Week 1 - Introduction to Visual Culture and Formal Analysis
Camilo Escobar Pazos
Created on August 1, 2024
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Transcript
Visual Culture
JR (2017) Giant Picnic. Mexican-US border installation
session 1
welcome to visual culture
Learning outcomes
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the process and contexts of interpreting visual material. Show an understanding and independent interpretation of the roles of both producer and viewer in visual communication. Apply research skills in the construction and presentation of a coherent discussion on topics relevant to the course material.
L01
L02
L03
Week 1 Objectives:
- To understand how visual culture is a field of social change.
- To find examples from different backgrounds that show how public, private, and community groups use different resources to develop images that demonstrate their interests.
- To understand formal analysis.
session objectives
week 1 Glossary
Culture
Formal Analysis
Visual Culture
All the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture is constantly shaped by societies and their governments and includes manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, and many more.
Is a term that refers to the tangible, or visible, expressions by a people, a state or a civilization, and collectively describes the characteristics of that body as a whole.
A mode of analysis focusing primarily on the identification and description of the formal features of an image and on their relations—rather than on its explicit content, or its specific cultural or historical context.
what is culture?
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Culture is a concept consisting of a set of shared practices and beliefs found in human societies. It is manifested through the arts and intellectual achievements, but also, through ideas, customs, laws, institutions, habits, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.
This means that CULTURE is not NATURAL. Instead, it is created, promoted, imposed, protected, attacked, rejected, forbidden, and empowered by societies.
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what is visual culture?
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assignment brief
handbook
guideline document
important documents
session 2
practical exercises
session 3
discussion and formal analysis
notes to remember
- Culture and Visual Culture are created by societies in different ways depending on their social, cultural, and economic contexts.
- Images communicate ideas. This makes it particularly important to ask who is making the image (the producer)? under what circumstances? for what purposes? and directed to whom (the viewer)?
- Different sectors of societies (Private, Public, and Community) use images in the form of, campaigns, posters, art, advertising, etc., to promote and defend their ideas.
- Visual Culture can become an instrument by which our society finds new ways of thinking and understanding our life.
examples of visual culture
Alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint has launched a major out-of-home (OOH) campaign for Dry January 2023, in which 9 million Brits are taking part.Image source: https://www.marketing-beat.co.uk/2023/01/12/lucky-saint-ooh-dry-january/
Public information poster encouraging women to work in factories to contribute to the war effort, Catalogue ref: INF 3/403Image Source: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/home-front-1939-1945-part-two/come-into-the-factories/
NHS launches landmark mental health campaign with ‘Help!’ from The Beatles.Image Source: https://www.southportandformbyccg.nhs.uk/get-informed/latest-news/nhs-lounches-landmark-mental-health-campaign-with-help-from-the-beatles/
Chanel No. 5 bottle as drawn by a child with a simple message: “Happy Mother’s Day.” Image Source: https://www.designrush.com/agency/digital-marketing/trends/best-marketing-campaigns
MARK BRADFORD Los Angeles (detail) 2019 Mixed media on canvasImage Source: https://www.hauserwirth.com/
Barilla [pasta] advertising on bus stops—a campaign showing support for all ways of living.
who do you think are the producers and the viewersof these images? discuss
case studies
The following case studies will focus on three examples of visual production developed in Colombia in the 21st century, and how different parts of society have created imagery and constructed symbols to defend and promote their ideas. This case study is relevant because first, it provides a reference for the way, depending on the sector and the intentions of the producer, very different visual production can be seen in the same country; secondly, it will allow us to see that every sector has different resources that they use for their visual production, and lastly, because it will introduce you to how we will develop formal visual analysis during the following ten weeks. For this purpose we will: - Conduct formal analysis of 3 visual pieces within the last twenty years in Colombia.
how to conduct visual analysis?
Visual Culture discusses the context, materiality, impact, and meaning of visual objects created in specific locations.However, you might be asking, how do we analyse an image?There are many ways to analyse images. For this module, we have chosen the following framework of analysis:1- Formal Analysis [Today we will focus on FORMAL ANALYSIS]2- Conceptual Analysis3- Contextual AnalysisThe following slides will provide you with suggested questions that you can ask yourself every time to help you develop formal visual analysis. As you will discover, not all questions apply all the time; it is your job to see which questions are most relevant depending on the images you are analysing.
questions for formal analysis
Formal analysis does not use or require research and is based on your POV. The more informed you are, the deeper your analysis will go—but that depth depends on experience and knowledge, not on research.What are the materials used to create this image, and how do they affect your understanding of it?Is this work part of a genre? grafitti, painting, digital campaign?What kinds of technologies were used to make this image? Digital print? online media?, TV?, painting?Is the image realistic or abstract? Why do you think that the producer chose this way to express their ideas? How does this choice affect your understanding of the content? Is there text in the image? If so, how does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What about the image caption? How does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at?What are the key visual elements or principles that are present in this image (see the list next slide)? Is it reliant on one element or principle more than another?
case study 1 - campaign (private sector)
Advertising campaign from Bancolombia. Bancolombia is Colombia's biggest bank. 2008
Please look at this image. Read the questions and the key visual elements you have been given.Think of possible answers
formal analysis
What key visual elements or principles are present in this image? Is it reliant on one element or principle more than another? Movement: This is not only because the video is a moving image but also because the image presented can be seen as a short road film. A car moves 100% of the time and stops only to finish the video. The movement through the different locations is what tells the story of searching. Media: As mentioned before, it is a short film. Composition: The composition of the video is key. Here, we can see who the main characters are, what they are doing, and their story, which is told through different perspectives or camera shots. All the elements, including the audio, tell the story and set the piece's pace, tone and mood.
What kinds of technologies were used to make this image? Digital print? online media?, TV?, painting? The technology used for the distribution and circulation of this piece was TV. .
Is the image realistic or abstract? Why do you think the producer chose this way to express their ideas? How does this choice affect your understanding of the content? The image is realistic. The producer's intentions for making it this way are due to the connection sought to be made with the audience. The video presents a realistic yet romantic picture of the whole country. Rural and urban territories are connected by a bank that 'does everything for always being together'. At the same time, the song 'te busco' [I look for you] is played in the background. This choice affects the understanding of the piece because it tells a love story between two objects embodied by a bank. It produces a sense of closeness and affection for a finance corporation.
Is this work part of a genre? grafitti, painting, digital campaign?The image is a short film, part of a campaign broadcasted on Colombian National Television.
Is there text in the image? If so, how does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What about the image caption? How does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at?Yes, there is text shown in the last five seconds of the short film. This text is very important because it is only at this point that we understand the campaign's producer. At no other time is the viewer aware that this is a Grupo Bancolombia campaign.
What materials are used to create this image, and how do they affect your understanding? Since the image is a video or a short film, the materials used were multiple. For example, even though the main character is an old 1950s car with a metal figurine on the hood, other 'materials' or rather locations, such as rivers, small towns, and cities, added to that children, traffic, the elements such as rain or sun, and people doing every day and working activities are seen.
case study 2 - Public sector
Mario Opazo KusikawsaySculpture made with ammunition laid down by las FARC, installed in the United Nations Gardens. New York City.2019
Please look at this image. Read the questions and the key visual elements you have been given.Think of possible answers
Mario Opazo (2022) - United Nations, New York City.
Kusikawsayformal analysis
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Monumento a la Resistencia [Monument to Resistance]Work developed by the community of Puerto Resistencia during the 2021 protests in Colombia.Cali, Colombia2021
case study 3 - community
Please look at this image. Read the questions and the key visual elements you have been given.Think of possible answers
Puerto Resistencia, Cali, Colombia
Monumento a la resistencia formal analysis
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Is the image realistic or abstract? Why do you think the producer chose this way to express their ideas? How does this choice affect your understanding of the content? The image is meant to be realistic. A left fist raised from the ground is an international symbol of popular power; added to this, the sign held with the word resistance and the portraits of people emphasize that this is a monument, as its name suggests, for resistance. I think the producers (people who made the monument) created it this way to have a clear symbol of communication with the country. It leaves no room for other readings.
What are the materials used to create this image, and how do they affect your understanding of it? The materials used are cement, paint, and general construction materials. Is this work part of a genre? Graffiti, painting, digital campaign? The work is a public monument. However, it has elements of graffiti and painting, too. What kinds of technologies were used to make this image? Digital print? Online media? TV?, painting? Construction technologies were used to create the monument.
Is there text in the image? If so, how does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What about the image caption? How does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at?Yes, there is text. The text is very important to the image. The word RESISTE [Resistance] that the hand holds makes the message of the monument very clear. Apart from this, all around the arm are words such as justice, fight, and memory. It is clear how the captions are an important part of the monument that helps understand the image.
What are the key visual art elements or principles present in this image (see the list next slide)? Is it reliant on one element or principle more than another? Shape— Organic shapes are seen. Not only the overall shape of the image but also the ones painted on top. Colour— Very colourful, high-contrast image. Texture—The visual texture is heavy due to the construction material; however, it can feel like it has structural problems. Form— Forms are organic. Space—The monument is located in a public space. It is a big structure that becomes a landmark for any passerby. Composition—The hand's composition is balanced. However, the painting on top of the structure is an asymmetrical composition, with different elements that create visual tension. Media/Medium— Construction Material. Repetition/Rhythm— There is repetition of portraiture. Faces of people are placed all over the arm.
conclusion
Visual Culture is a field of study that emerges from the conception that images are the original form of communication. It is a way of studying the world and its relations, arguing how images influence new ways of thinking, understanding and mediating our societies. What are images saying? Do images actually communicate ideas? Today, in class, you developed exercises for formal analysis. This type of analysis is related to observing. Looking at images and seeing all the elements that create that composition helps us be aware of possible symbols and/or metaphors inside them. This is useful for understanding the meaning of images. As we studied today, making images is about communication. It is for this reason that learning how to read images produced in our current moment is critical to understanding how society is communicating, and this can lead to opportunities for developing trends, reaching out to possible clients, and proposing ideas.
Bibliography
Articles: Bond, Bradley & Compton, Benjamin. (2015). Gay On-Screen: The Relationship Between Exposure to Gay Characters on Television and Heterosexual Audiences' Endorsement of Gay Equality. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 59. 717-732. 10.1080/08838151.2015.1093485. Güiza Mesa, D. (2023). Valor y significado del Monumento a la Resistencia de Cali desde una perspectiva del patrimonio cultural. [online] Universidad de los Andes. [Acceso : 24 de julio 2024] Marulanda-Montes, Andrea, Mejía-Amézquita, Valentina, & Giraldo-Ospina, Tania. (2022). El arte callejero como herramienta transformadora para una nueva ciudadanía en Manizales, Colombia. Revista de Arquitectura (Bogotá), 24(2), 50-60. Epub Nov 27, 2022. https://doi.org/10.14718/revarq.2022.24.4054 Webpages: Article, J.L.-T.S.T. (2023). The U.K. Is Rolling Out a New ‘Retain and Explain’ Policy Regarding Its Controversial Public Statues. [online] Artnet News. Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/uk-retain-explain-statue-policy-2373450 [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024]. BBC (2019). Islamophobia ‘behind Rise of far-right’. BBC News. [online] 18 Feb. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47280082. edition.cnn.com. (2019). Thousands gather in London for climate change protest | CNN. [online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/04/15/climate-change-protests-london-michael-holmes-dnt-vpx.cnn [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024]. Fragmentos.gov.co. (2023). Inicio. [online] Available at: https://www.fragmentos.gov.co/fragmentos/Paginas/default.aspx. Kaur, T. (2021). All types of LGBTQ representation in media: a comprehensive list. [online] Heckin’ Unicorn. Available at: https://heckinunicorn.com/blogs/heckin-unicorn-blog/queer-representation-in-media-comprehensive-list-breakdown-lgbt?currency=GBP.
London.gov.uk - Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan | London Assembly. (n.d.). London.gov.uk - Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan | London Assembly. [online] Available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/. marioopazo1 (2021). 2019_KUSIKAWSAY/ MONUMENTO A LA PAZ / SEDE ONU NYC. [online] MARIO OPAZO. Available at: https://meopazoc.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/2019_monumento-a-la-paz-sede-onu-nyc/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024].periodico.unal.edu.co. (n.d.). Periódico UNAL. [online] Available at: https://periodico.unal.edu.co/articulos/dejacion-de-armas-reincorporacion-y-normalizacion/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024]. Prashad, V. and Tonat, E.A. (2021). Erdoğan Starts a Political Earthquake in Turkey. peoplesdispatch.org. [online] 23 Mar. Available at: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/03/23/erdogan-starts-a-political-earthquake-in-turkey/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024]. Rijksmuseum (n.d.). Rijksmuseum – The Museum of the Netherlands - in Amsterdam. [online] Rijksmuseum. Available at: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en. v, M. del P.A.S. (2021). Monumento a la Resistencia se queda: alcalde Ospina. [online] Agencia de Medios Hoy Noticias. Available at: https://agenciademedioshoynoticias.com/monumento-a-la-resistencia-se-queda-alcalde-ospina/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024]. www.comisiondelaverdad.co. (n.d.). Inicio | Informe Final Comisión de la Verdad. [online] Available at: https://www.comisiondelaverdad.co/. www.las2orillas.co. (2019). Kusikawsay, el monumento colombiano a la paz que será instalado en la sede de la ONU. [online] Available at: https://www.las2orillas.co/kusikawsay-el-monumento-colombiano-la-paz-que-sera-instalado-en-la-sede-de-la-onu/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2024].
Line - Any line found within any image, such as a line that defines the edge of a figure or the horizon line or even a curved line implied by a sculpture. Line can be described according to its quality—is it long and fluid or a short jagged line or cross hatched? Shape – Any shape found within the image, either implied or explicit. Shapes can be defined as being abstract, geometric, and/or organic. Color – Color includes elements of hue, value, and intensity. The hue is the name of the color, the value is its lightness or darkness, and the intensity is its level of brightness and/or purity or dullness and/or muddiness. Texture – The texture of an image can be explicit, in terms of how it actually feels, such as in a steel sculpture, or implicit, in terms of how it might feel if you were to touch it, such as the fur on an animal in an illustration. Form – Form includes any aspect of images that suggests or has volume, such as a cube or sphere or organic shape. Form can be implied by certain aspects of shading or the use of shadows or can be an actual three-dimensional piece. Value – Value refers to the lightness or darkness of the tones or colors in an image. This element overlaps with color to some extent but is generally used to reference the overall work rather than smaller aspects of it. Space – Space can include actual space, such as in a public work or sculpture, or the space implied inside a two-dimensional work, such as the illusion of a landscape or the flat space of an abstract painting. Composition – The arrangement all aspects within the image. Key terms include symmetical/asymmetrical, balanced/imbalanced, static/dynamic. Media/Medium – The material used to create the piece. Repetition/Rhythm – Any aspect of an image that is repeated or the creates a noticeable pattern. Movement – The allusion to movement (e.g. an animal running), actual movement (e.g. a pendulum swinging) or implied movement (the direction your eye follows in a composition). This might also reference editing or camera work in a video.
Visual Elements and Principles:
PRINT / Hand-Out
Is there text in the image? If so, how does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What about the image caption? How does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at?There is no text in the image besides the captions. Here is where we can see the title, which does influence our understanding. The title refers to an indigenous way of life.
What are the key visual art elements or principles that are present in this image (see the list next slide)? Is it reliant on one element or principle more than another? Line – Lines and long and fluid, following the shape of the river boat. Shape – It is an explicit shape of a river canoe used by indigenous peoples in Colombia. Colour – Colour is dark Texture – Metallic corrugated texture. Space – The sculpture is literally coming out of the ground in an angle. Being a public art monument, it occupies a space in which people can interact with it. Composition – Balanced composition showing the canoe as if it were flying off from the ground. Media/Medium – Molten ammunition.
CULTURE thus, is developed by societies in different social fields.Social fields are all the spaces where our socieities interact. For example public, private or communitarian. This means that, we create our CULTURE by designing these fields according to societies preferences.
What kinds of technologies were used to make this image? Digital print? Online media? TV?, painting?Industrial technologies molten the ammunition and transform it into a sculpture.Is the image realistic or abstract? Why do you think the producer chose this way to express their ideas? How does this choice affect your understanding of the content?The image is realistic. The artist used this realistic image to develop a symbol recognisable by Colombian people. Between the image and the title of the work, ‘Kusikawsay,’ we realise that this work is about the revindication of ancestral knowledge. noe—typical of Indigenous communities in Colombia known as 'cayuco'—emerging from the land towards the sky.
← While it is NATURAL for people to have hair
It is CULTURAL for Buddist Monks to shave it. →
EXAMPLE
Visual culture is fluid, continuously adapting, and as humans we constantly find new ways to engage with, contemplate, and question the world through visual imagery. In the words of W.J.T Mitchell, “The most far-reaching shift signalled by the search for an adequate concept of visual culture is its emphasis on the social field of the visual, the everyday processes of looking at others and being looked at.
Images can effectively communicate ideas. This is expectedly true in art and design; however, it is also true for every image we see every second of our lives. A good way to start understanding an image's meaning is by looking at its formal attributes. Ask, for example, what materials were used to create this image, and how do they affect your understanding of it? Is this work part of a genre like graffiti, painting, or digital campaign? What kinds of technologies were used to make this image? Digital print? online media?, TV? Painting? Is the image realistic or abstract? Why do you think the producer chose this way to express their ideas? How does this choice affect your understanding of the content? Is there a text in the image? If so, how does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What about the image caption? How does it shape our understanding of what we are looking at? What are the key visual elements or principles present in this image? Is it reliant on one element or principle more than another? These questions, as seen in the exercises you developed earlier, will help you understand the formal aspects of the images you are looking at. First, let's see some examples.
Visual culture is an interdisciplinary notion that constitutes the visual as a pioneer for knowledge and understanding. Leah Houston declares that, “visual culture is a way of studying” the world and its relations through means of “art history, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It is intertwined with everything that one sees in [their] day-to-day life–advertising, landscape, buildings, photographs, movies, paintings, apparel–anything within our culture that communicates through visual means.”
What are the materials used to create this image, and how do they affect your understanding of it?Molten ammunition laid down by las FARC-EP.Is this work part of a genre? Grafitti, painting, digital campaign?It is a sculpture and a monument to the peace agreements between the Colombian State and las FARC-EP.
As a field of study, and everyday notion, the theory of visual culture argues for how images influence new ways of thinking, understanding, and mediating. It is a way of looking at the world to make sense of the universe and humanity’s divergent and complex relations.
Just as we mentioned with Culture, we also create our Visual Culture. The two concepts relate in different ways depending on the economic, social, and cultural aspects of the image producer. For example, the images created by the government of China to communicate with their people are different from the images created by the government of Brazil for the same purpose. The conditions of culture, economy, and society in these two countries thus mediate the possible visible creations public, private, and community initiatives might have.
Societal 'preferences' easily change. Think of how only in 2007 smoking in pubs was banned. Smoking was normalized behaviour; however, today, no one would smoke inside a closed space. This shift in societal norms is a good example of how societies can change due to policy. There are power structures in every society which have interests in shaping behaviours and thoughts to benefit their positions. In business, this is called competition. However, it is also visible in the public sector, where political parties promote different ideals people support or reject. Communities have also found ways to defend their causes against what they consider unjust. Interestingly, all these interests are manifested through the use of images.
However...