Visuality in Contemporary Culture The visuality of contemporary culture redefines what it means to learn or to be educated. Art, science and education have greater accessibility to each other through new technology; 'literacy' no longer refers to the meaning of combinations of characters on a page but is a dynamic terminology transforming to include technological, visual and multimedia literacy: literary terminology, traditionally reserved for deconstructing textual information, is now being shared with visual disciplines. Intertextuality, hyperbole, connotation, denotation, allegory, allusion and a slew of other literary terms can all be used to deconstruct visual images brought to society by multimedia forms of communication (Sturken and Cartwright, 2001). There is a cultural pedagogy disseminating through visual culture (Nixon, 2005), one that is deeply inbedded in imagery and art work, on television, film and throughout visual components of society in general.
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Through technology and the ability to reproduce images, 'visual narratives' (Jay, 2002) can be shared through film, photographic stills, in prolific books like John Berger's Ways of Seeing (1972), through literary genres like Graphic Novels, and through the array of imagery individuals align throughout the course of a day, year or lifetime. Many traditional artists are moving towards the incorporation of, or at least the appreciation of, technology-infused creation, manifesting emotions or thoughts directly through digital programming in ways that are impossible to do with two-dimensional artistry or analogue three-dimensionality (such as traditional clay-animation). Scientists and engineers are similarly using technology to develop innovative artistry such as robotics, computer software, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Society learns from each of these forms of communication and creation, blurring the distinction between what is art, what is science, what is education, and what is a by-product of neoliberalism. The partnership between art and technology, design and function, media and art and art and economics are all contributing to the ideals being disseminated through our visual culture. Art, technology, economics and design are meeting in a visual merger. The art of technology is leading to designs that are created for aesthetic and tactile pleasure as well as for user-friendliness. This move away from the historically military-dominated development of information and communications technology (ICT) is exemplified by artistically infused items such as Apples iPod mp3 player. Apple is well-known for the large amount of money invested in design, functionality, simplicity and public advertising for its products. Apple products stand alone, not necessarily because they are functionally superior but because they involve the pleasurablility factor into their initial design. Consideration for the enjoyment of not just using an iPod, but of wearing an iPod and owning an iPod, have created an image of what it means to be an iPod owner. This image is perpetuated through iPod advertisements, silhouettes of sometimes famous people listening to music on their iPods, contrasted by stark white headphones and the mp3 player. Few words accompany the advertisements but the audience understands the message: buy this item, and many around the world do. Other companies may provide accessories for your iPod and other people wearing iPods may layer our visual understanding of what it means be represented by the item. Intervisuality, seeing the item in numerous places or seeing the people wearing the item in a variety of social contexts, establishes a visualized culture generated by a large corporation. Seeing the item worn by many people in many contexts teaches us what it means to be an iPod owner. Although public service announcements, government incentives and cultural events are sometimes publicized on billboards and posters in public spaces, these displays are primarily reserved for the private sector. Can innovative displays created for the purpose of consumer capital be considered art? The Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) is an excellent example of the counter-culture fighting to reclaim public space for the community. There is a strong movement against advertisements like the iPod campaign, negating the effects of privatization and consumerism and aiming for different type of society. TPSC recognizes the effects of seeing these images, sometimes without choice, in subway stations, buses, schools and work places. The privatization of public space manifests into the visual propagation of private interests and subsequently questions the legitimacy of product quality and corporate success. Does the public invest in Apple products because the advertising is so good that we are unconsciously coerced into purchasing the product, or is the product itself worthy of the investments being made? It is a heated and ongoing debate amoung youth, the public, music industry professionals and creators of new technology (to name a few).
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In addition to rallying against the marketization of public space it is essential that the public understand how to "read" the visual information presented. Visual literacy is a concept stemming from existing media literacy guidelines and often extends traditional media literacy to include the image as well as the word (visit The Centre for Media Literacy). In the end it is impossible to avoid the imagery around us. Art, technology, architecture and new media envelop imagery in their very creation. Our visual systems process much more than we may consciously recognize allowing visual imagery to inundate our brains with information. Barbara Maria Stafford (1993) suggests that "only serious training in visual proficiency will allow us to assimilate, integrate and understand a 'holographic' and multi-dimensional reality increasingly filtered, transformed and synthesized through three-dimensional imagining" (p.462). In its plethora of forms and content images are reflecting, shaping, and representing our culture. We may never leave the seat in front of our televisions or computer screens but we can know in an instant what is happening outside our doors. Pictures tell stories. Films, in fact, are stories told in pictures. Verbal narration contributes to but does not make film or television what they are, images do. And yet when I turn on my television I am not represented in what I see. I do not see myself represented on billboards in any way shape or form, I do not see my ideals advertised or my values publicized. Nor do I see the faces, ideals or values of my family, friends or coworkers in public spaces. I wonder, whose ideals are they that I see? Whose images are represented? How are these images creating an understanding of the society in which we live, an understanding provoking a cognitive dissonance between the individual and the embodied cultural concept? I am not so bold as to attempt to answer these questions here but I hope, instead, that these concepts will invite critical analyses of visual culture and its much needed deconstruction. Below are some definitions of media terminolgy framed around the concept of visual culture.
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The etymology of the word 'media' is simply the plural form of the word 'medium'. The term 'media' refers to the sharing of information, fact, opinion, art or entertainment through various forms of publication with society. Traditionally, print media such as newspapers and magazines have dominated the field. Increased production capabilities since the Industrial Revolution, combined with the development of information and communications technology (ICT) and new media have led to the evolution of media into the technologically advanced, multi-faceted means of communication it is today (www.en.wikipedia.org, "media").
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'Mass media' refers to those forms of media that reach extremely large numbers of people, often times entire nations, and is a term that did not exist until the early 20th century. Advertising and propaganda are classic examples of the effects of mass media on society, encouraging, altering or effecting emotion, opinion and behaviour. For many people art also acts as a means of communication, eliciting, altering and encouraging critical thinking and reaction. As such the merger of art and media has seemed to be a natural cultural progression. According to Walter Benjamin (1969), the essence of art has changed since the development of mechanical reproduction. The ability to mechanically reproduce artwork alters the sense of authenticity or 'aura' which exists in the original piece. Benjamin argues that art without the essence of originality, without the elements of time and space creation invoked by the original, become political(Benjamin). Artists like John Heartfield (1891-1968) combined art and the ability to mechanically reproduce art to create propaganda during the heavily political era in which he lived. This merger of art, politics and mass media dissemination is readily apparent today and encompasses in some ways the term 'media art'. Artistry based on digital imaging and reproducibility reframes Benjamin's argument in contemporary culture. Few would argue that seeing a picture of Leonard da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1503-06) is equivalent to seeing the real thing, however, contemporary artists working in virtual spaces or photographers printing multiple copies of digital pictures may also argue that the "aura" and originality of a piece are less clearly defined as may have been in traditional artistry. Is the photograph on the cover of a reputable magazine art or politics? Does the use of the media sharing this image with masses of people take away from the quality of the piece? At any rate, technology and mass media allow for the dissemination of visual and textual information across geographic and cultural boundaries propagating imagery and ideas across the globe like never before (www.en.wikipedia.org, "media").
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The term 'multimedia' refers to the use of more than one type of media in order to create a message. Common contemporary examples of multimedia use include film and television, which combine textual, narrative, auditory and visual components and, the Internet and video games, which additionally allow the user to be interactive with the medium. Technological advancements in areas such as robotics and virtual reality are on the verge of progressing the interactivity and dynamism of multimedia usage even further(www.en.wikipedia.org, "multimedia"). Multimedia technology has made conceptually free, three-dimensional art possible. Creation through multimedia installations (eg. video installations, sound installations, light installations) has expanded what is considered to be art beyond tactile productions. The understanding of what constitutes art has similarly become blurred, with no clear distinction between which films are "art" and which films are merely a conceptual reproduction of the ones before it. How much of the plot need be different from another film in order to be considered authentic or artistic? What constitutes original cinematography? Is a clever, invoking, beautifully designed advertisement on television considered art? With the infinite number of artistic possibilities in multimedia modules come infinite questions about the effects and taxonomy of the very same creations.
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According to Wikipedia 'new media' is a contemporary discipline which examines how the use of technology by the media is effecting human behaviour, social interaction and the social understanding of global and cultural issues. Under this definition, 'new media' focuses on forms of media that are interactive, are accessible to many people and are also being created by users across societies and levels of expertise. Where television and newspapers have traditionally been built in "one place" before being broadcast or published, the Internet allows for builders and users to exist in limitless locations. The nature of the relationship between the information-provider and information-viewer becomes blurred as new technology increasingly simplifies every day usage of computers and digital programs (www.en.wikipedia.org, "new media"). Traditional media began with newspapers, magazines (print) and later radio. Film and television moved media into a multimodal space by incorporating image, audio and text into one messaging system. Multimedia methods predominate new media today, essentially involving all media, as "print media" can often be read online as well as on paper, but primarily focusing on the technologically advanced multimedia domains of the Internet and digital programs, including public broadcasting formats (film, television, billboards, etc.). New mediums of communication involve the dynamic, often undefinable and on-going technological developments in communications of our time. Photography by Elfred Matining © 2006 |
