Poster Research

Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors and I feel his posters really speak to the viewer, and accurately portray his films.

Realism and Perspective

I thought that this was the most interesting chapter that we have read so far. It really helped explain what we have been learning more detailed and I enjoyed the new points that it brought up about realism and perspective.
“Realism is an important aspect of our sense of ethics as citizens in a world in which images proliferate as forms of communications and expression.” (141) I feel this was an excellent way to start the chapter off. It is straight to the point and really helps you understand how realism and art mesh. It goes into detail how realism is linked to a varied set of conventions and approaches. Realism and abstraction are big elements in art. Some art include more elements of realism than others but nonetheless they are still there. I enjoy realism art more than other art. I like seeing things as the eye would see it and that is why I enjoy photography so much.
Perspective has something that has always confused me. “Perspective refers to a set of systems or mechanisms used to produce representations of objects in space as if seen by an observer through a window or frame.” (151) This section really put in perspective, “perspective”. The examples used such as the illustrations and diagrams helped me get a grasp on it. Perspective has changed over the years and we have slowly begun to get a better understanding of it.
The chapter goes over many elements of Realism and Perspective such as Visual codes and Historical Meaning, Perspective and the Body, The Camera Obscura and many other elements of it. By going through the topic with such detail it definitely forces you to gain a better understanding.

Postcards

Viewers Make Meaning

I found this next chapter to, again, be very interesting. It went over a lot of material that I have never even thought about or heard of. I enjoy this book very much, even though it gives a lot of information at once, because of the relevant examples that it consistently uses. I feel that the main point that I took from this chapter is the act of interpellating. Interpellating is to interrupt a procedure in order to question someone or something formally. It is the way that images and media texts seem to grab our attention. I found this term to be very interesting because advertisements everywhere cause us to be interpellated.
The text also dicussed French theorist Roland Barthes, who wrote an essay in 1967 on “The Death of the Author”. He discusses how “the text offers a multidimensional space that the reader deciphers or interprets” Many images may have dominant meanings, it is the job of the critical reader to discover how these meanings are made. Producers have intended meanings for images but it is important to realize the dominant meaning as well as how the meanings were made.
One sentence that I found very interesting was “Most if not all images have meaning that is preferred by their producers”. I find this very typical because producers only have one goal and I can see them being discouraged when their image is interpreted differently. Along with this point the author’s acknowledge the fact that knowing a producers intention for a certain image really doesn’t tell us a lot about the image itself. Intentions do not always match up with the viewer’s interpretation of the image or text.
I am not an art major so I am very uneducated in the art department. I feel that this chapter helped me with some basics such as Aesthetics. I have heard this words quite a few times in everyday life but have always been unsure of its meaning. The definition that the chapter gives helped me understand the meaning way better. “Aesthetics is the implication that the value of the work resides in the pleasure it brings us through its beauty, its style, or the creative and technical virtuosity that went into its production.” I think that section of the chapter helped me understand art better as a whole.
Overall I feel that this chapter had too much information to process in one sitting. We should have had more time to read this because I don’t think I have a good understanding of the text because I wasn’t given enough to really think and understand it.

Text/Image Hunt

"A work of the 13th century, but restored in the 18th century, it depicts Christ in the act of benediction surrounded by apostles and the wise virgins and foolish virgins."

Giovanna Magi, Paris, 1981, page 8





This is a literal depiction of the sentence. It shows the piece that the sentence is describing.





This image is empazing a message. It depicts Barack Obama, who can be looked up to as Christ, surrounded by "apostles and virgins"





I chose this because it is a duck surrounded by their ducklings. Mothers normally teach to their children and this is in relation to Christ in the act of benediction, which is speech that gives guidance.

I thought that this was a very interesting assignment. Unfortunately, I was sick the day the class went to the library but i figured out how to use the library resources on my own. I found it had to find images that went along with this quote but I feel the images that I did find go along quite well.

Images, Power and Politics

I found the first chapter, Images, Power and Politics, to be very interesting. It brought up valid points that have never crossed my mind before. The process of looking is so complex that to fully understand takes the analysis of many theories and study of many images.
The chapter addresses many things that intrigued me. First off I really enjoyed the sentence it starts off with. “To those of us who are blind or have low vision, seeing and visuality are no less important than they are to those of us who are sighted, because the everyday world is so strongly organized around spatial cues that take seeing for granted.” I feel that this sentence is really strong in describing how present day culture treats looking. We take the ability of sight for granted and are oblivious to the spatial cues that we see everyday. Sight is a gift and we should learn how to fine-tune it.
I really like how the book uses a variety of art pieces to be examples for the text and then continues to reference the different pictures throughout the chapter. For example, the picture of The First Murder really stuck out to me. It is a picture of a group of people huddling around a body right after a murder was committed. The picture depicts a variety of emotions such as smiling, crying and curiousness, all adding to the intensity of the picture. It is an interesting picture because as the viewer “we look with equal fascination on the scene, catching the children in the act of looking, their eyes wide with shock and wonder.” This picture is raw and real, a perfect example of a looking picture.

My Street

I found “The Street” to be a very interesting article. It really helped me look at the world, especially my street, with a different perspective, causing me realize more than what’s on the surface. I enjoyed the authors directness and clear explanations of his interpretations.

The road is very quiet; all you can hear is the sounds of distance cars and the buzzing of a neighbor’s pest zapper. Four houses sit on the corners of the intersection and all different in many ways. My favorite is unusually large and has a nice porch and white pillars that every family dreams of. The sides of the house are smothered by vines, various shades of green that clenches the house like a child to its mother. I can see into its windows from the porch of my own house. It’s a sturdy, wooden porch that I am standing on and has a vast view of the rest of the neighborhood from it. Nothing is hidden from sight. From the left I can see the for sale sign of the empty green grass next door. It is a part of our backyard soon to be industrialized by its new owner. The beauty and nature of the empty space, most importantly its green grass, will soon be completely destroyed. On the curb of the empty lot are three trashcans, waiting patiently for the garbage truck in the morning. All three trashcans are different colors and different sizes, giving the cans identities of their own. The garbage inside consisting of food, grass, and paper, the treasure of the garbage man. Above that is where the meat factory looms, overlooking the entire neighborhood, the building light shining glaringly. What goes on is a guess to everyone, do they package already slaughtered animals or kill them on location. My guess is that it is already slaughtered being package but we will never know because everyone is too scared to approach it. My street is very different and I wouldn’t have it any other way.