Chloe Perkins

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Rumination Week 12

This week in class we discussed the topic of postmodernism with the subtopics of irony, parody, and pastiche. Postmodernism is not something that I was necessarily familiar with when beginning the week 12 discussion. However, after this discussion I learned that (according to our textbook) postmodernism is, “a period characterized by a more skeptical view of science and technology” (Sturken and Cartwight). What specifically stuck out to me about postmodernism in week 13 was the architecture side of it all. Postmodern architecture is interesting because of how bizarre it looks when compared to any “typical” type of architecture. Postmodern architecture includes buildings or structures that have unique characteristics and are successful in catching someone's attention. These unique characteristics can include pops of color, fun uses of symmetry, shapes, designs, etc. After researching more about postmodernism architecture, I found that one of the most popular ones is called the Vanna Venturi House that is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This piece of structure is so popular because it became known as one of the first examples of postmodernism architecture when it was built in 1959. It was built and constructed by Robert Venturi for his elderly mother. Venturi’s goal when designing the Vanna Venturi house was to challenge the typical characteristics in architecture. The reason why I believe this house is a great example of postmodern architecture is because the structure includes lots of symmetry. When looking at an average house, there is typically not a lot of symmetry. Robert Venturi was successful in bringing his ideas to life and challenged ideas around architecture. The reason why this topic was so interesting to me this week was because I love the idea of people expressing their own idea of art. Art can be expressed in so many different forms, and in this case, it was expressed through architecture.  

Sources: Vanna Venturi House. WTTW Chicago. (2018, July 9). Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://interactive.wttw.com/tenbuildings/vanna-venturi-house 

Textbook "Practices of Looking"

Image of the Vanna Venturi House:

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Rumination #6

This week we are discussing Gries topic of still life with rhetoric. Since the topic of the Obama Hope poster and campaign is prominent this week, the idea of the remixed poster stood out to me. I didn’t know much about what happened with the whole Obama Hope remix situation but learning about it was interesting. I learned that Shepard Fairey is the one who remixed it and that he was accused of violating copyright by AP. I personally believe that Shepard Fairey should not have had the lawsuit against him because the photo was open to the public and Fairey made it his own version. When comparing the original photo of Obama and the remixed one by Fairy, there is a difference in Obamas gaze, facial expression, and the overall coloring of the photograph. When comparing the two photos below, the original photograph of Obama there is more of an intimidating stare. In the remix Obama has more of an optimistic and hopeful gaze into the future. Other than the facial expressions and gaze, the coloring is clearly, visibly different. In the remix by Fairey, there are contrasts of the colors red, white, and blue. These colors represent freedom and independence and more clearly, the American flag. It is clear that Shepard Fairey used certain characteristics of the original photograph of Obama, but he made it his own in a remix. I believe that the real reason why AP decided to copyright Shepard Fairey was due to the amount of publicity that the Obama Hope poster was getting. It was used on many different platforms and received a lot more views than the original photograph by AP was. The more that the remix was being circulated through media, the more AP wanted to sue. I overall believe that Shepard Fairey should not have been sued by AP because he made the image his own remix.  

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P2P Activity 12

This is the completed cover of my zine over the topic of the panopticon and reality television. I was inspired to use images of older TVs from back in the day. All of the images are of the same TV with different angles and lighting. I used these images because the panopticon theory explains that individuals act differently when they know someone is watching. These images with the TVs are all different and somewhat altered, that's why I think it fits well with my title. My research question is "How is reality television an example of the theory of the panopticon?" My project is exploring visual imagery more as a social perspective because TV shows are changed for the audience, but my zine will just explain the depth of it.

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P2P Activity 11

For this weeks activity, I created a remix of the show "The Office." This show is about the daily lives of the employees at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. I picked this show because it is a pretty popular show and one of my favorite shows to watch. My remix is close to a 1-minute compilation of all of the moments of one of the main characters of the show, Michael Scott. Something that he does quite frequently is yell very dramatically so I took together about 10 clips of Michael Scott yelling. I created the remix on TikTok because that is something that I am somewhat familiar with. For inspiration I looked up funny moments from the show "The Office" and chose the clips that best fit. I also added some of my favorite clips from the show too.

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P2P Activity 10

Culture jamming is a form of protest that individuals use by making a parody of different companies and businesses. To show how culture jamming works, I created a parody of Disneyland. Disneyland's slogan is "the happiest place on earth." While this may be true, Disneyland also has particular high prices for merchandise, tickets, food, passes, etc. In order to use culture jamming with this company, I crossed out the word "happiest" in Disneyland's slogan. I replaced the word with "most expensive" to create a parody and a play on words. The phrase now reads "Disneyland, The Most Expensive Place On Earth." This works as an example of culture jamming because it represents the high prices found at Disneyland through a parody of their slogan.

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Rumination #5

This week we are discussing chapter seven which covers brand culture. The topic of social media and consumer data is something that stood out to me from this week's chapter. Advertising among consumers has gradually changed over time. I thought it was interesting how advertising was used back in the day. Window displays were widely used around the 1930s to draw customers into the stores. Without technology this was only one of the few ways that businesses were able to advertise at the time. Business owners also advertised in newspapers and magazines as well. Ads look different now with the rise of technology and the internet over the last couple decades. There are many ways that advertising is ultimately used. Some of these ways include commercials, radio, and social media. Social media is a very useful tool when it comes to drawing in consumers. Personally, I see hundreds of ads a day on all social media platforms. The “Practices of Looking” textbook says that “Our everyday actions of swiping away or ignoring a pop-up are tracked and studied by marketing experts, who use algorithms to track our moves and habits during our time online, documenting and statistically analyzing what we tend to linger over and what we tend to push away” (Sturken, Cartwright 288). The feed on everyone's social media platform is different due to this documenting. It is crazy to think that someone is analyzing the posts that I interact with to determine what ads show up on my feed. To test this theory, I began to shop online for dresses since I have an event coming up. A few hours later multiple advertisements for the company WhiteFox Boutique began to appear on my Instagram feed. This is interesting because I was interacting with their website looking for dresses, while ads for those dresses appeared on my feed. In conclusion, advertising for consumers has gradually changed over time. Since ads have shifted to being more prominent on social media, businesses can now reach out to more consumers and find larger audiences for their company.  

Source: "Practices of Looking" textbook

Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2017). Practices of Looking (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780190265755 

I also included an image below that compares a Coke ad from back then to now.

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P2P Activity #9

For this weeks activity, I decided to focus on green-washing among the company Starbucks. In 2018, Starbucks announced that they will be selling a new lid that you will not need a straw for. This lid was supposed to decrease the use in straws, which would lead to a decrease in the use of plastic. However, it turns out that the new lid takes more plastic to produce than the old lid and the straw combined.

1. What kinds of images and language do they use, and what is the intended effect? 

In the image below, you can see a few Starbucks drinks with the new lid. In this image of the ad, Starbucks used a random variety of colorful drinks with the new lid. With this advertisement, Starbucks hoped to reach out to their customers and show that they are recycle friendly. They intended to help reduce plastic production but did the opposite.

2. What do you know about whether the organization that created this media content supports the cause they say they do (you may need to do a quick bit of research here)? 

Starbucks intended to show their customers that they support the earth because they are cutting back their production of plastic with these new lids. However, Starbucks did quite the opposite since the new lid takes more plastic to produce than the old lid as well as the straw.

Given what you know, do you think this an example of green/pink/rainbow washing? Why?  

I believe that this "new lid" advertising from the company Starbucks is an example of green-washing because they are doing the opposite of what they intended to promote. They intended to help the earth by saving production on plastic, but ended up increasing the production in the process.

How might this ad be effective (either as green/pink/rainbow washing or just informationally) in your opinion? 

I believe that this ad is effective when spreading the word about green-washing. With this activity, I was able to learn more about what green-washing is and how it has been used with companies that I see daily.

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P2P Activity #8

For this assignment over the politics of reproducibility, I chose to discuss the symbol of the heart. This symbol was first created in the 1250's in a French manuscript called "Roman de la poire." In this manuscript, the heart was used as a symbol of love. The heart has kept its same significance throughout time since the 1250's. Nowadays, the heart is still used as a way of showing affection, love, and appreciation. The heart symbol is also used commonly on valentines day and many other holidays. It is common for symbols to lose or change their meaning over time. However, the symbol of the heart has kept its meaning throughout history. It is ironic how the symbol is still used as an expression of love. This is considered an example of the concept around circulation. This symbol has circulated throughout history, but it has kept its same significance through it all.

Below I have included two images of the heart symbol. The image on the left is a picture of one of the first heart symbols in history. The image on the right is a picture of the heart emoji that is more commonly used today.

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Rumination #4: Visual Technologies

This week we are going over the reading from Sturken and Cartwright discussing visual technologies, reproduction, and the copy. Something that stuck out to me this week was when we discussed visual technologies and how they change the world in different ways. Technologies transform what can be seen, how the world can be seen, and the meaning of what is being seen. With the reading this week, we compared an example of one of the visual technologies that changed so many things within the world. This was the creation of the train. The invention of the train created a new way of seeing and experiencing the world. Individuals were now able to travel longer distances and trade goods from all over. This is only one of the many visual technologies that transformed the world. Another technology that impacted the world (more recently in time) was the invention of social media. Social media is something that has impacted me as well. Social media has transformed many different things in the world such as communication and entertainment. The first social media platform was SixDegrees.com. After this invention, along came many other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. When social media was first created in 1997, individuals were able to see the world in a new way. Social media changed the world because it created a more efficient way for individuals to communicate with other users. People were now able to share one image with many of their followers in one singular post. Social media also changed the world because people could now find, access, and share information easier. Information now travelled faster between people on these social media platforms. In conclusion, visual technologies transform so many different factors in the world. These technologies have evolved greatly throughout time and will continue to evolve as well. This growth will continue to change the world.  

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P2P Activity 7

For this assignment over naturalistic enthymeme, I chose to manually include something that stood out or caught the audiences attention. In my photograph, I chose to spill a glass of milk in hopes to create a visual argument depending what individual is viewing the picture. This forces the individual to "fill in the blank" and question why there is a glass of spilled milk. There are several things that the viewer could question along with this photograph.

"Who spilled the glass of milk?"

"Are they going to clean it up?"

"What made the person spill the milk?"

"How is the rest of the kitchen clean?"

With these questions above, the viewer could dive deeper into how it happened. The audience could assume that someone was distracted and was being clumsy when they spilled the milk. The viewer could assume that something bad happened and the person who spilled the milk had to rush out the door. The viewer could even assume that a child spilled the milk because they didn't know any better. The list could continue, but that shows how this photograph could create so many different meanings, situations, and scenarios from the one object in the picture. This is how I prove the process of visual argument.

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P2P Activity 6

For this weeks P2P activity, I chose an image I took awhile ago that I thought would work well for this assignment. This image is a picture of my empty cup after drinking a detox green juice. I remember taking a picture of the cup because it looked like the yin and yang symbol at the bottom. This assignment tells us a lot about the myth of photographic realism. The myth of photographic realism tells the viewer that a camera can always alter an image with lighting, focus, personalization, etc. With my image, I chose to focus on the bottom of the cup and brighten up the light. This made the yin and yang symbol more visible in the cup. I also just got lucky with this image because this never happens after drinking my green juice. This tells me that photographic realism is altered in so many different ways and that it is difficult to tell what is a myth and what is not.

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Rumination #3: Photographic Realism

This week we are going over chapter four. This chapter covers realism and perspective. I really enjoyed the topic of realism this week because we were able to discuss photographic realism. This topic made me realize how there are many elements lying behind an image than I thought. Elements such as the photographer, the camera, and the viewer all have different roles in photographic realism. These elements determine how an image is viewed. The photographer takes the picture, but the photographer can also change the lighting and what object is focused in the picture. The camera just takes the image and does what the photographer alters it to do. However, the viewer is the one who interprets the image. After this week's lesson, I believe the most the viewer is the most important factor in photographic realism. The viewer is the one who interprets meaning behind the photograph, which could create a variety of meanings. I chose the image below to show how many different meanings a viewer could interpret with one photograph. The image shows a couple hugging, but they are both on their phones behind their significant others back. One viewer could see this photo and interpret that the couple is busy, but they still love each other. Another viewer could see this photo and interpret that the couple is faking their love and they are not happy at all with their relationship, so they distract themselves. Another viewer could see this photo and interpret that the couple is cheating on each other with someone else online. The list could go on. All these viewers told a different story with the same photograph. Even though the photo was taken by the photographer and camera, the viewer was the one who interpreted the many different meanings behind the photograph. Therefore, I believe that the viewer is the most important element in the topic of photographic realism.  

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P2P Activity 5

I found a magazine cover from TIME magazine around the time that the 9/11 attacks occurred. This magazine cover shows the twin towers with fire and smoke coming out the top of them. I picked this image because it spoke to me in the same way the Afghan girl magazine did. Both magazine covers represented a tragic event that was happening at the time. However, both magazines chose to show the beautiful suffering that was occurring, and not the reality of the suffering. The publishers chose these photos in hopes to reach their audience without having to show them the true, raw, and real things happening during these tragic events. This shows a relation to the subject of absence. There is an absence of reality in both magazine covers. In the Afghan girl cover, there is a picture of a scared, beautiful girl but there is an absence of the life she is scared of living. Her life was full of war and hatred, but that wasn't shown on the magazine. In the 9/11 cover, there is a picture of the twin towers, but there is an absence of the individuals that lost their lives, their family, and friends. Almost 3,000 people died that day, but that is not shown on the magazine. Even though both of these magazines bring awareness to the tragic events that were happening, they both show an absence of reality. With that absence of reality comes along the abuse of power. The photographers that took these images knowing they had the power to show what true tragedies were happening. Instead, these photographers both chose to show only a sliver of the terror that took place. The power that these photographers had could've been used in a more effective way to bring even more awareness to Afghan girl and the 9/11 attack.

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Rumination #2: Panopticon

This week we are discussing chapter 3 which goes over spectatorship, gaze, and power. After reading this chapter, there was one thing that stood out to me and that was the topic of the panopticon. The panopticon is a structure found in prisons that allows the guards to look over the prisoners, without the prisoners being able to see. This creates a continuous cycle of the unknown because the prisoners never know when or if a guard is watching them. The prisoners now are forced to behave correctly because they have a feeling someone is always watching. This relates to the topic of power over surveillance. Some examples of surveillance that hold power over individuals are social media and security cameras. These examples of surveillance create a change in individual's behavior in different ways. 

When discussing social media, it is common to see individuals change how they act because they know their followers are watching. The users on social media are prisoners, while the followers of that user are guards. It is common for individuals to post the fun and exciting things going on in their life, and not their reality. Social media users don’t want to show their followers whenever they are struggling or having a bad day, so they change what they post and how they act.  

Security cameras also factor into a change of how someone is acting. Security cameras are everywhere, including parking lots, stores, roads, and even on doorbells. In this scenario, the people on the security cameras are prisoners, and the people watching the security cameras are guards. These cameras allow people to watch them at any time, but it’s not likely someone is always watching them. This creates that unknowing feeling that someone is always watching like we discussed above. That feeling allows individuals to act and behave in a particular way because they know they are on video.  

In conclusion, the concept around the panopticon changes individuals and how they behave. There are different roles in the panopticon scenario such as the prisoners and the guards. I enjoyed discussing this topic this week because I can now understand how and why people behave the way they do when they believe they are being watched. I can also recognize my own behavior when I feel as if I am being watched as a “prisoner.”  

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P2P Activity 4

When thinking about the concept around the panopticon, I also think of a similar situation, such as social media. The concept of panopticon discusses the idea that individuals change their behavior because they believe they are being watched by another individual. Social media is similar to this concept because users are constantly posting videos and pictures that are not always an accurate depiction of their reality. Users on social media share posts that make them look good and seem like they have their life together for their followers to see.

Social media is based around how many followers you have and what you decide to post for them to see. In this situation, the users of social media are the prisoners and the followers of that user are the guards. The users know they are being watched by their followers, so they post the things that they believe will make them look good to gain acceptance among their followers. The effects of social media create a standard among the users. Users try to make sure their posts have good quality, will get a good amount of likes, and will entertain their followers. This standard makes users question themselves on what and when they post on social media. In conclusion, social media is an example that shows how individuals change their behavior because they believe that people are constantly watching their every post.

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P2P Activity 3

Tuxedo Winnie The Pooh

A Tuxedo Winnie The Pooh meme. Caption your own images or memes with our Meme Generator.

For the meme I created I decided to do it over the subject of high class vs low class. When I begin to think of high class, I think of luxury cars, houses, and especially clothing brands. Some clothing brands that I consider are "high class" are Chanel, Prada, Lulu Lemon, Gucci, etc. The list could go on. However, I realize that the reason I believe these brands to be high class is due to the name and logo. An individual could buy a regular workout tank top and it would get the job done. However, when the Lulu Lemon logo is present on the top, it suddenly has more value to others. Although I will still continue to purchase Lulu Lemon clothing, this week I have been able to realize and understand more about high class vs low class and why each class is perceived differently in society.

In conclusion, my meme showed the normal Winnie the Pooh beside the caption with a normal black top and compared a "fancier" and "high class" Winnie the Pooh beside the caption with a Lulu Lemon brand black top. This meme indicated the difference between the presence of no logo vs the "high class" logos.

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Rumination #1: Myths of Photographic Truth

This week we are discussing chapter one which covers: images, power, and politics. One specific thing that stuck out to me this week was when we read and discussed the myth of photographic truth. In chapter one, I read about how photography has always been associated with being true, raw, and real. So why is it considered a myth? It’s considered a myth because images, photos, and pictures do not always show a good depiction of reality. There are so many ways that photography can be altered. Photoshop is only one of the many commonly used applications that make it easy for anyone to learn how to photoshop images. Therefore, making photographic truth a myth. I think the reason why I enjoyed reading about this so much is because of how prominent it is in social media today, especially in my generation. I use almost all social media platforms, so it is interesting to learn about how common it is that individuals photoshop and alter reality when they post on the internet. The myth of photographic truth also occurs among the model industry. It is hard seeing how much photoshop is used throughout this industry, especially as a woman. These photographers are photoshopping pictures based on a “beauty standard” that is technically made up by society. I understand there is a standard that individuals want to meet, but that standard isn’t even really valid because of how different everyone is. I did some research after reading about photographic truth, and some companies are beginning to break this “beauty standard” by promoting all body types and body positivity. Some of these companies that I recognized were Dove, Target, and Aerie. In conclusion, I learned how much power photography has over our society. So much so that people believe most or all images they see. After reading this chapter, I can now understand more about the myths behind photographic truth and how much it is prominent in my life today.