Commodity Fetishism
use value and exchange value
commodity self
“consumerism creates and abstract world of signs and symbols separate from the economic context of commerce and production”
How?
mass-produced goods are emptied of the meaning of their production (the context in which they were produced and the labour that created them) and then filled with new meanings in ways that both mystify the product and turn it into a fetish object
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Week 8
Advertising, Consumers Cultures & Desires
Envy, Desire, & Belonging
the language of transformation they sell the promise tat their lives will change if they buy a particular product. They use figures of glamour that consumers can envy and wish to emulate.
Attachment if the value if art to a product can give it a connotation of prestige tradition or authenticity & cultural value -
ex. grey goose vodka advertising
Ads such as these construct consumers as having cultural knowledge - cultural capital. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu identified different forms of capital in addition to economic capital, social capital, & cultural capital.
Social Capital = whom you know, your social network, & the opportunities they provide you.
Symbolic Capital = prestige celebrities
Cultural Capital = the forms of cultural knowledge that give you social advantages. It can come in deciphering cultural relation & artifacts
Commodity Culture
Commodity Fetishism
- Marx’s Theory - Social Theorist
- 19th the first to write about capitalism as a social structural element sometimes “use value” is outweighed by “exchange value” (the more expensive the better)
We construct tour identities with the consumer products we buy and keep
Commodities are emptied of the meaning of their production (the context in which they were produced)
4 wheel drive - analysis
decode the ad
- who is the “commodity self” of the 4WD
- consider connotations of voice over
- midlife crisis for women is almost getting an SUV
- this whole thing plays on fear (giving up, not having adventures) so you get a vehicle that can do all these things that you’re not going to do
- cause-related marketing (suzuki with the black rhino)
- 25% of Australians actively reject the green message
Envy, Desire, & Belonging
the language of transformation they sell the promise tat their lives will change if they buy a particular product. They use figures of glamour that consumers can envy and wish to emulate.
Attachment if the value if art to a product can give it a connotation of prestige tradition or authenticity & cultural value -
ex. grey goose vodka advertising
Ads such as these construct consumers as having cultural knowledge - cultural capital. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu identified different forms of capital in addition to economic capital, social capital, & cultural capital.
Social Capital = whom you know, your social network, & the opportunities they provide you.
Symbolic Capital = prestige celebrities
Cultural Capital = the forms of cultural knowledge that give you social advantages. It can come in deciphering cultural relation & artifacts
Commodity Culture
Commodity Fetishism
- Marx’s Theory - Social Theorist
- 19th the first to write about capitalism as a social structural element sometimes “use value” is outweighed by “exchange value” (the more expensive the better)
We construct tour identities with the consumer products we buy and keep
Commodities are emptied of the meaning of their production (the context in which they were produced)
4 wheel drive - analysis
decode the ad
- who is the “commodity self” of the 4WD
- consider connotations of voice over
- midlife crisis for women is almost getting an SUV
- this whole thing plays on fear (giving up, not having adventures) so you get a vehicle that can do all these things that you’re not going to do
- cause-related marketing (suzuki with the black rhino)
- 25% of Australians actively reject the green message
Week 6
1) Photography = of a time - a historical document only recognized as such in the fullness of time
2) Culture counter culture
sub - culture
------------------ --> visual manifestations and representations
high culture
popular culture
get a picture of Liang’s bride and Annie’s together and compare and contrast. both are staged, talk about why one is called art and one is called commercial photography.
This picture was taken in the slums of the city. These people were photographed sitting on the steps to their run down house. An interview with the mother, Catherine, reveals that she is the caretaker of an orphanage in the city taking care of no less than 50 children. of the two children in this picture, the one on the left is Catherine’s own child and the one on the right is her adopted. When this picture was taken, the family was waiting for Catherine’s sister, Mary to return safely from a trip into town.
2) Culture counter culture
sub - culture
------------------ --> visual manifestations and representations
high culture
popular culture
get a picture of Liang’s bride and Annie’s together and compare and contrast. both are staged, talk about why one is called art and one is called commercial photography.
This picture was taken in the slums of the city. These people were photographed sitting on the steps to their run down house. An interview with the mother, Catherine, reveals that she is the caretaker of an orphanage in the city taking care of no less than 50 children. of the two children in this picture, the one on the left is Catherine’s own child and the one on the right is her adopted. When this picture was taken, the family was waiting for Catherine’s sister, Mary to return safely from a trip into town.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Week 5
Annie Liebovitz at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia
"William S. Burroughs in his garage, lawrence, Kansas 1995"
"Sarajevo; fallen bicycle of teenage boy just killed by a sniper, 1994"
These two photos were the two that stood out the most to me in the Annie Liebovitz exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The first photo of William Burroughs stood out to me because the picture is so detailed you can see the weathered skin of Burroughs. Every wrinkle, dot, and sag, represents a year, a month, a decade in his life. Its so real and in front of your face, you can't help but notice and observe the frailty of life and the toll that life itself takes on each individual.
The second photo of the fallen bicycle is important because of the visual impact it gives. You can see the blood of the boy who died moments later in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It really has a whole story behind this picture which you can feel just by looking at it.
These two photos were the two that stood out the most to me in the Annie Liebovitz exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The first photo of William Burroughs stood out to me because the picture is so detailed you can see the weathered skin of Burroughs. Every wrinkle, dot, and sag, represents a year, a month, a decade in his life. Its so real and in front of your face, you can't help but notice and observe the frailty of life and the toll that life itself takes on each individual.
The second photo of the fallen bicycle is important because of the visual impact it gives. You can see the blood of the boy who died moments later in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It really has a whole story behind this picture which you can feel just by looking at it.
Week 4
Images, Power, Politics
I. Arthur Felig (Weegee) June 12, 1899 - December 26, 1968
1. Their First Murder (Before 1945)
2. Weegee working in the back of his Chevrolet in 1942
a. where he developed all his photos on the spot
3. Emmett Till
b. “whistled” at a white woman so white men tortured him to death
4. Emmett Till’s brutalized body in his casket, 1955
5. Fire Escape: Nice View, Sleeps 8
6. Hell’s Kitchen
II. Robert Frank
1. “Trolly” New Orleans
a. denotation: people on trolley
b. connotation” segregation between black and whites with the blacks being pushed to the back of the bus
III. MCA Head of Artistic Programs on Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990 - 2005
1. She stuck up 2 panels and put up all of her pictures so she could choose the ones for the exebition and live with them to ensure their quality and importance
2. born in 1949 in Connecticut (3rd child of 6 children)
3. fun-loving family (can be seen in the pictures of her parents)
4. over the 15 year span of the photogtraphs one can notice:
a. father grows increasingly fail
b. loses good friend Susan Songtag
c. Annie had 3 children (2001, first child born same year of world trade center)
d. great interest in the body (olympic athletes, Johnny Depp, Kate Monson)
5. San Francisco Art Academy graduate
a. in her 3rd year, she was having her images printed in the Rolling Stone
6. by 1973 she was the regular editor of Rolling Stone
a. went on the road with Rolling Stone’s band traveling cross-country
b. took the last image of John Lenon nearly 4 hours before he was killed
7. went to work for Vanity Fair after Rolling Stone
a. caused quite a scandal with her first picture
8. Annie was 51 when her first daughter was born
IV. Rosemary Laing - Australian
1. Bride photographs
a. staged photography with trampolines and women in bridal gowns
b. some with bullet holes, others with birds, all falling from the sky
I. Arthur Felig (Weegee) June 12, 1899 - December 26, 1968
2. Weegee working in the back of his Chevrolet in 1942
a. where he developed all his photos on the spot
3. Emmett Till
b. “whistled” at a white woman so white men tortured him to death
4. Emmett Till’s brutalized body in his casket, 1955
5. Fire Escape: Nice View, Sleeps 8
6. Hell’s Kitchen
II. Robert Frank
a. denotation: people on trolley
b. connotation” segregation between black and whites with the blacks being pushed to the back of the bus
III. MCA Head of Artistic Programs on Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990 - 2005
2. born in 1949 in Connecticut (3rd child of 6 children)
3. fun-loving family (can be seen in the pictures of her parents)
4. over the 15 year span of the photogtraphs one can notice:
a. father grows increasingly fail
b. loses good friend Susan Songtag
c. Annie had 3 children (2001, first child born same year of world trade center)
d. great interest in the body (olympic athletes, Johnny Depp, Kate Monson)
5. San Francisco Art Academy graduate
a. in her 3rd year, she was having her images printed in the Rolling Stone
6. by 1973 she was the regular editor of Rolling Stone
a. went on the road with Rolling Stone’s band traveling cross-country
b. took the last image of John Lenon nearly 4 hours before he was killed
7. went to work for Vanity Fair after Rolling Stone
a. caused quite a scandal with her first picture
8. Annie was 51 when her first daughter was born
IV. Rosemary Laing - Australian
a. staged photography with trampolines and women in bridal gowns
b. some with bullet holes, others with birds, all falling from the sky
Week 3
What is culture and how does it effect the meaning of a product or artwork?
I. Define: Culture
a. high culture --> philosophy, intellectual pursuit
b. low culture --> everyday consumption of goods and services as well as popular activities and sports
c. if barbie went to Nigeria
- just a doll
- not interpretable the same way
- skin color
II. Barbie in Time (culture)
a. history reflects the fashion of the time
b. blonde, big lips, large eyes, extreme proportions, very long legs, blue eyes proportional differences is between breast and waist measurements
c. having the figure of barbie gives a woman power
III. Bratz
a. features can be paralleled to the features babies are born with
b. babies represent innocence, compliance, submission, manipulable, sweetness, unquestioning love
c. these offer the male a sense of power
- 2 sources of power in our society: money and sex
- this perpetuates and old paradigm (the imbalance between the sexes)
IV. Culture vs. Popular Culture
a. Culture
- the process of society’s intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development (ex. philosophers, poet, etc.)
- particular way of life of a people, period, or group (ex. the development of literacy, the types of sports played, the celebration of festivals)
- works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity novels, ballets, operas, fine art
b. Popular Culture
- phenomenon evolving out of the consumerist and emerging youth culture of the 50s and 60s
- its products are accessible and mass produced
- work deliberately setting out to win favor with the masses or specific communities
- culture produced by industy and consumed and popularised by word of mouth and the media
c. Criticisms of Popular Culture
- Theodore Adorno of the “Frankfurt School” described consumers of such culture victims. Political implications are: that this process maintains public passivity towards instructions. In this way, visual communication is an agent of ideology
I. Define: Culture
a. high culture --> philosophy, intellectual pursuit
b. low culture --> everyday consumption of goods and services as well as popular activities and sports
c. if barbie went to Nigeria
- just a doll
- not interpretable the same way
- skin color
II. Barbie in Time (culture)
b. blonde, big lips, large eyes, extreme proportions, very long legs, blue eyes proportional differences is between breast and waist measurements
c. having the figure of barbie gives a woman power
III. Bratz
b. babies represent innocence, compliance, submission, manipulable, sweetness, unquestioning love
c. these offer the male a sense of power
- 2 sources of power in our society: money and sex
- this perpetuates and old paradigm (the imbalance between the sexes)
IV. Culture vs. Popular Culture
a. Culture
- the process of society’s intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development (ex. philosophers, poet, etc.)
- particular way of life of a people, period, or group (ex. the development of literacy, the types of sports played, the celebration of festivals)
- works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity novels, ballets, operas, fine art
b. Popular Culture
- phenomenon evolving out of the consumerist and emerging youth culture of the 50s and 60s
- its products are accessible and mass produced
- work deliberately setting out to win favor with the masses or specific communities
- culture produced by industy and consumed and popularised by word of mouth and the media
c. Criticisms of Popular Culture
- Theodore Adorno of the “Frankfurt School” described consumers of such culture victims. Political implications are: that this process maintains public passivity towards instructions. In this way, visual communication is an agent of ideology
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Week 2
- the power of visual story telling is not a modern phenomenon
- how our ancient ancestors made the discoveries that have given film a hold on civilization
- its the job of a storyteller to engage the audience as much as you can
I. Mesopotamia
1. farming , mathematics, writing started here
2. British Archeologist Austin Henry Leyard discovered the world’s first written language
3. first story ever written (began and ended in the first city ever build (Uruk, Iraq)
4. Gilgamesh (world’s first great hero)
5. Ashabenapa story told through pictures
a. created the world’s first complete visual story
b. beginning, middle, end, and subplots
c. established a hero, and a plot, but something critical was missing
i. no rage, no tears, no emotion
ii. no engagement
II. Greece
1. obsessed with epic stories and myths
2. Odysseus
a. showing the moment of maximum tension, just before the climax
3. Greek artist found a way to bring their stories alive
4. viewers can identify with the characters emotionally
III. Romans
1. the Trajan’s column
2. 35m high
3. Napoleon Bonaparte, Italian Dictator Musulini, and other influential men took great fascination
4. Trajan’s Campaign against the Dations (sp?)
5. epic movie frozen among stone
6. the column anticipated film techniques
a. introduced visual cuts and bird’s eye view
b. made a way to summarize the story by looking up the notheast side of the column (a trailer, if you will)
7. doesn’t have the power to captivate
8. missing a final elemant
IV. Australia
1. some of the oldest painted images found anywhere on the planet
2. some date back over 40,000 years
3. world’s first art galleries
4. Baldwin Spencer
a. lived among the aboriginal people
b. obsessed with painting
c. painting the same images over and over again
d. same images found in the caves pained thousands and thousands of years earlier
e. introduced symbolized images
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. 2 Methods of studying Visual Culture
1. Process Theory
a. Shannon and Weaver Model (telephone engineers)
i. informational source (client and/or designer, author)
ii. transmitter (design)
iii 1/2. (noise source)
iv. receiver (bilboard, magazine, etc)
v. destination (readers, viewers)
2. Semiotics
b. Linguistic Model (deciphering meaning)
i. denoted
ii. connotated
iii. signs
iv. symbols
v. indexes
II. 3 Levels of A __ technical
1. accuracy
2. encoding
3. compatibility question
a. is there special equipment or knowledge required?
III. Linguistics
1. views communication as the production of meaning and suggests that one message is going to mean different thing to different people depending on different factors
2. it focuses on the receiver and the social, political and economic environment in which they live
3. this theoretical approach to design applies not only to graphic design but fashion designers product designers illustrator and architects
IV. Decoding Visual Messages
1. signs and symbols
a. - symbolic sign (means watch out)
b. (working) - iconic sign (this part changes according to the culture that produced it [means men at work])
c. red circle w/ bar = signifier
something is forbidden = signified
d. signified = ciggarette
V. Culture as goods or as tools
1. the values of any culture are incorporated into the sign systems we us
- how our ancient ancestors made the discoveries that have given film a hold on civilization
- its the job of a storyteller to engage the audience as much as you can
I. Mesopotamia
2. British Archeologist Austin Henry Leyard discovered the world’s first written language
3. first story ever written (began and ended in the first city ever build (Uruk, Iraq)
4. Gilgamesh (world’s first great hero)
5. Ashabenapa story told through pictures
a. created the world’s first complete visual story
b. beginning, middle, end, and subplots
c. established a hero, and a plot, but something critical was missing
i. no rage, no tears, no emotion
ii. no engagement
II. Greece
2. Odysseus
a. showing the moment of maximum tension, just before the climax
3. Greek artist found a way to bring their stories alive
4. viewers can identify with the characters emotionally
III. Romans
2. 35m high
3. Napoleon Bonaparte, Italian Dictator Musulini, and other influential men took great fascination
4. Trajan’s Campaign against the Dations (sp?)
5. epic movie frozen among stone
6. the column anticipated film techniques
a. introduced visual cuts and bird’s eye view
b. made a way to summarize the story by looking up the notheast side of the column (a trailer, if you will)
7. doesn’t have the power to captivate
8. missing a final elemant
IV. Australia
2. some date back over 40,000 years
3. world’s first art galleries
4. Baldwin Spencer
a. lived among the aboriginal people
b. obsessed with painting
c. painting the same images over and over again
d. same images found in the caves pained thousands and thousands of years earlier
e. introduced symbolized images
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. 2 Methods of studying Visual Culture
1. Process Theory
a. Shannon and Weaver Model (telephone engineers)
i. informational source (client and/or designer, author)
ii. transmitter (design)
iii 1/2. (noise source)
iv. receiver (bilboard, magazine, etc)
v. destination (readers, viewers)
2. Semiotics
b. Linguistic Model (deciphering meaning)
i. denoted
ii. connotated
iii. signs
iv. symbols
v. indexes
II. 3 Levels of A __ technical
1. accuracy
2. encoding
3. compatibility question
a. is there special equipment or knowledge required?
III. Linguistics
1. views communication as the production of meaning and suggests that one message is going to mean different thing to different people depending on different factors
2. it focuses on the receiver and the social, political and economic environment in which they live
3. this theoretical approach to design applies not only to graphic design but fashion designers product designers illustrator and architects
IV. Decoding Visual Messages
1. signs and symbols
a. - symbolic sign (means watch out)
b. (working) - iconic sign (this part changes according to the culture that produced it [means men at work])
c. red circle w/ bar = signifier
something is forbidden = signified
d. signified = ciggarette
V. Culture as goods or as tools
1. the values of any culture are incorporated into the sign systems we us
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Week 1
1. We Are Humans
- so we: dream, imagine, question, wonder, think, puzzle, search for answers
- part of the puzzling is art
- images are language
2. The Hierarchy of Art Making
a. fine art
b. commercial art (graphic design)
c. popular culture
- these operate as codes within a culture and are easy yo decode if you live in that culture
- but there are “sub cultures” and “special interest groups.” Codes change and we never stop learning them
3. Semiotics (the study of meaning)
- interpreting the meaning
- we use a three part method that includes:
a. materiality
b. formalism
c. content
i. denotation
ii. connotation
4. Materiality
- each culture ahas different materials available to it
- the artistic or designer chooses from them
- ex. the material (aka technology) for an iPod was not availab;e to your grandparents’ culture
5. Formalism
- line, color, form/shape, composition
6. Content
- Denotation
- we denote swords, men, women
- Connotation
- sending a man to his death
- political statement
- willing to die for beliefs
7. Cultural Critique
- social conditions
- many ways we communicate non-verbally, personally
- clothes, hair, car, arranging items in our house or room, facial expressions, body language, tattoos, makeup, amount of skin revealed in clothing, gifts we give, greeting cards, etc.
- the culture we live in
- has produced many media forms for visual communication to be “transmitted”
- TV, magazines, films, photography, advertising, music videos, internet, video games, road & traffic signs
8. Medium: Cinema
- the value of cinema in the digital age with David Puttman
- so we: dream, imagine, question, wonder, think, puzzle, search for answers
- part of the puzzling is art
- images are language
2. The Hierarchy of Art Making
a. fine art
b. commercial art (graphic design)
c. popular culture
- these operate as codes within a culture and are easy yo decode if you live in that culture
- but there are “sub cultures” and “special interest groups.” Codes change and we never stop learning them
3. Semiotics (the study of meaning)
- interpreting the meaning
- we use a three part method that includes:
a. materiality
b. formalism
c. content
i. denotation
ii. connotation
4. Materiality
- each culture ahas different materials available to it
- the artistic or designer chooses from them
- ex. the material (aka technology) for an iPod was not availab;e to your grandparents’ culture
5. Formalism
- line, color, form/shape, composition
6. Content
- Denotation
- we denote swords, men, women
- Connotation
- sending a man to his death
- political statement
- willing to die for beliefs
7. Cultural Critique
- social conditions
- many ways we communicate non-verbally, personally
- clothes, hair, car, arranging items in our house or room, facial expressions, body language, tattoos, makeup, amount of skin revealed in clothing, gifts we give, greeting cards, etc.
- the culture we live in
- has produced many media forms for visual communication to be “transmitted”
- TV, magazines, films, photography, advertising, music videos, internet, video games, road & traffic signs
8. Medium: Cinema
- the value of cinema in the digital age with David Puttman
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