February 6, 2013

7 Principles for Visual Culture Study



It is true that the old principles do not fit today’s world anymore, we need principles for creating the curriculum for 21st visual culture study. These 7 principles, as Duncum said, are starting points to use contemporary lenses to study visual culture. And I notice that these words are related with each other to offer a stage for us to think deeply how to lead students learn visual culture.

1. Power
Power is central to a consideration of imagery because all images involve an assertion of ideas, values, and beliefs that serve the interests of those for whom they are made. I think one of the most important reasons for why art is so attractive is ART is Powerful. When viewers interpret images, they will be automatically influenced, but like a negotiation, they can discriminate, they can control and oppose. Students should consider the image-maker’s intend and also have their own interpretations.

2.Ideology
Ideology is about some basic problems of human beings and the whole society. There are various ideology in the world from times and spaces. Many of them are contradict from each other, it maybe confusion to students which one is right. It is really a good way to let students know all ideologies are historically and culturally specific through visual culture study. They will finger it out themselves and have multiple viewpoints rather than agree with one and think it is an incontestable truth.

3.Representation
Representation refers to how ideology is presented in visual form. Students should know there are many ways to present one same thing, and there’re many elements will effect on view’s understanding. Only knowing this they could think about a image from two sides: what and how it is represented, what is marginalized or left out.

4.Seduction
There are many reasons for an image that seduces us.  Two main aspects are what they represent and they are sensory. Learning this, students will know how to wrap ideologies in pleasure forms that makes people easily to accept.

5.Gaze
I really love the thought that “We are invited by images to see in a particular way, but we also come to them with already existing relationships to what we see.” I think a key function of art is to know ourselves better. This principle reflect how art can help as know who we are better from read an image in different ways.

6.Intertextality
The development of Internet offers us a great chance to study visual culture with intertexts. It let us explore power, ideology, representation, gaze and multimodality in multiple ways using new technology today.

7.Multimodality
I can’t totally agree with the words: “there are no purely visual images, images never appear without words, music, or other sounds.” I think purely visual images can also be very powerful and meaningful. But if it is related other sounds, it will be more interesting and have more additional meanings. Students should try to add more elements into image to see how they effect on images.

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