I can't wait for the big game today!! One thing that will be different for me this year... as I'm watching the game, I'll also be looking at graphic design used on the screen and in advertising. This is the big debut for many companies best advertisements for 2014. A lot of money is spent in advertising for this event. It's always been fun to see who's got the best ads, but this year I'll be paying even closer attention to them.
I keep thinking about Dianna's recreation of The Scream...I love that!! Very awesome job, Dianna! I really hope you've submitted that to someone who will pick it up while it's still big in the news.
Looking forward to see the rest of the projects on Tuesday! ~Lori
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
I keep thinking about Peters question on the first day of class..."Are you an artist, or a designer?" And Andrea's assessment of our design skills...and the questions I get from people who ask me what my major is and what I'm going to do with it after graduation. Even though I have several ideas of what I'd like to do, I have a hard time answering the questions. I sure hope by the end of the semester, I've figured out how to answer!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Can you imagine a world without advertising? We'd probably all feel much more confident and more satisfied. Cultural capital is a term that I had never heard of. It had never crossed my mind that some advertisements could leave me feeling culturally deprived, or that I might develop an obsession for certain commodities and they call it commodity fetishism. Interesting stuff...I'm much more aware of the effects of advertising on society now than I was before this semester.
The "Digital Divide" is a term that I had never heard of before this year and I think it's a fascinating one, too. There have been times when I think that it'd be awesome to escape completely from digital technology. Isn't that ironic coming from someone whose major Digital Technology & Culture. I've imagined moving somewhere, like a small beach community, or to a cabin in the mountains and living (at least for a while) without a computer, cell phone, and even television. I've read about families who have intentionally tried to live without electronic communication for a certain period of time, and found that it was really difficult. But there are millions of people in the world who have no concept of what it's like to live in a technological world. Is the digital divide getting wider, or is it narrowing? When I see really young children (like 1 year olds) taking their parents phones and playing games, I think it may be narrowing, but I've never been to places like Haiti. I thought it was pretty cool that MIT computer and Nicholas Negroponte developed the program One Laptop Per Child whose goal is to make computers available to underprivileged children in poor area. The thought is that these children would then become computer literate and teach their families. The idea behind this initiative is that "if participation in a global network beomes recognized the "haves" as a requisite for democratic participation in everyday life, it becomes the responsibility of those with access to transfer or dissiminate the technology to those who do not have the means to buy into it for themselves" (Sturken 236) I think that's an awesome program...maybe not truly altruistic, but still pretty cool.
I hadn't really thought too much about copies, ownership and copyright before taking this class. Copyright is an interesting subject. When I think of it in terms of work that I've produced, or people I'm close to, it would really piss me off to have someone reproduce it, especially if they were making a profit on it. My daughter is an artist. She posts her creations on her business Facebook page. Recently she found out that one of her Facebook friends was copying her work and selling at lower prices. Needless to say, she was furious! She immediately "de-friended" the person. I can't think of anything I've produced that someone would want to copy, but I know the feeling of working hard on a project, and I'm pretty sure that I'd feel the same way if in the same situation. On the flip side, I've tried to imagine a world without reproductions or copies. I cant, it's impossible. And honestly, I think it'd be pretty boring.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Geocache
Well, that was embarrassing to present my triptych today with converted GPS coordinates. So here's the nice straight latitude/longitude method.
46.282212/-119.309451
Hope that makes it easier to find!
Lori
46.282212/-119.309451
Hope that makes it easier to find!
Lori
Monday, October 21, 2013
My last post reminded me that I wanted to say something about Sena Clara's exhibit in our campus gallery. I really appreciated that she took time to talk to us about her work. Although, I enjoyed looking at the whole exhibit, I felt most interpellated by Sena Clara's work, especially after she explained how and why she created her work. I found myself even more curious about the process of how she edited each photo to achieve the end result. But what I loved the most was her honesty about the embarrassment she felt using a cell phone camera to capture images. I can really relate to that! In my job, I take pictures of the houses I list and although I don't consider myself an artist, I do take pride in getting showings on a house quickly when my photos show the house in a positive way, especially if I'm able to make the house look better than it actually does, and even more so when I used my cell phone to take the photos! I used to routinely use it and I would always try to arrange a time when the seller wouldn't be there...so they wouldn't catch me using it. Occasionally sellers ask me if I'll be using a "professional" photographer to take the photos. Wouldn't it be fun if I said "yes, I will" and then brought Sena Clara over with her cell phone?
On Aesthetics and Taste...
Why do we stop and gaze at a work of art or photo?...because it brings us pleasure. However, there could be many reasons that we find the piece 'pleasurable' to look at. There are people who find pleasure in looking at something that others find sick & disgusting, so it's still comes down to individual taste, right? No. It's been shown that "taste" is influenced our experiences...background, social class, our level of education, etc. Society often labeled people as to whether we are high class, low class or no-class based on our tastes. Well, thank you to art critic Clement Greenberg who help boost the status of people like me, for arguing the kitsch (I love that word) is art, too.
Why do we stop and gaze at a work of art or photo?...because it brings us pleasure. However, there could be many reasons that we find the piece 'pleasurable' to look at. There are people who find pleasure in looking at something that others find sick & disgusting, so it's still comes down to individual taste, right? No. It's been shown that "taste" is influenced our experiences...background, social class, our level of education, etc. Society often labeled people as to whether we are high class, low class or no-class based on our tastes. Well, thank you to art critic Clement Greenberg who help boost the status of people like me, for arguing the kitsch (I love that word) is art, too.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Moving on to the next section "Producers Intended Meanings". The authors are refering to a point made by French theorist Roland Bathes that text offers "a multidimensional space that the reader deciphers or interprets" and that images and media may hold different meaning for different readers/viewers. They've made Barthes concept pretty clear but then they go on to say..
"Barthes advocated for the work of a critical and analytical reader whose interpretive practices are grounded in the historical contexts and postions from which texts are always read, as a means of showing how the authority of the author as the primary producer of the literary text is in fact a myth."
Then they try to explain what Barthes means here by saying...
"His point was, in part, that texts are produced in the act of reading them and that these acts are performed from the cultural and political perspectives of readers and never fully according to the intentions of the author or producer."
Wow...that really clarified it for me! Ha!
I think what they are trying to point out is that an authors intended meaning may be not be how the viewer/reader interprets it. Any thoughts?
"Barthes advocated for the work of a critical and analytical reader whose interpretive practices are grounded in the historical contexts and postions from which texts are always read, as a means of showing how the authority of the author as the primary producer of the literary text is in fact a myth."
Then they try to explain what Barthes means here by saying...
"His point was, in part, that texts are produced in the act of reading them and that these acts are performed from the cultural and political perspectives of readers and never fully according to the intentions of the author or producer."
Wow...that really clarified it for me! Ha!
I think what they are trying to point out is that an authors intended meaning may be not be how the viewer/reader interprets it. Any thoughts?
Hello! I'm back after a long vacation from blogging. While I've been away, I have been doing my assigned reading from "Practices of Looking", I just haven't be blogging about it. I have a hard time doing that, so I've been trying to figure out why, and also, how to get started again. I thought maybe I had "blogaphobia" and maybe I do. Maybe its easier once you get to know your audience a little better. But I think I've figured out the real reason that I've had such a hard time and what I can do to get going again.
First of all, I really don't care for the writing style of at least one of the authors...I don't feel interpellated by much of what they say, and I think the reason is that (in my opinion) they often take a relatively simple concept and use sentences that are much too long to explain it. I know that I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and that my mind can easily wander sometimes when I'm reading, but this book just doesn't help that. So, after doing the Wikipedia assignment, I came up with an idea....When I come across the sentences that I think make a concept confusing, I'll just post it here and maybe we can break it down into something a littler simpler. Of course, when I went back to the beginning of Chapter 2...Viewers Make Meaning...I couldn't find a good example. This concept in this section is pretty clear I think. "Some images strongly interpellate viewers, some do not." 50
Whenever I've gone to an art gallery or museum with someone else, I notice that I'll get stuck gazing at a work of art that really speaks to me...draws me in. The person with me may go quickly by it, and maybe even quickly past everything, and then hang around waiting for me to finish. I feel rushed and don't enjoy my time there as much. So, I've decided that I should go by myself, that way, when I feel interpellated by something, I can stay at look as long as I want to.
First of all, I really don't care for the writing style of at least one of the authors...I don't feel interpellated by much of what they say, and I think the reason is that (in my opinion) they often take a relatively simple concept and use sentences that are much too long to explain it. I know that I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and that my mind can easily wander sometimes when I'm reading, but this book just doesn't help that. So, after doing the Wikipedia assignment, I came up with an idea....When I come across the sentences that I think make a concept confusing, I'll just post it here and maybe we can break it down into something a littler simpler. Of course, when I went back to the beginning of Chapter 2...Viewers Make Meaning...I couldn't find a good example. This concept in this section is pretty clear I think. "Some images strongly interpellate viewers, some do not." 50
Whenever I've gone to an art gallery or museum with someone else, I notice that I'll get stuck gazing at a work of art that really speaks to me...draws me in. The person with me may go quickly by it, and maybe even quickly past everything, and then hang around waiting for me to finish. I feel rushed and don't enjoy my time there as much. So, I've decided that I should go by myself, that way, when I feel interpellated by something, I can stay at look as long as I want to.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
DTC The Value of Images
Why is it that the value of a work of art (visual art) seems to increase so much after the artist dies? It doesn't seem to be the case with music. Not as much so, anyway. I guess that's because artists typically (not always the case) work in private, not in front of large audiences. In music, the opposite is true. Artists gain notoriety when they die and people think that they they can own something that is limited in number. Music is different. It will be listened to over and over throughout decades, and reproduced many times by different artists, whether the original artist is dead or alive.
Like music, art can illicit some strong emotion by it's viewers. I've only had the opportunity to visit a few art museums, and only in the US, but I've seen some pretty awesome exhibits at the Smithsonian and Seattle Art Museum among a few others. I thought it was an incredible, indescribable feeling to stand in front of an original work of art, especially the really huge pieces. I can understand how extremely wealthy people, who have the ability, would want to own a famous works of art. Fortunately, we have museums and it's not all bought up by private collectors.
Why is it that the value of a work of art (visual art) seems to increase so much after the artist dies? It doesn't seem to be the case with music. Not as much so, anyway. I guess that's because artists typically (not always the case) work in private, not in front of large audiences. In music, the opposite is true. Artists gain notoriety when they die and people think that they they can own something that is limited in number. Music is different. It will be listened to over and over throughout decades, and reproduced many times by different artists, whether the original artist is dead or alive.
Like music, art can illicit some strong emotion by it's viewers. I've only had the opportunity to visit a few art museums, and only in the US, but I've seen some pretty awesome exhibits at the Smithsonian and Seattle Art Museum among a few others. I thought it was an incredible, indescribable feeling to stand in front of an original work of art, especially the really huge pieces. I can understand how extremely wealthy people, who have the ability, would want to own a famous works of art. Fortunately, we have museums and it's not all bought up by private collectors.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
DTC 356
Reading about semiotics and how we interpret signs and symbols, I started thinking about all that we take for granted and what it would be like for someone in a foreign country. I haven't traveled outside the country much so I got curious and looked up signs for restrooms, since that's one of the more important signs. Maybe I was thinking of that because just last week I accidently used the men's bathroom in a restroom...just a little embarrasing!! But you know, if you're in a hurry, it's not that hard to mistake the black pants and black dress. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a restroom sign that gets the point across.
Bathroom sign in Turkey.
Reading about semiotics and how we interpret signs and symbols, I started thinking about all that we take for granted and what it would be like for someone in a foreign country. I haven't traveled outside the country much so I got curious and looked up signs for restrooms, since that's one of the more important signs. Maybe I was thinking of that because just last week I accidently used the men's bathroom in a restroom...just a little embarrasing!! But you know, if you're in a hurry, it's not that hard to mistake the black pants and black dress. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a restroom sign that gets the point across.
Bathroom sign in Turkey.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Another post from last week...
The "Myth of Photographic Truth"....Photography has always been associated with realism. I like history, and history is so much more interesting when you have images to look at. But now, with all the photo editing capabilities, how will people know whether the photo is representative of anything real? I sell real estate, and I take photos of houses to post on the internet to try to entice buyers to come and look at the houses I list. It's a compliment to me when I take a buyer to look at one of my listings and after walking through it they say "wow, the pictures sure do this justice!"
The "Myth of Photographic Truth"....Photography has always been associated with realism. I like history, and history is so much more interesting when you have images to look at. But now, with all the photo editing capabilities, how will people know whether the photo is representative of anything real? I sell real estate, and I take photos of houses to post on the internet to try to entice buyers to come and look at the houses I list. It's a compliment to me when I take a buyer to look at one of my listings and after walking through it they say "wow, the pictures sure do this justice!"
Posted last week on my other blog page...
DTC 356....Going back over the reading so I can post...I found it really interesting to think about what kinds of images attract people's attention. We know that that newspapers are filled with bad news, violence and all the gory details, because it sells! It's fascinates me to think of why people have morbid fascination with graphic images. Think of all the books and pictures from the Holocaust...Sick as it may be, I don't think most people watch the movies and look at pictures out of 'respect for the victims'. Now we have images of children in Syria...
DTC 356....Going back over the reading so I can post...I found it really interesting to think about what kinds of images attract people's attention. We know that that newspapers are filled with bad news, violence and all the gory details, because it sells! It's fascinates me to think of why people have morbid fascination with graphic images. Think of all the books and pictures from the Holocaust...Sick as it may be, I don't think most people watch the movies and look at pictures out of 'respect for the victims'. Now we have images of children in Syria...
Catching up with DTC 356 blogs
Okay, I think I have my page set up in the right place. Now I can catch up with everyone else in the class. Since I'm new to blogging, I'll take any help that anyone wants to give me!
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