short term media project number 10
1. Vegetarian Vegetable from the portfolio Campbell’s Soup II by Andy Warhol, 1969
a. Information: This is a print of an illustration of a can of Campbell’s Vegetarian Vegetable soup. It includes the red and white Campbell’s logo, “condensed” text below it, and a yellow speech bubble that says “The Alphabet Soup”. There is an ABC on the left of the can reading vertically. There is the “Vegetarian Vegetable” text in all-caps, in a red font on a white background. The word SOUP is at the bottom of the can, in a black text with bronze embossing. To the left of the soup label, we see a “net wt. 10 3/4 oz.” text, and to the right we see what appears to be four fleur de lis symbols.
b. Tone: The tone of this piece is emotionless, considering it is a can of soup. However, the speech bubble that says “The Alphabet Soup” has a playful, child-like tone to it. This gives the can a more appealing tone, since cans of soup are usually dull and emotionless.
c. Reaction: This piece fits in nearly perfectly with my documentary about consumer culture in various markets. Campbell’s Soup is a staple in American consumer culture. The brand name of Campbell’s is known to nearly everyone in America. While I don’t know the background of why Andy Warhol made these illustrations, they are extremely well known in the art world, and most likely propelled the Campbell’s brand into a household name. This piece is an example of advertising in art, and is a perfect representation of the American consumer’s love for great marketing and pretty package design.
2. Glen Ellis Falls by Albert Bierstadt, 1869
a. Information: This is an oil painting by Albert Bierstadt depicting a massive, daunting waterfall in a nature landscape. Bierstadt was known for his extravagant paintings of nature landscapes, and this painting is no exception. We see trees in the background and foreground, a cloudy blue sky, and the main subject: a massive waterfalls from a cliff that flows into a stream that continues out of frame. Bierstadt uses bright highlights to give the painting a “pop” and further show the landscape, even though it is covered in shadows from the trees.
b. Tone: The tone of this piece is almost daunting, even overwhelming. While a nice waterfall may seem calming and subtle, Bierstadt’s placement of the waterfall in the viewer’s angle makes it appear huge. Since the viewing angle is a the bottom of the waterfall looking upward, it is much more daunting that it may be in real life. However, at the bottom of the painting is a subtle stream, which is calming and relaxing compared to the large waterfall and large trees at the top of the painting.
c. Reaction: This piece displays a scene many people in modern America never even think about. A grand waterfall in the wilderness seemed to be something known and common in the 1800s, when this was painted. However, today, given society’s advances toward industrialization and feeding the machine that is capitalism, this painting seems odd and like a relic of a completely different universe. Yes, there are still many places in America where you can see these great scenes, but considering no one really lives there, we can only really travel through to see these places. Today, we see buildings, factories, and advertisements everywhere one looks. Here, it is a reminder of a more peaceful American society.
3. The Good Shepherd by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1902-03
a. Information: This is a painting of a shepherd under two trees during the night time. The painting is not pristine, but more fuzzy and dark. The trees are silhouettes in the night time, with moonlight just above the trees. There is a silhouette of a man, presumably a shepherd given the title of the painting. There is vast land in the distance, and the lighting of this painting comes from only the moon.
b. Tone: The tone of this piece is dark, gloomy, and uncertain. Who is the silhouette of the man between the two trees? What is he doing at this time of day? The moonlight is what lights the piece. The landscape to the right of the two trees and the man are foggy and unclear, perhaps because there is not much lighting in the piece in the first place.
c. Reaction: I like this piece because the artist does a great job using just the moon light to light the piece. The mysterious look to it, the darkness, and the limited color palette make this piece detailed yet minimal. The use of only a few colors, primarily black, brown, and blue, are all one needs to create a powerful piece. Looking at this piece, we instantly get a dark, blue feeling. It has emotion, and we are able to step in the shoes of someone looking at this view in real life.
The Campbell’s soup can (Vegetarian Vegetable) as a metaphor for rampant consumption in modern America.
tenor: Consumption in modern America
vehicle: The blatant Campbell’s logo, the fun marketing for an emotionless can of soup
The giant waterfall (Glen Ellis Falls) as a metaphor for the monstrous machine of capitalism.
tenor: The machine of capitalism
vehicle: The overwhelming waterfall, the desire to be at the top of the mountain (economically), the calmness of being at the bottom
The calm, blue night sky (The Good Shepherd) as what we have lost as a result of economic growth and technology advances.
tenor: What was lost because of economic growth and technology advances
vehicle: The view of of a calm, moonlit sky - before lights overtook the sky; the uncertainty of the world, before all the answers for everything were in our pockets
Step three - Explanation:
My main metaphor will be of the Campbell’s soup can in Warhol’s Vegetarian Vegetable. The metaphor is of consumption in American - not just from literally eating the soup out of the can, but from knowledge consumption from great marketing. The fun wording, the clean colors. We eat great marketing up with our dollars, just like we eat the product up: vegetarian vegetable alphabet soup. The noodles in the shape of letters. The brand name staring right at you. Without these indicators that this is something you need to spend your money on, we wouldn’t care for a can of soup. Yet, we do. We give emotion to something as simple and boring as a can of soup. We even paint a picture of it and create an entire pop-art movement from a brand name. We care about brands. We care so much about brands that we pay millions of dollars for an illustration of a can of soup with a brand name on it. Humans have only so much brain power. Every little distraction takes up our brain power, and marketing, branding, and advertising are what consumes us the most. We have no control over our lives - advertising tells us how to live. We can’t live with uncertainty. We need to carry around our “certain devices” in our pockets. We need to know that life is “certain” by posting a picture of ourselves on the internet for our friends to “like”. We need to consume more and more, and impress others with our tastes and ability to spend absurd amounts of money. We obsess over commodities such as sneakers all in the name of consumption. We are never ending consumers of information, and capitalism is winning its fight in distracting us from our true interests, desires, and passions. Capitalism is necessary for economic growth. For a higher standard of living. Like anything in economics, there are trade offs. Being rich, living a prosperous life, and having a high standard of living is a trade off for our passions, our brand love, and our sanity.
jbbartram-illu
stormborns
andulkaphoto
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