Chapter 10: The Global Flow of Visual Culture
By the twentieth century, images could be exchanged through nationally broadcast tv networks, motions pictures, print media, and the internet. Today, images can travel the glove much faster, in fact almost instantaneously, than ever before—a speed not even thought of before the 1980s. The paradox of global culture is that translational flow of culture creates homogeny but at the same time can encourage diversification and new audiences around the globe. Visual communication has been importance during the changing status of nation-states and globalized capitalism.
Even in the 21st century, the concept of a global world without borders is impossible to achieve from a social perspective. Even though mobility is much easier and attainable, national boarders have tightened severely since 2001, resulting from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
In the 1960s, during the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, NASA released images of the earth taken from space. Seeing these images of the earth as a single entity heavily influenced the worldwide concept of the glob and a global existence. When Earth Day was declared in 1970, there was an increased sense of a unified planet and strong human connections; however, these were mostly felt by those in North America and Europe.
It is a little shocking to think that at the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 8,000 satellites orbiting the earth. That seems like a very large number to me, especially considering that the first satellite, the Russian Sputnik, was first launched in 1957. Satellites allow us to view the sky from a downward-looking perspective instead of looking upward, as humans have done since the beginning of humanity. It is interesting to consider how our changing perspective of the sky alters our perception of the world we live in. I use Google Maps to find directions sometimes, and they use a satellite representation of the earth to show the route to take. I usually don’t stop to think about this, but when I do, it’s pretty bizarre for me to think that it’s normal to see the earth and where I live from that perspective. It’s even weirder that I expect that I should be able to view the earth from that angle—it’s a bit like taking the technology (not of GoogleMaps but of satellite imaging) for granted since I’ve grown up with it all my life.
Geocaching is a really interesting activity. I have been a couple of times with my uncle, who is a geocacher by hobby. From experience, I can say that it’s a strange pastime, but there is a strong treasure-hunting quality to it that makes it enjoyable. The only difference is that instead of an X marking the spot, you get positioning coordinates that you plug into your GPS. It’s been a few years since my last geocaching experience, but I’d definitely do it again if I had the opportunity.
It’s amazing how attached people have gotten to their GPS systems since they’ve become popular. I suppose it’s the same idea as cell phones and rapid-fire expansion. I know people who always leave their GPS plugged into their car. I have a GPS, but I try not to use it unless I absolutely have to because I’m afraid I will begin to rely on it and lose my ability to find my way around by myself. I have a pretty good sense of direction, and I don’t want to lose it by becoming dependent on a new kind of technology. Regardless, my GPS often takes me on strange and unnecessary routes and more often than not seems to land me in the middle of nowhere. I’ve had more than one experience of being told “destination reached” after stopping in front of an abandoned warehouse-like building that has obviously been vacated for quite some time. That’s the most frustrating feeling in the world because then you really don’ know where you are, since you’ve relied on this machine to get you where you needed to go. All this aside, I still feel better having a GPS with me than not at times.
Cultural imperialism is the idea that an ideology or way of life can be exported into other territories by cultural products. This applies to restaurants, consumable products, television shows, news networks, etc.
I’ve never heard of Nollywood, but the Nigerian film industry is apparently the third largest filming industry, behind Hollywood and Bollywood, respectively.
I always thought it was weird that the Mona Lisa was in the Louvre in Paris, because Leonardo da Vinci was Italian, but after learning that the painting was taken from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence this makes much more sense. This is disappointing to me because I’ve been to the Uffizi, and it’s sad to think that I could have seen the Mona Lisa. However, the Uffizi certainly doesn’t lose anything from not housing the painting; I think the Mona Lisa is pretty overrated in actuality. I guess the only thing the gallery would lose would be the increased number of tourists coming to see the painting.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine: Scientific Looking, Looking at Science
Visual Culture is a term that has come to denote a wide range of forms, such as art, popular film, and visual data from sciences, law and medicine. Science and looking at science doesn’t occur in an environment isolated from cultural shaping and meaning. It is necessary to view scientific images while taking into account their social contexts and the advertising, art, law, and popular culture of the time period. In other words, “science and culture are always mutually engaged.”
Photography, originating in the early 19th century, became crucial in the fields of science and medicine as imaging methods became more complex and widespread and more incorporated into scientific and medical practices. Even though visual pictures and photographs are usually seen as being objective images, cameras are banned as means of documentation during the proceedings in courts in the U.S..
In medicine and science, there has been an obsession with “seeing the unseen.” People want to be able to see things that are viewed as secret or hidden. It’s human nature to be curious. Therefore, medical imaging techniques fuel human curiosity and inquisitiveness.
Artists have been preoccupied with the topic and representation of the human body for centuries. This was especially true during the Renaissance, when art and science combined on a regular basis. Leonardo da Vinci is famously known for his artistic representations of the anatomy of the human body. He was known to have performed more than 30 dissections during his life, and one of his most famous images, Vitruvian Man, is an anatomical representation of the human body.
An interesting topic in the chapter, anatomy theaters were popular from the 16th century onward. The anatomy theater of Leiden in the Netherlands (built in 1596) was a prominent site for public dissections. It seems like a very strange thing to us; however, the basic idea is present in our culture today—television shows such as Nip/Tuck and medical shows such as House and ER are immensely popular and regularly feature scenes of surgery and dissection.
Currently, the Body Worlds exhibits are popular and are directed by Gunther von Hagens. This exhibit has been discussed on the news, featured on magazine covers, and exhibited in cities around the U.S. and the world for years, followed by much interest and fascination. The bodies in this exhibit undergo a process called “plastination” and are posed and put on display with the layers of flesh pulled back to reveal organs, nerves, blood vessels, and muscle tissue. There have been some obvious controversies surrounding this exhibit, notably the gender discrepancies between the poses of male and female figures and the transgression of the boundary lines between real and fake, human and posthuman, organic and synthetic, and authentic and copy. This exhibit bridges art, science, and entertainment in a somewhat disturbing way.
The camera created the tendency for people to use photography as an objective recording device used to document and classify residents of various institutions—hospitals, asylums, etc. This led to the classification of medicine and the tendency to document and typify humanity. The practice of phrenology uses the drawing and photographs of bodies to catalogue and classify them, as well as to set a standard of “normal.” Phrenology was especially practiced on skulls and was thought to show a visual link between skull shape and temperament, moral capacity, health, and intelligence. Also, photographic categorization was used to establish criminality as a trait which could be linked to physical characteristics like a “low forehead” or “beady” eyes. This is evidenced today when people say things like “he just had a strange look about him” or “he looks like the kind of person would would do—“ of criminals and people in mug shots. In fact, Alphonse Bertillon’s photographs of his subjects’ profiles evolved into the modern day mug shot.
The Human Genome Project is another example of our obsession and desire to have visual “mappings” of the body, even on microscopic and molecular levels. Having a digital map of the genome would produce something easily decipherable, understandable, and containable—thus demystifying the human body in a way that we find somewhat comforting and satisfying.
The idea of a cyborg is another example of how humanity is seen as becoming meshed with technology and machinery. A cybord is something that is part technology and part organism, such as a bionic human. This is also a cultural phenomenon, captured by Hollywood in such films as the Terminator and such TV shows as Battlestar Gallactica.
Once again, science is not created in a vacuum or a world deprived of culture; rather, it is very much shaped by the culture in which it develops. Scientific images also contain cultural meanings that “govern not only how they are produced and for what purpose but also how they are interpreted and gain cultural value.”
Visual Culture is a term that has come to denote a wide range of forms, such as art, popular film, and visual data from sciences, law and medicine. Science and looking at science doesn’t occur in an environment isolated from cultural shaping and meaning. It is necessary to view scientific images while taking into account their social contexts and the advertising, art, law, and popular culture of the time period. In other words, “science and culture are always mutually engaged.”
Photography, originating in the early 19th century, became crucial in the fields of science and medicine as imaging methods became more complex and widespread and more incorporated into scientific and medical practices. Even though visual pictures and photographs are usually seen as being objective images, cameras are banned as means of documentation during the proceedings in courts in the U.S..
In medicine and science, there has been an obsession with “seeing the unseen.” People want to be able to see things that are viewed as secret or hidden. It’s human nature to be curious. Therefore, medical imaging techniques fuel human curiosity and inquisitiveness.
Artists have been preoccupied with the topic and representation of the human body for centuries. This was especially true during the Renaissance, when art and science combined on a regular basis. Leonardo da Vinci is famously known for his artistic representations of the anatomy of the human body. He was known to have performed more than 30 dissections during his life, and one of his most famous images, Vitruvian Man, is an anatomical representation of the human body.
An interesting topic in the chapter, anatomy theaters were popular from the 16th century onward. The anatomy theater of Leiden in the Netherlands (built in 1596) was a prominent site for public dissections. It seems like a very strange thing to us; however, the basic idea is present in our culture today—television shows such as Nip/Tuck and medical shows such as House and ER are immensely popular and regularly feature scenes of surgery and dissection.
Currently, the Body Worlds exhibits are popular and are directed by Gunther von Hagens. This exhibit has been discussed on the news, featured on magazine covers, and exhibited in cities around the U.S. and the world for years, followed by much interest and fascination. The bodies in this exhibit undergo a process called “plastination” and are posed and put on display with the layers of flesh pulled back to reveal organs, nerves, blood vessels, and muscle tissue. There have been some obvious controversies surrounding this exhibit, notably the gender discrepancies between the poses of male and female figures and the transgression of the boundary lines between real and fake, human and posthuman, organic and synthetic, and authentic and copy. This exhibit bridges art, science, and entertainment in a somewhat disturbing way.
The camera created the tendency for people to use photography as an objective recording device used to document and classify residents of various institutions—hospitals, asylums, etc. This led to the classification of medicine and the tendency to document and typify humanity. The practice of phrenology uses the drawing and photographs of bodies to catalogue and classify them, as well as to set a standard of “normal.” Phrenology was especially practiced on skulls and was thought to show a visual link between skull shape and temperament, moral capacity, health, and intelligence. Also, photographic categorization was used to establish criminality as a trait which could be linked to physical characteristics like a “low forehead” or “beady” eyes. This is evidenced today when people say things like “he just had a strange look about him” or “he looks like the kind of person would would do—“ of criminals and people in mug shots. In fact, Alphonse Bertillon’s photographs of his subjects’ profiles evolved into the modern day mug shot.
The Human Genome Project is another example of our obsession and desire to have visual “mappings” of the body, even on microscopic and molecular levels. Having a digital map of the genome would produce something easily decipherable, understandable, and containable—thus demystifying the human body in a way that we find somewhat comforting and satisfying.
The idea of a cyborg is another example of how humanity is seen as becoming meshed with technology and machinery. A cybord is something that is part technology and part organism, such as a bionic human. This is also a cultural phenomenon, captured by Hollywood in such films as the Terminator and such TV shows as Battlestar Gallactica.
Once again, science is not created in a vacuum or a world deprived of culture; rather, it is very much shaped by the culture in which it develops. Scientific images also contain cultural meanings that “govern not only how they are produced and for what purpose but also how they are interpreted and gain cultural value.”
Monday, March 23, 2009
Chapter Eight
Chapter 8: Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture
Postmodernism is marked by an era of simulation, where a simulation of real is sometimes seen as more real than reality. The idea of an amusement park known as World Park is a very strange idea to me. I find it strange how the Chinese government tries to pacify their citizens’ desire to travel outside of the country by creating miniature replicas of landmarks in the park. However, a similar thing is seen in Disney World’s Epcot, where many different countries are recreated in miniature. Even though this sort of thing is seen in the United States, I feel like its goal is different—Americans (or whoever else) visiting Epcot are probably doing so because it would be impossible to visit so many countries at once from an economic or free time perspective. However, World Park seems like a way to pacify the curiosity of citizens who are unable to travel outside of the country for more political reasons and restrictions.
Also within postmodernism is the idea that everything has been done before, which tends to jade people who become obsessed with remakes, remixes, and the pastiche. Also, there is the tendency to regard human bodies as malleable and changeable to an intense degree of different practices which alter the look of the human body (from body art to surgery to exercise).
Some argue that postmodernism arose from a desire (beginning after 1968 and taking hold in the 1980s) to understand the changing concepts of humanity and as an analysis of globalization and its effects. However, postmodernism can also be seen as a natural progression from the ideas of late modernism. It’s almost impossible to draw a distinctive line between late modernism and postmodernism.
Postmodernism is characterized heavily by the idea that there is no singular truth, but rather there exist many truths that are culturally and historically constructed. It is seen collectively as a mindset that challenges master narratives (i.e. reigning and major politics, science, religion).
Children’s movies today contain so much sarcasm and irony (along with parody and satire) that appeals to adults while at the same time usually going unnoticed by children. However, even though the children may not notice it at the time, they are being raised on these ideas of irony and parody, and will grow up already more aware of its existence than they would have otherwise been if animated films were not geared towards both adults and children. An example of this is the scene in Shrek which pokes fun at the slow-motion, spinning camera angle fight scenes of The Matrix. A child watching Shrek and having not seen The Matrix will not understand the reference, but will still find the scene as funny; whereas, an adult will understand that sarcasm within the reference and find it funny on a deeper level than a child. If the child reviews Shrek as an adult after having seen The Matrix, they will then understand the reference and appreciate it in a new way. I have had many of these experiences when reviewing movies from my childhood. Disney movies are filled with these kinds of instances, and I catch myself trying to remember why I thought parts of movies were funny when I was little because I know I didn’t catch all of the references.
For instance, the movie Aladdin contains an extreme amount of cultural references that are lost on the children who watch the movie (but the children still find the scenes funny for other reasons) but are appreciated by adults. This scene with the genie impersonating Robert De Niro is a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFfG8C9Ap9w&feature=related
The section on Radiohead and their album in Rainbows was interesting to see in the book. I personally participated in their available digital download of the album in 2007 (not even dreaming that it would be mentioned in any sort of textbook). It was an interesting move and obviously hasn’t hurt the band in any way—I later went to a concert of theirs last May, and it was packed, so any money they could have potentially lost is certainly made up in increased ticket sales by new fans who were introduced to the band by the digital download.
Postmodernism is marked by an era of simulation, where a simulation of real is sometimes seen as more real than reality. The idea of an amusement park known as World Park is a very strange idea to me. I find it strange how the Chinese government tries to pacify their citizens’ desire to travel outside of the country by creating miniature replicas of landmarks in the park. However, a similar thing is seen in Disney World’s Epcot, where many different countries are recreated in miniature. Even though this sort of thing is seen in the United States, I feel like its goal is different—Americans (or whoever else) visiting Epcot are probably doing so because it would be impossible to visit so many countries at once from an economic or free time perspective. However, World Park seems like a way to pacify the curiosity of citizens who are unable to travel outside of the country for more political reasons and restrictions.
Also within postmodernism is the idea that everything has been done before, which tends to jade people who become obsessed with remakes, remixes, and the pastiche. Also, there is the tendency to regard human bodies as malleable and changeable to an intense degree of different practices which alter the look of the human body (from body art to surgery to exercise).
Some argue that postmodernism arose from a desire (beginning after 1968 and taking hold in the 1980s) to understand the changing concepts of humanity and as an analysis of globalization and its effects. However, postmodernism can also be seen as a natural progression from the ideas of late modernism. It’s almost impossible to draw a distinctive line between late modernism and postmodernism.
Postmodernism is characterized heavily by the idea that there is no singular truth, but rather there exist many truths that are culturally and historically constructed. It is seen collectively as a mindset that challenges master narratives (i.e. reigning and major politics, science, religion).
Children’s movies today contain so much sarcasm and irony (along with parody and satire) that appeals to adults while at the same time usually going unnoticed by children. However, even though the children may not notice it at the time, they are being raised on these ideas of irony and parody, and will grow up already more aware of its existence than they would have otherwise been if animated films were not geared towards both adults and children. An example of this is the scene in Shrek which pokes fun at the slow-motion, spinning camera angle fight scenes of The Matrix. A child watching Shrek and having not seen The Matrix will not understand the reference, but will still find the scene as funny; whereas, an adult will understand that sarcasm within the reference and find it funny on a deeper level than a child. If the child reviews Shrek as an adult after having seen The Matrix, they will then understand the reference and appreciate it in a new way. I have had many of these experiences when reviewing movies from my childhood. Disney movies are filled with these kinds of instances, and I catch myself trying to remember why I thought parts of movies were funny when I was little because I know I didn’t catch all of the references.
For instance, the movie Aladdin contains an extreme amount of cultural references that are lost on the children who watch the movie (but the children still find the scenes funny for other reasons) but are appreciated by adults. This scene with the genie impersonating Robert De Niro is a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFfG8C9Ap9w&feature=related
The section on Radiohead and their album in Rainbows was interesting to see in the book. I personally participated in their available digital download of the album in 2007 (not even dreaming that it would be mentioned in any sort of textbook). It was an interesting move and obviously hasn’t hurt the band in any way—I later went to a concert of theirs last May, and it was packed, so any money they could have potentially lost is certainly made up in increased ticket sales by new fans who were introduced to the band by the digital download.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Helvetica
I found the documentary Helvetica to be extremely interesting. To pay tribute to the typeface, in this post I will be using Arial instead of my usual Georgia. I am fascinated with the idea of different typefaces and fonts and typesetting and have been for years. There is still a large part of me that desperately wants to go into graphic design, although it is unlikely I will do so. However, watching this documentary rekindled the interest I have in graphic design. I think it's incredibly interesting to think about how a typesetting can influence the way that people interpret a message, symbol, brand name, etc. I also think it's interesting to see how people design a typesetting that is not only functional and readable, but also asthetically pleasing and able to convey a message just in the way the letters are shaped and structured as well as what the letters spell out. The whole world of graphic design and especially typesetting is an extremely subtle art, and I suppose that's part of what appeals to me about it. In a completely nerdy way, this documentary would definitely have been something that I would have watched on my own had I come across it outside of class. I was delighted that we were able to watch something like this as part of this class; I thought it was one of the most interesting things we've looked at so far.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Chapter Seven
Chapter 7: Advertising, Consumer Cultures, and Desire
We are constantly surrounded by advertisements—so much so that we don’t even realize them all of the time and we become desensitized to them, forcing advertisers to be on a constant search for new techniques that will capture and hold our attention. Ads make promises to consumers (whether or not they can keep them) and present an “abstract world” that does not necessarily line up with reality. Some ads disguise themselves as more than ads—some as art, entertainment, or “culture jams.” Consumerism is something that is deeply ingrained in our present society much as capitalism is in this country. Capitalism functions when people consume large amounts of goods beyond what they need to survive. Mobility was an important part of the spread of capitalism, because it allowed urban populations to grow and become more concentrated. Because of mobility becoming more important in consumerism, the city streets became “forums for advertising.”
Part of consumer societies is the idea that some of one’s self-image is constructed through their purchases and through their use of commodities, which are said to fill the void of a closer-knit community and give meaning. “The idea that consumer products will offer self-fulfillment is crucial to marketing and consumption.”
When arcades became popular, people changed their idea of “shopping” from a mere necessity to a pleasurable experience and even as a form of entertainment. Arcades became places not only to shop, but to walk around and look at beautiful buildings and artworks.
Anne Friedberg wrote that an increased “mobility of vision” was displayed in the interest of 19th century panoramas, dioramas, and the emergence of photography, and later, motion picture film.
The automobile became a symbol of “individualism, freedom, and conspicuous consumption” and people began to see that embracing these ideas as part of a “broader social engagement with consumption as a kind of civic duty.” The paradox that lies within using commodities to fill emotional needs lies in the fact that people generally think they will be happier if they consume more goods, but this is not the case.
Advertisers seek to create consumer relationship to brands so that brands become necessary, familiar, comforting, and “loveable.” Advertisements establish relationships between the product (signifier) and the meaning (signified) to sell products and also the connotations associated with those products. To promote ethnic awareness and political correctness, many advertisements now use models from several different ethnic backgrounds.
Marxist theory doesn’t exactly extend to today’s advertisements and the idea of contemporary consumerism because Marx did not foresee the complexity that the system has taken on today. Consumers today are increasingly interested in where their goods are produced. Issues like fair trade and worker conditions are becoming the focus of more business practices for the general public.
Pop art was an “attack on distinctions between high and low culture.” People who produced pop art took things from television, comic books, advertisements, symbols, and brands, to make “high art.” Andy Warhol was famous for this—especially for his artwork employing the image of a Campbell’s soup cans.
Establishing a brand is something that advertisers and companies strive for. However, a company can be too successful at this, and the brand name ceases to refer only to the brand but encompasses the whole kind of product—Kleenex for tissues, Xerox for making copies, Coke for any soft drink. This is known as genericide.
Guerrilla advertisements seemed very strange to me. The idea that a company or business would hire someone to act like a person not working for that company or business—say, to act like a tourist and praise the features of the camera they are using—seemed slightly bizarre and even a bit unsettling. Also, advertisers and companies are finding ways to advertise by tapping into social networks like Facebook and MySpace. I’ve even noticed recently that ads pop up in the middle of YouTube videos.
Overall, in “late consumerism, the boundary between the mainstream and the margins is always in the process of being renegotiated.”
We are constantly surrounded by advertisements—so much so that we don’t even realize them all of the time and we become desensitized to them, forcing advertisers to be on a constant search for new techniques that will capture and hold our attention. Ads make promises to consumers (whether or not they can keep them) and present an “abstract world” that does not necessarily line up with reality. Some ads disguise themselves as more than ads—some as art, entertainment, or “culture jams.” Consumerism is something that is deeply ingrained in our present society much as capitalism is in this country. Capitalism functions when people consume large amounts of goods beyond what they need to survive. Mobility was an important part of the spread of capitalism, because it allowed urban populations to grow and become more concentrated. Because of mobility becoming more important in consumerism, the city streets became “forums for advertising.”
Part of consumer societies is the idea that some of one’s self-image is constructed through their purchases and through their use of commodities, which are said to fill the void of a closer-knit community and give meaning. “The idea that consumer products will offer self-fulfillment is crucial to marketing and consumption.”
When arcades became popular, people changed their idea of “shopping” from a mere necessity to a pleasurable experience and even as a form of entertainment. Arcades became places not only to shop, but to walk around and look at beautiful buildings and artworks.
Anne Friedberg wrote that an increased “mobility of vision” was displayed in the interest of 19th century panoramas, dioramas, and the emergence of photography, and later, motion picture film.
The automobile became a symbol of “individualism, freedom, and conspicuous consumption” and people began to see that embracing these ideas as part of a “broader social engagement with consumption as a kind of civic duty.” The paradox that lies within using commodities to fill emotional needs lies in the fact that people generally think they will be happier if they consume more goods, but this is not the case.
Advertisers seek to create consumer relationship to brands so that brands become necessary, familiar, comforting, and “loveable.” Advertisements establish relationships between the product (signifier) and the meaning (signified) to sell products and also the connotations associated with those products. To promote ethnic awareness and political correctness, many advertisements now use models from several different ethnic backgrounds.
Marxist theory doesn’t exactly extend to today’s advertisements and the idea of contemporary consumerism because Marx did not foresee the complexity that the system has taken on today. Consumers today are increasingly interested in where their goods are produced. Issues like fair trade and worker conditions are becoming the focus of more business practices for the general public.
Pop art was an “attack on distinctions between high and low culture.” People who produced pop art took things from television, comic books, advertisements, symbols, and brands, to make “high art.” Andy Warhol was famous for this—especially for his artwork employing the image of a Campbell’s soup cans.
Establishing a brand is something that advertisers and companies strive for. However, a company can be too successful at this, and the brand name ceases to refer only to the brand but encompasses the whole kind of product—Kleenex for tissues, Xerox for making copies, Coke for any soft drink. This is known as genericide.
Guerrilla advertisements seemed very strange to me. The idea that a company or business would hire someone to act like a person not working for that company or business—say, to act like a tourist and praise the features of the camera they are using—seemed slightly bizarre and even a bit unsettling. Also, advertisers and companies are finding ways to advertise by tapping into social networks like Facebook and MySpace. I’ve even noticed recently that ads pop up in the middle of YouTube videos.
Overall, in “late consumerism, the boundary between the mainstream and the margins is always in the process of being renegotiated.”
Monday, February 23, 2009
Chapter Six
Chapter 6: Media in Everyday Life
In the 19th century, the term “the masses” arose in order to describe the structure and changes in societies that were undergoing industrializations and the rapid growth of a working class. Because this group of working class people was so large, the they were seen as having influence on the opinions of a society and on societal practices. Karl Marx used the concept of the masses to explain how the working class fit into industrial capitalism. Sometimes, this term is met with a pejorative connotation. The negative connotation comes from the idea of seeing the “masses” as an undifferentiated group of people who are basically sheep who passively accept what they are told by the media and who can be easily manipulated.
A criticism that arose in the 20th century in respect to the idea of the masses was that the sense of community and belonging diminished with the rise of urban populations and a more homogenous and isolated worldview. There was also the criticism that there was a decline in family and community life due to urban sprawl and suburban life.
The term “mass media” has existed since the 1920s and is used to describe the forms of media that reach large audiences with shared interests. In the 20th century, most forms of mass communication were visual, with some exceptions such as radio, and with the rise of electronic and digital media consumers of media devices such as computers, cell phones, the Internet, are likely to view themselves not only as consumer but also as partial producers in information and media.
Before the radio, when literacy rates were also low, only an educated minority could read and write, and, therefore, they controlled the exchange of information beyond the level of word of mouth. As literacy rates rose and new forms of media arose that did not involve reading, this began to change more and more.
When we talk about the “media” we usually refer to a plural for of medium but also to a unified and singular group of ideas and messages. The different forms of media used to convey a message can heavily influence how that message is received by an audience.
When looking at how our society judges the media, we can look at how they gather their information about news and politics. According to the book: “We might consider news parodies to be more reliable sources because their biases are explicit, and there is no pretense of neutrality.” I know that I’ve read statistics before that say a surprising number of young adults use parody news shows (such as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report on Comedy Central) as their only or major source of news and political information. While I think that sometimes major news networks can be biased towards the news they portray, I’m not sure that I would go so far as to say that parodies of the news are any less biased because of their supposed neutrality. To solve the problem of biased news, I suppose that my suggestion would be to check several different sources for news and information, rather than just relying on one source, let alone a parody of other sources.
There is an interesting idea that mass broadcasting fosters “conformity to dominant ideas about politics and culture,” which I would agree with in a sense. Rather than conforming to one dominant idea, I think that mass media leads to the polarization of ideas, where the middle ground is less populated than ideological extremes on either end of a spectrum. People tend to listen to others who share their ideas while sometimes neglecting the views of others. And there are different methods of mass media that appeal to different groups of people, therefore, polarizing their ideas even further.
“Public” can be defined in several ways, but as the term applies to media, is refers to the space of discourse where people can exercise personal and impersonal public speech in a social situation that allows for the “circulation and exchange of ideas.” This public space can be a physical space, a social setting, or a media arena—any “place” where people can come together to discuss the “pressing issues of their society.”
The idea of the traditional networks and news organizations—such as the BBC and CNN—being displaced and encountering competition for worldwide audiences from relatively new and influential news networks from the Middle East and Latin America is a very interesting scenario. In the coming years we will no doubt be able to see the continued effects that these new and different news powerhouses will have on global opinion and differing worldviews.
In the 19th century, the term “the masses” arose in order to describe the structure and changes in societies that were undergoing industrializations and the rapid growth of a working class. Because this group of working class people was so large, the they were seen as having influence on the opinions of a society and on societal practices. Karl Marx used the concept of the masses to explain how the working class fit into industrial capitalism. Sometimes, this term is met with a pejorative connotation. The negative connotation comes from the idea of seeing the “masses” as an undifferentiated group of people who are basically sheep who passively accept what they are told by the media and who can be easily manipulated.
A criticism that arose in the 20th century in respect to the idea of the masses was that the sense of community and belonging diminished with the rise of urban populations and a more homogenous and isolated worldview. There was also the criticism that there was a decline in family and community life due to urban sprawl and suburban life.
The term “mass media” has existed since the 1920s and is used to describe the forms of media that reach large audiences with shared interests. In the 20th century, most forms of mass communication were visual, with some exceptions such as radio, and with the rise of electronic and digital media consumers of media devices such as computers, cell phones, the Internet, are likely to view themselves not only as consumer but also as partial producers in information and media.
Before the radio, when literacy rates were also low, only an educated minority could read and write, and, therefore, they controlled the exchange of information beyond the level of word of mouth. As literacy rates rose and new forms of media arose that did not involve reading, this began to change more and more.
When we talk about the “media” we usually refer to a plural for of medium but also to a unified and singular group of ideas and messages. The different forms of media used to convey a message can heavily influence how that message is received by an audience.
When looking at how our society judges the media, we can look at how they gather their information about news and politics. According to the book: “We might consider news parodies to be more reliable sources because their biases are explicit, and there is no pretense of neutrality.” I know that I’ve read statistics before that say a surprising number of young adults use parody news shows (such as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report on Comedy Central) as their only or major source of news and political information. While I think that sometimes major news networks can be biased towards the news they portray, I’m not sure that I would go so far as to say that parodies of the news are any less biased because of their supposed neutrality. To solve the problem of biased news, I suppose that my suggestion would be to check several different sources for news and information, rather than just relying on one source, let alone a parody of other sources.
There is an interesting idea that mass broadcasting fosters “conformity to dominant ideas about politics and culture,” which I would agree with in a sense. Rather than conforming to one dominant idea, I think that mass media leads to the polarization of ideas, where the middle ground is less populated than ideological extremes on either end of a spectrum. People tend to listen to others who share their ideas while sometimes neglecting the views of others. And there are different methods of mass media that appeal to different groups of people, therefore, polarizing their ideas even further.
“Public” can be defined in several ways, but as the term applies to media, is refers to the space of discourse where people can exercise personal and impersonal public speech in a social situation that allows for the “circulation and exchange of ideas.” This public space can be a physical space, a social setting, or a media arena—any “place” where people can come together to discuss the “pressing issues of their society.”
The idea of the traditional networks and news organizations—such as the BBC and CNN—being displaced and encountering competition for worldwide audiences from relatively new and influential news networks from the Middle East and Latin America is a very interesting scenario. In the coming years we will no doubt be able to see the continued effects that these new and different news powerhouses will have on global opinion and differing worldviews.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Second Life House
Although when I first started tinkering with building things in class I had a good bit of trouble, when I went home and started messing around with all of the features, I found that I had a lot less trouble getting things to work the way I wanted them to work.
I must say that I enjoyed this assignment more than the assignment on making clothes. This could, however, possibly be attributed to the fact that I've never been terribly interested in clothes.
I made my little hut a round shaped room with a dome top. I've always liked rounded shapes more than rigid, square or rectangular shapes. The outside of the walls (wall?) is a blue tile, and the inside is a light blue wallpaper. I made the floor the texture of beach sand. It's not the most traditional flooring, but I miss living at the beach, and I figured I could make the floor whatever I wanted to since this is a virtual world (and a virtually sandy floor would only make things virtually dirty). The dome of the hut is probably my favorite part - it's translucent and shaded white so it's like clouded glass. I like a lot of natural sunlight in buildings, so I figured that a cloudy glass roof would allow for plenty of that.
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