First go around

Second Go around

 

I keep coming back to the issue of Audience with my Charts and Graphs. The Audience will have a huge impact on what and how you present you information.  After a lot of thought, I realized the large amount of variables one would have to account for when creating a chart or a graph:

Education

Sub-Culture

Media Outlets

Region of Population

Age Groups

There is a lot to account for and the individual will interpret the data how they see fit. There is a lot to be said for the image itself though and how it is constructed. 

Reflection

Media Culture at the start of class made me think of a sociological perspective. How does one view the society they live and how has media influenced that society. This concept has been touched upon but their has been so much more discussed over the past few weeks. Despite me being a technophile, I never though about how video games, cell phones, and the creation of other technology changed my lifestyle and the world around me. The main concern from most of the readings deal with the idea that media and technology are going to lead us to ruin. To an extent I feel that they are right. However, we have just began scrapping the surface of the other side of the coin. I am trying to remove tone and tempo from the texts as I read them, so I do not get wrapped up in the negative image that the author is painting. It is not easy though because it is so easy to get wrapped up in a doomsday story. People in general, I believe at least, find it easier to connect with the negative than the positive because they lack faith in society and the negative out come in turn becomes the easier of the two to understand and believe. Which makes me wonder about did media and technology build the frame in which this house of anger/fear/frustration is built upon.


I would like to return to the ideas of art and image eventually and maybe redo our group work at the end to see how our perspectives have shifted. Image and art , for me, are important because we live in a very visual world and the image, which a few authors have discussed, is the guiding light that aids in the construction of a person psychological schema.


The timing of the class was killing me but that has been resolved for the second half of the semester, no worries there. Other than that.. I had no real solid idea on how this class would go. I had some foresight from last semester but this is a different ball game.

Paper Topic

I had to take some extra time to figure out what I was going to write about. So, I am sorry for the delay on getting this posted. Here are the Ideas I have had so far.

The argument about the suppression and realization of art and media in relation to cultural industry. Maybe go pre-20th century and look at how technology has influenced and changed the artistic community as well.
The invention of the paint tube. Development of canvas, stone, and other mediums. May look at how the medium has changed language as well.

Doing something with the signifier, signified and interpreter. Look at how images in the advertising industry and the development of technology has influenced us as a society/culture. A possible reflection how the representation of the human body has developed over the past century and mutated what we consider beautiful, healthy, and attractive.

One of the other things I have always been interested in is the concept of masculinity and “manliness.” I was unsure of how I would get footing for an approach like this though. How has technology and the culture industry defined “men” and their roles. Also, how has the image, the technology, and media influenced this idea. This stems from my upbringing and me being a father. I was raised in what criminal justice researchers call a culture of “honor”. Were you fight, (insert term for sex here), and drink your way to the top of the food chain due to a lack of opportunity in the work, education, and other activities. I think for this idea I would have to look at specific regions ….not sure what to do.

FIRST, please write on your blog about how (any of) the three readings for the week added new ideas to or challenged your developing sense of "media culture."

The light bulb concept still has my head in a spin. The whole idea that electricity is medium without a message hurts my head since it is used to convey so many messages. It is half of a whole and is just killing me.

Lui or Liu I forget and my book is a.w.o.l. brought up how written script was constructed around the materials that were at hand. This was another item that I could not shake even more so when it comes to art. Artist are restricted by the materials they chose to use, can afford, or exists at the time the art is created. So with modern technology aren't we just etching our stone or moving our brush?

SECOND, on your blog, please offer preliminary summaries of the first six weeks of class. What do you think is most important for you to hold onto from these weeks? What definitions, concepts, or approaches matter most to you? What questions do you carry forward to the upcoming readings?

I have a list of terms I need to work into the wiki when we return to that. I find myself stuck on single words rather than whole concepts. I am not sure why though. Maybe it is because word choice says a lot to me. If someone is going out of their way to use a very specific term to do define a larger concept then that word must have more of a meaning, right? *shrugs*

Not sure what questions I have at this moment. The light bulb thing still has me a bit jacked up.