This page features all of my Lecture Notes from Unit 2: Visual Thinking
.
15/12/2014
Guest Speaker
Lee Mckkinsson
_
Is Technology nature or culture?
Slavoj Zizek
Ideology mystifies real problems
Nature is unimaginable catastrophy
We are part of nature – we are not just engines
We should be more artificial
Very little indigenous land (untouched)
Landscape is the product of human intervention
Women are associated with nature where as men are associated with culture
Raymond Williams – Ideas of Nature //
‘Nature is a selective breeder.”
Man has abstracted himself from nature
All information can be compressed into code
Post Humanism
_
Bruno Latour – developed Actor Network Theory (ANT)
Jane Bennett //
“We are walking talking minerals”
“We are earthlings”
“Like wind or river, human individuals and groups are geological forces that can alter the planet in countless ways.”
Reverse Evolution
Contradiction
Using toxic chemicals which make paints
(Oil-based or artificial)
Representations of nature
Hito Steyerl //
Images have ceased to function as representation
Originality has been lost
Nothing is original anymore
12/01/2015
Propaganda Lecture
Dr. Kirsten Hardie
_
Newspapers are putting other less significant stories before the Je Suis Charlie
Is it being killed off?
Jews are leaving Paris following the events
The Chief investigator in Paris commits suicide.
Who is in control of the information we receive? (Media)
Communication //
Who controls it?
How is it presented to us?
(what they want us to see)
Methods in place to preserve or restrict freedom
Propaganda (Merriam Website Dictionary) //
Information to assist or damage to course of a government or movement
“spreading of ideas, information or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.”
Propagate //
to spread ideas/information
3 Types of Propaganda //
Black – Lies, extreme claims, no truth
Grey – Blurred lies or truth?
White – Good evidence and identification of sources
Arthur Siegel said //
4 Types of Propaganda
Big Lie
“It doesn’t have to be the truth, so long as it’s plausible”
Telling the truth but withholding the other side’s point of view
Most productive – is to tell the truth, the good and the bad, the losses and the gains.
Propaganda can be concealed
Why does propaganda work?
Fear mongering and demonising the enemy.
Hierarchy has power over what we have alligance to
Is religion a form of propaganda?
Recommended Reading //
Index on Censorship
Cover-up is a way of hiding facts to make it seem as if it never happened.
Repeated affirmation – being told and told the argument repeatedly is an important element of propaganda.
Repetition helps metasize the delusion
Reframing – news speak
Using nice words to say bad things
Delusion – false idea, alternative views are not aired or broadcast
Orgnaisations
Respect for Animals
Green Peace
Liberty
PeTA
Amnesty International
Act Up
Distraction and denial //
(Don’t look here, look there)
False flag terrorism
Vicarious/imitative learning – copying
Behaviour imitating others
Persuasion Technology
Photoshop (Editing Software)
Social Media channels influence
Use peers to communicate messages
Government initiated social media
13/01/2015
Truth Value in Pictorial Representation
Phil Jones and Gabbi Hass
_
The way an image is presented plays on whether we will believe it is true or false
People trust photography more then illustrations
Things we see are much more believable then what we hear
There are different methods of communicating through design and style depicts the believability
We know a photography does not lie
We know a report has more reliability then a story
There are markers of Truth Value (Kress & Van Leeuwen)
_
These markers can be used together as a way of analysing/thinking about images
Colour Saturation
Colour Differentiation
Colour Modification (Toning/Contrast)
Contextualisation
(Foreground/Background)
Out of focus background decontextualises it
Depth
Illumination
Brightness
Different levels of each increase truth value
_
Modality Configurations
…
26/01/2015
Guest Speaker
Andy Weir
Multimedia //
Combination of media working together
The term has become redundant
Transmedia //
Coexisting
Open-ended
Adaptabe
Interactive
There are two forms of Transmedia //
1. Senkins – Focus upon commercial media
2. Peltit – Folk story telling
Connection of multiple texts between each other – stores develop between and across texts
Multiple Modalities are a possibility
No conncetion = franchise/multimedia
Convergence Culture (Book)
e.g. Pokemon
Cartoon
Computer Game
Physical (Cards)
Toys
19/02/2015
Guest Speaker
Ian Wharton of AQKA
Kick-start a Creative Career
_
ONE //
Embrace the Ridiculousness
Childlike/Youthful Ideas
Youthful ideas counteract formality
Always be astonished
Get carried away
Will to learn
Experience vs. Instinct?
Labour of Love
Proud to be known for
Ideas should be useful, useable and delightful
“Creativity favours intuition”
(ridiculousness beats rationality)
“Creativity is an un-policed mind, a double standard”
_
TWO //
Creativity is Transferable
Creative people have the gift of agility
“Change is often seen as a threat but to an entrepeneur, it’s oxygen.”
Sir Richard Branson
Recommended reading //
Velocity by Stefan Olander
“Do one thing and do it well” / “Do whatever our imagination demands of us and then we can’t help but do it well.”
_
THREE //
Learn Forever & Play
Education is never over
We always see the final thing and not the process – what got them there, what keeps them there?
Creativity through play //
Creativity + Education/Learning + Play
Play creates trust
_
FOUR //
Dare to Fail
The possibility of success should be your goal, not accepting failure when it comes.
Fear of failure
1. Tarnishing a reputation
2. Intrude on a fantasy
Failure isn’t the opposite of success
“Creativity is just being stupid enough to not realise you can’t do something”
Gareth Edwards
visual thinking 