Portfolio Task 6- Theory Into Practice
Look at the CTS blog that Garry Barker has been writing to complement the lecture programme this year. Write a short response to one of the posts on the blog. Use the ideas that Garry is discussing to mount a short critical evaluation of one piece of Graphic design that you have produced on Level 5.
Reflections on the first lecture, Surveillance and Foucault
One of the ideas Gary discussed on his blog was reflections on the first lecture, surveillance and Foucault. The idea that all design is cantered on communication and that it helps in the formation of social and cultural identities. 'If you look at how graphic design helps in the formation of social and cultural identities, it is reasonable to suggest that class, racial, ethnic, age and gender groups etc. are often represented by stereotypes within the graphic design industry.’
I will be looking at my Quiksilver project. The project was left open with a target audience of my choice which was quite young at 10-29. The work was very stereotypical of your idealistic surfer with use of vibrant colouring and shapes that reflected waves and surf patterns. 'All representations are by their very nature 'less than' reality and therefore involve a selection or choice' I chose my target audience and therefore chose to stereotype my decisions within design. 'This choice is going to be one made by the person constructing the representation and therefore will reflect prejudices held on the part of the image maker'
This happens basically all the time in graphic design whether a designer has been given the target audience or has to choose the audience themselves. More often than not the design decisions made will be very stereotypical.
Gary talks about how Salen suggests design fits into two categories of 'Standard and non-standard'
'Salen (2001) suggests that all visual form supports structures of cultural standardisation, marking distinctions between what he calls 'Standard and non- standard' participants' and also 'How it can become an 'agent of standardisation' but i do not necesarrily think that this piece of design fits into these categories however it does suggest that is it represented by an age group stereotype.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Task 5 - Sustainability and Capitalism
Read the text- Balser, E (2008) 'Capital Accumulation, Sustainability & Hamilton Ontario'
Write a 500 word critical summary of the text which explicitly adresses the following questions
1. How is sustainability defined in the text?
2. What are the main characteristics or tendencies of Capitalism
3. Define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
4. What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are these successful or realistic? - If not why are they flawed?
5. Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
Donella Meadows often defines sustainability as ‘inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. The text defines sustainability as ideological. 'Sustainability is a communal concept', it needs everyone to buy into it and to be thinking about it. Although in the text is also says that the responsibility is often being left to the individual and technology. 'The attempt to engage in sustainable lifestyles and make environmentally conscious decisions has largely fallen to the individual and through technology'
Capitalism interferes with attaining sustainability, the thirst for money and profit within a market. It is constantly looking for new things to commodity. 'Capitalism is constantly expanding' causing crisis. Capitalist views run alongside sustainability potentially harming communities. An example of this is the BIOX plant being built on a poor communities green space in the North End of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Hamilton has one of the highest incidents of low income per household. 'The environment crisis is no different, it exists at a threshold in which constant new technologies, policies or ideas push it past these limitations, and deferring the apocalypse for yet another day'.
Capitalism thrives from making a profit. The reason the plant was set up in Hamilton was because it was a cheap place to be and the communities were poor so couldn’t reject the idea. It was built on the only green space there but the tremors from the plant damaged people’s homes. There were also violations of resident’s health and safety due to sulphuric acid and flammable chemicals. However these were not the only problems, there was constant noise and air pollution. These problems were not thought to be a sacrifice therefore the whole point in the plant being sustainable contradicts itself and becomes more about cost efficiency therefore disregarding the original aims. 'Instead of ending this cycle, it has only perpetuated it'.
The idea of using bio- diesel as a sustainability solution is because it is an 'alternative 'clean' fuel that is becoming an increasing popular alternative to regular diesel fuel and because the use of recycling helps to reduce waste production.' This idea started off a small business, and is now a very large business which becomes capitalist itself. 'What began as a small time, agricultural project, which hoped to maximize the efficiency of agricultural practices, has become a huge environmental business'
For bio diesel to be effective it has to be used by a lot of people therefore more plants had to be built. Unmistakably, it turns out the largest producer of bio diesel is in the North End Hamilton, BIOX. 'While the BIOX plant represents the ecological integrity and economical prosperity that is deemed so important for sustainability, it is certainly at the sacrifice of social equality'
Capitalism has now returned, so it seems it is a never ending cycle and the concept of sustainability is not compatible with private enterprise. 'The situation in the North End is not, the intention of promoting sustainable practices and technologies. Somewhat, it became a central and compulsory victim to make sure that bio-diesel production was capable and the product was affordable.
Write a 500 word critical summary of the text which explicitly adresses the following questions
1. How is sustainability defined in the text?
2. What are the main characteristics or tendencies of Capitalism
3. Define a 'crisis of Capitalism'. Offer an example.
4. What solutions have been offered to the sustainability question? Are these successful or realistic? - If not why are they flawed?
5. Is the concept of sustainability compatible with Capitalism?
Donella Meadows often defines sustainability as ‘inter and intra generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society'. The text defines sustainability as ideological. 'Sustainability is a communal concept', it needs everyone to buy into it and to be thinking about it. Although in the text is also says that the responsibility is often being left to the individual and technology. 'The attempt to engage in sustainable lifestyles and make environmentally conscious decisions has largely fallen to the individual and through technology'
Capitalism interferes with attaining sustainability, the thirst for money and profit within a market. It is constantly looking for new things to commodity. 'Capitalism is constantly expanding' causing crisis. Capitalist views run alongside sustainability potentially harming communities. An example of this is the BIOX plant being built on a poor communities green space in the North End of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Hamilton has one of the highest incidents of low income per household. 'The environment crisis is no different, it exists at a threshold in which constant new technologies, policies or ideas push it past these limitations, and deferring the apocalypse for yet another day'.
Capitalism thrives from making a profit. The reason the plant was set up in Hamilton was because it was a cheap place to be and the communities were poor so couldn’t reject the idea. It was built on the only green space there but the tremors from the plant damaged people’s homes. There were also violations of resident’s health and safety due to sulphuric acid and flammable chemicals. However these were not the only problems, there was constant noise and air pollution. These problems were not thought to be a sacrifice therefore the whole point in the plant being sustainable contradicts itself and becomes more about cost efficiency therefore disregarding the original aims. 'Instead of ending this cycle, it has only perpetuated it'.
The idea of using bio- diesel as a sustainability solution is because it is an 'alternative 'clean' fuel that is becoming an increasing popular alternative to regular diesel fuel and because the use of recycling helps to reduce waste production.' This idea started off a small business, and is now a very large business which becomes capitalist itself. 'What began as a small time, agricultural project, which hoped to maximize the efficiency of agricultural practices, has become a huge environmental business'
For bio diesel to be effective it has to be used by a lot of people therefore more plants had to be built. Unmistakably, it turns out the largest producer of bio diesel is in the North End Hamilton, BIOX. 'While the BIOX plant represents the ecological integrity and economical prosperity that is deemed so important for sustainability, it is certainly at the sacrifice of social equality'
Capitalism has now returned, so it seems it is a never ending cycle and the concept of sustainability is not compatible with private enterprise. 'The situation in the North End is not, the intention of promoting sustainable practices and technologies. Somewhat, it became a central and compulsory victim to make sure that bio-diesel production was capable and the product was affordable.
Who says what to who in what Chanel with what effect. Lasswells
Traditions of com theory
Info source voice
Noise source is about ability to receive
Your the receiver
L1 Technical
Translation and computer coding and language.
L2 Semantic
Precision of language
How much of the message can be lost?
L3 effectiveness
Does the message affect behaviour the way we want it to? What can be done if the required effect fails to happen.
Systems theory
Can switch between math, biological etc frames of reference.
BARB Broadastera audience research board.
Who is the audience
Advertising. Who will want to look at it more carefully.
Semiotics
Three basic concepts
Semantics addresses what a sign stands for. Dictionaries are semantic ref books they tell us what a sign means
Syntactics
Relationship amongst signs
Phenomenological Tradition
Direct and real. Coming straight in. Authentic human relationships. Very close relationship.
Traditions of com theory
Info source voice
Noise source is about ability to receive
Your the receiver
L1 Technical
Translation and computer coding and language.
L2 Semantic
Precision of language
How much of the message can be lost?
L3 effectiveness
Does the message affect behaviour the way we want it to? What can be done if the required effect fails to happen.
Systems theory
Can switch between math, biological etc frames of reference.
BARB Broadastera audience research board.
Who is the audience
Advertising. Who will want to look at it more carefully.
Semiotics
Three basic concepts
Semantics addresses what a sign stands for. Dictionaries are semantic ref books they tell us what a sign means
Syntactics
Relationship amongst signs
Phenomenological Tradition
Direct and real. Coming straight in. Authentic human relationships. Very close relationship.
Frankfurt school
Institution of social research, university of frankfurt 23-33.
Theodora adorno. Max Horkheimer. Herbert Marcuse. Leo Lowenthal. Walter Benjamin
There focus was on popular culture. How normal people lived there lives, what they did and why they did things. One project was why people engage in culture/exist in systems that do not suit them.
Pop culture as ideology. Masking the true nature of society.
When culture becomes manufactured. Looses it's authenticity. Under capitalism is all mass.
Essay
Nature of musical product itself
Then the affect on the person
Theodora adorno. Max Horkheimer. Herbert Marcuse. Leo Lowenthal. Walter Benjamin
There focus was on popular culture. How normal people lived there lives, what they did and why they did things. One project was why people engage in culture/exist in systems that do not suit them.
Pop culture as ideology. Masking the true nature of society.
When culture becomes manufactured. Looses it's authenticity. Under capitalism is all mass.
Essay
Nature of musical product itself
Then the affect on the person
The Gaze
1st makes you feel like your taking part. 3rd makes you feel like your observing.
Psychoanysis
Laura Mulvey
Visual pleasures and narrative
Holly wood is sexist
Scpophilia. The pleasure of looking at others bodies as objects.
At the extreme cam become fixated into a perversion. Producing obsessive peeping Toms who's sexual desires come from observing.
Jacques Lacan. The mirror stage.
Projected notion of the ideal ego in the image reflected.
Scopophilia. Sexual stimulation by sight.
Narcassistic. Wants to be brad pit to get angelena jolie
Suture
Spectators look through the eyes if the actors in the film.
Able to follow there gaze without feeling guilty
Psychoanysis
Laura Mulvey
Visual pleasures and narrative
Holly wood is sexist
Scpophilia. The pleasure of looking at others bodies as objects.
At the extreme cam become fixated into a perversion. Producing obsessive peeping Toms who's sexual desires come from observing.
Jacques Lacan. The mirror stage.
Projected notion of the ideal ego in the image reflected.
Scopophilia. Sexual stimulation by sight.
Narcassistic. Wants to be brad pit to get angelena jolie
Suture
Spectators look through the eyes if the actors in the film.
Able to follow there gaze without feeling guilty
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Task 2 - On Popular Music
Quickly read Adorno's (1941) article 'On Popular Music'. In no more than a few paragraphs, summarise his ideas on pop music, concentrating on key points such as 'standardisation', 'psuedo-individualisation' etc.
Post a link to a YouTube pop video that, in your opinion, epitomises Adorno's sentiments. Explain why, trying to emphasise the links to the wider 'culture industry' in general.
Adorno views pop music as being inferior to 'serious music' because he believes it to be standardised and predictable. He goes on to describe that 'structural standardisation aims at standard reactions, meaning that people within the pop music industry already know what the listeners' reaction will be when they are making the music, and they intend to tap in to that. This can be viewed as a form of control in what the audience is subjected to an supports financially. This idea of foreseeing reactions is partly due to genres of music and people limiting and labelling themselves to certain genres, such as Metal music. You already know what type of thing you are going to get within the genre - 'the same familiar experience." This stops any element of surprise as 'the composition hears for the listener.' This implies that your free-thinking has been taken out of the equation as the listening is being done for you. Listening to music has become a passive activity as the music is 'pre-digested'. Especially within the genre of Metal I think it’s fair to say that there’s now so many sub genres such as death, death core, core, metal core etc that it’s broken down so much, when you listen to an artist labelling themselves by that genre they will sound like others of that area.
Adorno continues by revealing that 'concentration and control in our culture hide themselves in their very manifestation. Unhidden they would provoke resistance.' By this he means that if people knew overtly that they are being manipulated and only being offered a limited, standard choice, then they would resist. Therefore, it is necessary to disguise the fact that people are having their free-thinking taken away from them. This gives people the illusion that they have free choice, but in reality we don't. Mass culture, like pop music, keeps people in their place by making them think one dimensionally, rather than rebelling. This can be seen as almost depoliticising the working class, who Adorno sees as being the main consumers of pop music.
Maiden’s song represents Adorno’s idea well. Metal within this 1980’s era was probably the most standardised music ever. Whilst metal was still rather premature within this time it seemed only a limited few were being experimental, whilst labels were more focussed on the glam/hair metal capitalistic view on the industry.
The standardisation comes from the predictable guitar pinches, mixed tempo vocals and the essential solo placed three quarters in or nearly always at the end. If you were buying metal in this period you’d most probably heard it before. Although that’s not to say that things have changed now either. As with everything, everyone takes inspiration from other bands which incorporate into this cycle. It’s easy to spot how similar music was as we pass through the eras however at the current time, do we overlook this and just take it as something we enjoy rather than analyse?
Post a link to a YouTube pop video that, in your opinion, epitomises Adorno's sentiments. Explain why, trying to emphasise the links to the wider 'culture industry' in general.
Adorno views pop music as being inferior to 'serious music' because he believes it to be standardised and predictable. He goes on to describe that 'structural standardisation aims at standard reactions, meaning that people within the pop music industry already know what the listeners' reaction will be when they are making the music, and they intend to tap in to that. This can be viewed as a form of control in what the audience is subjected to an supports financially. This idea of foreseeing reactions is partly due to genres of music and people limiting and labelling themselves to certain genres, such as Metal music. You already know what type of thing you are going to get within the genre - 'the same familiar experience." This stops any element of surprise as 'the composition hears for the listener.' This implies that your free-thinking has been taken out of the equation as the listening is being done for you. Listening to music has become a passive activity as the music is 'pre-digested'. Especially within the genre of Metal I think it’s fair to say that there’s now so many sub genres such as death, death core, core, metal core etc that it’s broken down so much, when you listen to an artist labelling themselves by that genre they will sound like others of that area.
Adorno continues by revealing that 'concentration and control in our culture hide themselves in their very manifestation. Unhidden they would provoke resistance.' By this he means that if people knew overtly that they are being manipulated and only being offered a limited, standard choice, then they would resist. Therefore, it is necessary to disguise the fact that people are having their free-thinking taken away from them. This gives people the illusion that they have free choice, but in reality we don't. Mass culture, like pop music, keeps people in their place by making them think one dimensionally, rather than rebelling. This can be seen as almost depoliticising the working class, who Adorno sees as being the main consumers of pop music.
Maiden’s song represents Adorno’s idea well. Metal within this 1980’s era was probably the most standardised music ever. Whilst metal was still rather premature within this time it seemed only a limited few were being experimental, whilst labels were more focussed on the glam/hair metal capitalistic view on the industry.
The standardisation comes from the predictable guitar pinches, mixed tempo vocals and the essential solo placed three quarters in or nearly always at the end. If you were buying metal in this period you’d most probably heard it before. Although that’s not to say that things have changed now either. As with everything, everyone takes inspiration from other bands which incorporate into this cycle. It’s easy to spot how similar music was as we pass through the eras however at the current time, do we overlook this and just take it as something we enjoy rather than analyse?
Friday, 12 November 2010
CTS 2 Critical Position on the media and popular culture
What is culture?
One of the two or three most complex words. A particular way of life. Intellectual and especially artistic significance. "Raymond Williams"
Marks concept of base
Base. Forces of production - materials / workers skills is the central base of modern culture.
The substructure is the idea of social institution - legal / politics.
If you change the base you change the way people think about the world.
Ideology
System of ideas if beliefs - beliefs and politics. Masking, distortion or selection of ideas to reinforce power relations, through creation of false consciousness.
Idea of popular is based on the inferior. Popular press bs quality press etc
Frankfurt School - critical theory
Institute of social research 1923-33
Closed with rise of hitlarrrr
Moved to new York 33-47 then 49 there on.
Reinterpretation of Marx for the 20th century - era of late capitalism.
Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. It's just business.
Qualities of authentic culture
Real
European
Multidimensional
Active consumption
Individual creation
Imagination
Negation
Autonomous
Conclusions
Tradition emerges from the mass culture which is seen as a threat to culture. Birmingham school starts to look at popular culture as a way forward to the working class.
Sent from my iPhone
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
