The material presented during the five week really impressed me. All visual art covers the main problems of our reality. Looking at the picture or digital video we begin to understand really important things. Nevertheless, the way of our understanding differs from the other people’s point of view. We observe the world through our experience and the level of our education. The reading of this week helps me to comprehend these pieces of art from another point of view. It should be pointed out that the way we comprehend the surrounding world and the way this world looks like in reality differs from each other. The presentation Informational Divides by Chris Coleman depicts the idea of information flow. There are groups of people influenced by ideas of other group of people or even one person who is able to lead their minds. Even if it seems to you that you think in a special way and your ideas are unique, there are a lot of means of influence on your mind which program your way of thinking. This piece of art demonstrates the fact that the ideas may unite people as well as bias against each other. Simple icons of Coleman make me muse on this burning issue.
The Magnitude of the Continental Divides by Coleman stresses nearly the same idea. Continents are divided on the mental level. Nations hate each other because of differences in their understanding of reality. There are certain types of stereotypes and aggression of one nation towards the other. Every nation thinks that it is the best one. Where do these stereotypes come from? Who imposes these ideas? People’s minds are influenced and controlled by more powerful and stronger ones. The freedom of thought is really in doubt. This video is a sort of an appeal to other people to muse on this global problem of the information flow. Coleman uses simple icons to express such a global problem.
The advertisement of Kentucky Fried Chicken comes to my mind when I think about the implicated sense of icons. Firstly it seems there is no implicated idea. An ordinary American man gets in an awkward situation during the cricket tournament. Why is this situation an awkward one? It may seem that he is among the supporters of the opponent team. Kentucky Fried Chicken helps to survive. Taking into account that fact that the color of the skin of opponent commands differs, there may be an implicated idea of racism. This idea may be on our subconscious level. It is the bright example how an ordinary advertisement may influence our mind staffing it with different stereotypes (Rutherford, p. 60). There are a lot of little details which make this advertisement perceptive for our mind. The use of icons and cartoons in the beginning and at the end of the video attracts our attention. These icons are supported by different logos. They are information carrier. The book for reading demonstrates how these icons influence our mind (McCloud, p. 26).
The lecture of Michael Salter impressed me. There are a wide range of examples which demonstrate how a simple icon may represent the whole object or idea (McCloud, p. 27). The simplification is the main idea of the lecture of Michael Salter. The best example of simplification is the art of Olly Moss who presents simple pictures expressing important ideas. One of my favourite examples is the poster of the movie Love and Other Drugs. He unites all ideas of the movie in one simple icon. His interesting interpretation of the map of Europe is one of the best one. He uses the objects of an everyday life to present the map. All these tiny icons present the whole image of Europe. His captivating projects inspired me to look at the surrounding world in a new way. Try to find an implicated sense in simple objects. A simple icon may arise a wide range of associations, emotions and feelings (Horton, p. 37).
Works Cited
- McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Britain: William Morrow Paperbacks, 1994. Print.
- Horton, William. The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for Systems and Documentation. Michigan: Wiley Technical Communication Library, 2007. Print
- Rutherford, Paul. The New Icons?: The Art of Television Advertising. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,1994. Print.