Monday, 14 February 2011
Mirzoeff The age of Photograhy
Photography made the visual image available to all creating a new relationship between past space and time. At last everyone could record their life events and family occasions for future reference. Mirzoeff says that with digital manipulation he believes photography is dead. It may continue to be used every day in increasing amounts with the use of mobile phones etc we all have cameras on us. But he states that photography no longer mirrors reality because of the manipulation that can take place. I would argue that the ability to manipulate images has always been possible even before the digital era. The fairies photos etc NEED EVIDENCE ********
More by Mirzoeff
"Most theorists of the post modern agree that one of its distinctive features is the dominance of the image."
We live in a virtual world which is almost dominated by the internet and the world wide web. Film and television are a huge part of our lives Mirzoeff (1999) suggests "this trend seems set to continue." p 9.
These image displays within our everyday life is what visual culture is all about. It comes away from "the structured, formal viewing settings like the cinema and art gallery to the centrality of visual experience in everyday life.
It is accepted that where we view images, whether it be in an art gallery, a cinema or on television will influence our attitudes towards what we are viewing. Mirzoeff (1999) p7.
Mirzoeff talks of the interaction between the viewer and the viewed and calls this the visual event. We interpret these visual events through the use of signs within the images. In semiotic terms the signifier (that which is seen) and the signified ( that which is meant). There is no causal relationship between the two halves of the sign. He states "seeing is not believing but interpreting". Whether we can interpret an image successfully will determine whether it succeeds or fails as an image. p13
"In 1967 the situationist critic Guy Debord named what he called the "society of the spectacle", that is to say, a culture entirely in sway to a spectacular consumer culture "whose function is to make history forgotten within culture"Debord (1977:191). In the society of the spectacle individuals are dazzled by the spectacle into a passive existence within mass consumer culture, aspiring only to acquire yet more products. The rise of an image dominated culture is due to the fact that "the spectacle is capital to such a degree of accumulation that it becomes an image" Debord (1977:32). Obvious in the mc donalds golden arches and the nike swoosh etc. Mirzoeff (1999) p 27
We live in a virtual world which is almost dominated by the internet and the world wide web. Film and television are a huge part of our lives Mirzoeff (1999) suggests "this trend seems set to continue." p 9.
These image displays within our everyday life is what visual culture is all about. It comes away from "the structured, formal viewing settings like the cinema and art gallery to the centrality of visual experience in everyday life.
It is accepted that where we view images, whether it be in an art gallery, a cinema or on television will influence our attitudes towards what we are viewing. Mirzoeff (1999) p7.
Mirzoeff talks of the interaction between the viewer and the viewed and calls this the visual event. We interpret these visual events through the use of signs within the images. In semiotic terms the signifier (that which is seen) and the signified ( that which is meant). There is no causal relationship between the two halves of the sign. He states "seeing is not believing but interpreting". Whether we can interpret an image successfully will determine whether it succeeds or fails as an image. p13
"In 1967 the situationist critic Guy Debord named what he called the "society of the spectacle", that is to say, a culture entirely in sway to a spectacular consumer culture "whose function is to make history forgotten within culture"Debord (1977:191). In the society of the spectacle individuals are dazzled by the spectacle into a passive existence within mass consumer culture, aspiring only to acquire yet more products. The rise of an image dominated culture is due to the fact that "the spectacle is capital to such a degree of accumulation that it becomes an image" Debord (1977:32). Obvious in the mc donalds golden arches and the nike swoosh etc. Mirzoeff (1999) p 27
Saturday, 29 January 2011
What is Visual Culture?
Visual Culture
Life is constantly under surveillance in industrialised countries. CCTV on all streets, banks, private properties, shops etc.Work and leisure also infringed by visual culture – computers, video games etc.
Internet not just part of every day life it is every day life with it’s constant supply of imagery.
Does surveillance provide added security? It didn’t prevent the abduction of James Bulger although it did help in solving the crime. But the act of taking Jamie wasn’t prevented by CCTV all it did was record the act.
Consider Jo Yeates case. CCTV showed her movements that evening. It may have helped in some small way to solve the case but is only really useful after the event.
Visualisation does not necessarily mean we know what we are seeing.
“What are we to believe if seeing is no longer believing?” p 3
“Visual Culture is concerned with visual events in which information, meaning, or pleasure is sought by the consumer in an interface with visual technology.”p3
Ie, "any form or apparatus designed either to be looked at or to enhance natural vision". This could be anything from film/television, to advertisements, to paintings and art.
Visualising as a strategy is a failure of modernism. Postmodernism is the confrontation of that failure to visualise. Text is still a part of our culture and always will be but it is the lack of acknowledgement of this visual culture that has brought about post modernism.
Post modernism is best understood visually as the 19th century was best understood literally in print.
My take on this is that we live in a world where we are constantly monitored though imagery. This imagery has been sold to us as adding to our security. It is questionable though as to whether it actually helps protect us. If we look at certain criminal cases such as Jamie Bulger, it may have been caught on camera but it didn’t prevent his murder. It was only really useful after the event in helping to solve the crime.
Imagery is a huge part of our lives. There are visual clues everywhere we look, the Internet, television, film etc, but what we see isn’t always what we think it is.
Nothing is definitive. Can we trust anything we see?
Modern culture in the 19th century was a time when we understood our world/culture through reading and the printed word, neglecting the visual signs and clues that were all around us. Post modernism has come about because we need to recognise that just the printed word isn’t enough. We were neglecting a huge part of our culture which was visual and becoming more and more visual. Post modernism is about taking on board that visual culture. Using those visual clues/signs/images to understand our world. But it is probably a mixture of both the visual and the printed that is important.
Mirzoeff N., (1999) An Introduction to Visual Culture. London: Routledge
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Brief
Structured Critical Response
You are required to identify a theme covered in the lecture/seminar series, or something based on your studio practice, and conduct contextual research to show your understanding of the links between theory and practice/discipline.
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