What is visual culture anyways?
So, as a member of seminar #3 we just had our first meeting. Marla seemed a little nervous at first as though we were never going to talk. Things got going after she broke us up into groups and I’m predicting that by next week she’ll wish that we’d keep quiet. We talked amongst ourselves about what we thought visual culture was and what we were able to grasp out of the book. We then came together and highlighted one point that we thought as a group of two was important. I think I lucked out with Emily as my partner. She’s a tiny creature but I don’t think that should hinder her any. (Not that it would anyways.) But she is tiny and I only mention this because she reminds me of some animal or maybe a character in a children’s book. OK. Back to the important stuff.
It’s interesting to see how despite we were only required to read a few pages 1-16 there was actually a lot that was said. What is more interesting is how everybody choose to focus on one or two specific things that obviously reached out to them as individuals.
My definition of visual culture goes a little something like this:
Visual culture is actively viewing the world which we create and par-take in. It is looking and not merely seeing. Yes, there is a difference. This is obvious but still stated. VC deals with negotiating power, interpreting meaning from things – man-made things – It is words, images, objects. It is advertising, books, fine arts, music, Internet and all that it encompasses. It is a chain reaction of products and images being “dependant upon one another for their meanings”. (pg11)
Visual culture now that I think about it is a little bit like a cult – it is a language within itself.
I think that when this class is all said and done with, the eyes of the children will be opened and there just may be no going back. I’m assuming that’s what a cult is like. I’m am thrilled at the challenges presented and the opportunity to move forward without the ability of looking back.
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