Message Board Topic: Reflection

Reflection

This is your last message board topic. I would like to thank you for your participation and making the Image Forum a great place of ideas and artwork.

Would you take a few moments and reflect on this experience. Was it valuable? Did you enjoy the Blog over other forms of warm-up activities or classwork? What could be improved? What was successful?

Message Board: Changes

Reflect on artistic experiences you have had throughout your life. Think about movies, photographs, paintings, sculptures, poems, literature, music, or other media. Now think about those that have changed you – those that have had such a lasting impression on you that you cannot forget it/them. Now think about how and why this happened…

What about this media was so impactful?

What was the subject matter of the media?

What was the concept of the media? What did it mean?

 

Why did this change you? How are you different now?

Message Board Topic: Narrative

Many analysts, sociologists and news writers argue that the modern day audience seeks a narrative. This means that news, information, education, politics and other areas of contemporary life require a story – the audience needs to be entertained in order to understand and learn. The audience needs characters that fulfill stereotypes like the underdog, the patriot, the good guy, the bad guy etc. The audience needs a plot – like a political race, where two people struggle to rise to the top. And the audience will only pay attention for as long as they are entertained. Some say that modern life, modern education and modern information systems have become a soap opera.

What does this mean for information or education? What does this mean for art? What does this mean for society?



How has the movie industry affected contemporary life? Are we moving into a soap opera orientated world?

Message Board: Futurist Writing

Tarr, by Wyndham Lewis, is the typical example used of Futurist/Vorticist writing. Here is an excerpt from Tarr:

...Anastasya's laughter had upset and ended everything in his ''imaginary life.'' He told himself now that he 'hated' her.==''Ich hasse dich! Ich hasse dich!==he hissed to himself, enjoying the wind of the 'hasse' in his moustaches.==But (there was no doubt about it) the laugh had crushed him.==Ridiculous and hateful had been his goal. But now that he had succeeded, he thought, chiefly in the latter affair, he was overwhelmed. His vanity was wounded terribly. In 'laughing' at him she had puffed out and transformed in an extraordinary way, also his infatuation=

The entire book can be found online here: http://books.google.com/books?id=hj2sAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=tarr+Wyndham+Lewis&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Look over the test and notice the stark differences between the way Tarr was written compared to literature we are used to or more comfortable reading. Remember, this was written for English-speaking audiences, even if it does not look as though it was.

Create two sentences concerning your project but in this Futurist/Vorticist style.

Message Board Topic: Vorticism

The Futurists and Vorticists glorified technology. They viewed technology as progress and as the positive future of the human race. Technology was seen as a way of making humanity better, more prosperous and more productive.

Are we futurists today? Does our society hold the same beliefs? Why or why not?

If so, is this a good thing? Do you agree with it?

If not, why? Justify your response!

Message Board Topic: Literacy

Literacy no longer means the ability to simply read and write. This is not a new phenomenon, for literacy has evolved throughout the entirety of human history. Prior to the invention of the printing press, literacy meant oral tradition – the ability to memorize narratives (such as the Illiad and the Odyssey). When the printing press was invented literacy meant the ability to read and write books, newspapers and pamphlets. Today literacy refers to new media, and incorporates visual, audio, and interactive qualities unseen in any other format. Literacy has changed but has also expanded.

How has the internet made "literacy" more available? How has the term "literacy" changed? What does it mean to be literate? Is this moving in the right direction?

Message Board: Appearances

Do appearances matter? As artists we are sensitive to the "look" of things. We are observers and we express the way we "see" things. Do you think artists are more judgmental or less judgmental when it comes to appearances? Why or why not?