Written Response

In ‘The Changing World’ (Mirzoeff, Chapter 6, 211-252), Mirzoeff asks us to consider how the human race has caused major changes to the environment through pollution, carbon emissions, hunting, exploitation and slavery. A recurring point he makes is that “the changed world is now so built in to our senses that it determines our very perceptions, and so it has become beautiful and aesthetic” (Mirzoeff, 232). We’re so used to the world being polluted, ice melting and species becoming extinct that it has become the new ‘normal’.

I think it is definitely important that we know about the effects that the human race is having on the world. There’s a perception that major environmental problems are ‘a while away yet’ or ‘won’t happen in my lifetime’. But they’re not, and they will. By 2040 the world will be “without coral reefs, with no summer ice in the Arctic, where big animals like lions, tigers and polar bears can only be seen in zoos” (Mirzoeff, 215). Eventually we’ll come to a point where our own actions will have made the Earth uninhabitable.

The painting Forty-Two Kids (1907) by American artist George Wesley Bellows depicts a group of kids swimming in the East River in New York. The river is black with pollution, and yet the kids are happy to play in it. To this day the river is heavily polluted, and yet people are still happy to swim in it – there is even an annual ‘Brooklyn Bridge Swim’ which involves swimming across the East River. This shows that the heavily polluted water has become the new ‘normal’. These human influences have had long-lasting, devastating effects on the environment; it’s been over 100 years and the pollution hasn’t been stopped.

Works cited:
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “The Changing World”. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. 211-252. Print.

The Changing World

The essay question I have chosen is about ‘The Changing World’ (Mirzoeff, Chapter 6, 211-252). For this question we are required to explain who or what the ‘conquest of nature’ involves, and discuss how artists and designers acknowledge the impacts and influences the human race has on the environment. We must refer to one visual text from the question chapter and two texts from elsewhere. To conclude we are required to consider the consequences of human impacts on the earth and the beings that call it home.

Thinking, Planning, Writing…

The text “Reading as Part of Writing” described  four different approaches to writing an essay.

An advantage of planning an essay before writing is that it helps make beginning the essay a lot easier. Drawing diagrams and mind-maps helps organise ideas that would otherwise be causing confusion and chaos in your head. However, I find too much planning can hinder flexibility and make it harder to cut and move text around. A disadvantage of planning an essay in your head is that sometimes after you’ve been writing for a while you realise that you’re not making sense and your ideas are all jumbled.

My approach to writing is most similar to the ‘grand plan writer’. I don’t ever write down a plan, instead I have ideas in my head and  just start writing. I like to perfect my paragraphs as I write them, but I’ll still go back and cut or move text around.

When I’m preparing for a major essay, I like to read and re-read the brief to make sure I completely understand it. Reading your finished essay and realising that you’ve gone off topic and haven’t answered the question is frustrating. When researching I read the whole text through once, and then skim through it again and take any notes. Most of the time I keep notes in my head. I start my writing with an introduction which acts as my plan for the essay. By stating the three key points I’ll be addressing in my introduction, I can refer back to them while I’m writing and make sure I’m staying on topic. After I’ve written my essay, I leave it for a while and read it over again. And again. And again. When I’m finally happy with it, I put it into presentation format.

I found reading this text helpful for my own writing process because it made me realise that not having a plan is OK. For the essay in our first assignment, we were shown a recommended way to go about planning and drafting our essay, which was completely different from how I’d normally do it. “Reading as Part of Writing” made me realise that everyone plans and writes in a different way, and the example from our first essay was just one way to do it.

What is an Analytic Essay?

It’s in the name. An analytic essay analyses, describes, interprets and evaluates a visual text (Clarke, 148). It looks at the how, not the what of the text (Meirow).

Unlike persuasive and argumentative essays, analytic essays are not written to persuade the reader that a particular opinion is correct (“Four Types of Essay”). In fact, there is a common “open-ended, inconclusive character of an [analytic] essay” (Clarke, 148). Analytic essays are purely analyses and critiques of a visual text.

Analytic essays are very structured, with a beginning that addresses the subject; a middle that explores the subject in depth; and a conclusion (Clarke, 149). There are standard ways of writing, laying out and referencing in an analytic essay, and these differ between different universities. Some processes to follow are to use the present tense, avoid colloquialisms, and write objectively and not in the first person to allow the reader to develop their own opinions (“Four Types of Essay”).

Works cited:
Clarke, Michael. “The Essay”. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA, 2007. 144-167. Print.

“Four Types of Essay”. Access to English: Social Studies. Web. 31 March 2016

Meirow, Eden. “This Analytical Essay Outline Will Kick Start Your Writing”. Kirin. Dec. 2014. Web. 31 March 2016.

 

 

Critical Response Draft 3

The processes of looking closely and thinking critically about visual texts are important for artists and designers to understand. These processes allow them to generate their own ideas about a text. Being able to think critically opens their eyes to other cultural and social ideas.

Firstly, what are these processes? Annals, Cunnane, and Cunnane say “doing something critically, in a critical way, means that you consider it actively, you engage with it. You don’t just sit in front of it, or watch it go by” (15). One of the most familiar, and perhaps superficial, ways of engaging with a visual text is to describe it (Clarke, 23). Designers and artists must delve deeper into the text. They identify where the text comes from, when it was made, and what the social and cultural factors were at this time (Clarke, 25). Critical thinking is seeing a visual text from multiple perspectives and exploring beyond the surface of a text. To the untrained eye the hippopotamus in The Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park (Fig 1) is just a lazy hippopotamus at a zoo posing for the audience. But someone thinking critically about it might observe that the way the people lean through the bars makes it seem as though they’re the ones in a cage, not the hippopotamus, and the slight smile on the hippopotamus’s face enforces the idea that hippopotamus is free and the humans are inside a prison (Bate, 38-40).

Figure 1. De Montizon, Count. The Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park. Photograph. Royal Photographic Society Collection, National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library. Photography: The Key Concepts. By David Bate. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print.

These processes of looking closely and thinking critically help artists and designers make their own conclusions about a visual text, and help them generate their own ideas and opinions (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 46). People’s decisions are often influenced by pre-existing ideas and they follow the lead of others in their decision making. This is something to be avoided. Artists and designers must not have tunnel vision when looking at a visual text. Rather, they must be “prepared to examine [their] own assumptions, as well as those of others, and question whether they are reasonable” (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 47). In order to develop their own voice, artists and designers must be able to think for themselves. One artist might say that the Earth in Blue Marble (Fig 2) represents a unified whole free from conflict and war. A different artist might comment that it shows the Earth as a minuscule object that holds little meaning in the vast emptiness of space. All the while, someone not trained to think critically might just see it as “whole and round and beautiful and small” (Mirzoeff, 4).

Figure 2. Schmitt, J. Blue Marble. Photograph. Retrieved from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1133

These processes also open artists and designers’ eyes to new cultures and ideas (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 49). Without knowing the context of a visual text, the viewer only really knows what’s on the surface – what the visual text looks like, not what it’s saying. By critically analysing a visual text, artists and designers get a better understanding of what context is. Knowing the ‘who, what, when and why’ is necessary when viewing a text because “these factors, once understood, contribute to a fuller understanding and appreciation [of the subject]” (Clarke, 25). The viewer begins to understand the meaning of the text and the social, cultural or political point it is trying to get across (Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend, 32). By becoming more familiar with other cultures, artists and designers can make their work more accessible to other people or, conversely, more alienating to other people. This gives their work more meaning and makes them a more versatile artist or designer.

If artists and designers are able to generate their own ideas and determine their own conclusions about a visual text, they can grow as an artist or designer and develop their own voice.

 

Works cited:
Annals, Alison, Abby Cunnane, and Sam Cunnane. ‘Working with Images and Ideas’. Saying What You See: How to Talk and Write About Art. North Shore, N.Z.: Pearson Education New Zealand, 2009. 12–39. Print.

Bate, David. Photography: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print.

Clarke, Michael. ‘Language and Meaning’. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA, 2007. 20–27. Print.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. Print.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend. ‘Reading Texts’. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 9–39. Print.

Wallace, Andrew, Tony Schirato, and Philippa Bright. ‘Critical Thinking’. Beginning University: Thinking, Researching and Writing for Success. St Laniards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1999. 45–61. Print.

Critical Response Draft 2

The processes of looking closely and thinking critically about visual texts are important for artists and designers to understand. These processes allow them to determine their own conclusions and generate their own ideas about a text. Being able to think critically opens their eyes to other cultures, societies and ideas.

Firstly, what are these processes? One of the most familiar, and perhaps superficial, ways of talking about a visual text is to describe it (Clarke, 23). Designers and artists must delve deeper into the text. To get the full meaning of a text, they must contextualise and analyse it. They identify where the text comes from, when it was made, and what the social and cultural factors were at this time (Clarke, 25). Clarke says “these factors, once understood, contribute to a fuller understanding and appreciation [of the subject]” (25). Critical thinking is seeing a visual text from multiple perspectives and exploring beyond the surface of a text. Take this image of a hippopotamus for example. On the surface it is quite simply a lazy hippopotamus at a zoo posing for the audience. But someone thinking critically about it might observe that the way the people lean through the bars makes it seem as though they’re the ones in a cage, not the hippopotamus, and the slight smile on the hippopotamus’s face enforces the idea that hippopotamus is free and the humans are inside a prison (Bate, 38-40).

De Montizon, Count. The Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park. Photograph. Royal Photographic Society Collection, National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library. Photography: The Key Concepts. By David Bate. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print.

These processes help artists and designers make their own conclusions about a visual text, and help them generate their own ideas and opinions (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 46). People’s decisions are often influenced by pre-existing ideas and they follow the lead of others in their decision making. This is something to be avoided. Artists and designers must not have tunnel vision when looking at a visual text. Rather, they must be “prepared to examine [their] own assumptions, as well as those of others, and question whether they are reasonable” (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 47). In order to develop their own voice, artists and designers must be able to think for themselves. The Earth in this image might be seen as a unified whole free from conflict and war by one artist, whereas another artist might comment that it shows the Earth as a minuscule part of space that doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, all the while someone not trained to think critically might just see it as “whole and round and beautiful and small” (Mirzoeff, 4).

Schmitt, J. Blue Marble. Photograph. Retrieved from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1133

These processes also open artists and designers’ eyes to new cultures and ideas which influence their own work. Context is an important part of a visual text. Without knowing the background of a visual text, the viewer only really knows what’s on the surface – what the visual text looks like, not what it’s saying. Knowing the ‘who, what, when and why’ is necessary when viewing a text because it promotes deeper understanding of the subject (Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend, 32). The viewer begins to understand why the text was made and what social, cultural or political point it was trying to get across. Artists and designers can use this knowledge to develop their own work and make it more accessible to other cultures or, conversely, more alienating to other cultures.

If artists and designers are able to think for themselves, generate their own ideas, and determine their own conclusions about a text, they gain a much deeper understanding of visual texts.

 

Works cited:
Bate, David. Photography: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print.

Clarke, Michael. ‘Language and Meaning’. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA, 2007. 20–27. Print.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. Print.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend. ‘Reading Texts’. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 9–39. Print.

Wallace, Andrew, Tony Schirato, and Philippa Bright. ‘Critical Thinking’. Beginning University: Thinking, Researching and Writing for Success. St Laniards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1999. 45–61. Print.

 

Critical Response Draft 1

The processes of looking closely and thinking critically about visual texts are important for artists and designers to understand. These processes allow them to determine their own conclusions and generate their own ideas about a text. Being able to think critically opens their eyes to other cultures, societies and ideas.

Firstly, what are these processes? One of the most familiar, and perhaps superficial, ways of talking about a visual text is to describe it (Clarke, 23). Designers and artists must delve deeper into the text. To get the full meaning of a text, they must contextualise and analyse it. They identify where the text comes from, when it was made, and what the social and cultural factors were at this time (Clarke, 25). Clarke says “these factors, once understood, contribute to a fuller understanding and appreciation [of the subject]” (25). Critical thinking is seeing a visual text from multiple perspectives and exploring beyond the surface of a text. Designers and artists must be able to think for themselves, determine their own conclusions based on their past experiences, work out better explanations and find new solutions to problems (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 47).

These processes help artists and designers make their own conclusions about a visual text, and help them generate their own ideas and opinions (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 46). People’s decisions are often influenced by pre-existing ideas and their social and cultural backgrounds, and they follow the lead of others in their decision making. This is often something to be avoided. The idea of not taking pre-existing ideas for granted is very important. Artists and designers must not have tunnel vision when looking at a visual text. Rather, they must be “prepared to examine [their] own assumptions, as well as those of others, and question whether they are reasonable” (Wallace, Schirato, and Bright, 47). In order to develop their own voice, artists or designers must be able to think for themselves.

These processes also open artists and designers’ eyes to new cultures and ideas which influence their own work. Context is an important part of a visual text. Without knowing the background of a visual text, the viewer only really knows what’s on the surface – what the visual text looks like, not what it’s saying. Knowing the ‘who, what, when and why’ is necessary when viewing a text because it promotes deeper understanding of the subject (Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend, 32). The viewer begins to understand why the text was made and what social, cultural or political point it was trying to get across. Artists and designers can use this knowledge to develop their own work and make it more accessible to other cultures or, conversely, more alienating to other cultures.

If artists and designers are able to think for themselves, generate their own ideas, and determine their own conclusions about a text, they gain a much deeper understanding of visual texts.

 

Works cited:
Clarke, Michael. ‘Language and Meaning’. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. 20–27. Print.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend. ‘Reading Texts’. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 9–39. Print.

Wallace, Andrew, Tony Schirato, and Philippa Bright. ‘Critical Thinking’. Beginning University: Thinking, Researching and Writing for Success. St Laniards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1999. 45–61. Print.

 

Notes to My Self – Writing from the Gut

In the conclusion of Notes to My Self: Writing from the Gut (an unpublished master thesis), the author talks of her struggle to retain her Maori identity when learning in an education system that privileges Pakeha. A key idea in the text was that the education system in New Zealand is ‘mono-cultural’, and excludes Maori culture and perspectives. This makes it hard for Maori children to participate in their learning, which causes problems in further education, i.e. university. Another key idea was that Maori shouldn’t have to legitimise their culture and no-one has the right to tell them where they come from.

The author’s tone is annoyed and a bit angry. She obviously has very strong opinions about the subject and wants the reader to know that what she’s saying is important. She’s telling us that something needs to be done to make the education system more inclusive towards other cultures.

The text is written in the first person which makes it very personal and objective. The author also uses the pronoun ‘you’ to address the reader, which helps include us in the story. This makes us become more involved in the text. The author’s voice is personal and persuasive. She uses a few exclamation marks to emphasise her point, and uses rhetorical questions to make the reader think about what she’s saying.

Works cited:
Walker, Sheliagh. “Chapter Seven: Conclusion. Notes to My Self: Writing from the Gut.” Kia tau the rangimarie: Kaupapa Maori theory as a resistance against the construction of Maori as other. Auckland University: Unpublished Master Thesis (excerpt), 1996. 153-154. Print.

Context

When looking closely at a visual text, context is important because it helps us understand the point of the text and the reason it was made (Ruszkiewicz, Anderson, and Friend, 32). Without knowing the social and cultural background of a visual text, we only really know what’s on the surface – what the visual text looks like, not what it’s saying.

Works cited:
Ruszkiewicz, John J., Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend. ‘Reading Texts’. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 9–39. Print.

Bottle Analysis

For our visual text analysis I chose the image of these bottles from the Left Bank graffiti wall. They are very basic silhouettes of wine bottles breaking up the background image. They are painted with black Resene paint and I imagine they were painted using a stencil because they’re identical to each other. In the white space between the bottles you can make out three wine glasses. Whether this was the artist’s intention, I do not know.

The graffiti wall is culinary themed, and these bottles are typical items you’d find in a restaurant or bar. The solid shape and colour of these bottles make the culinary theme very obvious, unlike the somewhat abstract background images of faces with fruit and fish. I think the silhouette idea was chosen because the shapes pop out of the bright colours of the background.