Scientific Images

I think the idea of of images as evidence makes people oblivious to the fact that images can be changed and transformed. People believe that truth lies in a picture and that a picture will tell all. However, I believe that everything can be photo-shopped and changed, so therefore the where is the truth in that? Although, like the textbook says the camera is said to have no bias only the person sitting behind the camera has a bias that is untrue. For a simply example, cameras have flashes on them. If it is night out and one can not see what they are taking a photo of, and usually they can not take a photo because it is too dark, the flash will allow one to take a picture. However, this is not the truth. It is not light out it is not bright! However, the pictures can portray that it is a nice sunny bright day. Therefore, it is not only the person taking the picture that can alter the evidence. Although, one must change the settings and etc. there is a way for the camera to be subjective. Furthermore, the person taking the photo can be subjective. When talking in terms of a digital camera one can shoot, and retake photos many times. If they do not like a photo they can take another one, they can do red eye reduction and so on and so forth. With evolving technology one can do just about anything with a camera, even make photo-shopped girls to look like they just come out of a magazine. Overall, I think the concept of using images as art is

Museums, Memorials and Memories

I found this particular lecture interesting because it explains how much Museums have evolved over time. To think that a mueseum was once just something that was open up by one rich individual to show of his own possessions to the great historical value that goes into the buildings as well as the pieces of art that are in museums now. I find this really interesting how much the time has changed. I have been to many museums over the course of my life and have learned many new and exciting things, I can not imagine that there was a time where they were not available to the public and you had to be friends with a certain person to enjoy this piece of work. I think that pieces of art work are memorials and memories that should be enoyed by everyone.

The second half of the lecture was equally interesting. The film, “Between Dreams and History”, was a film that had a lasting affect on me. They way that the artist portrayed ideas baffled my mind. The fact that Shimon Attie has no technical background, it is interesting when he says that his visions come first and that it just becomes reality after. Overall, the work intrigued my mind!

The seminars this week were once again helpful. I find that working in these library research workshops will not only help me with visual culture but it will also help me with my other classes. During the workshops I have learned various helpful ways to go about finding stuff on databases and art store as well as learning how to cite information and find different sites. Overall, I think that they are very useful and helpful.

Fashion and Advertising

By far this weeks lecture and seminar were the most interesting. This interested me the most because it not only talked about visual culture it explored visual culture in a way that interested me. Generally speaking, when people think of fashion they think of clothes and make-up and not the art and practice and technique that goes into making the clothing or the pictures of the models in clothing. I found in interesting when we were looking at the different the first models in fashion. I think it shows how far society has came. For example, when the young woman was posing for a picture on the Eiffel tower with Paris in the background. I found this picture to be extremely pretty and it captured the essence of Paris fashion. However, as was stated in lecture that this picture pushed the limits of what was appropriate. The limits being pushed in this time frame were the different colours being used, the different angles and etc., it seems now that fashion has lost that sense of being and it more concentrated on making the models expose their selves and also look in my opinion fake. Whenever I think of models, I think of that Dove commercial where the girl looks completely different when she has no make-up on in comparison to after she had had different make-up artists working on her and then digitally altered. Moreover, I think that fashion is lacking the essence in beauty. For instance, the show Americas Next Top Model, although I do watch and enjoy the show,it is almost impossible to tell who the girls are after the get their make-up on. They are transformed so much that it amazes me how people can feel like the same person. However, all that effort that goes into making the models what they are and making them changed by a computer is art to me. There is a technique and effort that goes into making someone look like that and therefore I consider it of value. Another thing that interested me about this week was the concept of bricolage and counterbricolage.

I found this very interesting because it happens in everyday life and I would have never thought anything of it. For example, it is almost everyday that I see a woman, including myself wear a belt around the ribcage, however, a belt is supposed to be used to keep your pants up and not fall down. I found this concept interesting because advertisers and companies feed on these bricolages. For a couple years now the fashion has been to wear belts for fashion and not to keep your pants up. However, each year the fashion changes and one year it may be skinny belts that are in and the next year they are thick belts with big buckles. Each year companies make lots of money off the different designs that are becoming popular. It makes me think that perhaps I should have saved all my moms clothing and brought them back out now because all of the stuff will come back into fashion at some point in time and I will just have to pay a lot of money to buy new stuff. Overall, I think that this chapter was the most interesting, and because of this lecture and seminar I have decided what I want to do for my final project.

Politics and Activism

The first thing that I thought of when I started reading the text book, is history. How the many affects of politics have made history what it was. More specifically, the use of propaganda. Although, most of us are taught about propaganda used by Nazi Germany in early 1940′s about how the Jewish population was the cause of all problems in Germany, I think that there is propaganda that we confront everyday. For instance with the wide acceptance of communication devices on the Internet such as Facebook, MySpace and etc. it is now easier than ever for individuals to put a lasting affect on more people. For instance, during the Second World War propaganda was advertised through word of mouth, physical actions, visual culture, and more. Nowadays, it seems that the way propaganda is being displayed is in a more technological way. As a result of major companies and industries owning technological things such as the radio, they can control what goes onto the air waves. For example, they could only supply political parties they liked with air time and not supply other ones. Whereas, with growing technology everyone has their input. Communications such as ITunes, have I broadcasts where people can state their own opinion, release songs, become arts of political activism. I thought this was extremely interesting because this is one way that propaganda can get out and it is hard to keep control of the Internet. Also, the Internet makes visual propaganda more accessible and therefore more wide spread. If you were to type in the world Nazi Germany and look for photographs, there would be some horrific photographs. However, if you typed this in you might also find protest art. For example, the pink triangle photograph that represents AIDS activists, stating that Silence equals death. Basically, I think that because of the influence of technology it has made it more accessible to become influenced by not only political advertisements but also activist advertisements. Basically, the Internet is making it easier to access many things.

During the seminar this week I learned in depth ways of finding articles on different websites. This is important because there is so much information that is now accessible on the Internet it is hard to find what is credible and what is not. For example, when I was younger doing project Wikipedia was my best friend. I trusted that website so much but in fact it is not creditable at all. That is why these seminars on finding articles and such is so important. It helps us find easier and smarter ways to find the information. It also helps us finding other sources that would also be helpful related to the topic. Although, it is sometimes hard to pay attention because the information being broad-casted seems so trivial, it is important and people need to realize that it is benefiting us. Overall, I think that both this weeks seminar and lecture were interesting helpful.

Visual Culture in Cyberyspace

Overall, I think that this weeks seminar was the most interesting and the one that I can most relate to. The theme being technology and how it has come about and how it has shaped the world. Personally, without the Internet I do not know how my life was complete. Although, this seems like a mere exaggeration it is extremely true. I can’t not remember when I did not have some type of Internet access. I have lived in what is called the “country” my whole life and the Internet access that I have had is not the greatest but I still had the Internet and I truly could not have lived without it. When I was younger I mainly used the Internet to talk to friends on ICQ, which was a basic chatting program that you downloaded on your computer. Most individuals now do not even know what that was or had it. However, this was my new source of communication. I loved it because I could talk to more than one person at a time. Now as a young adult I use the Internet for so much more. I use the Internet to go shopping, research, communicated with people hours away from me, play games, write on blogs like so, and more. Nowadays, my generation would not know what to do without technology. It is taking over the way we do everything in life. For example, we started talking in seminar about the different websites that would promote different events such as a slumber party; the website or blog would tell everyone to go somewhere at a certain time and then come in your pjs. To me this is an amazing new way to live life. However, I think that it is taking over people’s lives too much in some instances. Many young children miss out in going to play baseball, going camping, and going to amusement parks because they can do all of this at home with technology. For example, the new Nintendo WII that came out you don’t have to go outside to play baseball you can get the same affect by staying in your living room. The game controllers are no longer attached with long cords but they are objects held in ones hand and move around with the motion of ones body. It is extremely new and and advance but to most young adults it is a normal way of life. It truly intrigues me that the Internet was actually made for the purpose of the military and that it became such wide spread by university students. I think that most of us take for granted our culture because it seems so natural to us. We do not understand that not everyone is the world has the luxuries that technology brings. Moreover, technology brings visual culture into people’s homes that may not be able to go out and see pieces of art and who can not go and buy the latest Cd’s. I have had the pleasure of going to The Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa. Although, this picture is priceless and an important piece of art work not everyone can go see this and therefore I think it is a good thing that replications are often made in a variety of different ways so that everyone can have this luxury of seeing this masterpiece. Some may say that this takes away from the piece of art but I believe that it adds value and character. A piece of art work can not be popular unless people know about it. If you have an extremely expensive piece of art work sitting in your house and no one knows about the creator how would anyone know that this indeed is a masterpiece. Basically, I think that art evolves through technology and that communication of art makes art more realistic and powerful. One could say that they saw the Mona Lisa in real life and someone may not know what they are talking about and they really would not care but if one knows what that is the will appreciate the art more when they get to see it. Overall, I think the use of technology has transformed the world into an information highway in a good way.

The True Meaning of Pictures

First off, it has to be said that the where the pig was being butchered almost made me sick to my stomach; it was extremely graphic and horrific. However, I think that it was a true representation of the life style that the people of the Appalachia have. Moreover, it did not convey something that they were not. Although, I believe this image and scene of the movie to be grotesque I do not believe that he was trying to make their family look to be anything they are not; where a lot of the people in the movie thought he was doing them wrong and that he was trying to humiliate them. This is the life style that they live and they appreciate everything about their lifestyle and are not ashamed of it, therefore why should they be ashamed to have pictures taken of them. I am sure that it does show other people living in the same situation that they are other people that are living in poverty and live a simplistic lifestyle and that there is nothing to be ashamed about. I am sure that if the individuals living in Beverly Hills were to be photographed or documented whichever way one wants to put it they would not be ashamed because that is the lifestyle they are accustom to. They make think stepping over people to get ahead is perfectly fine, or being born into money is what everyone does. However, with photographs like this it shows that they are different types of people in the world and not everyone falls into the perfect reality that some people try to convey. I think that most people depict this film and photographs to be humiliating a person solely because the lifestyle is different than theirs and they do not want to recognize that this lifestyle is around. They do not want to know about the people who live differently then the American dream. Overall, I believe that people believe that anything that is not the ideal norm is not welcomed in the world and therefore should be  up. Thus, why people are extremely critical about Adams photographs. Generally speaking I have grown up in a world where the American dream is something that should be strived for and accomplished yet, I truly believe that one must not set aside other types of lifestyles. This film intrigued my mind and made me think outside the box, therefore why do we always have to see weathly, extremely pretty people in front of a camera?

The Gaze

Over the course of this lecture when we started to talk about The Gaze my thoughts started to wander from Visual Arts to a number of other subjects. I started to wonder about power and what is actually shown to the public as a result of it. Thus it made me think back to propaganda and the World Wars. Although, we dicussed this in class and how the war was made out to seem like such an amazing thing throughout the media with extremely up lifting pictures in a time of war. I started to really examine how the people in power are the ones who determine what is shown in the media. Moreover, I started thinking about clothing companies. Although, this may seem like a subject that does not relate to power it is extremely important to realize that those in power of big companies such as Nike and Adidas control what the media thinks of them through money and propaganda. However, if one was to investigate by themselves they would find a number of things wrong with these amazing companies who create so many jobs for individuals. The majority of people who are creating the products for these companys are small children working in sweat factories in foreign countries yet, we praise these bigs countries for the profit and jobs they bring in to our country. Thus, The Gaze takes a part in this situation. Most people are oblivious to the crime that is behind every pair of Nike shoes, and I was unaware of this until last year when I read the book No Logo and wrote an essay of this book.  Now, I understand that what we believe about companys, individuals etc. with money is actually influenced with the money behind the company and etc. Overall, explaining those in power control what we see and in a way what we think. Generally speaking that is why The Gaze interested me soo much.

Making up for Weeks One, Two, Three and Four!

Week One: Sept. 10

Generally speaking, I do not know a lot about art. Even throughout elementary school I was not good at art and therefore it did not interest me. Therefore, as I walked into this art class I was extremely confused on what I got myself into; I thought this class was supposed to be Great Books and Liberal Studies. I originally thought that I had walked into the wrong classroom and I felt extremely dumb that I could make a mistake like that. Furthermore, my first thought was how I was going to get out of this class and what I was going to take instead. However, after the first day I came to realize that I should give new things a try and expand my learning from the classes that I am normally enrolled in. Likewise, I was confused on a lot of the language and what was going on in the class from the first day which discouraged me from staying in the class. I figured that most of the people in VISA would have a lot of background in art and would stand out in the class, whereas I would be in the background not fully understanding the concept and beauty of the art. For instance, I had the pleasure of going over to Europe with a class trip in Grade 12. While over in Europe I was thinking about the shopping and hanging out with my best friends rather than thinking that I had the chance to go to Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral and etc. Many of the wonders of the world that most people would love to go see I saw and did not appreciate. This has bothered me since I went on my trip; therefore, this was another reason that I thought I could benefit from the VISA class. Moreover, after I went into my seminar, I felt a very different environment and it made me feel more comfortable about not knowing as much as others. This was because there were other people in my seminar that knew about the same amount about art as I did. This made me less discouraged and more willing to stay in VISA; whereas when I walked into the lecture I wanted to switch out of that class. Basically, I felt that I could benefit and learn from this class if I worked hard and if I pay attention. I find it hard to pay attention in art class, but because it involved history I believed that this class would intrigue my mind. Overall, I think that I will come to not only learn from this class but also enjoy it.

 Week 2: Sept. 17

Of course I knew that visual culture affected everyday life, but I never realized the extent that it influences, and that it is a part of everyday communication and life. Even how I understand academics and reading is associated with visual art. Therefore, the first sentence of the first page connected with me! This is because I truly believe that “The World we inhabit is filled with visual images. They are central to how we represent, make meaning, and communicate in the world around us.” I have come to realize that all we do in life involves visual culture. The more that I continued reading the first chapter I came to understand how visual culture is taking over other cultures such as text and audio. This is a theme and concept that intrigues my mind because I am both and auditory and visual learner but lately I have been relying solely on visual concepts. For instance, I used to be able to memorize and understand concepts by writing them out time and time again; however, now I find myself relating the word to a certain image to try and remember it. I never like art and I never thought that art was a part of my life, but it is becoming more and more a part of my life. I think that this VISA class is going to help me realize how art is a big part of my life and the world. I think it is a class that helps you realize how art connects with everyday life, and I think that I was unaware that art has that big of impact on life. I always thought art was something pretty to look at, but I have come to realize that visual culture shapes society.

Week 3: Sept.24

Throughout the lecture this week I was confused and also interested on how not so modern art was still influenced with technology.  However, I still believe that the work deserves the same amount of credit that it did before individuals knew that technology was involved. I believe that the effort and time put forth for a piece of art work should be appreciated and just because technology helped the advancement of some art it should not be discredited. Furthermore, I believe that technology in general is a form of art and that should always be praised.  Art should not just be perceived as something someone drew on a canvas, although looking beautiful and elegant there are many different types of art. This is something that I learned from listening to the lecture. I believe that when the ancient art work was discovered on the wall of caves that no one knew about that the art should be recreated so that the ancient times will not wither away. The art is the same! It look talent and effort and therefore should be appreciated. I learned more to appreciate art in this week because of the research we did in our seminars. I enjoyed looking at the different pieces of art work on ArtStore. When we received the assignment to go onto ArtStore and look for art that we liked and wanted to explore, it made me excited. I thought that this was going to be an interesting assignment that I would like and want to do. It was. Firstly, I wanted to look up art that I had seen before, for instance the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. I never really appreciated the art before but with a growing new appreciating for art I thought I would look into art I had formerly seen. Therefore, I was happy to start my assignment perhaps even including art that involved technology.

Week 4: Oct. 1

My main focus in seminar was trying to understand if technology corrupted art and if it truly was art if technology was used, and my conclusion was that art is how each individual person perceives it. As we talked about in our first seminar beauty is how we perceive or as the old say going beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think that what we consider to be art is also in the eye of the beholder. Many people many believe that using technology like the camera obscura is cheating art in some way. However, I believe that it is just advancing art into a new way. When I see a art, I do not think about what the person did do actually make that piece of art work. I think about the time effort and talent that was put into making that piece of art. I think that calling the camera obscura cheating on drawing art is like calling the art of ballet cheating if you practice. Basically, I think that individuals are being smarter in their ways of thinking understanding that the world is evolving and are trying to mater their own art. Therefore, I think that the basis of cheating on art is merely the process of mastering their talent. Overall, I still believe art and beauty are in the eye of the beholder.

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