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!