Why do advertisements with CGI animals usually sell better than those without?
I am interested to know why advertisements with animals in usually sell better than those without. I am going to look at the theory of Semiotics, aspects of the theory of advertising and then apply that to the Meerkat themed comparethemarket advertisements.
One of the broadest definitions of the theory of Semiotics is that of Umberto Eco, who states that 'semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign' (Eco 1976, 7). In his publication Semiotics for beginners, Daniel Chandler expanded "Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions" (Chandler 2005, intro). Saussure said that a sign is the interaction of its two component parts, the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the form that the sign takes and the signified is the concept that it represents. An example would be, the word 'Open' on a shop doorway, it is a sign consisting of a signifier, the word "open" and a signified concept, that the shop is open for business (Chandler 2005 signs).
The way a sign is interpreted can depend on the conventions within our society, we learn these conventions (or codes as they are referred to in Semiotics) as we grow up, most we pick up subconsciously through social interaction. For example, in Britain it was convention for the signs on public toilets to be written as "Ladies" and "Gents", the interpretation of these signs was depended on knowledge of the code, in this case being able to read written English or by knowledge passed on by word of mouth. The introduction of graphical signs made it possible for non-English speakers to interpret the message on the door but when they were first introduced we all had to learn the visual code to interpret them. Daniel Chandler has suggested that there are different categories of codes, social, textural and interpretive codes, each consisting of a number of elements. Social codes include: verbal language (phonological, syntactical, lexical, prosodic and paralinguistic sub codes); bodily codes (bodily contact, proximity, physical orientation, appearance, facial expression, gaze, head nods, gestures and posture); commodity codes (fashions, clothing, cars); and within textural codes he has included genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes: narrative (plot, character, action, dialogue, setting, etc.), exposition, argument and so on; and mass media codes including photographic, televisual, filmic, radio, newspaper and magazine codes, both technical and conventional (including format). (Chandler 2005 codes).
In Marketing Week, George Everett from VCCP outlined their initial thoughts for the Comparethe Market campaign "we realised it was better to put the campaign on an emotional rather than a rational platform. It works better in this price comparison space to get your name remembered than to claim product superiority." (Guardian. 29th April 2010) They created Alexandr Orlov the Meerkat and with a clever campaign built him up into a celebrity, by association they raised the profile of the brand. Alexandr's image on TV immediately signals "ComparetheMarket" and the clever use of social networking in his name also maintained brand awareness. For example, recently he was interviewed on ITV's Good Morning programme, no mention was made of insurance but it reminded the viewer of the brand. In the last few years there have been several memorable TV advertising campaigns featuring animal characters such as the Churchill bulldog, ITV/PG tips monkey or the Cadbury gorilla. Alexandr and Churchill have been developed into brand ambassadors. They are both a blend of animal and human characteristics that produced personalities capable of capturing the public's attention, this is called Personification. Agencies have frequently used established celebrities to raise the profile of their campaigns, an example being David Beckham's appearance in Gillette and Adidas adverts. Which raises the question, why have some advertising agencies used animal styled characters to front their campaigns in preference to human celebrities? The characters attributes can be moulded to suit the brand image and story lines created to replicate human life. Fictional characters are reliable and totally controllable, they don’t need contracts and exorbitant fees and they won’t let brands down with "transgressions" committed in their personal life. Like characters in soap operas they become familiar, almost friends and by this means they creep into the lives of the viewer.
Lerner and Kalof have studied the use of animals in advertising, in their article, The Animal Text - Message and Meaning in Television Advertisements, they said "animals that were given human characteristics were typically part of a multithemed message that portrayed animals as allegories" (Sociolgical Quarterly Vol 40 Issue 4 1990). It is the role of advertisers to differentiate similar products from each other, and they do this by associating a product with a specific set of social values. The meerkat was used to represent a sociable, hard working person and Alexandr in particular was portrayed as wealthy and sucessful but not intimidating. The meerkat has become a visual metaphor for these qualities (Chandler 2005, rhetorical tropes). The theory that an image can convey a message originated in the work of linguist Saussure who called it semiotics. His work was further developed by Charles Sanders, Peirce, Roland Barthes and later Umbeto Eco whose Theory of Semiotics made the concept more widely known.
The character of Alexander Orlov despite being covered in fur is very human; the arrangement of facial features is reminiscent of a human face. Meerkats naturally stand upright on their rear legs when on lookout in the wild this is also a human characteristic. The addition of the red smoking jacket covering most of his torso adds to the impression of him being human yet he retains his cute, non threatening meerkat appearance. The use of a meerkat as opposed to any other animal was primarily governed by the rhyming of "meerkat" and "market" in Comparethemarket.com. However understanding the cultural meanings that viewers assign to animal characters helps in the development of a successful advertising campaign and agencies try to create characters that embody desired brand meanings, while avoiding characters with negative associations. For example, in our culture, a bee symbolizes industriousness, a dove represents peace, and a fox embodies cunning (Phillips 1996 p354). The meekat, being a fairly obscure African animal, was not immediately associated with any British cultural values but in the months prior to the launch of this campaign the BBC had been showing a series called Meerkat Manor. In the programmes, video footage of the animals was edited and a voice over added that gave the individual animals names, explained their extended family structure and involved the viewer in their daily activities, it was a soap opera with animal actors and developed a cult following. The programme portrayed Meerkats as sociable, family orientated and hard working, all characteristics that would be recognised and approved of by a viewer intending to buy insurance.
So why did VCCP use CGI characters in preference to real meerkats in their campaign? Firstly they didn't want to be seen as a copy of Meerkat Manor the brand must have its own unique identity. The cost of training real animals and possible accusations of animal exploitation were another consideration. PG Tips dropped their famous using real chimps in favour of a knitted monkey puppet and relied on Jonnie Vegas to inject humour. The use of CGI allows more subtle control over facial features and proportions. Cadbury's drum playing Gorilla was a supreme example of this, the very realistic CGI gorilla's face had extremely human expressions, the ad had no words, just Phil Collin's sound track and the image of a chocolate bar, the implication of joy came from the expressions on the characters face. Andrex still use real puppies in their ads but they don’t put clothes on them. Andrex puppy's sentimental appeal is more suited to its largely female target market. The character of Alexandr has a more universal appeal appropriate to insurance, allowing the use of humour rather than sentimentally. The morphing of human and meerkat characteristics was made possible by using CGI.
In January 2009 ComparetheMarket.com launched their TV advertising campaign staring the animated CGI meerkat called Alexandr Orlov. The humorous adverts were based on the fictional supposition that people were mistakenly going to his website, Comparethemeerkat.com, looking for car insurance advice. Orlov wishes to correct this error and send them to the more appropriate Comparethemarket.com site. The campaign created by agent VCCP, has been a great success and in the very competitive world of insurance comparison sites, boosted ComparetheMarket from the low teens to forth in the rankings. I shall use the codes mentioned to make a semiotic analysis of the original Alexandr TV advertisement, to show how its creators VCCP constructed his image communicated their message to the viewing public.
Verbal language - the most obvious observation is the use of the stylised Russian accent, this is immediately different from most ads and attracts the viewer's attention. Previously Jonnie Vegas used a distinctive Lancashire accent in the successful PG tips "Monkey" adverts. Alexandr's speaks in short sentences with a slight pause between phrases, "I am Alexandr founder of compare the Meerkat.com, where we compare Meerkats" with an exaggeration on the word Meekat to emphasise that this is his subject. The style is reminiscent of that spoken in English public schools and gives an impression of authority and privilege, it is slightly condescending, he is trying to explain the difference between his site and the insurance comparison site to a slightly thick public. Catching the viewer's attention is reinforced in the final scene where he introduces his catch phrase "simples". Simples is not a recognised word in the English language but a corruption of simple. It is assumed that Alexandr's accent has caused this corruption but it is the strange noise (air being sucked through teeth) he makes following the word that makes it stand out, it is an idiosyncratic gesture that might be associated with the kindly lord of the manor or not too scary headmaster.
Bodily codes - With the exception of one scene Alexandr is facing the camera and addressing the viewer directly, that way his facial features are foreshortened drawing attention away from the length of his nose and making him more human. By addressing the camera directly he is demanding the viewers attention. When he is seen full height he is standing on a stool, obviously he is conscious of being shorter than humans and wishes to increase his stature. It could also be interpreted as a way of showing his authority, it is like standing on a stage to make a speech, not only can the audience see him better but being physically higher gives the speaker power over the audience. At all other times Alexandr is seen either full face or from the waist up, increasing his intimacy with the viewer. In the third scene he is standing next to book case declaring that "I can not find you cheep car insurance" he snaps closed the book in his hand and turns away from the viewer raising his chin to indicate his frustration at people coming to the wrong website. The authority of a headmaster returns when Alexandr's is seen between two easels displaying very similar layouts, the only difference being the substitution of Meerkat for Market, he is holding a pointer/cane and uses it to tap on the appropriate board to point out the supposed difference between the two. In the final scene when he is seen full face, delivering his "simples" catch phrase there is definitely a hint of a smile on his face, injecting humour and restoring the intimacy, leaving the viewer feeling as though they have been given a lecture but by an eccentric, slightly mad, aristocrat but without any malice.
Commodity codes - The setting for the Ad is inside an old stately home, wood panelling, ornate fire place, gold crest on mantle, over large desk with gold framed pictures on it, the dark slightly smokey atmosphere, immediately tell the viewer that this is an older gentleman with money. The open fire is old fashioned (he may not have central heating) yet it also creates a warm, cheery atmosphere in the room. His red smoking jacket and cravat also say old, eccentric and with pedigree. He has a large library that he uses so the viewer knows he is educated. The old fashioned computers he is using tell the viewer that he is not up to date with technology, yet he supposed to be running his own website. The implication is that Meerkats do not use the latest equipment but can visit the correct website whereas humans have the smartphones etc but get the wrong website. Where a computer screen is shown it has the compare the market colours and where possible the logo.
Genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes - The first TV advertisement introduced Alexandr to the viewer and the narrative continued with subsequent ads introducing the viewer to Alexandrs extended family and their family's history. The linked ads all serve to keep the profile of the company in the public's awareness but the agency has also used other social media to promote Alexandr and add to his celebrity status. He has a facebook page, is on twitter, has his videos on youtube and even his cuddly toys are caused a riot in Harrods.
Mass media codes - The production techniques used on the ad are also signifiers though the viewer may not be conscious that he is decoding them. The camera is always stationary, no sophisticated camera techniques. The cut from one scene to the next is jumpy and sudden, giving the feeling that they are all recorded using the same camera then edited together. The colours are muted and the pictures are slightly fuzzy as though produced on a low-resolution video camera. The viewer is lead to believe that the ad has been put together by Alexandr himself or as we later learn his assistant Sergei. They are amateurs, tying to convey their irritation that a big company is causing them a lot of trouble, in so doing the viewer is aware that a lot of people are using Compare the market, it is a popular site and they should also use it.
Further evidence of the success of this campaign can be seen in the popularity of the real meerkats with zoos reporting an increase in visitors, particularly to their enclosures. There are even newspaper headlines such as "Meerkat thief arrests made" (The Sun 21st Jan 2011) Apparently a meerkat was stolen from its enclosure at Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury and the zoo thinks that it was intended as a pet. Another consequence of Compare the market's advertising success, is rival Go compare, has changed the style of their latest advertising campaign and introduced their own "celebrity" an opera singer with moustache to compete with meerkat. Despite the similarly of approach the human character has not had the same appeal, being regarded as silly.
CGI gave the advertising agency VCCP the freedom to combine human and animal features, to create a character that would become the focus of their campaign. Their TV advertising was a practical use of the theory of Semiotics. The ComparetheMarket campaign captured the attention of the British viewer because it contained numerous signifiers that, when decoded have endeared Alexandr to the general public. The campaign was a huge success because it was a synthesis of Semiotic messages and the clever use of conventional and social media. In this celebrity dominated culture Alexandr has become the ultimate celebrity, his name and by association the brand are recognised by most people in this country.
Bibliography:
Books:
• Hall, S, 2007. This means this, This means that: A users guide to semiotics. King
• Phillips, B. J., 1996. Advertising and the cultural meaning of animals in advertising. Vol 23. Texas: The University of Texas at Austin. P354
• Eco. U. A theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University press. 1976. P7
Online:
• Chandler. D. 2005. Introduction. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Signs. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Codes. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
• Chandler. D. 2005. Rhetorical Tropes. In: Semiotics for Beginners, available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
Newspapers:
• 2010. From Russia with brand love. Guardian. 29 April. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/from-russia-with-brand-love/3012799.article. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
• Staff reporter. 2011. Meerkat theft arrests made. The Sun. 21 Jan. Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3362768/Meerkat-theft-arrests-made.html. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
Friday 1 April 2011
Friday 25 March 2011
portfolio task 3
The syntagmatic structure of the visual is important to the viewers opinions. By using friendly terminology that catches the readers eye initially and then again in the sub-heading, by the time you get to the pictures you are feeling possitive at the events shown because it is writen in a personal way rather than telling the story in a way that disconnects from the reader.
Portfolio task 7
This is an example of the type of covers the magazine 'Nuts' uses. The cor audience is young teenage boys. construction of such an 'other' secures and stabilises the identity, and sense of self because the women in the magazine are portrayed as sexy, avaliable and in need of lust from boys. It make the reader feel better about himself because he feels as though the girl is in need of acceptance buy him so he feels more important when he lusts for them.
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Portfolio task 5
Lefbvre had a theory on the space around is. He communicated this theory through a diagram called the Spatial Triad. This includes 3 parts; the first made up of ideals, imagination, theory and visions which makes Representational Space. The second is Representations of Space which is made up of maps, plans, models and designs. The third and final componant to Lefbvres theory diagram is Practice. Practice is made of daily routine and urban reality.
Example:
Leeds College of Art.
Planners and architects, when designing Leeds college of Art had a vision of constructing a place of learning where students can develop their higher education and then use their newly developed skills to improve and make their mark on the world. The plan was also to produce a more educated and submissive poulation, and to gain money from the students and hopefully creating a profit for the government. Looking at the 'representations of space' in the College of Art, the visions and ideals have been lived up to. The space is producing a profit and students are coming out with a higher education. Conditions of behaviour are already set out in the space before anyone enters. The ideal behaviour is to be submissive to the higherarchy of the college and to cooporate. The space that was created before students walked in is predominently accepted, however there are always the few that negate the space and rebel against it. They are usually promptly removed to bring the space back to clarity. This is part of the 'practice' part of Lefebvre's 'triad'. The fact that people can chose to rebel puts any social space in jepedy, although the 'representational space' appears to be predominant.
Example:
Leeds College of Art.
Planners and architects, when designing Leeds college of Art had a vision of constructing a place of learning where students can develop their higher education and then use their newly developed skills to improve and make their mark on the world. The plan was also to produce a more educated and submissive poulation, and to gain money from the students and hopefully creating a profit for the government. Looking at the 'representations of space' in the College of Art, the visions and ideals have been lived up to. The space is producing a profit and students are coming out with a higher education. Conditions of behaviour are already set out in the space before anyone enters. The ideal behaviour is to be submissive to the higherarchy of the college and to cooporate. The space that was created before students walked in is predominently accepted, however there are always the few that negate the space and rebel against it. They are usually promptly removed to bring the space back to clarity. This is part of the 'practice' part of Lefebvre's 'triad'. The fact that people can chose to rebel puts any social space in jepedy, although the 'representational space' appears to be predominant.
Lecture 5 - Social spaces- Sight/sound
- Single point perspective - visually representing space. No perspective outside the wester culture.
Berger:
"there is no need for god to situate himself in relation to others. He is himself the situation".
Understanding is limited and inhibited by our vision. Third world doesn't get a say and is encouraged to act as the first world wants.
Vision is active, Potentially reciprocal, multifacted and therefore the site of a diologue of power.
Jemima stehli - 'strip'
Connection to the Gaze. Awkward feeling wen the art critic is sat looking at the woman naked - objectifying, Making you aware that there is someone looking back.
-illustions that we understand the world
Henri Lefebure (1905 - 1991)
-French Intellectual, Marxist sociologist
- Revolution via everyday life
- Influenced the situationists in 1950s and 60s.
- Influenced student leaders of 1968 Paris uprising.
- A theorist of radical movements.
- A creation and function of space: SPATIALISATION
"illusion of transparency"
- The illustion that:
Understanding is possible
The objective viewpoint exists and somehow enables understanding
No 'total' picture
'View from above is flawed'
Social space is continually shifting and is built on history, memory and imagination.
Vito Acconci (1969) - Following piece.
-Following one person around the city not letting him know hes being followed.
-illustion that you control a social space - you know what to expect on a journey but all the time there are things happening that change the social space around you. Illustion of control.
Transgression as a result of space: response to its limits
-Rebelion
-Spaces are controlled so people use those spaces to rebel eg. London queens square rather than a small town.
Maze prison - Belfast
Dirty protest 1977-8
(De-humanising the individual) Steve McQueen made a hunger video.
Sir Robbert Pere statue in Hyde PArk. (tory and inventer of the police).
-Vandalised, attempt to challange the space.
-Vision informs thought
-Western traditions incorporate the narrowness of single point perspective
-Lefebvre's 'Illusion of transparency'.
-Important 'social space' = Multiplicity of meanings and experiences.
-Controlled spaces provoke reations.
-Reciprocal vision allows inversion or transgression of power.
Berger:
"there is no need for god to situate himself in relation to others. He is himself the situation".
Understanding is limited and inhibited by our vision. Third world doesn't get a say and is encouraged to act as the first world wants.
Vision is active, Potentially reciprocal, multifacted and therefore the site of a diologue of power.
Jemima stehli - 'strip'
Connection to the Gaze. Awkward feeling wen the art critic is sat looking at the woman naked - objectifying, Making you aware that there is someone looking back.
-illustions that we understand the world
Henri Lefebure (1905 - 1991)
-French Intellectual, Marxist sociologist
- Revolution via everyday life
- Influenced the situationists in 1950s and 60s.
- Influenced student leaders of 1968 Paris uprising.
- A theorist of radical movements.
- A creation and function of space: SPATIALISATION
"illusion of transparency"
- The illustion that:
Understanding is possible
The objective viewpoint exists and somehow enables understanding
No 'total' picture
'View from above is flawed'
Social space is continually shifting and is built on history, memory and imagination.
Vito Acconci (1969) - Following piece.
-Following one person around the city not letting him know hes being followed.
-illustion that you control a social space - you know what to expect on a journey but all the time there are things happening that change the social space around you. Illustion of control.
Transgression as a result of space: response to its limits
-Rebelion
-Spaces are controlled so people use those spaces to rebel eg. London queens square rather than a small town.
Maze prison - Belfast
Dirty protest 1977-8
(De-humanising the individual) Steve McQueen made a hunger video.
Sir Robbert Pere statue in Hyde PArk. (tory and inventer of the police).
-Vandalised, attempt to challange the space.
-Vision informs thought
-Western traditions incorporate the narrowness of single point perspective
-Lefebvre's 'Illusion of transparency'.
-Important 'social space' = Multiplicity of meanings and experiences.
-Controlled spaces provoke reations.
-Reciprocal vision allows inversion or transgression of power.
Lecture 6 - Globalisation, sustainability and the media
Definitions of Globalisation:
Socialist - The process of transformations of local or regional phonomena into global ones
Capitalist - The elimination of state - enforced resrictions on exchanges accross the border and the increasingly intergrated and clomplex global system.
George Ritzer coined together the term "mcDonaldization" to describe the wide-ranging sociocultural process.
Marshall McLuhan.
- Rapidity of communication echoes the senses
- We can experience instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale.
"abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned"
TV is an extention of our eye. Phone is an extention of our ear.
Global Village - internet - electric technology would seem to render individualism obsolute.
Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society
Centrifugal forces - Tearing the world apart in tribal wars.
Direct responce to American globalisation??
Sovereignty - Challenges to the idea of the nation-state
Culturalimplerialism
If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an intergrated community as an assimilated one.
Key thinkers:
Schiller
Chomsky
News corporations divide the world into 'territories' of decending 'market importance'.
Panda to ideas of the west first because they can sell more there.
1. North America
2. Western Europe, Japan, Australia
3. Developing economies, India etc
4. The rest of the world.
India - Skin whitening cream. Not natural - wanting to look like westerners by 'ldeal life' in magazines, literature etc. White skin = modern, sophisticated.
Chomsky and Herman (1998)
'Manufacturing consent' - All of the media is one giant propaganda tool for western America. - Political indoctrination.
Propaganda- model- 5 basic filters (media neutral??)
- Ownership
- funding
- sourcing
- Anti communist ideology
- Flack
Ownership
Rupert Murdoch selected media interests (controling media) Owns papers, sky, fox etc.
Spreading his poitical philosophy.
Buisness interests not for the people.
Sourcing
Interviewing. If a story is made up, or guessed, their job would be lost. Wikileaks.
Funding
Advertising. Run an advert and then arange stories around advert. Cant have negotive story next to adverts.
Flack
Us-based global climate coalition (GCC).
Anti-ideologies
News is based on what we are not to re-inforce what we are. Demonising our political ideaologies.
Al Gore (2006) 'An inconvenient truth'
Jim Inhofe - 'biggest hoax'
Nigel Lawson - 'propagandist's term'
Competative enterprise institute (machine for big politing buisnesses)
-Lieing to the face of the public even after facts.
-Shows the impact of the media, when people believe this.
Socialist - The process of transformations of local or regional phonomena into global ones
Capitalist - The elimination of state - enforced resrictions on exchanges accross the border and the increasingly intergrated and clomplex global system.
George Ritzer coined together the term "mcDonaldization" to describe the wide-ranging sociocultural process.
Marshall McLuhan.
- Rapidity of communication echoes the senses
- We can experience instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale.
"abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned"
TV is an extention of our eye. Phone is an extention of our ear.
Global Village - internet - electric technology would seem to render individualism obsolute.
Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society
Centrifugal forces - Tearing the world apart in tribal wars.
Direct responce to American globalisation??
Sovereignty - Challenges to the idea of the nation-state
Culturalimplerialism
If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an intergrated community as an assimilated one.
Key thinkers:
Schiller
Chomsky
News corporations divide the world into 'territories' of decending 'market importance'.
Panda to ideas of the west first because they can sell more there.
1. North America
2. Western Europe, Japan, Australia
3. Developing economies, India etc
4. The rest of the world.
India - Skin whitening cream. Not natural - wanting to look like westerners by 'ldeal life' in magazines, literature etc. White skin = modern, sophisticated.
Chomsky and Herman (1998)
'Manufacturing consent' - All of the media is one giant propaganda tool for western America. - Political indoctrination.
Propaganda- model- 5 basic filters (media neutral??)
- Ownership
- funding
- sourcing
- Anti communist ideology
- Flack
Ownership
Rupert Murdoch selected media interests (controling media) Owns papers, sky, fox etc.
Spreading his poitical philosophy.
Buisness interests not for the people.
Sourcing
Interviewing. If a story is made up, or guessed, their job would be lost. Wikileaks.
Funding
Advertising. Run an advert and then arange stories around advert. Cant have negotive story next to adverts.
Flack
Us-based global climate coalition (GCC).
Anti-ideologies
News is based on what we are not to re-inforce what we are. Demonising our political ideaologies.
Al Gore (2006) 'An inconvenient truth'
Jim Inhofe - 'biggest hoax'
Nigel Lawson - 'propagandist's term'
Competative enterprise institute (machine for big politing buisnesses)
-Lieing to the face of the public even after facts.
-Shows the impact of the media, when people believe this.
Monday 14 March 2011
Portfolio task 6
How is sustaionability defined within the text?
Meadows claims sustainability is 'ofen defined as inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. This is where all generations in society work together for their own benifits. Ideal sustainability would be our generation getting what we need but not compromising resources for our next generation.
what are the main characteristics of Capitalisim?
Capitalism is like a 'diverse web'. Capitalism finds new markets and comodifys them. it is always trying to find new ways around obsticals of society. ideas come to an end in a market niesh, it is where the 'widening sphere of circulation' comes to a close.
Try to define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
'Crisis indicates a passage, which is the turning point in every systematic cyle of accumulation'. This means over production and the point where nothing more can be done in that market. It often causes disagrements. Example is the environmental crisis where they are inventing electric cars and using alternative oils to defer global warming. This is not a solution, it is a way of making money out of the inevitable and prolonging a market.
What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are theses successful / realistic? If not why are they flawed?
The solutions offered to the sustainability question are: that buisnesses need to reinvest in natural and human capital, they need to use environmentally friendly methods of production with no toxicity, they need to increase the efficiency of their resources and they also need to alter the buisness model so the main focus is the service they provide.
I do not think these solutions are realistic. To make them work they need to get every buisness to cooperate which is very unlikely as there will always be a good proportion that don't want to do it. All the buisnesses would have to perchase new environmentally friendly machinery which would cost buisnesses a lot and also the machinery would be made from unenvironmentally friendly means.
Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
It claims in the test that sustainability is 'potential to become about individual decisions and techncological inovations to delay and reinvent the ecological limitations imposed on our current lifestyle'. It blaimes Capitalism for the current environmental problems and looks to it for solutions. There is a circle where sustainability could not cope without Capitalism but Capitalism picks sustainability apart.
Meadows claims sustainability is 'ofen defined as inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. This is where all generations in society work together for their own benifits. Ideal sustainability would be our generation getting what we need but not compromising resources for our next generation.
what are the main characteristics of Capitalisim?
Capitalism is like a 'diverse web'. Capitalism finds new markets and comodifys them. it is always trying to find new ways around obsticals of society. ideas come to an end in a market niesh, it is where the 'widening sphere of circulation' comes to a close.
Try to define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
'Crisis indicates a passage, which is the turning point in every systematic cyle of accumulation'. This means over production and the point where nothing more can be done in that market. It often causes disagrements. Example is the environmental crisis where they are inventing electric cars and using alternative oils to defer global warming. This is not a solution, it is a way of making money out of the inevitable and prolonging a market.
What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are theses successful / realistic? If not why are they flawed?
The solutions offered to the sustainability question are: that buisnesses need to reinvest in natural and human capital, they need to use environmentally friendly methods of production with no toxicity, they need to increase the efficiency of their resources and they also need to alter the buisness model so the main focus is the service they provide.
I do not think these solutions are realistic. To make them work they need to get every buisness to cooperate which is very unlikely as there will always be a good proportion that don't want to do it. All the buisnesses would have to perchase new environmentally friendly machinery which would cost buisnesses a lot and also the machinery would be made from unenvironmentally friendly means.
Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
It claims in the test that sustainability is 'potential to become about individual decisions and techncological inovations to delay and reinvent the ecological limitations imposed on our current lifestyle'. It blaimes Capitalism for the current environmental problems and looks to it for solutions. There is a circle where sustainability could not cope without Capitalism but Capitalism picks sustainability apart.
Monday 7 March 2011
Portfolio task 4
Why do advertisements with CGI animals in usually sell better than those without?
Five main points of my essay:
1. What is semiotics?
2. How Semiotics makes us subconciously acknowledge - codes
3. Personification - Making the animals more humanlike so viewer can identify with the animal
4. Applicating theories to advert
5. Why CGI over real animals?
My chosen Methodological approachs are Semiotics and Personification.
Eco, U (1976). A theory of semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University press
Phillips,B (1996) Advertising and the cultural meaning of animals. the University of Texas at Austin
Hall, S, 2007. This means this, This means that: A users guide to semiotics. King
2010. From Russia with brand love. Guardian. 29 April. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/from-russia-with-brand-love/3012799.article. [Accessed on 28 March 2011]
I will use this image in my essay when talking about how verbal words had problems when there was someone who couldn't hear/understand, so signs were introduced (semiotics).
Sunday 9 January 2011
Example of Adorno's ideas
I think this video is a good example of Adorno's theory on popular music. There is obvious standardisation and it is highly repetitive and catchy which complies with the listeners wants and needs as this is what they are used to “pre-given and pre-accepted”. Willow Smith is showing pseudo-individualism as she has started her career at age 10. People think she is different because it is not often that a 10 year old could do something like that. But in reality there are lots of 10 year olds that can sing, they just dont have a famous father to make it happen so early in their life. This video shows what Adorno talks about with star qualty and glamour as Willow Smith is so young and is wearing lots of make up and portrayed in a sexual manor.
Portfolio task 2 - Popular music by Theodor Adorno
In his first essay "The musical material", Adorn looks at the structure of popular music. He writes that popular music can be characterised by it's difference from serious music. In his opinion classical music is a serious art form whilst popular music is the creation of an industrial society and has no creative content. He uses Beethoven's work as an example of serious music saying that every detail of the music has a relationship to the rest of it and it is this, that creates the totality of the work rather "than a mere enforcement of a musical scheme".
Popular music is a product of what he called standardisation. A popular piece of music always has the same structure, so no matter which combinations of lyrics, beat or melody are put together, it would in the end remain the same piece of music. He explains this further by adding that if one bit of a popular song was taken out and replaced with a different part of another popular song, for example the chorus, it would not be noticeable, as it all sounds the same. Even songs of very different styles from jazz to the big bands are essentially the same formula. Adorno goes on to say that not only hits such as dance music are standardised but also home songs, nonsense songs and laments. Regardless of any changes that are made to the music, "the hit will lead back to the same familiar experience, and nothing fundamentally novel will be introduced"
Popular music "is composed in such a way that the process of translation of the unique into the norm is already planned and, to a certain extent, achieved within the composition itself". This, he explains, takes out any effort in listening to the music as it is already structured to be familiar. Listeners do not wish to waste time and energy listening and trying to understand, and so popular music is instead mass marketed as the producers know that this is what people like to listen to and will create commercial success. To make it easier for listeners the music has been "pre-digested".
Much of the standardisation is kept hidden from listeners by what he calls "pseudo-individualisation", which disguises the fact that the music is mass produced. If listeners realised that popular music was intentionally formulated and by its very nature was a way controlling the masses, this would provoke resistance. An example of pseudo-individualisation is improvisation, the listener thinks that the individual artist is introducing their own variations into the composition but even this is really done within the strict limits of the formula. The music industry gives credit to individual artist and composers but their work still conforms to a predetermined structure. Songs for the masses are essentially goods for sale and produced to a quasi-industrial formula, although he notes that popular music does not actually employ industrial production apart from at the distribution phase.
In his second essay Adorno considers the "Presentation of Material" and in particular the marketing of popular music which he refers to as plugging. For a song to be a commercial success its listeners must hear it repeatedly, "plugging aims to breakdown the listeners resistance to musically ever equal or identical" He ponders the paradox that for a song to be successful it must be similar to all other songs around, so that it is immediately familiar but also it must be a little different so that it will stand out from the crowd and be remembered. In other words it needs a hook line.
Part of the process of plugging is the assignment of star quality, or glamour, to performers, this brings their songs to the attention of the public and adds to their popularity. He also notes that both lyrics and music can use child like phrases and repetition this attracts the attention of the listener and may make a make that music stand out from the crowd.
In Adorno's third essay "Theory about the Listener" he expounds his theory that when poplar music is repeated constantly the listener is no longer aware that it is a device but thinks of it as an element of the natural. The shared experience of recognising a tune creates a collective experience within society and the listeners' resistance to authority is broken down because he feels part of a group. To put this idea into context Adorno was writing at the time of the Second World War he had left nazi Germany to work in America. He had escaped from Fascism and its use of mass media for advancing its message. He feared that the emerging American phenomenon of mass culture could also be socially destructive.
He noted that poplar music in America was not influenced by political partisanship but it inspired two types of mass behaviour, the rhythmically obedient and the emotional.
The rhythmically obedient responded to the strong beat in dance music or marches, the shared experience bonded them together and they felt safety in numbers. The emotional type of listener was attracted to the "Dream factories" of Hollywood or Tin Pan Alley, they were allowed a brief taste of happiness through their experience, only to realise that they were fundamentally unhappy. Adorno said "One who weeps does not resist any more than one who marches" and so they realise their social dependence.
Towards the end of his essay he talks about what was then the latest fashion in America, the jitterbug, this the fast rhythical dance, featured in Grease, where the dancers no longer dance in pairs but all perform in lines. Adorno considers this to be people transforming themselves into insects, who's frenetic behaviour, he sees as fury. Adorno equates the mass dance craze with collective conformity and sees a similarity to the mass rallies and military parades in Germany. Yet he can also see a ray of hope for society, he concluded that "To become transformed into an insect, man needs that energy which might possibly achieve this transformation in a man"
Thursday 25 November 2010
Lecture 4 - Communtication theory
Traditions of communication theory
-multiple theorys and perspectives shapes the field
Cybernetic theory
Useful for:
-Researching how as a designer your work makes effective communication.
Limitations:
-is is a linear process and is not concerned with the production of meaning itself which is a socially nediated process.
Three levels of communication problems:
Level 1 - TECHNICAL
-Accuracy
-Systems of encoding and decoding
-compatablity of systems/ need for specialist equipment or knowledge.
Level 2 - SEMANTIC
-Precision of language
-How much of the message can be lost without meaning being lost?
-What language to use?
Level 3 - EFFECTIVENESS
- Does the message affect behaviour the way we want it to?
-What cn be done if the required effect fails to happen?
Systems theory
BARB (Broadcastings' Audience Research Broad)
Semiotics - thre basic concepts
Semiantics - adresses what a sign stands for
Syntactics - the relationships among signs
Pragmatics - studies the practical use and effects
Semiotics
Useful for:
-Researching how we make meaning within any given situation
- Teaches us that reality can be read as a system signs and can assist us to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves and others in constructing it.
Limitations:
-Prioritises verbal/linguistic structires over embodied knowledge.
No language, even, if its a visual one, is self explanatory. Languages have to be learnt.
The phenomenological tradition
-The process of knowing through direct experience
-Refers to the appearance of an object, even or condition in ones perception.
-Makes actual lived experience the basic data of seality
- A failure in communication can be seen as an absence of, or failure to sustain, authentic human relationships.
The embodied mind
Communitcation seen as an extention of the nervous system. It starts with an awareness of the body. Language is seen as part of that system existing of neuronal pathways that are linked within the brain, the key is a physciological classification of coding and encoding.
- the process of interpretation is central.
-We are interested in what is real for the person
Rhetoric
personification as rhetoric is mostly used to humanise inanimate objects or ideas, such as rhetoric itself. It is a type of 'rhetoric trope' such as
-hyperbole
-irony
-personification
Rhetoric - How do I look powerful, physical
Rhetoric - language being used
Useful for thinking through how you are going to achieve certain effects on the 'reader' or audience.
limitations:
-Only learned through practice. Intervention in a complex syatems involves technical problems rhetorical cant grasp.
Originally used as a rhetorical trope, metaphor enables us to grasp new concepts and remember things by crealing associations.
The sociopsychological tradition
-The study of the individual as a social being
-three key areas
-Behavioural
-cognitive
-Biological
Core process:
RC material - Exposure - Attention - Comprihension - Confirmation - acceptance - Retention - Realisation
Useful for: Deep analysis of the moment of communication
Simple changes in spacing can dramatically change meaning - Gestalt theory
The sociocultural theory
-in defining yourself in terms of your identity with terms such as fathers, catholic etc. You are defining yourself in terms of your identity as part of a group and this group frames your cultural identity.
-looks at how these cultural understandings, roles and rules are worked out interactively in communication.
Context is seen as being crutial to forms and meanings of communication
Sociolinguistics is the study of language and culture
Critical communication theory
-a synthesis of philosophy and social science.
-Critical theory approaches to communication examine social conditions
-postrolonial theory refers to the study of all cultures affected by the imperial process.
-multiple theorys and perspectives shapes the field
Cybernetic theory
Useful for:
-Researching how as a designer your work makes effective communication.
Limitations:
-is is a linear process and is not concerned with the production of meaning itself which is a socially nediated process.
Three levels of communication problems:
Level 1 - TECHNICAL
-Accuracy
-Systems of encoding and decoding
-compatablity of systems/ need for specialist equipment or knowledge.
Level 2 - SEMANTIC
-Precision of language
-How much of the message can be lost without meaning being lost?
-What language to use?
Level 3 - EFFECTIVENESS
- Does the message affect behaviour the way we want it to?
-What cn be done if the required effect fails to happen?
Systems theory
BARB (Broadcastings' Audience Research Broad)
Semiotics - thre basic concepts
Semiantics - adresses what a sign stands for
Syntactics - the relationships among signs
Pragmatics - studies the practical use and effects
Semiotics
Useful for:
-Researching how we make meaning within any given situation
- Teaches us that reality can be read as a system signs and can assist us to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves and others in constructing it.
Limitations:
-Prioritises verbal/linguistic structires over embodied knowledge.
No language, even, if its a visual one, is self explanatory. Languages have to be learnt.
The phenomenological tradition
-The process of knowing through direct experience
-Refers to the appearance of an object, even or condition in ones perception.
-Makes actual lived experience the basic data of seality
- A failure in communication can be seen as an absence of, or failure to sustain, authentic human relationships.
The embodied mind
Communitcation seen as an extention of the nervous system. It starts with an awareness of the body. Language is seen as part of that system existing of neuronal pathways that are linked within the brain, the key is a physciological classification of coding and encoding.
- the process of interpretation is central.
-We are interested in what is real for the person
Rhetoric
personification as rhetoric is mostly used to humanise inanimate objects or ideas, such as rhetoric itself. It is a type of 'rhetoric trope' such as
-hyperbole
-irony
-personification
Rhetoric - How do I look powerful, physical
Rhetoric - language being used
Useful for thinking through how you are going to achieve certain effects on the 'reader' or audience.
limitations:
-Only learned through practice. Intervention in a complex syatems involves technical problems rhetorical cant grasp.
Originally used as a rhetorical trope, metaphor enables us to grasp new concepts and remember things by crealing associations.
The sociopsychological tradition
-The study of the individual as a social being
-three key areas
-Behavioural
-cognitive
-Biological
Core process:
RC material - Exposure - Attention - Comprihension - Confirmation - acceptance - Retention - Realisation
Useful for: Deep analysis of the moment of communication
Simple changes in spacing can dramatically change meaning - Gestalt theory
The sociocultural theory
-in defining yourself in terms of your identity with terms such as fathers, catholic etc. You are defining yourself in terms of your identity as part of a group and this group frames your cultural identity.
-looks at how these cultural understandings, roles and rules are worked out interactively in communication.
Context is seen as being crutial to forms and meanings of communication
Sociolinguistics is the study of language and culture
Critical communication theory
-a synthesis of philosophy and social science.
-Critical theory approaches to communication examine social conditions
-postrolonial theory refers to the study of all cultures affected by the imperial process.
Saturday 20 November 2010
Lecture 3 - The gaze
- Call of duty allowes you to chose 1st person or 3rd person perspectives.
Control how much we engage with death and violence.
- Psycocoanalysis is the analysis of the options and controls that we chose.
Laura Mulvey, 'visual pleasures and narrative cinema' (1975)
-Hollywood films is sexist in that it represents 'the gaze' as powerful and male.
-Scopophilia - The pleasure of looking at others bodies as objects.
- Instinctual desire to look
(Freudian theories)
-Narcissistic identification - (for Mulvey, spectators identify with the male hero in narrative films)
- Jacques Lacan - The mirror stage
- projected notion of 'ideal ego' in image reflected.
- Childs own body is less perfect than its reflection
-scopophilia = sexual stimulation by sight
- narcissistic = identification with the image seen.
Cinema thrives on this contradiction
- The male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification.
Extending Mulvey's theory:
Suture
-spctators look through eyes of the actors in the film.
-we are able to follow 'their' gaze without feeling guilty.
-suture can be broken eg. when an actor speaks out to us.
-this form of 'gaze' invites is to be part of the scene.
The spectators gaze
gaze of a viewer at an image.
Intra diagetic gaze
A gaze of one depicted person at another within an image.
Extra diagetic gaze
This is the direct address to the viewer.
Intra diagetic gazes defer our guilt - someone else is hurting that person.
-visual culture employs different forms of the gaze to evoke structures of patriarchy.
-Different forms of the gaze evoke different structure of power.
-we can objectify and identify.
Control how much we engage with death and violence.
- Psycocoanalysis is the analysis of the options and controls that we chose.
Laura Mulvey, 'visual pleasures and narrative cinema' (1975)
-Hollywood films is sexist in that it represents 'the gaze' as powerful and male.
-Scopophilia - The pleasure of looking at others bodies as objects.
- Instinctual desire to look
(Freudian theories)
-Narcissistic identification - (for Mulvey, spectators identify with the male hero in narrative films)
- Jacques Lacan - The mirror stage
- projected notion of 'ideal ego' in image reflected.
- Childs own body is less perfect than its reflection
-scopophilia = sexual stimulation by sight
- narcissistic = identification with the image seen.
Cinema thrives on this contradiction
- The male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification.
Extending Mulvey's theory:
Suture
-spctators look through eyes of the actors in the film.
-we are able to follow 'their' gaze without feeling guilty.
-suture can be broken eg. when an actor speaks out to us.
-this form of 'gaze' invites is to be part of the scene.
The spectators gaze
gaze of a viewer at an image.
Intra diagetic gaze
A gaze of one depicted person at another within an image.
Extra diagetic gaze
This is the direct address to the viewer.
Intra diagetic gazes defer our guilt - someone else is hurting that person.
-visual culture employs different forms of the gaze to evoke structures of patriarchy.
-Different forms of the gaze evoke different structure of power.
-we can objectify and identify.
Saturday 13 November 2010
Lecture 2 - Critical positions on the media and popular culture
What is culture?
- 'one of the two or three most complicated words in the english language'
- General process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development of a particular society, at a particular time.
- A particular way of life.
- Works of intellectual are especially artistic significance.
Marx'x concept of Base and Superstructure
Base - forces of production - material, tools, workers, skills etc.
- relations of production ( master/slave etc) - employer/employee, class
Superstructure - social institutions - legal, political, cultural
- forms of consciousness - ideology
'the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles' (Marx, communist manifests)
Determines content and forms of
Base superstructure
Reflects form of and legitimises
The state
' But a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoise' (Marx and Engels - 1848)
Ideology
1. System of ideas or beliefs ( eg beliefs of a political party)
2. Masking, distorting or selection of ideas, to reinforce power relations, through creations of 'false consciousness'.
Raymond Williams (1983) 'keywords'
4 deffinitions of 'popular':
- well liked by many people
- inferior kinds of work
- work deliberately setting out to win favour with the people
- culture actually made by the people themselves.
Caspar David Friedrich (1809)
Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane (2005)
E.P Thompson (1963)
Matthew Arnold (1867) 'culture and Anarchy'
Culture is:
- 'the best that has been thought and said in the world'
- study of perfection
- attained through disinterested reading, writing and thinking
- the persuit of culture
- Seeks 'to minister the diseased spirit of our time'
Leavism - F. R Leavis and Q.D Leavis
'Still forms, a kind of repessed, common sense attitude to popular culture in this country'
-Leavis sees a cultural decline in the 20th century.
- 'culture has always been in minority keeping'
- collapse of traditional authority comes at the same time as mass democrocy (anarchy)
Frankfurt school: Thodore Anorno and Max Horkheimer
- Reinterpreted Marx, for the 20th century - era of "late capitalism"
- Defined " the culture industry":
2 main products - homogeneity and predictability.
- cultural commodities
- Negation = depriving culture of "it's great refusal" = cultural appropriation
ACTUAL DEPOLITICISES THE WORKING CLASS
gAuthestic culture vs Mass culture
Qualities of authentic culture:
-Real
- european
-multi-dimensional
-active consumption
- individual creation
- imagination
- negation
- AUTONOMOUS
walter Benjamin - 'the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction' 1936
Hebidge, D (1979) 'subculture: the meaning of style'
- incorporation
- ideological form
- commodity form
Althusser (1970)
Society = economic, political and ideological
Ideology is a practice through which men and woman 'live' their relations to the real conditions of existance.
Ideology offers false, but seemingly thrue resolutions to social imbalance.
Social authority mantained by:
R.S.A - repessive state apparatus
I.S.A - ideological state apparatus
The media as ideological state apparatus
- a means of production
- Disseminates the views of the ruling class (dominant hegemonic)
- Media creates a false consciousness
- The individual is produced by nature; the subject by culture (Fiske 1992)
- 'one of the two or three most complicated words in the english language'
- General process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development of a particular society, at a particular time.
- A particular way of life.
- Works of intellectual are especially artistic significance.
Marx'x concept of Base and Superstructure
Base - forces of production - material, tools, workers, skills etc.
- relations of production ( master/slave etc) - employer/employee, class
Superstructure - social institutions - legal, political, cultural
- forms of consciousness - ideology
'the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles' (Marx, communist manifests)
Determines content and forms of
Base superstructure
Reflects form of and legitimises
The state
' But a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoise' (Marx and Engels - 1848)
Ideology
1. System of ideas or beliefs ( eg beliefs of a political party)
2. Masking, distorting or selection of ideas, to reinforce power relations, through creations of 'false consciousness'.
Raymond Williams (1983) 'keywords'
4 deffinitions of 'popular':
- well liked by many people
- inferior kinds of work
- work deliberately setting out to win favour with the people
- culture actually made by the people themselves.
Caspar David Friedrich (1809)
Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane (2005)
E.P Thompson (1963)
Matthew Arnold (1867) 'culture and Anarchy'
Culture is:
- 'the best that has been thought and said in the world'
- study of perfection
- attained through disinterested reading, writing and thinking
- the persuit of culture
- Seeks 'to minister the diseased spirit of our time'
Leavism - F. R Leavis and Q.D Leavis
'Still forms, a kind of repessed, common sense attitude to popular culture in this country'
-Leavis sees a cultural decline in the 20th century.
- 'culture has always been in minority keeping'
- collapse of traditional authority comes at the same time as mass democrocy (anarchy)
Frankfurt school: Thodore Anorno and Max Horkheimer
- Reinterpreted Marx, for the 20th century - era of "late capitalism"
- Defined " the culture industry":
2 main products - homogeneity and predictability.
- cultural commodities
- Negation = depriving culture of "it's great refusal" = cultural appropriation
ACTUAL DEPOLITICISES THE WORKING CLASS
gAuthestic culture vs Mass culture
Qualities of authentic culture:
-Real
- european
-multi-dimensional
-active consumption
- individual creation
- imagination
- negation
- AUTONOMOUS
walter Benjamin - 'the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction' 1936
Hebidge, D (1979) 'subculture: the meaning of style'
- incorporation
- ideological form
- commodity form
Althusser (1970)
Society = economic, political and ideological
Ideology is a practice through which men and woman 'live' their relations to the real conditions of existance.
Ideology offers false, but seemingly thrue resolutions to social imbalance.
Social authority mantained by:
R.S.A - repessive state apparatus
I.S.A - ideological state apparatus
The media as ideological state apparatus
- a means of production
- Disseminates the views of the ruling class (dominant hegemonic)
- Media creates a false consciousness
- The individual is produced by nature; the subject by culture (Fiske 1992)
Saturday 6 November 2010
Task 1
One aspect of contempory culture that, in my opinion is panoptic is the Census. The Census is an account that holds information about all the people and households in the country. This is collected for the government and local authorities. It is to be taken every ten years and invloves around twenty-five million households. In my eyes the Census is a form of Foucalt's theory of a 'disciplined society'.
Foucalt claimed 'this surveillance is based on a system of perminant registration'. Putting this into contempary context, we are being made to answer personal questions about ourselves and so giving the higherarchy more information to do with as they wish.
We fill out the Census without question even though we have never actually been told the 'punishment' for not doing so. We are self-regulating ourselves. 'power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection'.
The Census is panoptic because we are filling out personal details about ourselves and posting it to the government and not hearing any more from it. They have our details but we know hardly anything about them. Foucalt calls this 'a machine for dissociating the see/being seen dyad'.
By using the Census the higherarchy are keeping track and monerting the population in our country. there is constant surveillance which has been said to be 'the utopia of the perfectly governed city'.
Foucalt claimed 'this surveillance is based on a system of perminant registration'. Putting this into contempary context, we are being made to answer personal questions about ourselves and so giving the higherarchy more information to do with as they wish.
We fill out the Census without question even though we have never actually been told the 'punishment' for not doing so. We are self-regulating ourselves. 'power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection'.
The Census is panoptic because we are filling out personal details about ourselves and posting it to the government and not hearing any more from it. They have our details but we know hardly anything about them. Foucalt calls this 'a machine for dissociating the see/being seen dyad'.
By using the Census the higherarchy are keeping track and monerting the population in our country. there is constant surveillance which has been said to be 'the utopia of the perfectly governed city'.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Lecture 1 - Panopticism - Surveillance and society
The Panopticon was designed in 1791.
Michel foucalt (1926-1984) wrote 'Madness and civilisation' and 'Discipline'
The great confinement (late 1600)
'House of correction' to curb unemployment and ideleness, sinlge pregnent women, drunkards etc.
- way of improving thir moral fiber.
- Hid away devience, repression.
- Began to be seen as an error. Everyone corrupting eachother inside, the mad corrupting the sane.
- Asylum for the mad. People were mentally controlled rather than physically controlled.
The emergence of forms of knowledge - biology, mdeicine etc. Legitimise the practice of hospitals, doctors and psychiatrists etc.
- The Pillory - Criminals are visably shown as devient and humiliated.
Discipilinary society and disciplinary power
Discipline is a 'technology' to reform people and make them responsible for themselves = Panoptisism.
- Panoptic prisions in Cuba and London. Guard is sat in the middle with a view of all prisioners as the building is round. Opposite to dungons.
The panopticon internalises in the indervidual the conscious state that he is ALWAYS being watched.
- Self regulation
- Psycological torture?
-Allows scrutiny
- Allows supervisers to experement on subjects
- Aims to make them productive
- Reforms prisoners
- Helps treat patients
Panopticism is the mode of power that controles society.
Panopticism is everywhere - New pubs and bars, google maps/streets, offices.
Survailence cameras everywhere. Always being watched.
Being constantly recorded and monertered makes us constantly react.
Relationship between power, knowledge and the body.
(foucault)
Power relations have an immediate hold upon the body, they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks.
Disciplinary society produces what Foucault calls 'Docile bodies'.
- Self monitoring
- Self-correcting
- OBEDIENT bodies
Panoptic gym.
Regulated health to stay able to work and not become useless to society.
TV = docile meconism - Being controlled, not going out and doing things for ourselves - passive.
Foucault and power
- His deffinition is NOT a top-down model as with Marxism
- Power is not a thing or capacity people have - it's a relation between different individuals and groups and only exists when it is being excercised.
- The excercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be RESISTED.
- 'Where there is power there is resistance'.
Facebook is performing for an institutional and panoptic gaze.
Michel foucalt (1926-1984) wrote 'Madness and civilisation' and 'Discipline'
The great confinement (late 1600)
'House of correction' to curb unemployment and ideleness, sinlge pregnent women, drunkards etc.
- way of improving thir moral fiber.
- Hid away devience, repression.
- Began to be seen as an error. Everyone corrupting eachother inside, the mad corrupting the sane.
- Asylum for the mad. People were mentally controlled rather than physically controlled.
The emergence of forms of knowledge - biology, mdeicine etc. Legitimise the practice of hospitals, doctors and psychiatrists etc.
- The Pillory - Criminals are visably shown as devient and humiliated.
Discipilinary society and disciplinary power
Discipline is a 'technology' to reform people and make them responsible for themselves = Panoptisism.
- Panoptic prisions in Cuba and London. Guard is sat in the middle with a view of all prisioners as the building is round. Opposite to dungons.
The panopticon internalises in the indervidual the conscious state that he is ALWAYS being watched.
- Self regulation
- Psycological torture?
-Allows scrutiny
- Allows supervisers to experement on subjects
- Aims to make them productive
- Reforms prisoners
- Helps treat patients
Panopticism is the mode of power that controles society.
Panopticism is everywhere - New pubs and bars, google maps/streets, offices.
Survailence cameras everywhere. Always being watched.
Being constantly recorded and monertered makes us constantly react.
Relationship between power, knowledge and the body.
(foucault)
Power relations have an immediate hold upon the body, they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks.
Disciplinary society produces what Foucault calls 'Docile bodies'.
- Self monitoring
- Self-correcting
- OBEDIENT bodies
Panoptic gym.
Regulated health to stay able to work and not become useless to society.
TV = docile meconism - Being controlled, not going out and doing things for ourselves - passive.
Foucault and power
- His deffinition is NOT a top-down model as with Marxism
- Power is not a thing or capacity people have - it's a relation between different individuals and groups and only exists when it is being excercised.
- The excercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be RESISTED.
- 'Where there is power there is resistance'.
Facebook is performing for an institutional and panoptic gaze.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Lecture 5 - The Document
- Joseph Nicephore Niepce 1828 ' View from a window at La Gras'
The photo took 8 hours to process
- Frances Frith 1857 'Entrance to the great temple'
This was used to capture one idea of the east by the western eye
The decisive moment
"Photography achieves it's highest distinction - reflecting human condition in a never-to-be-retrieved fraction of a second" - Cartier Bresson
- Henri Cartier Bresson 'Gare saint lazare' 1932
The scene is almost posed. Like the photographer has waited for a moment like this to strike. he refused to manipulate the photograph.
F.S.A photographers 1935-44
- Director: Roy Stryker
- Depression - 11 million unemployed
- Mass migration of farm labourers 'oakies'
- The photograph as both photojournalism and emotive lobbyting tool
- The reality is already pre-recored.
- Dorothes Lange 1936 'Migrant mother'
This photo is very composed. She looks thoughtful in her despare while her child weeps on her shoulder.
-Cesare Lombroso ' Portraits of Italian and German criminals' 1889
He claimed that criminals looked a certain way, that they had small chins or accessively long ones.
Magnum group
- Founded in 1947 by Cartier Bresson and Capa
- Ethos of ducumenting the world and its social problems
- Internationalism and mobility
Ket features of documentary photography
- They offer a humanitarian perspective
- They tend to portray social and political situations
- They purport to be objective to the facts of the situation
- People tend to form the subject matter
- The images tend to be straightforward and unmanipulated
Lecture 1 - Modernity & Modernism: an introduction
- William Holman Hunt, (1851) The hireling shepherd
- Trottoir Roullant (electric moving walkway) - urbanisation
Enlightenment - period of time in the lat 18th Century when scientific/philosophical thinking made leaps and bounds
Haussmanisation
Paris 1850s onwards = a new paris.
Haussman redesigned paris streets from old narrow streets and rundown houseing to large boulevards. This made the streets much easier to police which is a form of SOCIAL CONTROL.
Also the 'dangerous' elements of the working class are moved outside the city centre - the centre became an expensive middle class and upper class zone
.
The big iron bridge shows just how much modernism is beggining to take off.
If we start to think about subjective expericence (the experience of the individual in the modern world) we start to come close to understanding modern art and the experience of modernity.
MODERNISM emerges out of the subjective responses of artists/designers to modernity.
Alfred Stieglitz 'flatiron building' (1903)
This was amazing for the times and this was when sky scrapers started to emerge.
Marcel Dunchamp 'nude decending a staircase' (1912)
This shows how abstract art is taking off as modernisation takes over.
Modernism in design
- Anti-historicism - no need to look backwards to older styles
"Ornament is crime" - Adolf Loos (1908)
- Truth to materials - simple geometric forms appropriate to the material being used
- Form floolws function
- Technology
- Internationalism
Technology
- New materials
- Concrete
- New technologies of steel
- Plastics
- Aluminium
- Reinfoced glass
Mass production
- Cheaper more widely accessable products
- Products made quickly
Internationalism - A language of design that could be recognised and understood on an international basis
Artists who worked with typefaces: Herbert Bayer, Stanley Morison (Times New Roman)
Conclusion
- The term modern is not a neutral term - it suggests novelty and improvement
- "modernity" (1750-1960) - social and cultural experience
- "modernism" - The range of ideas and stles that sprang from modernity
importance of modernism:
- A vocabulary of styles
- Art and design education
- Idea of form follows function
- Trottoir Roullant (electric moving walkway) - urbanisation
Enlightenment - period of time in the lat 18th Century when scientific/philosophical thinking made leaps and bounds
Haussmanisation
Paris 1850s onwards = a new paris.
Haussman redesigned paris streets from old narrow streets and rundown houseing to large boulevards. This made the streets much easier to police which is a form of SOCIAL CONTROL.
Also the 'dangerous' elements of the working class are moved outside the city centre - the centre became an expensive middle class and upper class zone
.
The big iron bridge shows just how much modernism is beggining to take off.
If we start to think about subjective expericence (the experience of the individual in the modern world) we start to come close to understanding modern art and the experience of modernity.
MODERNISM emerges out of the subjective responses of artists/designers to modernity.
Alfred Stieglitz 'flatiron building' (1903)
This was amazing for the times and this was when sky scrapers started to emerge.
Marcel Dunchamp 'nude decending a staircase' (1912)
This shows how abstract art is taking off as modernisation takes over.
Modernism in design
- Anti-historicism - no need to look backwards to older styles
"Ornament is crime" - Adolf Loos (1908)
- Truth to materials - simple geometric forms appropriate to the material being used
- Form floolws function
- Technology
- Internationalism
Technology
- New materials
- Concrete
- New technologies of steel
- Plastics
- Aluminium
- Reinfoced glass
Mass production
- Cheaper more widely accessable products
- Products made quickly
Internationalism - A language of design that could be recognised and understood on an international basis
Artists who worked with typefaces: Herbert Bayer, Stanley Morison (Times New Roman)
Conclusion
- The term modern is not a neutral term - it suggests novelty and improvement
- "modernity" (1750-1960) - social and cultural experience
- "modernism" - The range of ideas and stles that sprang from modernity
importance of modernism:
- A vocabulary of styles
- Art and design education
- Idea of form follows function
Sunday 21 March 2010
Extra task
Feminist art is much Diversified. It grew in the late 1960's and early 1970's out of the contemporary woman's movement. One example of feminist art is that of Jenny Saville, who trained as a figurative painter in the 1980's. After she established herself, she dabbled into her second passion; photography, however always preferred painting. Saville represents bodies rarely appreciated in contemporary Western culture. She didn't paint any figure however, she focused her work on obease nude female which was usually done by males. Some of her artwrok focused on surgical marks of liposuction, trauma victims, and even transgender patients, which caused much controversy. In a discussion about her surgically marked up woman painting in the Hunter Davies interview she says, "I'm not painting discusting, big women. I'm painting women who have been made to think they're big and discusting; who imagine they're thighs go on forever... i have'nt had liposuction myself but i did fall for that body wrap thing where they promise four inches off or your money back." (Carson,F 'Feminist visual culture' p44-48) She paints her models on huge canvases commonly through distorted perspectives; this thrusts the figure into the viewer's eyes forgetting about sexual desire or notions of idealised femininity.
The way Saville picks her colours is also very in tune to the messages she is putting across. The bright reds and yellowy shades suggest injuries, physical injuries from the dominant male in the house but also it could be representing the emotional injuries the women of that time were being caused. There is no doubt that Jenny Saville is making a bold statement about the female body forcing the viewer to think about their own views and emotions about their own body. There was some controversy about the real reason why Jenny Saville made these paintings. The obvious and most common response was that she was trying to get people to believe large bodies were beautiful again, in contrast to the current western notions. Saville replied to these remarks with, "I don't make paintings for people to say we should look at big bodies again and say they are beautiful. I think that it's more that they are difficult. Why do we find bodies like this difficult to look at?"
Another largely feminist artist is Cindy Sherman. Sherman, instead of using paint to represent her feelings about patrarchy and sexism in society, she has opted for showing this via the lens of a camera. Through a number of different series of works, Cindy Sherman has raised challenging and important questions about the role od women in society and the media. Within her photographs she queries the very nature of representation. Does the photograph that we see give and insight into ourselves or is this just what we want others to believe? Are we creating an illusion for others to devour? She created a set of 69 black and white photos which she started in 1977. She stars herself in her photos; however they could not be classed as self portraits because self portraits portray you as a whole including your personality, whereas she dressed up using clothes and props to create different characters. Fashion is a big part of Sherman's work as she is representing the woman being able to be themselves and look the way they want. She has been quoted saying "I do get inspired by how things are made, by fashion as art form." (HTTP://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue5/sherman.htm)
Sherman tries to show herself not as the ideal "beautiful" woman that men love to gaze upon but as real women, an individual. The idea of the art she produces is to bulldoze the image of women that men have constructed throughout the years and show that confident and "unfeminine" women don't have to attempt to look that way to be seen as beautiful. "Cindy Sherman frequently uses, distorts and messes with archetypes and stereotypes of women and their portrayal in the mass media and art. Untitled #92 is a mockery of how women are portrayed in mens magazines." (HTTP://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/feminist-art-practices.html) Cindy Sherman did not want to use materials such as paints to present her work, as she thought photography was something that everyone could relate to without knowing much about contemporary art. Cindy Sherman herself claims that her work justifies itself and she doesn't wish to preach about Feminism: "The work is what it is and hopefully It's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical bullshit about feminist stuff." (HTTP://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue5/sherman.htm)
The ideas that Sherman introduced with her posed photographs trying to project different and conflicting images of herself with the intention of proving that you dont have to conform with the sterotypes that society expects women to look like. In many ways she was before her time. Modern society has become more image consious as proved by the desire for young people on social networking sites such as MySpace, all trying to create similar perfect images of themselves, with all the individuality removed many of them become clones of the celebrities they admire. (HTTP://www.feministartrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/06-cindy-sherman.html, 02.06.08)
The way Saville picks her colours is also very in tune to the messages she is putting across. The bright reds and yellowy shades suggest injuries, physical injuries from the dominant male in the house but also it could be representing the emotional injuries the women of that time were being caused. There is no doubt that Jenny Saville is making a bold statement about the female body forcing the viewer to think about their own views and emotions about their own body. There was some controversy about the real reason why Jenny Saville made these paintings. The obvious and most common response was that she was trying to get people to believe large bodies were beautiful again, in contrast to the current western notions. Saville replied to these remarks with, "I don't make paintings for people to say we should look at big bodies again and say they are beautiful. I think that it's more that they are difficult. Why do we find bodies like this difficult to look at?"
Another largely feminist artist is Cindy Sherman. Sherman, instead of using paint to represent her feelings about patrarchy and sexism in society, she has opted for showing this via the lens of a camera. Through a number of different series of works, Cindy Sherman has raised challenging and important questions about the role od women in society and the media. Within her photographs she queries the very nature of representation. Does the photograph that we see give and insight into ourselves or is this just what we want others to believe? Are we creating an illusion for others to devour? She created a set of 69 black and white photos which she started in 1977. She stars herself in her photos; however they could not be classed as self portraits because self portraits portray you as a whole including your personality, whereas she dressed up using clothes and props to create different characters. Fashion is a big part of Sherman's work as she is representing the woman being able to be themselves and look the way they want. She has been quoted saying "I do get inspired by how things are made, by fashion as art form." (HTTP://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue5/sherman.htm)
Sherman tries to show herself not as the ideal "beautiful" woman that men love to gaze upon but as real women, an individual. The idea of the art she produces is to bulldoze the image of women that men have constructed throughout the years and show that confident and "unfeminine" women don't have to attempt to look that way to be seen as beautiful. "Cindy Sherman frequently uses, distorts and messes with archetypes and stereotypes of women and their portrayal in the mass media and art. Untitled #92 is a mockery of how women are portrayed in mens magazines." (HTTP://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/feminist-art-practices.html) Cindy Sherman did not want to use materials such as paints to present her work, as she thought photography was something that everyone could relate to without knowing much about contemporary art. Cindy Sherman herself claims that her work justifies itself and she doesn't wish to preach about Feminism: "The work is what it is and hopefully It's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical bullshit about feminist stuff." (HTTP://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue5/sherman.htm)
The ideas that Sherman introduced with her posed photographs trying to project different and conflicting images of herself with the intention of proving that you dont have to conform with the sterotypes that society expects women to look like. In many ways she was before her time. Modern society has become more image consious as proved by the desire for young people on social networking sites such as MySpace, all trying to create similar perfect images of themselves, with all the individuality removed many of them become clones of the celebrities they admire. (HTTP://www.feministartrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/06-cindy-sherman.html, 02.06.08)
Friday 19 March 2010
5 point text
The first point that is being made is that of expresionism. He claims that the one thing that expressionism needed is the notion of 'self' from the artist, basicly he needs to be expressing something about himself in his art. he believes that this notion comes from marginalised and neglected places, in new art this incantation was however made under urban circumstances. He says that the expressive devices had to match the real experience and the modern condition pressed down on the avent-garde as the century went on.
The second point explains that cubism, expressionism and futurism were large miles stones for european avant-gardes reception of the modern. he claims that the modern was not yet 'total' and so it could be measured against what was yet to come. Modern was still similar to traditional values.
The third point that he makes is about modernisation, modernity and modernism.
Modernisation is the processes of scientific and technological adnvances. It refers to the growing impact of the machine and chemical industries.
Modernity refers to the social and culteral condition of these changes. He claims that modernity was a form of experience, adapting to the changes and the change in character that it caused in people.
The fourth point was the pesimism that came about with the increase in population and control of human life and machinary. Human beings were becoming imprisioned in what the sociologist Max Weber saw as the 'iron cage' of modernity.
The final point that was made is that there is an impulse to decode and change the modern but there is another argument that art must transform itself.
Harvard Refrence:
The second point explains that cubism, expressionism and futurism were large miles stones for european avant-gardes reception of the modern. he claims that the modern was not yet 'total' and so it could be measured against what was yet to come. Modern was still similar to traditional values.
The third point that he makes is about modernisation, modernity and modernism.
Modernisation is the processes of scientific and technological adnvances. It refers to the growing impact of the machine and chemical industries.
Modernity refers to the social and culteral condition of these changes. He claims that modernity was a form of experience, adapting to the changes and the change in character that it caused in people.
The fourth point was the pesimism that came about with the increase in population and control of human life and machinary. Human beings were becoming imprisioned in what the sociologist Max Weber saw as the 'iron cage' of modernity.
The final point that was made is that there is an impulse to decode and change the modern but there is another argument that art must transform itself.
Harvard Refrence:
- McGuigan, J (1999). Modernity and postmodern culture. Milton Keynes: Open University Press
- Mckenzie, B & Holme, M (2002). Expressionism. London: Heinemann Library
- Piotrowski, P (2009). In the shadow of Yalta: art and the avent-garde in Eastern Europe 1945 - 1989. London: Reaktion Books
- Turner, J (2000). From Expressionism to Postmodernism: styles and movements in 20th-century art. London: Macmillan
- Wilk, C (2006). Modernism 1914-1939: designing a new world. London: V&A Publications
Monday 15 March 2010
Lecture 6- Postmodernism and the mass media
Modernism is associated with - expressionism
- innovation
- individualism
- progress
- purity
- originality
- seriousness
The postmodern condition is characterised by - exhaustion
- pluralism
- pessimism
- disillusionment of the idea of absolute knowledge
Modernism is an expression of modern life, technology, new materials, communication (postmodernity)
Origins of postmodernism
- innovation
- individualism
- progress
- purity
- originality
- seriousness
The postmodern condition is characterised by - exhaustion
- pluralism
- pessimism
- disillusionment of the idea of absolute knowledge
Modernism is an expression of modern life, technology, new materials, communication (postmodernity)
Origins of postmodernism
- 1917 - a German writer called Rudolph Pannwitz spoke of 'nihili stic, amoral, postomdern men'.
- 1964 - Leslie Fielder described a 'post' culture, which rejected the elitist values of modern culture.
- The begginings of post modernism was in rthe 1960s
- Post modernism was established as a term in the 1970s by Jencks
- During the 1980s it became a recognisable term
- between the 1980s to the 90s it was the dominant theoretical discourse.
- and today post modernism is tired and simmering
- 1964 - Leslie Fielder described a 'post' culture, which rejected the elitist values of modern culture.
- The begginings of post modernism was in rthe 1960s
- Post modernism was established as a term in the 1970s by Jencks
- During the 1980s it became a recognisable term
- between the 1980s to the 90s it was the dominant theoretical discourse.
- and today post modernism is tired and simmering
Uses of the term 'postmodernism'
- After modernism
-The historical era following modern
- Contra modernism
- Equivalent to 'late capitalism'
- Aritstic and stylistic electicism
- 'Global village' phenomena; globalisation of cultures, races, images, capital, products
AT&T building, Philip Johnson NYC 1982
Frank Gehry, Guggenheim museum, Bilbao 1997
JF Lyotard
'The postmodern Condition' 1979
'incredulity towards metanarratives'
metanarratives = totalising belief systems
Results = Crisis in confidence.
- After modernism
-The historical era following modern
- Contra modernism
- Equivalent to 'late capitalism'
- Aritstic and stylistic electicism
- 'Global village' phenomena; globalisation of cultures, races, images, capital, products
AT&T building, Philip Johnson NYC 1982
Frank Gehry, Guggenheim museum, Bilbao 1997
JF Lyotard
'The postmodern Condition' 1979
'incredulity towards metanarratives'
metanarratives = totalising belief systems
Results = Crisis in confidence.
Post modern Aesthetics:
Complexity, chaos, mixing materials/styles (brieolage), reusing images: parody & irony
- Roy Lichtenstein 'This must be the place' 1965
At the end of the 1950s the purest form of modernist paintings was FORMALISM theorised by the critic Clemant Greenberg.
"Advertising is the greatest art from of the 20th century" - Marshall McLuhan.
Crisis in confidence
- BUT also freedom and new possibilities
- Questioning old limitations
- Space for marginalised discourse: Sexual diversity & multiculturalism
'Neo TV' - Umberto Eco.
- TV quiz shows about TV shows
- Out take shows
- TV news items about TV celebrities
- 'Reality TV'
- Roy Lichtenstein 'This must be the place' 1965
At the end of the 1950s the purest form of modernist paintings was FORMALISM theorised by the critic Clemant Greenberg.
"Advertising is the greatest art from of the 20th century" - Marshall McLuhan.
Crisis in confidence
- BUT also freedom and new possibilities
- Questioning old limitations
- Space for marginalised discourse: Sexual diversity & multiculturalism
'Neo TV' - Umberto Eco.
- TV quiz shows about TV shows
- Out take shows
- TV news items about TV celebrities
- 'Reality TV'
Postmodernism
- Avague disputed term
- Post modernist attitude of questioning conventions (especially modernism)
- Post modernist aesthetic = multiplicity of styles and approaches
- Shift in thought & theory investigating 'crisis in confidence'
- Space for 'new voices'
- Rejection of technological determinism?
- Avague disputed term
- Post modernist attitude of questioning conventions (especially modernism)
- Post modernist aesthetic = multiplicity of styles and approaches
- Shift in thought & theory investigating 'crisis in confidence'
- Space for 'new voices'
- Rejection of technological determinism?
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