Untitled

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 16 Rumination

This chapter discussed the flow of images and visuality on a global scale. It could be argued that mass media began in Han Dynasty China with woodblock printing. Gutenberg’s printing press enabled a boom in mass media. Its economic justification was, just as it is now, advertising. Edo-era Japan used woodblock printing for advertisements, the European printing press was used to produce the Bible (an advertisement for a particular God), and Donald Duck cartoons were used to advertise the false friendliness of the U.S. as it meddled in sovereign nation’s governments. Image circulation causes cultural intermingling, which is not just ideological, but a trojan horse for political acquiescence. Through this concept arises cultural imperialism like that of the Donald Duck scenario.

Deterritorialization is about power and dominance over others and theft of important cultural artifacts is an effective method. Museums like the British Museum in London have stripped other countries of the artifacts that would help unify communities’ sense of cultural cohesion and essential nation-building mythology. Their explanation comes from the hubristic idea that other countries are too unstable to safely store the artifacts. This idea ignores the possibility that distribution of artifacts to their homes could prevent civil conflicts (many dating back to imperialism) that would endanger the artifacts. Cultural imperialism is the idea that politically dominant groups export culture via media to other peoples.

This socio-politically top-down flow of images is evident throughout history, including right now. Even today, in the internet age, corporations and governments are, if not controlling, are at least filtering images through algorithms. As technology has improved, media has become increasingly advanced and globalized. In 1884, Le Petite Journal used the first reproduced color images and Life showed the capitalistic potential for such images. Mass-media has had some unifying effects. Revolutions will be televised and they will inspire others, like with Cairo in 2011. The 1969 broadcast of Earth from space was unifying in that it showed humanity as one people and inspired peace/environmental movements.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 14 Rumination

This chapter talks about the falsities in idea that seeing is believing and how “scientific, technical, and informational images and looking practices are no less historically and culturally situated than are other images and media,” (Sturken and Cartwright 340). There’s been a gradual switch from seeing physical ailments as caused by divine exterior factors to being caused by interior factors, especially with the introduction of visuality into the medical field. Anatomy theaters like the one in Leiden and Von Hagens’s modern version expand regular people’s visualization of what’s inside all of us. It’s an interesting type of free speech too, but this can make people uncomfortable because of the confusing power dynamics involved. The act of looking in this case is a bit convolutedly meta. It’s looking at people looking inside people who can no longer look in the hopes that information retrieved can be used to help others look for longer.

Looking was also expanded beyond visible light with fetal sonograms, PET scans, and X-Rays. These forms of looking enable a look at images associated with death, like with X-rays and skeletons, and contrastingly with birth, like with fetal sonograms. Through DaVinci’s looking inside pregnant wombs, it was concluded that cutting into the body is the best way to understand it, much like how we open the hood of a car to see how it moves.

However, looking oftentimes creates more questions than it answers, so people like Nazis and colonizers used old pseudosciences (looking from outside rather than inside), like racial science, physiognomy, and craniology to fit the dominant cultural ideas of the time. It’s somewhat similar to public “scientific” perceptions surrounding AIDS and Monkey Pox to fit their views on homosexuality being somehow dirty, unnatural, or disease-ridden. AIDS became known as “the gay disease” as scientific approaches were based on oftentimes homophobic cultural norms. To conclude, existing power dynamics are not only enforced by, but generated from practices of looking in the medical field.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 13 Rumination

This chapter discussed the cyclical and contagious nature of the reproduction of Obama Hope and the Obamicons that followed. When demand for something is higher than supply, counterfeit products will emerge to fill the void and this happened with Obama Hope posters, but this causes a cycle. Counterfeits affirm the value from exclusivity, thusly making the original seem even more valuable. As Gries (2015) stated, limited edition merchandise adds value to both the merch itself and the message or brand tied to it. That’s just supply and demand. However, Obama’s somewhat Jesus-esque ethereal aura (meaning that he made people feel they'll be safe in his hands) was intrinsically linked to that fact. There’s a cycle of Obama becoming more valued, making the posters more valuable, making Obama more valued, and so on. The whole concept of value is socially constructed and oftentimes contagious. I dislike the word “viral” because of the negative connotation that comes with it. I would prefer the word “contagious” because it seems more neutral; syphilis is contagious, but so is laughter.

Another part of what makes Obama Hope so contagious is the simplistic vagueness of “HOPE.” Hope can mean anything, so almost any audience can be interpellated. To a K.K.K. member, hope would mean thinking of a world without black people. To a Black Panther, hope would mean thinking of equity and justice for black people. This simplistic vagueness also turned Obama Hope and Obamicons into a medium for self-expression much like a a pair of congas (the instrument is simple and easy to understand, but the playing can be complex). With Obama Hope, the vagueness of the term allows a great variety of people to identify with the poster and subsequently the candidate shown, Obama. This is arguably the most effective form of advertising because most of the work is done by the viewer who is intended to creatively and personally interpret the message. With Obamicons, the format remains consistent, but the message varies widely.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

I did a remix of the show Bojack Horseman because it's a sad show and I had this sad Radiohead song, "Lucky" stuck in my head at the time. I used this clip because it's context in Bojack perfectly fits the lyrics of "Lucky." The original clip had some fluff but I wanted this to just be him driving, so I copy-pasted some parts to only show him driving along. I slowed the video down to 50% after adding this filter to show the gloominess of the song and the visuals. Apparently I'm not fully assimilated into my own generation, so my girlfriend taught me what a remix looks like.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 11 Rumination

I accidentally wrote my rumination on the wrong chapter (Chapter 7) last week, so I'm doing this rumination on the chapter I replaced (Chapter 6) last week.

Is everything media? While each academic field may tend to say everything is their field (like how a chemist might say everything is chemistry or how a musician might say everything is music), this seems especially true of media given Sturken and Cartwright’s definition of media. “Media are forms trough which we amplify, accelerate, and prosthetically extend our bodies for information communication and cultural transmission,” (Sturken & Cartwright, 220). People and all other living things communicate with every action or lack thereof. In following our human tendency to always be making spaces “habitable,” we turn our surroundings into a medium for communication. For example, we communicate by merely wearing clothes. Even in ignoring the stylistic preferences of an individual, their clothes become a communicative media in that it makes them more comfortable and socially sufficient. Media that are virtually universal, like clothes, unite people and bring them together, even if that means tearing them apart.

I believe the concept of mass media is still remarkably applicable in the digital age. In the past century, media has become increasingly targeted and diverse. Each group of people has the potential to form a cohesive community through the increasing precision of targeted media, especially during the digital age. While this initially sounds entirely positive, the diverse array of messages allowed to spread sow division, especially in politics. However, if everyone is increasingly divided, this makes them increasingly monolithic. The thing everyone has in common in this scenario is their lack of perceived commonalities in how they live their everyday lives. Considering how so few companies own so much of the media people consume, sowing division could be considered a tactic for uniting the masses as loyal customers. In this model, instead of being loyal to their community, people can become loyal to their media-owning overlords.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 10 Rumination

                An alternative title for this chapter could be “Corporate Creation of Consumerist Cults” because that’s essentially what corporate brands have attempted to do. They’ve succeeded. Just as the arcades created a large, naturally lit, ethereal space that gave its inhabitants a sense of grandeur and cosmic importance, so does a cathedral. Powerful groups (governments and religious organizations mostly) have always shaped culture as a means for extending and preserving the status quo. Until the industrial revolution, companies didn’t have the geopolitically expansive power needed to shape culture. Since then, they’ve learned to shape the way people see the world using cult-like methodology, including the use of brand-centric mythology. This mythology could come in the form of anything from an inspirational origin story or the idea that buying their product helps those in need.

I have fallen into the deep grooves of brand-acceptance myself. All through middle-school, my “friends” wore all Nike clothing and nice Nike shoes. I wanted to be seen the same way I saw them (fit, healthy, active, adventurous, etc.), so I got Nike clothing too. I saved up my money to buy a pristine pair of Nike high-tops. The way I saw them was shaped by the clothing they wore and the advertising for those clothes. I was indoctrinated in their brand ideology and subconsciously believed it for a while.

As technology has improved and companies have grown, so has their ability to learn about consumers and how to shape their ideas about the world. This means advertising has become more and more embedded in our everyday lives, especially with the introduction of catalysts for advertising like social media or TV brand placement. The chapter talks about how companies argue that buying their commodities is a form of self-expression. It is, but not in the way that’s advertised. “Nike has distinguished itself among a number of brands for its complex marketing of empowerment, in particular to women,” (Sturken & Cartwright 280). Nike isn’t looking to empower any of the impoverished women who make their products, but the consumers instead. This is a form of pink-washing and it is all part of the carefully calculated brand that Nike has worked so hard to build.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 3 P2P Activity

People will often see a lowrider and assume that the person driving it is a flamboyant show-off. Some might think it’s ugly and want it off the streets. Though this may be true, lowriders are often considered physical extensions of their owners. People will form deeply emotional bonds with their lowrider, adjusting the minute details of how it sounds, looks, and feels on the road to suit them and their aesthetical desires. This is why I chose the image of somebody using an eyewash station. She’s washing out her eyes to demonstrate the abundant lack of acceptance of lowriders and the very specific aesthetic they adhere to. This meme is designed to make the viewer more aware of their biases and more accepting of other visual cultures. At the very least, this meme can show how some people jump to conclusions in judging others instead of pausing for a moment to think about potential differences in artistic appreciation and self-expression.

[pvarinksusocm2033]

Week 2 Rumination

The part of this chapter I found most interesting was on still-life paintings; I never really understood them until reading this. I now understand that the point of a still-life is to abstain from assigning pretentious or unnecessary meaning or judgement to the images. Seeing a still-life is supposed to be a moment of reflection and unbiased observation.  

Contrary to the idea of a still-life, much of the chapter uses examples of photographed extremes in the human experience, which makes sense given how the extremes in life are what shape individuals and society most. I feel that images of either the most extremely traumatic, joyous, or even mundane aspects of life tend to offer opportunities for profound introspection and reflection. An extreme image can force its viewers to accept a different part of the world that they haven’t experienced themselves. This is particularly important for creating a bond between people with vastly different lives and encouraging empathic behavior between them, as it did in the case of Emmett Till’s picture in his open casket.