GD 30108 Visual Culture final

What is culture?

Practices, traditions, views and customs people agree on

What is visual culture?

>Visible expressions of people

>Studying a work that uses art history, humanities, sciences, and social sciences

>Describing the collective identity of people and their unique mindset

>Day to day life things that communicates visually: photographs/buildings/paintings etc.

>Aesthetics and cultural studies (overall way of life) combined form a people’s visual culture

What should we consider when looking at visual culture?

Focus on things like:

>Production, Reception, Intention

>Economical, Social, Ideology aspects

These things reflect the culture of the work & analyzes how visual aspect affected it

What is visual culture about?

Visual Culture Studies focuses on:

>Understanding the specific historical, conceptual, and physical context of things,

>Considering the tools and systems used to view them ("viewing apparatuses"),

>Our critical engagement or interaction with those things.

Why do we need research?

>We research to find facts, not to prove our opinion

>Research starts with a question, and you have to search for the answer

Which is subjective and which is objective? (design & art)

>Art is subjective

>Design is objective

What is composition?

>The way in which different elements of an artwork are combined

>How the key subjects of the artwork are arranged in relation to each other

What are the 3 interrelated systems in a composition?

Composition relates the representational and interactive meanings of the image to each other through:

>Information value

>Salience

>Framing

What is information value?

Refers to how the placement of elements in an image or layout influences the meaning we assign to them

What is Salience?

Some elements grab more attention than others, depending on things like size, contrast, sharpness, or whether they're in the foreground or background.

What is framing?

Using lines or borders that can connect or separate parts of an image, showing whether they belong together or not.

Types of gazes: Demand

Gaze at viewer

Type of gazes: Offer

Absence of gaze at the viewer

Type of gazes: Inimate/personal

Close shot

Type of gazes: Social

Medium shot

Type of gazes: Impersonal

Long shot

Type of gazes: Involvment

Frontal angle

Type of gazes: Detachment

Oblique angle

Type of gazes: Viewer Power

High angle

Type of gazes: Equality

Eye-level angle

What is part of a senders job?

A sender should:

>Observe and know what someone needs (sees a person that doesn’t have a pen, so they know that the person needs a pen)

>Create need (“you need this pen for the lecture”)

What are visuals?

>Visuals express imagination, not just a copy of real life

>Imagination is often clearer and more free than reality

>Instead of judging art by how realistic it is, we should see it as an expression of emotion on its own terms

What is intertextuality?

>Texts are framed by other texts in various ways

>Recognizing something in a text because you’ve seen it before in other texts

What is anchorage (linguistics)?

>Words can guide how we understand an image, and images can help clarify unclear text.

>This is helpful for translators, because the image or text narrows down the possible meanings, making translation easier

How is the representation of gender role in Egypt?

Women were linked to the body and emotions, while men were linked to the mind and intellect

How are women represented in ads changing?

>Research shows that women in Egypt are often shown unfairly in the media, with signs of gender inequality

>However, ads in Egypt are starting to show women more fairly and positively

Why do ads uses and create sterotypes?

>Stereotypes, whether good or bad, make audiences feel safe and comfortable

>People like familiar things because they are creatures of habit

What do men and women symbolize in ads?

Women symbolized body and emotions, while men represent intellect and brain

What do ads in Egypt focus on?

>Focus on women’s beauty, fashion, and body care

>Shows that physical appearance is seen as very important

>Some ads suggest that being beautiful is the key to finding a good husband and having a happy life

How did ads affect gender portrayal?

>Women and men have often been shown unfairly.

>People usually accept ads as real without questioning them, which makes gender portrayals more powerful

>Women are often shown as weak and vulnerable, while men are shown as dominant and controlling

What is domestic context of women representation?

>Women were presented as thin beautiful and shy on one hand or mother, wife and less important gender.

>Women were portrayed as inactive housewives, who only seek to satisfy their husbands and mother-in-law

>They depend on men, had secondary roles, and more likely to be set in the domestic sphere

What is grafitti?

>Graffiti is a type of visual communication usually done without permission on public spaces

>Many people think of graffiti as gang-related tags or symbols spray-painted on walls, tho that’s not always true

>Seen as: antisocial behavior to get attention or seek excitement, or form of expressive art.

What was graffiti used for in US and Europe

>Closely associated with gangs,

>Claim territory

>Honor dead members (like informal obituaries)

>Show off crimes or actions they committed

>Challenge rival gangs, sometimes leading to violence

What is tagging in graffiti?

>Repeatedly using the same symbol or name to mark territory

>To get maximum attention, tags were often placed in central or high-traffic area

What is Kitsch?

>Bad art like memes, stickers, drawings that aren’t professional

>Many believe kitsch and true art don’t mix—if it’s kitsch, it’s not real art

>Art should let the viewer think deeply, reflect, and see more than just beauty

>If art is only about looks and enjoyment, some argue it loses its true purpose

>Still, some famous contemporary artists use kitsch elements and are very popular, despite criticism

>Modern phenomenon (after 18th century)

Types of Kitsch

>Cute: quant cottages, pink for feminine

>Macho: lions and tigers

>Luxury: wealth, animal print, velvet, decorations

>Tourism: cheap package holidays

>Movie