6/8/14
Assignment:
Read:
Terry Barrett Article “Interpreting Visual Culture” Art Education March 2003
Outcome IV: Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry in Better Practice in Visual Arts Education by Carroll, K. & Tucker, J. (2007). (PDF: http://www.aems-edu.org/PDFs/Better_Practices_Visual_Arts.pdf)
Find an article to discuss about this topic.
*Write topic reflection about your article on your blog.
Terry Barrett Article “Interpreting Visual Culture” Art Education March 2003
Outcome IV: Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry in Better Practice in Visual Arts Education by Carroll, K. & Tucker, J. (2007). (PDF: http://www.aems-edu.org/PDFs/Better_Practices_Visual_Arts.pdf)
Find an article to discuss about this topic.
*Write topic reflection about your article on your blog.
Read & React:
The Terry Barrett article breaks down the what and how of examining visual culture. By illustrating how to have students break down an age-appropriate image, defining the connotations and denotations of each, Barrett offers a crystal clear example of this practice in the classroom. What isn't discussed as in-depth is the effects of learners for having learned this practice. When I first read this same article for the Visual Literacy and Visual Culture class (HIGHLY recommend this course btw), I was struck by the use of Michael Ray Charles in the beginning. Although I can't say for sure, I'm not sure I would have been able to make the same connections that were alluded to in the article. And that started me thinking...How many images do I see daily where I miss the degrading use of imagery? How does this affect my self-perception? How do I unintentionally define my self-image (and second hand, self-worth) by the images I was bombarded with as a kid, teenager, and still to do this day as an adult? I think what strikes me the most is how by never being taught to look deeper at an image, for its layers of connotation, I was made vulnerable to its impressions. And this for me transferred to questions about what I might read as well as any auditory information I might receive. Although as an artist I often rely on my gut and what instinct is telling me (or a subconscious understanding of images and instances), I often take things at face value (what I see denotated). Does this make me naive, ignorant, uneducated? Although it does take more effort to look deeper and to think critically, aren't we hearing people from every facet of life say that we need citizens that are better educated, that are critical thinkers? If we had more training in breaking down visual images and looked deeper at the languages that surround us and come at us from every angle of life, wouldn't this interpretation become second nature? Wouldn't we be in the habit of thinking deeply and therefore, paradoxically, make it easier to do? Wouldn't we be better off as a society knowing when we were being steered or manipulated to the whims of another?
Just as a side note, and tangentially related to this reading and some previous readings, I keep thinking of this great BBC series "How Art Made the World" (http://youtu.be/2eGRoSjp3Ik). It explores how we see images and our history with them. There are 5 episodes, with each episode looking at the influence of art on the current day situation of our society. The first episode asks why humans surround themselves with images of the body that are so unrealistic. The second episode asks how the very first pictures ever made were created and reveals how images may have triggered the greatest change in human history. The third episode explores the use of persuasion in art and political influence. The fourth episode looks at how the use of images to tell stories, as in movies, TV or cartoons, relies upon the same powerful techniques since Antiquity. The fifth episode examines how we are bombarded by images and yet we are mesmerized by one that terrifies us - the image of death, creating it over and over.
The PBS companion website: http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/
Just as a side note, and tangentially related to this reading and some previous readings, I keep thinking of this great BBC series "How Art Made the World" (http://youtu.be/2eGRoSjp3Ik). It explores how we see images and our history with them. There are 5 episodes, with each episode looking at the influence of art on the current day situation of our society. The first episode asks why humans surround themselves with images of the body that are so unrealistic. The second episode asks how the very first pictures ever made were created and reveals how images may have triggered the greatest change in human history. The third episode explores the use of persuasion in art and political influence. The fourth episode looks at how the use of images to tell stories, as in movies, TV or cartoons, relies upon the same powerful techniques since Antiquity. The fifth episode examines how we are bombarded by images and yet we are mesmerized by one that terrifies us - the image of death, creating it over and over.
The PBS companion website: http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/
Kathy06/11/2014 6:02pm
ReplyDeleteYou ask so many great questions of the article and of yourself and this is very impressive. I was intrigued when you wrote: "By illustrating how to have students break down an age-appropriate image, defining the connotations and denotations of each, Barrett offers a crystal clear example of this practice in the classroom. What isn't discussed as in-depth is the effects of learners for having learned this practice." You go on to consider self reflective questions about how you see the world and early influences that were not even on your radar. This is what a good teacher would do for her students. One of our missions as teachers is to develop questioning students who are as Maxine Greene described as "awake and aware".