Chapter Nine

Scientific Looking, Looking at Science

The term visual culture has come to have many different forms such as fine art, films, television, advertising, and the sciences, law, and medicine. 

It is important that we also see "scientific images as integral to the production and meanings of images in popular culture, art, advertising, and the law." They, too, can be aesthetic, as well as truthful. However, although photographs have been very important in experimental practice, such as in scientific, medical, and legal evidence, cameras are still now allowed to be used as documentation in the U.S. courts of law. This is due to the rise of the digital imaging in the late twentieth century. Because of this, it has become easy for any photography to be altered from it's original version. Therefore, if someone showed up with a photograph to court that had been altered, it could completely change the way of the ruling.

However, digital imaging in science has become important when conducting experiments, rendering information, and communicating ideas in science and medicine. It has allowed us to "see through" the skin using technologies such as the X ray, CT scan, CAT and PET scanning, and MRI. These show us what is wrong with our bones, muscles, and nerves without having to anatomically dissect the body, like they had to do centuries before digital imaging was possible.

Renaissance was a period where art and science were used parallel with each other. Leonardo da Vinci's work is most evident when using this concept (for he performed more than thirty dissections in his lifetimes and could draw the body based on firsthand knowledge). One of his most 

famous works depicting this is  his Vitruvian Man.

With the image of the man within a circle and a square is largely thought to convey da Vinci's concept that "the body exists within both the material realm (symbolized by the square) and the spiritual realm (represented by the circle)."

Throughout history, science and medicine have had a fascination with anatomy. Starting in the 16th century, anatomy theaters were used as a spectacle for viewers to watch. The anatomists tried to educate as well as entertain. Then, in modernity, this spectacle of viewing continued in a different way in Paris. Here, a morgue became the spectacle when certain types of bodies were put on display (such as children who drowned in the Seine river). It was a kind of "free theater" 

and commentators compared it to the pleasures of "viewing goods in department store windows." As sick as this may sound, a concept not unlike this is still used today. The Body Worlds exhibition is a display that is both spectacle and medical. Rather than just gazing over dead bodies, Body Worlds has created an exhibition that uses real dead bodies on display that have gone through a preservative process called plastination. 

Through this process, the bodies show the actual muscles, bones, organs, etc., that would be inside human bodies. However, they also make the display more lighthearted by posing them in stereotypical ways, such as having the men playing soccer and the women in pregnancy.

http://www.bodyworlds.com

Images are also used more than just aesthetically or for spectacle, they also play a large role as evidence in science and medicine, especially the photograph.

Photographs can be used as visual records of experiments. They can document diseases, perform diagnoses, and to record scientific data. By the end of the 19th century, photographs were used to classify and categorize people, such as by identity-linked characteristics: used in hospitals, mental institutions, and government agencies. For example, Alphonse Bertillon created a system of measurement to identify the body types of criminals. He  took pictures of the criminals from the front and the side in order to identify "criminal characteristics" in the person. In doing so, he created the first modern-day mug shots. This strategy also became a common practice in hospitals to photograph patients and people with particular medical conditions.

X rays introduced a new way to see inside the human body, a way that was better than just using the human eye. This was eventually followed by CT scans, CAT and PET scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds. An ultrasound image was used to view the fetus of a baby inside the pregnant mother, tracking its development, looking for abnormalities, and without placing the fetus or the mother at any risk. However, ultrasounds then served another purpose, to help convince women who are uncertain about their pregnancy to choose not to have an abortion. It is one thing when you have medical facts and doctors telling you why you should not terminate your pregnancy. However, when a mother actually sees an image of the child they are carrying inside them, a completely different connection is made. An emotional connection occurs. This feeling is more powerful than any word could ever be, and is a way to encourage mothers planning on abortion to change their mind.

Once again, science is not a completely separate world from social and cultural meaning. It is incorporated into popular media and can create a spectacle rather than just a display. The "visual culture of science makes clear that the realms of science, culture, and politics are all intertwined."

Chapter Eight

Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture.

Postmodernism is mostly associated with the time after 1968. However, opinions differ as to whether postmodernism is a period, a set of styles, of a broader set of politics and ideologies (pg. 311). Postmodernism basically challenges modernity. It questions whether progress is actually a good thing or not because no one knows how anything will turn out, so what makes it always good that we are progressing?

Postmodernism is distinguished by the idea that there is not one but many truths, and that the notions of truth are culturally and historically relative constructions. Therefore, postmodernism is described as a "questioning of master narratives (or metanarratives)." A master narrative is what explains society, and the world, in comprehensive terms. Examples of this include: religion, science, Enlightenment myths of progress, and other theories that explain life; they describe progress towards a certain goal.

Helvetica Font

After watching the Helvetica font film, I had no idea how much we see and use the Helvetica font everyday. Sure, I had noticed words all around me wherever I go, whether it was on signs, buildings, bags, advertisements, etc., but I had never really noticed how almost all of it was the same font. This is what the video pointed out to me.

Although I wish the video would have been shorter, it wasn't really the actual font that interested me. It was how much that particular font is used in the world. I found it somewhat shocking that this font was so universal that it is liked by so many countries, companies, businesses, and people in general with how different the world is.

Second Life House

I found making a house to be very interesting, time consuming, and something I enjoyed doing. When I first began, I really didn't have a plan of what I was going to do. I just figured whatever came to me as I was building would be what I would do.

As I started getting into it, I found that I really enjoyed building my house. However, I only wish I wasn't a perfectionist. Yes, I know it can be a good quality to have at times, but it took me about 4 hours to build this simple little house. I'll admit, a lot of the time was spent learning and figuring out how to do things.

After I had completed a very simple square house with a roof, I was not very happy with it and wanted windows and a small place to walk in. Since I didn't know how to create windows, I completely re-did the walls of my house. I made four walls around an opening for a window - this means that four walls made up just one wall. Then I copied it to make the opposite side. Then I did the same procedure to make a different window shape for my back wall. 

After completing my walls, I made a place to walk in and put a roof over it. After adding my floor, my structure was complete and just needed textures. Because I was not too fond of most of the textures, I know my house is a little tacky. I mostly just wanted to understand how everything worked.

The most time consuming portion, however, was trying to make my textures match each other after they had been stretched out. For the top triangle part on the outside of my house I just could not get it to match, so that is the one spot that looks a bit out of place. However, the rest of it I think I did a pretty good job trying to get it to match up.

Chapter Five

Visual Technologies, Image Reproduction, and the Copy

The introduction of sequential photography and motion picture film in the late 1800s corresponded with an increased desire to visualize movement in the increasingly mobile and fast-paced society of the late nineteenth century. By capturing moving images in a sequence of pictures, one is able to see things that the unaided eye cannot see. For instance, the example of the horse from the book: Muybridge was asked to determine whether a horse's hooves ever all leave the ground at the same time when galloping, or not. By setting up cameras that would horse would trigger as it ran, Muybridge was able to gather a sequence of the horse's run and each position of the hooves. Because of these pictures, he was able to determine that yes, the horse actually is airborne for an instant while running. One thing I found interesting was that taking motion pictures also help to portray certain things in a different medium. For example, in figure 5.1 the picture shows the car in motion, but due to the speed the car is traveling, the wheels look elongated and much larger. Artists then use this effect when drawing cartoons to help give the appearance of a car in motion.

The invention of cinema involved both the invention of a moving picture camera and projector and a flexible form of film (celluloid) that could be projected and reprojected without falling apart. Historians can agree that the origins of the cinema are due to the invention of motion picture film, the ability to make films, and the projector.

The photograph is related to "the real" because it is believed that a photograph shows exactly what is seen. It is a realist form because of its guarantee of having physically been copresent with the person, object, or scene. This means that every shadow, wrinkle, and object is exactly as how the eye sees it; nothing is left out or added. However, today, with digital technologies, photographs can be altered. Anyone with a digital camera, a home computer, and a cable can download images and print them out immediately, or they can copy them into other programs to be edited, enhanced, or altered in any way the editor chooses, whether it is framing, composition, color, or adding or subtracting actual objects and elements from the picture.

Digital Technology has also allowed us different modes of display. Rather than going to the nearest Walmart or CVS and and having your pictures printed with a duplicate to hand to a friend or family memeber, we are able to post pitures on the internet, on websites, on CDs, etc.

Second Life Appearance

This week when I was trying to figure out how to work Second Life and creating a new outfit, i decided to keep it simple, yet again. Since I am just beginning, I want to get the hang of how to create things, and then focus on how elaborate the things I create are later. 

Therefore, I did the basics. I started out by going through the fabrics and seeing which ones went well on my avatar's body (certain patterns definitely did not). After choosing a linen shirt, I changed the color to a dark red, which happens to be my favorite color.

I then tried certain pants and skirts trying to decide which ones I liked better with my shirt. Because I liked the look of the skirt better, I decided to match my shirt and skirt to make it appear to be a dress. Therefore, I set both of the fabrics to linen, matched the skirt with the dark red color, and then started playing with the lengths. I shortened the sleeves on my shirt to make it appear as a sleeveless turtleneck that goes down into a fitted short dress. I also like my avatar to smile because if I am happy, then I believe she should appear happy as well.

Then after dancing at the huge win at the Clemson vs. Duke basketball game (74-47), I was in such a good mood for the rest of the night I decided my avatar should appear like she was dancing too.

Chapter Four

Chapter four deals with realism and perspective. Realism in the visual arts is when the realist image depicts something as it would be seen by the eye. Realism refers to a style of art that is understood to accurately represent nature or the real. The goal of realist art is to reproduce reality as it is. With that being said, the artist is always going to depict what they see differently from how another person sees that image. For instance, the artist could be focusing on a portion of a landscape in the background, but a different artist could be focusing on a different portion of that same landscape but it could be in the foreground. Therefore, these two pictures would come out completely different even though they are still of the same image. One may have more detail and the other may be just a general image. Therefore, since different depictions are made by different people when looking at an image, is there ever really realism?

Perspective, on the other hand, refers to a set of systems or mechanisms used to produce representations of objects in space as if seen by an observer through a window or frame. When using perspective, there is a vanishing point that all lines must go to. This creates the illusion of objects going back into space or coming forward. Here is an example of a perspective drawing that I drew:

The image is actually drawn in two-point perspective. This is when there are two vanishing points that the lines are drawn towards. In this particular image, the two points are not even on the picture, they go off onto either side past the paper.

Another topic the chapter talks about is the camera obscura. This is a simple device that is based on the phenomenon that light rays bouncing off a well-lit object or scene, when passed into a darkened chamber (a box or room) through a tiny hole, create an inverted projection, which can be seen on a surface inside the chamber. These devices were also found in artists' studios, where they were used, much like the perspectival grid, as a drawing instrument. This technique was used by the artist Vermeer. It is described in the novel Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chavalier. In the novel, Vermeer uses the camera obscura to help him realize what is missing from his paintings in order to make them perfect. He will seem finished with a painting, then he will look through the camera obscura. After looking through it, he would either subtract something from his painting, or add something that originally was not there but needed to be there to make the painting perfect to his standards.

Second Life Avatar

When creating my avatar in Second Life, I decided to create an avatar that resembled myself. Therefore, I started off with my avatar's name... Hillary. When looking for a last name, there coincidentally happened to be a last name very similar to mine, Portal (instead of Porter). Therefore, since I was going to create my avatar's appearance based off mine, I might as well make the name as close as possible too. Not to mention, for my first avatar, it would be easier to remember my avatar's name since it was almost like my name.

For appearance, I decided to choose the avatar that resembled me as much as possible. Therefore I chose the brunette girl in the pink polka dot dress. After figuring some controls out, I began shifting her facial and body characteristics around. Although I changed almost everything on her, it was not a drastic change. I figured I would just get used to changing things around little by little before I did anything too drastic (even though I know I can always change anything).

Chapter Three

Chapter three talks a great deal about modernity. This is associated with the belief that industrialization, human technological intervention in nature, mass democracy, and the introduction of a market economy are the hallmarks of social progress. Modernity reached its height in the late nineteenth century when more people began moving towards the city and away from the rural areas. In modernity, technological advances were seen as a way of progress. However, if technology had not gotten as far as it has, would scientists still believe that we were in modernity? As society progresses we always believe we have made great advances, whether we have changed a lot or not. Therefore, isn't modernity always happening?

Penopticon means to be able to have authority without communication. The examples the text gives us is the Penopticon Penitentiary. This is where the prison is built a certain way so that the prisoners will always believe that a guard is watching them, whether one is there or not. This innate sense of always being watched will then make the prisoners behavior better and under control, and easier for the watchmen and guards. This is also like how surveillance cameras have become a part of society. We do not even notice most of them anymore. However, whenever they are needed, they are always there.

This chapter also talks about the gaze. According to Lacan, the gaze is a property of the object and not the subject who looks. It is a process in which the object functions to make the subject look, making the subject appear to himself or herself as lacking. This means that whenever something catches our eye or whenever we are interested in something we look at, the person who is gazing focuses on and puts all of their thoughts into that object, ignoring everything around it.

Gender also plays a role in gazing. For example, Laura Mulvey criticizes Hollywood and the cinema because her theory is that they depict women as passive and only there to be gazed at  - "to be looked-at-ness". However, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window proves this theory wrong. In the movie, Jeffries is injured, and to keep from going insane in his apartment, he gazes out his window at all of his neighbors all day. He comes to learn their "lives" and habits by doing so, but also reveals one of his neighbors is a murderer. His girlfriend, Lisa, would be the "looked at" subject that Mulvey talks about. However, Lisa is not the typical woman that is just gazed upon. Instead, Lisa is active and does all of the investigating. In the end, it is Lisa that provides the evidence that Thorvald, the neighbor, murdered his wife, proving Mulvey's theory wrong.

Chapter Two

Throughout this chapter, I found myself getting lost in the text a lot. I would read something and understand the general explanation, but specific there would be specific, important things that would confuse me when it was defined. For example, the term interpellation means to interrupt something so one can question it. According to the text, to be interpellated by an image “is to know that the image is meant for me to understand.” Therefore does this mean that whenever viewers interpellate an image they must question it to come up with what the artist was trying to convey to them specifically?

In the part of the chapter that talks about producers’ intended meanings, I found it interesting when the text talked about how advertisers must really focus on the audience in order to convey the message they want to express. I had always thought of that being common sense, but when I read it, it made me realize how much work has to be done to communicate the correct message to viewers since everyone thinks differently. For example, there is a Gatorade commercial that I think the producer of the commercial did not do a good job showing that the commercial is for Gatorade. In most Gatorade commercials there will be athletes (usually either famous athletes, or people in the process of playing the sport to over emphasize that they are athletes) in black and white, working hard, sweating Gatorade (which is usually in a bright color to show emphasis) or drinking Gatorade, showing how the beverage replenishes your body after losing nutrients your body needs, and can help your performance. However, in this specific Gatorade commercial, it is all black and white, and the camera is panning over people standing there (some making a facial expression or a hand gesture of some sort to express themselves). The camera goes down the line, showing people who I have no idea who most of them are, and a voice is describing “G” by using words that start with “g”. I recognize some athletes and celebrities, but only very few. Then at the end, it shows a big, white, “G”. The producer assumes that the viewer will understand that this message will be obvious as Gatorade. However, considering most of the people are unknown, there is no brightly colored Gatorade splashing around, and even the “G” does not have the usual bright orange coloring, there is too much left to be assumed in this commercial. This left me to ask if artists should always think about their audience first, or should they go ahead with their own expression and assume/hope the viewers will understand?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGKAVAAHdWc

 

Another part of the chapter talks about aesthetics and taste. I also found this portion interesting. I had always considered one’s taste based on the individual’s opinion. However, while reading, I am leaning more towards taste being caused by culture and history (time period). You see people’s clothing taste based on their culture of where they live, whether it is styles that differ between the east and west coast, or if it is due to geographical reasons, dressing according to weather. Through culture we learn that celebrities have a high quality taste, purchasing clothing that most average people cannot afford and can only hear about and see these brands and styles by watching television. The book also uses an example of a comic book considered as a children’s book since it is made up of pictures with the only text being dialogue from the characters. This is appealing to children because pictures are fun to look at and less text is less intimidating and time consuming. However, today there are college students who read graphic novels, such as Watchmen. This shows that taste does not have to be limited to a certain time period. On the other hand, specific tastes are very popular, go out of style, and then come back later in time and are popular again. One example of this is the lava lamp, as the book mentions. Therefore, is taste caused more by cultural aspects, time period, or even the combination of both? 

Chapter One

One of the topics in the first chapter in The Practices of Looking is The Myth of Photographic Truth. One quote that interested me from this section states "All camera-generated images, be they photographic, cinematic, electronic, or digital, bear the cultural legacy of still photography..." (Sturken/Cartwright, pg. 16-17). This made me think about how photography, movies, and especially cartoons are based off of the main message/action being conveyed and the rest forms around it. For example, storyboarding for cartoons or animated films. Another sentence that caught my attention says "we invest deep emotional content" (pg. 18) into photographs. I am one of those people that feels empty without my camera whenever I go somewhere. I take a lot of pictures so I can look back and remember places I went or people I was with. However, when I look back at these pictures, they are not only visual memories, but emotional ones as well because being able to look at something that already happened makes me remember what happened before and after that picture and how I was feeling at the time.

Another topic is How We Negotiate the Meaning of Images. Most images we see we interpret their meaning without even having to think about it anymore because it seems like common sense. For instance, when driving on highway 123 to Clemson, there are tiger paws painted on the road. Instead of wondering whether or not there is a zoo nearby, we automatically know that those tiger paws mean that Clemson is close because we are so accustomed to associating the image of the orange tiger paw with Clemson.

A third topic that is closely related to the previous one is The Value of Images. This section discusses how we can know the importance or value of something or someone because of how it is presented. For example, a celebrity could be walking down the street with bodyguards. Although you may have no idea who the celebrity is, you automatically assume it is someone well known or someone of importance because they are being protected.