Mass Culture & Sustainability

Notes!

I really enjoyed the lecture on Friday. There were so many interesting points, no time just now to do some research on some of the names mentioned, but I will on Wednesday after assignment 3 is done and our main study project presentation is over!

Assignment 3

25/2
I have experienced some odd behaviour today! Serena, Ailsa and I decided to go to Starbucks when it was fairly busy to start assignment three but it seemed like we walked into a lot of strange scenes on the way down; a man standing in the middle of the DoJ entrance staring confused at his broken brolly (really confused), a man crossing the road on a red man, turning round and expecting a high five for it, a child dropping randomly to the floor and spinning around in circles... weird. Taken a few pages of notes over the hour and a half we were there, thought it was much harder than I expected.

2/3
'Unspoken rules' and etiquette

For assignment three we were asked to observe people and their behaviour in a certain environment. We chose the popular coffee shop Starbucks.

At first I noticed the obvious things; people holding doors open, queing - very orderly and polite. People on their own were generally left on their own, even if there were several empty chairs at their tables.

Then I started to think about the environment we were in. Sound wise there was quiet chatting, no loud talking. Fairly mellow music was on quietly in the background - David Gray, Paolo Nutini, Talking Heads.

Although it is a relaxed, laid back and slow moving atmosphere, there seemed to be some kind of tension. When people walked in the door other people looked over as if they are judging them? When I walked in I did not feel comfortable immediately and took a while to relax.

There seemed to be a pretty varied group of people but I observed that there were mostly adults, students or workers. We all thought it was odd when a group of school children walked in. They took their purchases away, possibly feeling uncomfortable in the adult environment?

I suppose Starbucks is really an adult environment, there are very few children. One woman brought her child but looked very embarrassed when he started crying.

I also went to a pub quiz, I had actually never been to one before! I went with a couple of friends who hadn't been either and found it a bit awkward. Firstly where to get the paper and pens without looking stupid and also where we were supposed to sit etc. This was obviously a completely different atmosphere; the music and the people were louder, there were no children and a lot of alcohol was involved!

People watching is always fun and this assignment has made me look a little closer. It has also introduced me to the fun that is the pub quiz, hopefully we will do better than 9th next time...

Assignment 2

After showing quite a few people my photographs, adding more and then adding captions, I have gathered quite a varied set of stories. I think the point is to see how much information is needed to understand what is going on in a photograph, because with pictures there can be so many different meanings. I have found that it is more difficult than I expected, I think I could have started with better photographs though.

Barthes said that we are a 'civilisation of writing'. I have found that though the people I asked understood the photographs, in order to put across the specific story I needed to use captions. I definately agree with this point!

I asked my flat mate, Danny (19, student) what he thought of the first three photos. He said that it looked like there was a theme of waiting. The keys were waiting to be used, as was the wheel barrow, and the elderly people were waiting on a bench. He said that it was to show how the old people had all the time in the world to relax on the bench as they were retired. When I showed him the fourth photo he said it was to show the people having fun, continuing the theme of time.

I thought that was quite an interesting analysis of the photographs, not the story I was looking for though.

I added a picture of bottles of alcohol to see if that made any difference.

I showed my friend Chris (20, student) what he thought of the pictures. He gave me a very long and detailed story about the couple. He said the people walked home from their trip to the high street when the lady started complaining about her sore leg. The man realised that he had lost his keys, but knew his daughter who lived 15 mins away had a spare set. He then wheeled his wife to his daughters house where they had a drink to make the lady feel better.

Again not the story I was looking for!

Adding these photos did not work as hoped, so I added captions and put the photos in order.

To the photo of the elderly couple I put 'Enjoying the sunshine', under the bottles of alcohol I put 'Time to play!', under the keys I wrote 'Lost or found', and under the picture of the wheelbarrow I put 'Home time'.

I then showed my friend Louise (19, student) and asked what she thought the story was. She said the old people were enjoying their day out, decided to go for a few drinks, lost their keys and ended up in a wheel barrow.

Although I finally got the story I was looking for, I basically had to tell the person exactly what was happening! It just shows that there can be so many meanings to one picture (a picture speaks a thousand words, and can a thousand different stories!?)

To be honest, I am not sure whether this was a success or failure but it definately proved that pictures can have more than one meaning.

Wheelbarrow, house keys & old people.

I managed to get another couple of stories for part c of our assignment. My older brother basically pointed out what was in the photographs then said 'old couple used their keys to lock the door and drive their car when they went to buy a wheelbarrow.' Helpful!

A friend of mine, who wants to remain anonymous (19, female, student) told me that the man and women had been on holiday, they had too much fun and got too drunk, lost their keys and one had to wheel the other home in the wheel barrow! This is my favourite one, so I started looking for a drunk person in a wheelbarrow...

And this is the picture that I found!

Collage Portrait

Mondays (our 'drawing day') usually freak me out, I usually have no idea what I am doing and end up getting nothing done. Yesterday, however, was really good! I have never been into collage but I am quite happy with my portrait of Ailsa... even if it looks nothing like her.

Rhetoric of the Image...

Last week I spent a long time reading 'Rhetoric of the Image' by Roland Barthes, but thought i would start the experiment before I wrote about it.

Barthes' introduction questions how strong images can be in comparison with language in terms of meaning, and introduces what his essay will focus on; the advertising image. I am going to write up some notes, and read it again after I have finished the assignment

The three messages
Require cultural knowledge.

Linguistic - title, captions, labels. Is there always text around the image somewhere? We are a 'civilisation of writing'. A technique to 'fix the floating chain of signifieds', helps us to decide what is in front of us. Helps understanding and focus. Limits the power of an image? Directs the reader. - Anchorage.

Words can also be more general. In film, the text gives added information that cannot be seen in the images. - Relay.

Coded Iconic
Different signs, messages:
- return from the market = freshness, domestic.
- tomato, pepper & tricoloured hues (yellow, green, red) = Italiancity
- collection of different objects = 'culinary service'

Non-coded Iconic
Take away the signs - what is left?
Knowledge = perception.
Need to know what an image is and what the objects are.

Denoted image
Denoted drawing less pure than photograph - no drawing with out style. Connotations in drawing style, photographs record what is actually there.

Rhetoric of the Image
Reading an image depends on different types of knowledge - practical, national, cultural, aesthetic..

Random images...

'Seniors', 'Carretilla' and 'Key 04' were the titles of the three random images I chose for for our latest design studies assignment. The first was of an elderly couple sitting on a bench possibly in the middle of a high street. The second was a wheelbarrow outside with various things around it. The third was a close up of a set of keys.

My mother, who is a social worker, said that the photos showed 'an elderly couple on a bench watching the world go by', 'a wheel barrow, what looks like a coffin and a bike' and 'car and house keys'... Her linking story was that the old couple had left the house, with car keys, been in a car crash and ended up in a coffin, waiting for 'the men' to dig their grave (using the wheelbarrow).... :|

My father, who works in the fire brigade, said the photos showed 'two old folk having a rest on the high street', 'a wheel barrow sitting for no particular reason', and 'keys, like mine!, sitting on a table'. His story was that the couple were sitting oblivious to the fact that they had dropped their keys outside earlier, and would later have to use the wheelbarrow to stand on to climb in the kitchen window. (Slightly less sinister).

My younger brother (16, High school student) said the photos showed 'old people watching people', 'keys lying on paper' and 'a wheel barrow that has just been used to make a cement wall'. His story was that the old man dropped his keys in a wheelbarrow full of cement and was watching people go by, wanting to ask them to help him, but knowing they wouldn't...?

I think I will ask a couple of people at uni tomorrow and see if I get some more stories!

Design, consumption etc...

After our seminar it clicked that parts a, b, c and d of our assignments are probably meant to link together, who would have thought.

Chapter four of 'The Culture of Design' is all about how people create their identity through consumption. Analysing the photographs was about judging someones personality or identity through what they own (ie. what they consume). Lightbulb!

We were discussing where we shop, what kinds of things we buy, and how much we value different items. We pretty much all agreed that we value more expensive items with memories attatched (prom dresses for example).

We were asked if we think buying cheap, disposable clothes is a good or bad thing. In my view its a bad thing, I like individual pieces and they are bad for the environment, plus how is anyone supposed to be individual when everyone has the same stuff...

Linsay meets her stalker....

When I spoke to Linsay about her photographs she agreed with a few of my points. She is quite a sentimental peson with hundreds of photographs, she holds on to items from her childhood and jewellery means a lot to her.

Linsay agrees that her family is a main influence in her life, especially her mother and one of her aunties. She doesn’t see her siblings often, they are all very busy.

I said that Linsays home looked quite homey and natural, but she says she has only been there a year. She agrees that it looks homey because it is her parent’s house and not university halls.

Linsay corrected me on a few points. I said the photographs on her pin boards were of friends and that the drawings were made by friends, however most of her photographs are of family and pets and the drawings were made by her neice and nephews. I also commented that there were no band posters or cds, but I did not notice the iPod doc next to her TV, she usually has her iPod on her and all of her music is on that. I suggested that she had quite a few DVDs, I didn’t notice but the face of Linsays DVD collection is only the front row! She loves watching films and television series.

Linsay confirmed that she has a problem with throwing things away. She has lots of gifts from her family around her room and this is why she has so many things.

She then pointed out a couple of things that I had missed. Firstly she has lots of pens and masking tape on her desk, clearly an art student! I also did not see the bottle of vodka on her bookcase, she pointed it out and said ‘I like to party!’. I maybe overlooked these since everyone I know has these items around their rooms!

It has been interesting discussing my observations with Linsay, most of them were right but it was good to hear her background stories. Linsay seemed okay with having me snoop around her bedroom, she did not mind that I was analysing her things and seemed completely comfortable even though we are not close friends.

When I was looking at the photographs I did not really think about how I felt about snooping at someone elses property, because it is University work. I think on the subject of how ethical it is to do this, that it is ethical as long as the person is comfortable and gives permission. I do not think I would be comfortable posting the pictures on my blog however.

Being a snoop...

I've found it more difficult than I imagined to deduce a persons personality from photos of their bedroom. I have gone with the main points we were given and looked at taste, influences, possesions and environment.

Taste

Linsays room is full of books and DVDS. She has a large selection of DVDS including lots of ‘girly’ movies; Dirty Dancing, Ghost as well as some comedys; Hot Fuzz, Zoolander and a few Christmas movies.

Her room does not appear to have any posters so it is hard to determine what kind of music she likes.

The Harry Potter books are piled up on top of the rest in her book case. I think I can also see Lord of the Rings, there are quite a lot of books!

There is a lot of jewellery around as well, though this makes sense since she is a jewellery student.

She clearly likes soft toys as there are numerous teddies all over her room.

Influences

I would say Linsay is mostly influenced by family and friends, there are photos in most of her pictures and picture frames are placed all around her room. I wouldn’t say she was that influenced by music, as I cannot see any CDs or band posters anywhere, but maybe she owns MP3s instead! In the photos Lindsay and her friends seem to have the same kind of style.


Possessions

Linsays room looks very homey and natural, a fair bit of clutter with ornaments and day to day things like hair products and clothes. There are lots of childrens toys on top of her wardrobe, a dolls house and stuffed toys. This suggests that she is nostalgic. There are also quite a few jewellery boxes and small chests of drawers. She has what looks like a bottle of sun tan lotion on her bookcase, maybe she has been on holiday recently? I think there is also a pair of walking boots on the floor, but they are half cut out of the picture. Maybe she likes hill climbing.

Her pinboard is quite neat and not over crowded, she has photos of animals, probably pets, as well as of her friends and family, also suggesting nostalgia. She also has some light hearted drawings which look like they are from her friends.

Environment

Linsays room is obviously from her home, not a university flat. She has customised it with ornaments, photographs and a pinboard with photos and drawings on it.

I am meeting Linsay tomorrow morning to discuss the information that each of us gathered from each others photos and will post our findings after!

Consumption of Design

It took me a fair amount of time to properly read this chapter from 'The Culture of Design' by Guy Julier after skimming it over the Christmas holidays.. Overall I have found it quite interesting.

I like the idea that we now create our identity with what we choose to wear and what we buy instead of having it given to us. This obviously effects me as a designer as I will have to make choices as to how individual my pieces are.

I also like the idea of the consumer being involved in the making or changing of the product, modular furniture for example. It seems more personal and individual, and I hate the thought of everyone being the same or owning the same items..