I wanted to make my self-portrait a comment on the skewed vision of beauty in the mainstream media. It is foolish to assume that the celebrities we see in magazines actually look that way. I took an old photo of myself, from when I was three, and morphed myself into something that could be seen on a magazine cover. When looking at the photo I want people to feel unsettled. What they are supposed to be looking at is a young child, yet now they have been presented with something sexualized and morphed into somewhat of a cartoon. I changed my eyes, hair, lips, neck, and the general shape and size of my body in the picture. Afterwards it seems to be a completely different person. This is a good comment on how people change themselves on the internet and how they can create a completely different persona.
I based this idea on Sweeny's "Network Society". I wanted to explore how we are all interconnected through the Internet and how we have created multiple online communities. These Clouds are examples of my thought process.
This is the process I went to to get to these clouds...
1.Select one Big Idea concerning technology broadly defined.
a.The Internet as a Community
2.Brainstorm a list of themes that apply to this big idea
a.Networking Sites
b.Communication
c.Inclusion
d.Exclusion
e.Connectedness
3.Explore synonyms to this theme.
a.Admittance
b.Embracement
c.Ban
d.Boycott
e.Ideas
f.Connection
g.Language
h.Acquaintance, Friend, Enemy
i.Link
4.Use these synonyms to search Flickr tags. Prepare 3-5 clusters of images that are from your tag searching.
a.Communication
b.Computer
c.Connection
d.Ideas
5.Pay attention to the tag clouds that you run into as you search through the Flickr photo streams. Include 2 clusters that come from an interesting tag that you found on Flickr.
a.Linked
b.Social Graph
This is my finished Collage. I used the information and images I found when creating the clouds...
Semiotics is defined as the study of symbols or the interpretation of those symbols. The article discusses how programs such as Photoshop stretch and skew the social semiotics and how we view the image. At one point it mentions that “Taking a camera into a classroom is seen as an ethical problem because the degree of contact it can create though the production an distribution of images is very difficult to control.”
Taking a photograph and distributing it is a touchy subject because of how specific and detailed a photograph can be. Artists and others use photoshop to change the image and create something, that I believe is completely different from the original. Although it references the original it can never be the same because of the action taken to change it.
I believe that as long as a student is old enough to not only grasp the basics of the program, but to also understand the ethics behind photography and it’s manipulation it should be included in the art curriculum.
It is very important for art educators to learn about visual culture and how to integrate it into their classroom
"... there are no aspects of contemporary life that lie outside of complex
social, cultural, and technological networks, no individual whose actions
are not in some way interconnected with those of another. " (Sweeny, 2)
In some way we are all connected by the "Network Society". Between "Global trade, telecommunications, and commerce, including but not limited to digital technologies" we are all interconnected developing social connections into relationships, communities, and societies. I thought it was very interesting, this thought of an interconnected Internet community.
In one second on the networking site Facebook I can find hundreds of people who not only share the same interests as myself, but we are close enough geographically to interact. Before the Internet and the "Network Society" this action would have been much more complicated and time consuming. It is almost easier to create a community over the Internet than in real life.
How would you integrate Sweeny's ideas in your own lesson plan?
Do you believe it is easier to create a connection in person or over the internet?
I found this article very interesting solely because I am taking a basic printmaking class this semester.
The article discusses the reproduction of artworks and how it is effected by the advances in mechanical reproduction technology. In my class we have begun working on our woodcut prints. Before woodblock printing there were only a handful of items one could reproduce.
“In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Manmade artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft, by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in the pursuit of gain. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. The Greeks knew only two procedures of technically reproducing work of art: founding and stamping. Bronzes, terra cottas, and coins were the only art works which they could produce in quantity. All others were unique and could not be mechanically reproduced. With the woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before script became reproducible by print. The enormous changes which printing, the mechanical reproduction of writing, has brought about in literature are a familiar story. However, within the phenomenon which we are here examining from the perspective of world history, print is merely a special, though particularly important, case. During the Middle Ages engraving and etching were added to the woodcut” (Benjamin, 2)
Many artists use woodblock as their artistic process. In Japan this process is known as Ukiyo-e.
Nowadays almost anyone can reproduce an image on their own, with no great struggle. Because the process allows the creator to make multiples easily the work can be sold. Many companies create T-shirts that are a mass production of one design.
Do you think that reproductions of the arts are acceptable?
Do you think reproduction take anything away from the original?
This article explains the importance and reasoning behind developing “Big Ideas” and implementing them in the art classroom. Big ideas are what sustain the classroom’s attention over a long period of time. By developing a Big Idea for the lesson your students are working on in the classroom they are able to gain the opportunities needed to “learn about an idea, build an adequate knowledge base for working with it, examine the idea in the work of other artists and find personal connections to the idea.”
Students who are given a big idea along with the lesson experience deeper levels of thinking. I believe it is necessary that a big idea, essential questions framing that idea, an artist or body of work, and an activity tie together in order to create a successful unit plan. Within the article they explain the many differences between Big Ideas, themes, and subject matter. Big ideas are more like the concept of the piece, rather than the topic or matter.
These are some sites that can help with developing a Big Idea:
When looking at a visual image one can identify at least three separate parts:
“the linguistic message, the denoted image, and the connoted image.”(Barrett)
The denoted image is made up of what is actually being seen devoid of any emotion or attitude, whereas the connoted image is the subjective experience or the emotional and imaginative ideas we associate with the image. Denotations and connotations are always present in both visual and verbal communication. The linguistic message is the written word, or words within the image. Like the image, these literal words can have denoted and connoted meanings too.
Within a piece of visual communication, such as an ad or the cover of a magazine, there can be various messages and meanings. Stereotypes are usually used in media to aid in interpreting the message of the visual image. Although stereotypes are untrue, or half-truths developed by fear or hatred, they are known and easily recognized.
The artist Michael Ray Charles uses stereotypes of African-American culture in his work, Cut and Paste, 1994.
One can connote that the figure is a stereotyped African-American with specific objects surrounding the figure. Each object, whether a positive or a negative, promotes a stereotype about African-Americans.
Depending on a person’s library of knowledge they are able to decipher certain items, yet some people are unable to make sense of them all because their knowledge is limited. Although their knowledge is limited people of every age can interpret the messages around them. In the article Barrett leads a group of preschoolers in a discussion about their teddy bears.
They were able to come to the conclusion that although real bears are large, scary, have big teeth, and sometimes eat people that their personal teddy bears are small, soft, and are used to cuddle and comfort.
I found this Video when searching for pictures of teddy bears and it reminded me of this reading. Can you interpret this video using connotations and denotations?
What are some stereotypes used to describe your own culture?
What ads “speak” to you, and why do you think they do? Are they using a certain image or word that is geared to your culture?
