Andypeck's Blog

Week 13: Post 2: Visible Rhetoric Artifact

andypeck — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:54:24 +0000

I thought about a visual artifact for this week and was taking a look at our book, Practices of Looking. Since the summary of this text is about the way visual culture influences us and the rhetoric behind those messages, I took a closer look at the cover. As I noticed the pictures that they decided to use, I thought it was appropriate for them to use a picture of Las Vegas at night. This city is probably one of the best examples of the cities in the U.S. that is based off of images. The aesthetics of the lights and the casinos are all conveying messages of a reality that is amidst one of the most poverty stricken communities in the country.

Week 13: Post 1: Reading Response

andypeck — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:09:16 +0000

A lot of what this Practices of Looking book has offered so far has been insightful, intuitive, and educational to say the least about the visual world around us. I have learned about the ways in which advertising is both deceptive but also harmful to particular audiences. I now understand that social hierarchy is a theme used in many of the things we view in our every day life which are used to continuously establish a social inequality. I now see the way in which the westernized culture has used notions of the “other” in order to systematically conceptualize itself as a more important role within the world. But when the Practices of Looking used its rhetorical discourse to pick apart the field of medicine, I just had to disagree with the way in which it tried to infiltrate the biological sphere. It is undeniable that book about rhetoric is just as susceptible to being accused as having a particular bias as the rest of the media because it in and of itself is being rhetorical about rhetoric. So, in order to have a conversation about something that is, not probably, but is more objective than the media, the discourse that needed to be used about medicine would have to carry the same conversational tone. In the chapter, the writers go on to discuss the problems with the scientific and medical field using

“The idea of the image or the imaging instrument as that which helps us see more, better or further than the human eye continues to be a ‘theme’ in scientific discourse in the twenty-first century.” I’m sorry but I find this passage completely ridiculous to assume that the medical field using more modes of visual identification for illness and patient care is some sort of way of “classifying people” that has very detrimental “cultural and social implications of imaging inside the body.”

I watched a commercial a few days ago about a product that G.E. is working on to allow doctors the ability to scan a human stomach and show a patient on a screen what the problems are and what is going on internally. For the writers of Practices of Looking, this would undoubtedly be categorized as an “implication” to which some how there would be a spin of blame placed back on the medical profession. Yet, one of the arguments made about this topic is that the medical field is set up in a hierarchy in which the person who is performing the procedure or inspection of the patient, AKA the Doctor, is placed on a hierarchal pedestal because they know terminology that the patient does not. So, my thought about this “problem” that the visual rhetoricians who have a problem with the “gaze” on the human body is this. If, the patient and doctor who are viewing an X-ray, or CAT- Scan, or this new technology that I mentioned by G.E. are viewing the results together, and the patient is being a part of the process of the diagnosis, then why is is problematic? I just find the debate that we went over in class about the visuals within the scientific field are relatively unimportant. We can argue back and forth over what the medical field may be trying to tell us by showing us an image of our intestinal cancer on a screen, but when we really break it down to the basics of what is going on, it is simply the human condition trying to understand itself better through the most important sensory node through which is perceives information. And the authors of the book Practices of “Looking”, emphasis on the notion of sight, I believe should have thought a little bit harder about before creating their claim about this particular topic.

Week 12: Post 2: Peer Presentation Response

andypeck — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:38:08 +0000

I was watching television today and thought more about the visual rhetoric that accompanies the organic food industry. Watching a commercial about Fresh Market I was thinking about what Chris was discussing with the class. I find it interesting for the push of organic foods because of the alternative interests involved. There is an interest in the wellness of the earth by using less chemicals on the food, and it also plays into the “green” rhetorical culture that has grown in popularity over the last decade or so. The unfortunate thing about this good cause for the earth is that it costs so much more for the consumers. Not that I think this should keep people from purchasing from these organic stores, because I myself enjoy shopping at them once in a while. It is just disappointing that in order to contribute to the cause for a healthier planet, you need to pay more into the consumer market. I guess that’s the payoff for being invested in a monetary economy. I guess it beats hunting for my own food though…

Week 12: Post 1: Reading Response

andypeck — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:10:43 +0000

Markel’s goals of document design were some of the most basic but helpful things to consider about document design. the points made about structure and hierarchy of the information and to help readers find the information they need are two very important ideas to keep in mind. As I have been taking this course alongside my hypertext class, I have been able to implement some of these design techniques into the work I’ve done, along with the modules in this class. One of the most important things to keep in mind when designing a webpage at least is the use of white space. This goes hand in hand with the use of the previous two ideas about document design because if we overload the audience with too much information, then we lose their attention. Readers can only handle so much content at one time. By separating ideas throughout the document and making sure to keep in mind what is more important than other information, we can help the user understand where to go first and how to make their way through the document.

Something that Schriver brings up that is also extremely helpful is remembering the audience when we design a document. He states that at times, designers can get caught up with their own experiences and thus create something based on that. However, this can be complicated because it is hard to define an audience when the reader may have a combination of attributes, such as age gender or even geographical location. All of these factors come into play when designing documents because they all need to be used to connect with the audience. For instance, someone reading a brochure that is trying to get students to an event on campus may be generally speaking to the entire student body. However, if the particular event is using language that pertains to only students who are on campus such as the location description (next to such and such hall) the students who live off campus may not have the same understanding and thus the brochure will not reach the entire targeted audience. This is a vague example, but the point is that a lot of things that we may take for granted as the designers because we already know the information being displayed, may not connect with the audience as well as we might think it will.

Obviously the most basic design principles that we should always consider are the CRAP principles. Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity have already become part of my everyday vocabulary. I find myself viewing any document I come in contact with and already view it with these principles in mind. To my surprise, I am already finding ways to fix a lot of simple problems in many of the documents that I run into which means that it is becoming more second nature.

Week 11: Post 2: Visible Artifact

andypeck — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:29:03 +0000

A commercial that I have grown to love is certainly using some forms of orientalism in order to sell an idea about their product. The Dos Equis commercials have a new spokesman. He is, “The most interesting man in the world”. The advertising claims that this interesting man who is of some hispanic origin rarely drinks beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Aquis. Although I do not find the video particularly offensive to the hispanic community, I certainly understand that the message that is being conveyed is trying to pass off an idea of hispanic culture that really doesn’t exist. It is similar to the Kahlua ad that we watched earlier in the semester that also used notions of fetishization and orientalism to persuade the interpellate the audience about a particular idea.

Week 11: Post 1: Reading Response

andypeck — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:07:23 +0000

Thinking about branding and what Holland discussed was insightful in making me think about the importance American society places on brands and logos. As I thought about the different brands that people can identify with I tried to think of what brands were the most influential to our society and as I was watching ESPN I considered all the sports teams that are celebrated. This concept of having a “team” that you identify with is really found across every state with various sports. Whether it be a baseball team in San Francisco or a hockey team in New York, the way in which these brands influence our lives is so lopsided within our culture. As I looked into the salaries of the professional athletes within the various professional leagues, it is obvious that the value that our society attains to sports is very high. Considering the amount of money that institutions give to athletes compared to academics is the precursor to their possible inclusion at the professional level.

Even brands that may seem a bit less obvious find a way of creating a sense of identity with people. Such an example is the news. With the various companies that are available for viewers, there are two that stick out because of the bicameral political parties that we currently have in America. Fox News and CNN each have a particular identity that accompany their news rooms. Whether we would like to think of them as unbiased newscasters, it is fairly obvious after a few minutes of viewing either station that they are trying to reach out to a particular political identity. We have to remember that news stations are a business just like any other business, and the logo and branding associated with their companies is just as similar to a sports team or cereal brand. They have identities attached with them.

Week 10: Post 2: Visible Artifact

andypeck — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:00:29 +0000

One of the biggest rappers in the last few years is Lil’ Wayne. I wanted to see if any of his lyrics had anything to do with misogynistic undertones in the song and it only took a few seconds for his song “Wasted” to use sexist remarks toward women that places them in a lower category than men. One thing to note is that I typed in Lil’ Wayne on youtube and this was the very first song that I chose to examine. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the song to hash the messages that most rappers rap about today. It goes along quite well with the things that Bell Hooks was explaining in her videos. That the objectification of women in rap is extremely common and prevalent.

Week 10: Mass Media and Cultural Criticism Response

andypeck — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:19:51 +0000

I watched all of Bell Hooks’ videos and even took a look at her other videos on youtube. What I got from her commentary reminded me of the kinds of things I am reading in Hypertext. I just read a section from a book by Lawrence Lessig on the ways in which creativity of new music or video producers is under the scrutiny of copyright laws and lawsuits. Now, the connection between these two things, Hooks and Lessig, may seem to be very vague, but I thought about the central theme behind both of these issues. Power. In Lessig’s arguments, he is proposing that the ability for culture to continue to grow and flourish, generations need to have the freedom to voice their opinions through various forms of media, one example he gives is Gregg Gillis, the creator of Girltalk, a mashup style of music pulling various clips from other music makers and remixing them, so to speak, into a new form of art. So, the real battle for people like Gillis and other creative minds is against the power structure that is inherent within a capitalistic society. The ability for companies to make money off of music or film makers deepens the power of the people who are primarily in charge of those producing companies, which for the most part, consists of white males. So in connection with what Hooks’ has said in her commentary, the real problematic situation is the dependancy on the established power. Those who control what is being visually represented, ie. the villifying of arabs and the use of a dark black man to be beat up by the gang of kids with skateboards. So in each of these cases, whether it be creatively based or culturally based, the control of the individuals in power is the driving factor behind the problems that are trying to be overcome.

Week 8: Blog Read Around Assignment

andypeck — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:44:18 +0000

After taking a look at my peers blog posts, I thought that Katrina’s post about the gum wrappers being used as an artistic creation was a great use of visible rhetoric. It was also a great way of looking at something for more than it may appear at first glance. As I commented on her post, I thought that the use of gum wrappers as material for art could be commenting on a few things, such as the environment, American food consumption, American ideologies of waste, recycling, or a number of other interpretations. Either way, the rhetorical argument of this creation makes you think about the message that is trying to be conveyed. I know that as readers of rhetoric, esecially in a post modern theory of history, our interpretations are almost considered more important than the author of the message itself. This is commenting a bit on Roland Barthe’s “The Death of the Author” essay, but still is a very important idea to keep in mind when dealing with visible rhetoric. If it is the effects that are more important than the means by which things are spoken, created, or conveyed, then the audience is the most important element to decipher what is being viewed or looked at. Just a thought.

Week 7: Post 2: Visible Artifact

andypeck — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:21:06 +0000

Movies have become prevalently more violent over the past few decades, and with the advancements of graphics, the realistic look of this violence is even easier to obtain. While the idea of creating a movie based on violence is something that we have grown more numb to as our culture is completely surrounded by it, there is one movie that is coming out that is crossing a real problematic line. I’m talking about “Kick-Ass” (This trailer is very graphic so be warned).

It’s a movie that glorifies violence in the name of “good” in a way that attempts to pass it off as “comical”. The movie is based off of a fairly new comic and should definitely stay in such a format. I read some reviews on the movie and Roger Ebert put it perfectly explaining the desensitization of violence ad disregard for human life:

“This movie regards human beings like video-game targets. Kill one, and you score. They’re dead, you win. When kids in the age range of this movie’s home video audience are shooting one another every day in America, that kind of stops being funny.”

Earlier in the review he writes:

“This isn’t comic violence. These men, and many others in the film, are really stone-cold dead. And the 11-year-old apparently experiences no emotions about this. Many children that age would be, I dunno, affected somehow, don’t you think, after killing eight or 12 men who were trying to kill her?

Where else could a movie be produced that uses these a comic book trope to pass off a child brutally taking human life. So much for the prestige of the american justice system where people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law…why bother when we can just kick their ass…