint cans to a tric and paddled about on a massive canvas for hours and hours, creating colourful exciting random confusion, it was incredibly post modern, after all modern art is going against all conventions and creating what you want how you want.
Final result was half a foot deep of paint representing confusion and city life. Among all this paint included anything that was lying about and got pushed or dropped in because it was in the way of the tric. this included bottle caps and toilet paper.
So among the revolution the birth of public education was created, and why is this important especially in modern art? well its extremely relevant, they educate the control. I know such a hippie statement to make, but it was, the national curriculums main point was so no big new scary ideas happened among all the peasants in this big new world of the city.
"Give me a boy for 7 years and i will give you a man"
This statement basically means, you never forget the basics. and i know from experience, i could tell you basically everything i learnt in primary school and likely use these basics in everyday life, whereas i couldnt tell you a third of the things i learnt in high school, and i likely dont use it once a week.
In this case these basics in the 7 years the national curriculum is on about, are carried through the low lasses entire life, and these basics include,listen to the boss, the teacher, the guy in charge, because anything else is dangerous. just keep your head down.
Its only recent years that say 'think out of the box' infact even today the national curriculum says stay in the box, when you get to university you may think out of the box. but of course by that stage, you are so in the box theres nothing outside the box for you, you like the box, because youve been taught to forever love this box.
The national curriculum has proven necessary for so many years, however that was for THAT industrial revolution, not this one.
Modernism is obsessed with self,
who we are, where we are going etc.
a good example of this is marx, it keeps us going forward, we have a belief questioned and a new belief born.
marxisim is the modern belief that questions other beliefs. religions that questions other religions.
like basically everything in history, religion has something to do with it.
The industrial revolution made people want to fight, fight for rights, fight of education, fight for better living, bringing them to all this me me me, self obsessed behavior.
It is important because it brought on self searching, self examination.
postmodern thinking includes things like,
-Subjectivity
a key element of post moderisim, big brother is a prime example of this, we sell our subjectivity. its all about you.
The death of the author is important to subjectivity, as its all about you. once something is written the author is dead,gone, it doesnt matter what the author MEANT to write, now its allhat is believed.
-Shallowness
all that matter is how we present ourselves, we lack depth and knowledge because we dont want to know.
-Intersexuality
a fancy term to mix, ie. mash up.
meaning its acceptable to merge others ideas into your own as long as you clearly show you are.
Pulp fiction for example, stole scenes from many movies and lacked a linear timeline.
-Non linear narrative
Internet is a prime example here, normally one thing elads to another, and we research backwards.
-Knowingness
we know we are doing something for affect.
-Minimalism
rejection of elaborate forms
and finally
-Anything goes.
and i mean anything, thus the title. its the rejection of distinction of highs and lows.
We've come to a point that we can no longer like something and get away from something, we have to reject something else.
ie. Beethoven is better than girls aloud.
postmodernism allows us all to be individuals but not, and it allows us and forces us in the same way to have everything and anything acceptable. Topshop is one of the leading stores, and yet everything in it looks like a hookers outfit (im not being mean, im using it as a point, more of my wardrope is from topshop than id like to admit)
postmodernism expects everyone to understand, topshop for example expects all of us to love their cloths and buy them because of fashion, and those not into fashion, are expected to understand that the girls are not out for odd reasons dressed like tramps, it is fashion!
but we also expect all generations to understand that and not misunderstand.
apart of post modernism allows us also not to care what other precieve as acceptable, because its all about ourselves.
Another example of 'anything goes' is a phrase that was used in a tv show recently, one girl was wearing something not to standard of the others and another said "Brittney your outfit is so 9/11" talk about a shock factor, but its also acceptable because its all about what we ourselves deem acceptable, its a world of self obsession and acceptance.
"whoever owns the factories owns the people and whoever owns the industry owns the world"
Claire
Simulcra
So far we've talked about visuals and what they mean in brief, now we research how we get them out there.
Recently an artist was commissioned 25k by the city for an iconic piece that would create a buzz, he is well known for that kind of provoking art. However what he presented to the city was um, not what they were expecting.
Take a wee look for yourself....
So the main question after the shock and rage was, Was it a success?
After all it did its job, it attracted ALOT of attention, and it got the buzz, granted its unconventional, but art doesnt have to be conventional, thats the joy or art.
So in short, Yes, it was a success, it did its purpose, and after all, its not about the art or the newstand simplicity of it, its about the concept IN the art.
Similar to the John Cage silent composition that i discussed previously, its not about the actual art, its all about the meaning, the concept, its what we take from it.
So i guess you are wondering why the title is 'Simulcra' well its simple, todays topic (the one i want to focus on anyway) is the exhibition of ones self. ie our art, our reputation and how we get it all out there.
We do this every day, especially with the five main ones i spoke of at the start (apple, google etc) our internet presence is a global one, so we are unaware as ever click we make is building on our exhibition of ourselves.
A fun wee story was given as an example of this global presence, nothing to do with art really.
There was a dinner party (we'll cut out names and such to save time here) and there were 8 people at this dinner party.
During the party one of the people mustve posted a photo and status on a media site, lets say foursquare or facebook for handyness. later that night several people commented on the photo, and discussed a lamp in the background of all things.
which surprised a few guests as they werent all in on this status. but thier GPS let others know they were there.
Kind of made them ask themselves whats public and whats private these days, if not a dinner party or lamp in someones house, it even had their GPS. So the 8 people calculated thier friends and anyone that could see thier where abouts and internet status, taking into account mutual friends and all that.
In the end the person dinner party with the help of the internet actually had over 3million at the dinner party, the privacy line has been blurred so much by social networking, its mind blowing.
Theres a french philosopher called Jean Baudrillard, a social theorist an critic. He was concerned the way in which Technology and its progress affects social change.
As he spoke about consumerism and gender relations and the understanding of history, he asked 'how do we know the gulf war actually happened' answer? we dont.
I know its a drastic statement, but it makes its point.
The point is, we take what people say for granted, goverments and news crews etc
It makes us ask ourselves, How do we know what is real?
Real is a moment, and retelling the moment is representation.
This is where Simulcra comes in, it basically means when we simulate something, mainly our lives. and we do this like the people at the dinner party, through social networking sites.
And it has lead us to become the same way inclined as Jean Bodrigard, we dont believe anything, even if we were there,
we are generation dont.
as in we dont believe it until its out there on the internet, retold and photographed.
Fun fact i then discovered, Job interviewers check social networking sites, including facebook.... makes you definitly question what all youve ever put out there in that public space, after all once its out there, theres no going back.
we've become a generation constantly living in sumulcra.
its the story we tell about ourselves.
Then it hit me....and about the every other one of the 80 students in that lecture, This is why we were given a blog as an assignment.
...let it soak in...
Our presence on the internet, its us exhibiting ourselves, its useful and yet it could destroy our careers as easily as it could star them.
This blog is to teach us to control ourselves, its teaching us how to present ourselves and constantly think think think, before any action.
Given nothing is real- we must control how we present ourselves, as it is creating a sense of ourselves.
Soooo watch out for your own simulcra, thinkwhat your online exhibition is like. are you proud? or are there skeletons in those virtual closets?
Claire
Recently an artist was commissioned 25k by the city for an iconic piece that would create a buzz, he is well known for that kind of provoking art. However what he presented to the city was um, not what they were expecting.
Take a wee look for yourself....
So the main question after the shock and rage was, Was it a success?
After all it did its job, it attracted ALOT of attention, and it got the buzz, granted its unconventional, but art doesnt have to be conventional, thats the joy or art.
So in short, Yes, it was a success, it did its purpose, and after all, its not about the art or the newstand simplicity of it, its about the concept IN the art.
Similar to the John Cage silent composition that i discussed previously, its not about the actual art, its all about the meaning, the concept, its what we take from it.
So i guess you are wondering why the title is 'Simulcra' well its simple, todays topic (the one i want to focus on anyway) is the exhibition of ones self. ie our art, our reputation and how we get it all out there.
We do this every day, especially with the five main ones i spoke of at the start (apple, google etc) our internet presence is a global one, so we are unaware as ever click we make is building on our exhibition of ourselves.
A fun wee story was given as an example of this global presence, nothing to do with art really.
There was a dinner party (we'll cut out names and such to save time here) and there were 8 people at this dinner party.
During the party one of the people mustve posted a photo and status on a media site, lets say foursquare or facebook for handyness. later that night several people commented on the photo, and discussed a lamp in the background of all things.
which surprised a few guests as they werent all in on this status. but thier GPS let others know they were there.
Kind of made them ask themselves whats public and whats private these days, if not a dinner party or lamp in someones house, it even had their GPS. So the 8 people calculated thier friends and anyone that could see thier where abouts and internet status, taking into account mutual friends and all that.
In the end the person dinner party with the help of the internet actually had over 3million at the dinner party, the privacy line has been blurred so much by social networking, its mind blowing.
Theres a french philosopher called Jean Baudrillard, a social theorist an critic. He was concerned the way in which Technology and its progress affects social change.
As he spoke about consumerism and gender relations and the understanding of history, he asked 'how do we know the gulf war actually happened' answer? we dont.
I know its a drastic statement, but it makes its point.
The point is, we take what people say for granted, goverments and news crews etc
It makes us ask ourselves, How do we know what is real?
Real is a moment, and retelling the moment is representation.
This is where Simulcra comes in, it basically means when we simulate something, mainly our lives. and we do this like the people at the dinner party, through social networking sites.
And it has lead us to become the same way inclined as Jean Bodrigard, we dont believe anything, even if we were there,
we are generation dont.
as in we dont believe it until its out there on the internet, retold and photographed.
Fun fact i then discovered, Job interviewers check social networking sites, including facebook.... makes you definitly question what all youve ever put out there in that public space, after all once its out there, theres no going back.
we've become a generation constantly living in sumulcra.
its the story we tell about ourselves.
Then it hit me....and about the every other one of the 80 students in that lecture, This is why we were given a blog as an assignment.
...let it soak in...
Our presence on the internet, its us exhibiting ourselves, its useful and yet it could destroy our careers as easily as it could star them.
This blog is to teach us to control ourselves, its teaching us how to present ourselves and constantly think think think, before any action.
Given nothing is real- we must control how we present ourselves, as it is creating a sense of ourselves.
Soooo watch out for your own simulcra, thinkwhat your online exhibition is like. are you proud? or are there skeletons in those virtual closets?
Claire
What is ART?
A silly question you say ? really? think about it, it seems that since the dawn of time, nobody can agree wholey on what is considered art.
The cave mans paintings, writing or art? or both?
Is graffiti art or vandalism?
Modern art, art or worthless?
Its all down t a matter of opinion, and the great thing about art, it doesn't HAVE to actually meet anyones expectations, it could be Michelangelos work or a 5 year olds, art is what moves us, its expression, art is infinite.
as ive discussed we are in a digital era, so why should our digital technology not me used for art purposes and still be considered art.
Many argue that art is paint, its sculpting, i argue with todays technology we have cut out wasting resources, this is a good and bad thing, bad because it may in the end up make quite a bit of art worthless, ie creative common laws would need to be properly in place so credit goes to the proper artists. However regardless of selling and buying art work, Digital art, is still art.
Its just a different medium.
Im of course biased as i wish to be an illustrator or animator.
Illustration can be captured so much better computerized, not because its any easier. speaking from experience, drawing a sketch or water colour painting is vastly easier on paper than it is using software. creating the same or more HD effects are extremely difficult, so i laugh at those people who say because the technology is easy used, it does the art for you, this is extremely wrong.
As Steve Jobs said in a speech once- Technology is irrelevant, it's what you do with it !
illustration done using software for example if i wanted to change a minor detail, i wouldn't have to start again, or waste more ink or paper, id simple erase it and continue.
I could also thanks to modern technology mass distribute my work. Using the internet i can send it to several persons, no matter whee they are in the world. instantly !
forget crumpling the art work in the post, forget extra man hours, forget envelopes and postage and waiting, forget only having one copy of your art work.... i can send a copy to several publishers or artists at once, and they will all see the same image undamaged at the same time, no matter thier location.
Animation, is digital. I'm fond of 2d, now imagine me making a 2d clip of anything without technology. lets say all i had was paper and pen.....no imagine how many pages id need. considering its 2 frames/pages a second, and thats not including any mistakes or scrap pieces.
Technology if used correctly is art. Its easy to access the software that famous names use for digital paintings and block buster movies..... doesnt mean the same level of skill is using this technology.
So it is the artist not the software.
It may be weird that art can now be mass produced, but isnt that the same as original mass production, it lowered the value in some aspects but heightened it in others.
The National portrait museum is my favorite example to use in an argument when others doubt technology is not art. Do you consider those grand paintings and portraits art? well, have you noticed how they are all left handed? one in seven people are left handed, so whats the chances EVERY model used in the museum were left handed. answer is, there isnt really.
So how was this achieved, its almost like a photo was taken, but they all date before the first camera was even thought of, so what was it, time travel? no the secret is the artists used a pin hole camera, like a projection, but it created the image upside down, making the subject back to front, ie left handed.
Moral of this example, technology is not a 21st century thing, we have all used technology of our time to suit our needs, be it the dawn of time, renaissance, or 21st century.
Claire
The cave mans paintings, writing or art? or both?
Is graffiti art or vandalism?
Modern art, art or worthless?
Its all down t a matter of opinion, and the great thing about art, it doesn't HAVE to actually meet anyones expectations, it could be Michelangelos work or a 5 year olds, art is what moves us, its expression, art is infinite.
as ive discussed we are in a digital era, so why should our digital technology not me used for art purposes and still be considered art.
Many argue that art is paint, its sculpting, i argue with todays technology we have cut out wasting resources, this is a good and bad thing, bad because it may in the end up make quite a bit of art worthless, ie creative common laws would need to be properly in place so credit goes to the proper artists. However regardless of selling and buying art work, Digital art, is still art.
Its just a different medium.
Im of course biased as i wish to be an illustrator or animator.
Illustration can be captured so much better computerized, not because its any easier. speaking from experience, drawing a sketch or water colour painting is vastly easier on paper than it is using software. creating the same or more HD effects are extremely difficult, so i laugh at those people who say because the technology is easy used, it does the art for you, this is extremely wrong.
As Steve Jobs said in a speech once- Technology is irrelevant, it's what you do with it !
illustration done using software for example if i wanted to change a minor detail, i wouldn't have to start again, or waste more ink or paper, id simple erase it and continue.
I could also thanks to modern technology mass distribute my work. Using the internet i can send it to several persons, no matter whee they are in the world. instantly !
forget crumpling the art work in the post, forget extra man hours, forget envelopes and postage and waiting, forget only having one copy of your art work.... i can send a copy to several publishers or artists at once, and they will all see the same image undamaged at the same time, no matter thier location.
Animation, is digital. I'm fond of 2d, now imagine me making a 2d clip of anything without technology. lets say all i had was paper and pen.....no imagine how many pages id need. considering its 2 frames/pages a second, and thats not including any mistakes or scrap pieces.
Technology if used correctly is art. Its easy to access the software that famous names use for digital paintings and block buster movies..... doesnt mean the same level of skill is using this technology.
So it is the artist not the software.
It may be weird that art can now be mass produced, but isnt that the same as original mass production, it lowered the value in some aspects but heightened it in others.
The National portrait museum is my favorite example to use in an argument when others doubt technology is not art. Do you consider those grand paintings and portraits art? well, have you noticed how they are all left handed? one in seven people are left handed, so whats the chances EVERY model used in the museum were left handed. answer is, there isnt really.
So how was this achieved, its almost like a photo was taken, but they all date before the first camera was even thought of, so what was it, time travel? no the secret is the artists used a pin hole camera, like a projection, but it created the image upside down, making the subject back to front, ie left handed.
Moral of this example, technology is not a 21st century thing, we have all used technology of our time to suit our needs, be it the dawn of time, renaissance, or 21st century.
Claire
Sound
This week the lecturer was absent and we were given a lecture by a nervous dr.Rachel Mcclure (who did very well) .... im saying all this because what we were taught seemed very out of place, more so than usually, but itll fit in in the end, dont worry.....or so im told
After all we were warned at the start some classes would seem odd but start to come together round week 6-7, this was deffinitly a stand alone class.
Sound, to be honest when you think of it, its loud, its noise its vibration, its not silence.
John Cage is an american composer and has a different theory on that though, he believes silence doesnt exist.
Which makes sense, theres always noise around, there cant be true silence, there can be quiet but silence is impossible because even if you made a completely sound proof room..... you body still makes noise.
He is most famous for his composition from 1952, where he presented a four minute piece of silence.
In those days that was an outrage, you can just imagine the audiences confusion and anger, they paid to see this big musical performance from him and an orchestra and ended up sitting through what would seem forever, Mr Cage just sitting at the piano doing....nothing. No sound, the only movements were him turning the piano sheets.
At first im sure the were confused, or worried, but then when he finally stood, bowed and left I'm sure they were enraged, especially when he explained that it was
Heres the link, Its a bit awkward the first time you see it, especially if i hadn't spoiled it for you, show a friend an watch their reaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4
He created this piece not to enrage, but to show the world there is no such thing as silence, its impossible to achieve, watch the link, you can here coughs, whispers, small movements, even traffic at one point i think.
He encouraged everyone to listen to the world around them, each time they would hear a different sound, which is something you cant achieve with a piece of music, as it would sound the same everytime.
Something interesting that was mentioned among all this Silence talk was, If you had the choice to lose your sight or your hearing that majority would vote to kept their sight everytime. and to be very honest im one of them. we had a goo few minutes silence to think on this, and i cant imagine not seeing, i can easily imagine not hearing which apparently may very well happen to the majority of this generation, music, headphones and concerts are destroying our hearing, but thats besides the point here.
In eastern Europe they would quicker lose their sight, in order to keep their hearing, as they believe nothing is real until you see it and touch it.
The discussion moved on to Dr McClures Thesis piece.
Inspired by such people like luigi russolo and Amnette, and a simple question Dr. McClure asked herself
'why call it sightseeing? we use senses whilst on holiday, we judge a society by its sound arts and festivals'
A key to how she came to this thesis idea was to keep an open mind, valuable advice to everyone,we hear it all the time but never actually act upon it.
The purpose of this project was to sight see without actually going to the place, in my opinion it would be a great souvenir or maybe a tourist guide, like see hear the place before you actually go.
She discussed the soundscape (sound of everything around you) keynotes (the environment) sound mark (unique to that community) hifi and lowfi sounds (distinct noises to a rural area, ambiance and such)
Keeping all these aspects in order, Dr McClure recorded a sound of every area in Northern Ireland.
She then wanted to do more with this, and wired these sounds to a large map of Ireland, that you can walk on, and every step you are in a new town and county, and youd think aw such a small place, they all sound alike, every village sounds alike, but no.
Derry and Belfast are two very different cities, ones rural and the other is towering over you,and the accents in the background, the mass of people are different, the strengths in shops and traffic would be different.
Then theres mountains, different villages, including coastal towns. All these places sounded so different but i never wouldve imagined, because im always there and these are background noises i tune out.
She successful created a snapshot of that place and time and transported the listener to the time and place, sounds simple enough, but i was amazed at how professionally it was done.
Her parting words summed up 'Instead of hearing LISTEN!'
To quickly relate it to everything else ive rambeled about so far i made a tweak ofan adjustment, remember all those images you dont see everyday, i encourage you to Instead of looking, SEE!
Claire
After all we were warned at the start some classes would seem odd but start to come together round week 6-7, this was deffinitly a stand alone class.
Sound, to be honest when you think of it, its loud, its noise its vibration, its not silence.
John Cage is an american composer and has a different theory on that though, he believes silence doesnt exist.
Which makes sense, theres always noise around, there cant be true silence, there can be quiet but silence is impossible because even if you made a completely sound proof room..... you body still makes noise.
He is most famous for his composition from 1952, where he presented a four minute piece of silence.
In those days that was an outrage, you can just imagine the audiences confusion and anger, they paid to see this big musical performance from him and an orchestra and ended up sitting through what would seem forever, Mr Cage just sitting at the piano doing....nothing. No sound, the only movements were him turning the piano sheets.
At first im sure the were confused, or worried, but then when he finally stood, bowed and left I'm sure they were enraged, especially when he explained that it was
Heres the link, Its a bit awkward the first time you see it, especially if i hadn't spoiled it for you, show a friend an watch their reaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4
He created this piece not to enrage, but to show the world there is no such thing as silence, its impossible to achieve, watch the link, you can here coughs, whispers, small movements, even traffic at one point i think.
He encouraged everyone to listen to the world around them, each time they would hear a different sound, which is something you cant achieve with a piece of music, as it would sound the same everytime.
Something interesting that was mentioned among all this Silence talk was, If you had the choice to lose your sight or your hearing that majority would vote to kept their sight everytime. and to be very honest im one of them. we had a goo few minutes silence to think on this, and i cant imagine not seeing, i can easily imagine not hearing which apparently may very well happen to the majority of this generation, music, headphones and concerts are destroying our hearing, but thats besides the point here.
In eastern Europe they would quicker lose their sight, in order to keep their hearing, as they believe nothing is real until you see it and touch it.
The discussion moved on to Dr McClures Thesis piece.
Inspired by such people like luigi russolo and Amnette, and a simple question Dr. McClure asked herself
'why call it sightseeing? we use senses whilst on holiday, we judge a society by its sound arts and festivals'
A key to how she came to this thesis idea was to keep an open mind, valuable advice to everyone,we hear it all the time but never actually act upon it.
The purpose of this project was to sight see without actually going to the place, in my opinion it would be a great souvenir or maybe a tourist guide, like see hear the place before you actually go.
She discussed the soundscape (sound of everything around you) keynotes (the environment) sound mark (unique to that community) hifi and lowfi sounds (distinct noises to a rural area, ambiance and such)
Keeping all these aspects in order, Dr McClure recorded a sound of every area in Northern Ireland.
She then wanted to do more with this, and wired these sounds to a large map of Ireland, that you can walk on, and every step you are in a new town and county, and youd think aw such a small place, they all sound alike, every village sounds alike, but no.
Derry and Belfast are two very different cities, ones rural and the other is towering over you,and the accents in the background, the mass of people are different, the strengths in shops and traffic would be different.
Then theres mountains, different villages, including coastal towns. All these places sounded so different but i never wouldve imagined, because im always there and these are background noises i tune out.
She successful created a snapshot of that place and time and transported the listener to the time and place, sounds simple enough, but i was amazed at how professionally it was done.
Her parting words summed up 'Instead of hearing LISTEN!'
To quickly relate it to everything else ive rambeled about so far i made a tweak ofan adjustment, remember all those images you dont see everyday, i encourage you to Instead of looking, SEE!
Claire
3D Printers
Yes im actually posting about such a thing, but keep in mind this wont be a full post i just wanted to mention this as it came up among discussions, and im surprised i had never heard of these, and now they are everywhere, talk about selective sight.
The 3d printer comes up a few times through my next few posts as an example, i just wanted to take this moment to go, woah, we think futuristic and dont realize, we are already there.
Think about it, theres more technology i my phone right now than there was on the space craft that took man to the moon, and if you doubt the moon landing, fine.
My phone has more technology in it currently than one of the first most amazing computers..... now compare the size....
My bedroom is smaller than that computer
Think about it, a 3d printer, you can create anything, and they aren't even that expensive, and then you realize this technology has been around since the 80's....is your world shaking yet? it should be
Claire
The 3d printer comes up a few times through my next few posts as an example, i just wanted to take this moment to go, woah, we think futuristic and dont realize, we are already there.
Think about it, theres more technology i my phone right now than there was on the space craft that took man to the moon, and if you doubt the moon landing, fine.
My phone has more technology in it currently than one of the first most amazing computers..... now compare the size....
My bedroom is smaller than that computer
Think about it, a 3d printer, you can create anything, and they aren't even that expensive, and then you realize this technology has been around since the 80's....is your world shaking yet? it should be
Claire
The Digital Industrial Revolution
Yes you read that title correctly. We are currently in the middle of a digital revolution, i dont know when it really started or when it would end, but think about it. did the first or second industrial revolutions really broadcast it was a revolution untill it was over? NO they didnt.
When i was told about our 'current' digital revolution, i had to think to myself, all those dates and stats in history books that we all know about now, did they known about them at the time?
I t always says how fast paced and exciting it was, but did they know that.
I had to take a step back and look, This current revolution would've really begun as i was a small child or maybe not even in existence, so i've technically been born into this revolution, meaning me and my peers don't actually know anything other than how it is. We don't know what it would be like not to have a next big leap in technology, we wouldn't know what it would be like if our brand new appliances weren't obsolete in less than five years. outdated by at least three newer versions.
So todays message is? GET OUT THERE AND DO IT NOW.
and i mean it, this is the perfect time to be doing anything. if you build then build, if you think and create then think! create! even if you cant make them right now, you should be constantly working, it actually kinda makes me feel like a complete slacker, considering theres 12 yr olds that are making money of a simple idea, not even the idea build or proofed, no just selling ideas. i have a sinking lazy feeling that i should be doing something.
In modern society we dont need to have made a name for ourselves, we dont need years upon years of being the best before we can create the next big thing, todays world allows any average joe to create the next big thing and change the world.
Granted every other day we are being shown 'the next big thing' theres too many competing with each other for us to truly intake the vastness of our capabilities.
I suppose its something like the cavemen (yeah im using them as examples again) i guess evolution didnt just happen one day, some man didnt just up and walk or talk, it took years of advancement, which we are in the middle of evolution of media and technology. and to be very honest its scary,exciting but scary. and if it did happen just one day, i bet nobody told everyone that was the day, for all we know the next big game changer has been invented and just hasnt gotten EVERYWHERE just yet.
Today, everyday, we have the big five, which are apple, goggle, amazon, facebook and microsoft....a dn to be honest you think oh i dont need those, but then you remember you cant leave the house or do anything without the comfort of one of them.
I could never leave the house or room without my phone, id have that mini heart attack everyone has.
Makes you wonder what people did without all this technology. seems unthinkable, yet it was barely a couple of decade ago.
Internet, social media sites, they all allow us to get anything out instantly, it scares me to think of a world without that ability.
The point is, all these things are shifting the earth and my generation and downwards all live it, but anything older feel it. which makes me think, we need to prepare ourselves for the coming years were itll either stop, or get so out of hand even we couldnt keep up.
However this whole revolution has a major downside. Art!
Think about it, Music, its dead. its been done, hundreds of times its been done.
Things that were amazing and new, it was the music, the style even the artwork. but its been done, and nothing is really new anymore,its just recreation.
Yes entertaining but not profitable.
The music industry is interesting and sorry to crush dreams, but its dead.
Todays music, to actually turn a profit, its all about the visuals (lady gaga is an amazing example here, whether you like her or not, she makes the money because shes weird, to make money in todays music, you need a gimmick, normal and relatable is done and finished)
These powerful and out of no where statements is whats mindblowing in these weekly lectures, these precious thee hours, one way or another provokes me think for another week and a half, making me question just about everything.
Im begining to think im some philosophy student rather than design.
Art as music, finished, art as in creative gimmick is the only profit.
I mean vinyl jackets, look at them, they didnt even have to sell an album, now artists have trouble advertising so we'll buy one song from thier albums.
Every form of media is used just to sell sell sell.
yet a mere few decades ago, the music industry was were the money was. and even with todays many talented hopefuls, its not about the music, as nobody listens, we are a visual culture, so its all about the show!
And then of course since nobody buys records, cds or hardcopys....its all digital and the usual rule applies here. if you can digitize it, its worthless.
I mean, lets face it, i would without a second thought download a song without paying, or watch something online and not think about any legal issues, thats just how my generation works. not an excuse, but still im giving facts right now.
Its a bit like those adverts, you wouldnt think of stealing a tv or purse, why steal a movie, the rules seem shaky and completely different.
That what all this new fuss is about SOPA and PIPA, everything should be paid and credited but.... the legislation took it too far and were trying to bann open source and free information.
A prime example of the music industry going down, the need for a gimmick and of course stealing. Radio head, a famous and loved band, with no gimmick, came up with a very subtle yet obvious gimmick. Instead of getting this new album stolen, they took a chance and gave it away for free.
Yes you heard that correct, and took donations instead of selling, since everyone wouldve stole it anyway. so in the end they made a profit from donations alone, and if you were a real fan, you then went and bought a material objetc, collectors cover. This all cut costs on producing the hardcopys and getting digital copys stolen.
In the end, radio head made three times more than they wouldve if nobody had stolen anything and they just produced the hardcopy like most bands.
To me this is a gimmick, a genius gimmick, yet it was a free fan thanks gimmick.
So if this rule applies to music art, then it applies to art itself. Canvas' paints, mediums etc, they all cost money, money artists dont have, and its resources wasted.
Hockney was seen using an ipad on an interview, and his reasoning for this was, he has unlimited canvas' and colours this way, which is oh so true. so if a famous artist like this says technology can be used for art,is that not acceptable? apparently not.
This i will discuss further as it is a topic i feel passionate about.
When i was told about our 'current' digital revolution, i had to think to myself, all those dates and stats in history books that we all know about now, did they known about them at the time?
I t always says how fast paced and exciting it was, but did they know that.
I had to take a step back and look, This current revolution would've really begun as i was a small child or maybe not even in existence, so i've technically been born into this revolution, meaning me and my peers don't actually know anything other than how it is. We don't know what it would be like not to have a next big leap in technology, we wouldn't know what it would be like if our brand new appliances weren't obsolete in less than five years. outdated by at least three newer versions.
So todays message is? GET OUT THERE AND DO IT NOW.
and i mean it, this is the perfect time to be doing anything. if you build then build, if you think and create then think! create! even if you cant make them right now, you should be constantly working, it actually kinda makes me feel like a complete slacker, considering theres 12 yr olds that are making money of a simple idea, not even the idea build or proofed, no just selling ideas. i have a sinking lazy feeling that i should be doing something.
In modern society we dont need to have made a name for ourselves, we dont need years upon years of being the best before we can create the next big thing, todays world allows any average joe to create the next big thing and change the world.
Granted every other day we are being shown 'the next big thing' theres too many competing with each other for us to truly intake the vastness of our capabilities.
I suppose its something like the cavemen (yeah im using them as examples again) i guess evolution didnt just happen one day, some man didnt just up and walk or talk, it took years of advancement, which we are in the middle of evolution of media and technology. and to be very honest its scary,exciting but scary. and if it did happen just one day, i bet nobody told everyone that was the day, for all we know the next big game changer has been invented and just hasnt gotten EVERYWHERE just yet.
Today, everyday, we have the big five, which are apple, goggle, amazon, facebook and microsoft....a dn to be honest you think oh i dont need those, but then you remember you cant leave the house or do anything without the comfort of one of them.
I could never leave the house or room without my phone, id have that mini heart attack everyone has.
Makes you wonder what people did without all this technology. seems unthinkable, yet it was barely a couple of decade ago.
Internet, social media sites, they all allow us to get anything out instantly, it scares me to think of a world without that ability.
The point is, all these things are shifting the earth and my generation and downwards all live it, but anything older feel it. which makes me think, we need to prepare ourselves for the coming years were itll either stop, or get so out of hand even we couldnt keep up.
However this whole revolution has a major downside. Art!
Think about it, Music, its dead. its been done, hundreds of times its been done.
Things that were amazing and new, it was the music, the style even the artwork. but its been done, and nothing is really new anymore,its just recreation.
Yes entertaining but not profitable.
The music industry is interesting and sorry to crush dreams, but its dead.
Todays music, to actually turn a profit, its all about the visuals (lady gaga is an amazing example here, whether you like her or not, she makes the money because shes weird, to make money in todays music, you need a gimmick, normal and relatable is done and finished)
These powerful and out of no where statements is whats mindblowing in these weekly lectures, these precious thee hours, one way or another provokes me think for another week and a half, making me question just about everything.
Im begining to think im some philosophy student rather than design.
Art as music, finished, art as in creative gimmick is the only profit.
I mean vinyl jackets, look at them, they didnt even have to sell an album, now artists have trouble advertising so we'll buy one song from thier albums.
Every form of media is used just to sell sell sell.
yet a mere few decades ago, the music industry was were the money was. and even with todays many talented hopefuls, its not about the music, as nobody listens, we are a visual culture, so its all about the show!
And then of course since nobody buys records, cds or hardcopys....its all digital and the usual rule applies here. if you can digitize it, its worthless.
I mean, lets face it, i would without a second thought download a song without paying, or watch something online and not think about any legal issues, thats just how my generation works. not an excuse, but still im giving facts right now.
Its a bit like those adverts, you wouldnt think of stealing a tv or purse, why steal a movie, the rules seem shaky and completely different.
That what all this new fuss is about SOPA and PIPA, everything should be paid and credited but.... the legislation took it too far and were trying to bann open source and free information.
A prime example of the music industry going down, the need for a gimmick and of course stealing. Radio head, a famous and loved band, with no gimmick, came up with a very subtle yet obvious gimmick. Instead of getting this new album stolen, they took a chance and gave it away for free.
Yes you heard that correct, and took donations instead of selling, since everyone wouldve stole it anyway. so in the end they made a profit from donations alone, and if you were a real fan, you then went and bought a material objetc, collectors cover. This all cut costs on producing the hardcopys and getting digital copys stolen.
In the end, radio head made three times more than they wouldve if nobody had stolen anything and they just produced the hardcopy like most bands.
To me this is a gimmick, a genius gimmick, yet it was a free fan thanks gimmick.
So if this rule applies to music art, then it applies to art itself. Canvas' paints, mediums etc, they all cost money, money artists dont have, and its resources wasted.
Hockney was seen using an ipad on an interview, and his reasoning for this was, he has unlimited canvas' and colours this way, which is oh so true. so if a famous artist like this says technology can be used for art,is that not acceptable? apparently not.
This i will discuss further as it is a topic i feel passionate about.
Geek Fest
Quick little update, GEEK FEST, no i didnt know about it, and no i did not go, but it was mentioned today and tho it was more of a side note and nothing will or has come of it, the lecture suggested we all do something that was at geek fest this year.
During a lecture, in class/geek fest someone draws visuals of what the person is talking about.... i find this extremely interesting and will create my own.
Initially i figured ill just volunteer to do it in class but it was never brought up again. sucks.
So i figured i'd draw one for each of my blogs, as i am more of an illustrator than a writer, OBVIOUSLY. since im not having much success with these weekly essay/blogs.
I have been drawing a sketch of each of these HOWEVER, i believe instead of uploading them along with the posts (since my posts are a bit everywhere) I've decided it might be interesting to just have an overall sketch. summing up all the essays/blogs and discussions at the end. taking snippets from it all and making a big messy graffiti piece.
perhaps digitized? after all we are discussing today visual culture, which is all digital.
So look forward to that digital sketch at the very end of all this.
Claire
During a lecture, in class/geek fest someone draws visuals of what the person is talking about.... i find this extremely interesting and will create my own.
Initially i figured ill just volunteer to do it in class but it was never brought up again. sucks.
So i figured i'd draw one for each of my blogs, as i am more of an illustrator than a writer, OBVIOUSLY. since im not having much success with these weekly essay/blogs.
I have been drawing a sketch of each of these HOWEVER, i believe instead of uploading them along with the posts (since my posts are a bit everywhere) I've decided it might be interesting to just have an overall sketch. summing up all the essays/blogs and discussions at the end. taking snippets from it all and making a big messy graffiti piece.
perhaps digitized? after all we are discussing today visual culture, which is all digital.
So look forward to that digital sketch at the very end of all this.
Claire
The world is Pixelated !
Fun fact of todays lecture, Did you know the average person sees over 638 images a day, but only actually sees less than 23 of these?
Yeah shocking right?
This once again wasn't the main point of the lecture (im starting to think i should re think the purpose of this blog ... is it to reiterate what todays lecture was about? or the small irrelevant bits i found interesting ?)
Anyway, i found it interesting and shocking, i mean, for the next week im going to be constantly looking at images and wonder how many images have i NOT seen on a day to day basis.
i suppose these images could also include billboards or advertisements we just dont take in.
No matter how you look at these stats, you have to wonder, is our entire generation just dulled so much by media we have a serious case of global selective vision ?
Take a wee peek here before you continue
Did you see it? no? look again..... NOW YOU SEE MY SHOCK.
I've researched a few of these selective tests, but this is the most famous and for good reason. its probably the most witty and shocking.
So this made me serious question the entire modern world and its attention capabilities.
We only look for what we've been told to look for. Which made me wonder all day what else do i not see. and then i realize how selective my sight really is, browsing the internet for example, the sheer amount of internet ads on the side of the screen are just blatantly ignored, yet our subconscious still gets filled with this junk. maybe this is why we are so dulled. we ignore everything because there is so much junk.
It actually kind of reminds me of Wall-e i know, such a cliche example, but its what it reminds me of.
If you have seen Wall-e you know the humans are basically driven and catered for by machines and are so reliant on the technology they are just mindless drones following the herd and feeding off advertisements.
-This has a relevance to issues and visual cultures, it's just taking me a while to get to my point-
So a bit like Wall-e everything has to be big shiny and in your face for us to actually soak it in as one of our 23 'seen' images out of the rest.
especially if you are in a highly populated area, for example im currently sitting in my living room in my flat, i take a break to wonder a little more about visual culture and just realized there's a car insurance billboard VERY visible from my window, ive lived here half a year now and i have never once actually acknowledged there's a billboard outside my flat. So im clearly no different from the average selective viewer.
Remember i said a while ago i'd come back to semiotics? well here we go, i'll give you all the same 2nd year english class recap i got.
Semiotics, is a study of language, in this case the visual language, and our interpretations of the language.
During todays lecture we discussed advertisements, one of which was a cleaning detergent ad, and yes i know you are probably sick of these examples, but this one is my own take on what actually was discussed.
The advert was quite basic, it was your usual domestic cleaning and im sure appealed to the common household cleaner, however as a modern twist it wasnt a woman.... yeah, it was a guy.
So this is what we discussed, what was the advert trying to say? what was its signs and language.
The main ones werent actually look heres our brand, it cleans your clothes, no... this ad made a bit more of a less subtle point.
Many theorys bounced about, was the reason it was a man was it trying to look edgier? was it implying not just women clean? was it trying to appeal to men ? after all this is the 21st century, even these single men need to learn how to clean their clothes.... but to me (yeah my opinion time) i actually took an entire different view from the rest of the group.
Now, please keep in mind this advert is generally aimed at women, and yes some may be aimed at men, but that would basically mean it would need to be less sparkly and would require no gleaming pink in the background....So of course since it had these aspects i figured, its still aimed toward women.
Now what would a womens interpretation of this advert? so i imagined myself a housewife, alone home, husband pulls zero weight etc the usual stereotype.
Then i realized, this isnt a rough average man, this was a pretty boy, who made a point to take his white shirt off and do the cleaning.
can you see where my interpretations going ?
My interpretation ISN'T this advert is aimed at do it yourself 21st century men, this is aimed at hopeful 21st century women, to sum the message i gathered
'buy this product and a hot twenty something with abs of steal and a boy next door smile, will magically appear and strip in front of you, WHILST doing the household chores your man wont' .... am i wrong?
after all thats the fun of semiotics, its all own to what YOU personally took from the sign, and i picked up on signs that appealed to not rough men, but the usual demographic in of household cleaning.
So its all what YOU see, and thats the creators job, they have to get there point across without actually writing it down in front of you, thats advertising.
you have to look for the sign!
you have to deconstruct to reconstruct.... ie. you have to take your image apart and create your version of it.
Which brings me to a very well known artist, Hockney.
I've shown an example below of one of his reconstructed images.
Hockney is painter photographer and apparently a sneaky git.
http://www.hockneypictures.com/images/3-works/3-photos/pearblossom.jpg
Look at the image again, still the same ?
Its a seemingly normal photo, a road, some road signs etc, but its many photos creating the one photo, Hockney is quite well known for this technique.
he deconstructs to reconstruct. and thats what modern people have to do with basically everything, you have to guess the meaning, guess the brand, guess the adverts overall purpose. and believe me, a bit like the cleaning detergent, some people like me will get a completely wrong interpretation than the majority.
The four C's
-CREATIVITY
-CULTURE
-COLLABORATION
-CODE
At the moment they don't make much sense, but through out my blog posts until the end of the semester ll refer back to these four C's every now and then and soon they will not only go perfectly together you will also (slowly) understand the distinct similarity and difference in each of them.
-CULTURE
-COLLABORATION
-CODE
At the moment they don't make much sense, but through out my blog posts until the end of the semester ll refer back to these four C's every now and then and soon they will not only go perfectly together you will also (slowly) understand the distinct similarity and difference in each of them.
First Impressions
So i'm going to begin how i intend to finish, by rambling. So to all of you expecting a very detailed thought through discussion on visual culture.....please look else where, and for those of you looking a very rough first impression of visual culture, stick around, this could be interesting.
The Issues on Visual culture... to me personally right now is just the name of a class i am taking this semester, but hopefully that'll change over the weeks to come.
Lets begin....
First class complete, what do i make of it so far?
in one word, CONFUSING.
We discussed several things, including but not limited to what is creative? watched a few insightful clips and got a recap on what we would've learned in english when we were thirteen... I'm actually interested at how all these seemingly random things will all come together,or why they are all apart of the one class.
Theres many things i suppose i should be blogging about and I'll discuss the laws of simplicity and semiotics in a later post, but in this post i actually want to discuss a very small part of the class i found really interesting.
NONPLACES
Yeah, contradicting word or what. A non place to put it simply isn't a place, its like a fake place you go to get to a real place. Good examples of a non place are airports, motor ways and maybe shops.
This wasn't actually a topic up for discussion in the lecture to be honest, it was barely even mentioned but its just one of those things you hear and think.....i want to find out more about that one unimportant word.
So i did, and i found theres a book all about it, by Marc Auge, i haven't read it yet, but i intend to, the reviews all seem to be similar (link below)
My opinion of this new found word is, mindblowing. and not in the 'oh that makes sense' kind of way, i actually mean in the 'how did i not pick that up before' sense.
Here is a link to a review of his non place book. I intend to read it, so should you.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/28/non-places-marc-auge-review
I know it didn't explain visual culture, but in a three hour lecture of visual culture, this is what sparked my interest, a non place, a place we go to that isn't a place, its an area we go to get to a place. The airport is my favorite example. i mean think of how long you spend in an airport and it has things in it,its an area and yet, its not actually a place, its a gateway (many gateways infact) that allow you to travel to a different place.
Since we are on the topic of new words in todays lecture that apparently will make an appearance in basically every class, I'd like to share another new word i learned today. Zeitgeist.
"The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time."
-Google dictionary
A word everyone else seems very interested in but i haven't enough understanding of it yet to get that enthusiastic about it.... so what will i do between now and next week? i'm away to research Zeitgeist, and non places, and hopefully have more of an understanding of visual culture to actually discuss it properly.
Claire
The Issues on Visual culture... to me personally right now is just the name of a class i am taking this semester, but hopefully that'll change over the weeks to come.
Lets begin....
First class complete, what do i make of it so far?
in one word, CONFUSING.
We discussed several things, including but not limited to what is creative? watched a few insightful clips and got a recap on what we would've learned in english when we were thirteen... I'm actually interested at how all these seemingly random things will all come together,or why they are all apart of the one class.
Theres many things i suppose i should be blogging about and I'll discuss the laws of simplicity and semiotics in a later post, but in this post i actually want to discuss a very small part of the class i found really interesting.
NONPLACES
Yeah, contradicting word or what. A non place to put it simply isn't a place, its like a fake place you go to get to a real place. Good examples of a non place are airports, motor ways and maybe shops.
This wasn't actually a topic up for discussion in the lecture to be honest, it was barely even mentioned but its just one of those things you hear and think.....i want to find out more about that one unimportant word.
So i did, and i found theres a book all about it, by Marc Auge, i haven't read it yet, but i intend to, the reviews all seem to be similar (link below)
My opinion of this new found word is, mindblowing. and not in the 'oh that makes sense' kind of way, i actually mean in the 'how did i not pick that up before' sense.
Here is a link to a review of his non place book. I intend to read it, so should you.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/28/non-places-marc-auge-review
I know it didn't explain visual culture, but in a three hour lecture of visual culture, this is what sparked my interest, a non place, a place we go to that isn't a place, its an area we go to get to a place. The airport is my favorite example. i mean think of how long you spend in an airport and it has things in it,its an area and yet, its not actually a place, its a gateway (many gateways infact) that allow you to travel to a different place.
Since we are on the topic of new words in todays lecture that apparently will make an appearance in basically every class, I'd like to share another new word i learned today. Zeitgeist.
"The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time."
-Google dictionary
A word everyone else seems very interested in but i haven't enough understanding of it yet to get that enthusiastic about it.... so what will i do between now and next week? i'm away to research Zeitgeist, and non places, and hopefully have more of an understanding of visual culture to actually discuss it properly.
Claire
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