Reading Images

Introduction & Ch 1

This book is about the grammar of visual design. Images, like language, have certain grammar, rules, and structure, and it is through such structure that images are able to communicate meanings. Some images are direct representations of the reality, so they can deliver a straightforward message and require a minimal level of interpretation. Other images are more subtle and have multiple layers of meaning, so the viewer must take time to look at the image and think about it. The viewer must make efforts to interpret the message of the image. This leads to the notion of “visual literacy.” We have to understand the language of visual design to receive and interpret the meaning of images. There are two kinds of “visual literacy.” The old visual literacy is an unstructured reproduction of reality—“it is a message without a code” (p. 24). Language comes first, and images are secondary to language. The new visual literacy is openly structured and coded. The reality can be simplified and represented. One element can be used to represent the whole thing or express a more complex meaning.


Now there is a growing trend of visual communication. Communication is shifting from the verbal to the visual, and also images are becoming more coded and abstract. I’m not sure about the situation in the US, but in Taiwan, we can see the development of visual communication and “visual literacy” on the internet. It started with using simple symbols to show facial expressions, like:
^_^ happy
~_~ unhappy
T_T crying
~>_<~ upset
-_- or =_= somewhat annoyed

On instant messengers like MSN, there are “emoticons” to show more complex emotions.



In addition to showing emotions, some moving icons can be used to replace simple words, like “nodding” for “yes,” and “shaking one’s head” for “no.” (These images are supposed to move, but I can't show that on the blog?)


Later, as computer writing pads become more popular, people start to draw on MSN instead of typing.

Now some people say the trend of visual communication is coming to an extreme. There are too many images in the “internet language,” and we call it the “Martian language,” because no one can understand. Here’s one example of “Martian language.”

Anyways, the visual language on the internet in Taiwan is coded. It is a simplified representation of the reality. This type of visual communication is also culture and age specific—only for the younger generation in Taiwan, although some images may be universally understood. However, this is still a simple level of visual communication. These images do not have multiple meanings that are open for interpretation. The viewers are supposed to understand the shared meaning of these icons, instead of making efforts to interpret the deeper meanings.

Ch 9 & 10

Ch 9
This chapter is about the scientific ways of seeing and how technology allows us to see the human body and life in different ways, through microscopes, X rays, MRIs, and so on. Previously, I never thought that scientific looking is also culturally specific. Science should be about the “Truth.” But when reading this chapter, I was quite shocked by the ideas of the anatomy theater, the Paris morgue’s displaying of dead bodies, and public anatomical dissections. I thought that dead bodies and the interior of the human body are something that only professionals are allowed to see. Should the general public be allowed to see that? I wouldn’t want to be gazed upon like that. The body’s interior is one’s privacy. Being dissected in public is worse than being naked. Anatomy is okay for educational purposes and medical advancement, but not for pleasure gazing and public display.

Personally, it’s hard for me to imagine why the public would want to see that in the first place. Out of curiosity? Or in the pursuit of knowledge? In Western science and medicine, to see is to know. Looking in depth leads to more knowledge. Doctors and scientists want to see everything, looking beneath the surface and magnifying everything. But in the name of science and knowledge, do we sometimes see what we shouldn’t see? There’re always reasons to justify the “seeing,” like security checks and patient observation, but not all seeing is appropriate or necessary? If we compare the East and the West, western doctors think it’s necessary to see the body’s interior in order to diagnose the patient, so they developed X rays, Ultrasounds, MRIs, CAT scans, and so on to see through the human body. But in traditional Chinese medicine, the doctor diagnoses the patient by taking the pulse. If the patient is female, there will be curtains around her bed, and the doctor can only see and touch her wrist for the pulse and listen to her cough to diagnose the patient. In very extreme cases, like if the patient is the wife or daughter of the emperor, the doctor cannot even see or touch her hand. He can only tie a piece of thread to the patient’s wrist, and judge the pulse by touching the thread. From a modern perspective, this kind of diagnoses is totally unscientific. But in Chinese history, the best doctors were the ones who could make a correct diagnosis without seeing, and those were the doctors who would be invited into the palace to be the emperor’s doctor. This example shows that the relationship between seeing and knowledge is culturally specific.

Ch 10
This chapter is about globalization and the flow of visual culture. Globalization influences the production and distribution of films, images, and other visual cultural products. However, this open media flow didn’t create “a more democratic flow of information for the people” (p. 399). Instead, it reinforces cultural imperialism. In my personal experience, the most obvious example of cultural imperialism is the relationship between Taiwan and Japan. Taiwan used to be colonized by Japan. Even though now we’re free of the physical colonization, Taiwanese culture is still deeply influenced by Japanese culture. We eat Japanese food, listen to Japanese music, and watch Japanese movies and TV shows. Fortunately, the flow of the media and popular culture is not just one-way now. For example, a very famous comic book series in Japan, “Hana-yori Dango,” was made into a TV drama version in Taiwan. The show was very popular in Taiwan, and later broadcasted in Japan as well. It also got good ratings in Japan, so later the Japanese also made a Japanese version of the TV show. As the global image and media flow go back and forth, new cultural identities emerge. Through Youtube and other online medias, diasporic communities can get back in touch with the culture of their ancestral land. For example, Asian-Americans who cannot speak the language of their ancestors can still listen to Chinese songs or watch Japanese drama and animation (with English subtitles). In the past, Asian-Americans want to be distinguished from newly-arrived Asians, so they avoid “fobby” (Fresh Off Boat) cultures. But now, Asian popular culture is becoming a trend in Asian-American groups, and it influences their cultural identity and relationship with their two “homes.”

my avatar

This is the complete look of my avatar--a baseball girl in Taiwan.



This is the logo I used to make her shirt and cap.





This is the yellow object that she is holding in her hand.

The necklace

In front of a baseball setting

Chapter 7 & 8

7
In this chapter, the authors discussed about capitalism and consumer cultures. Capitalism depends on production and consumption, so people are encouraged to consume more than what they need. In other words, this type of consumption is not because of necessity but desire. In order to generate desire and legitimate unnecessary spending, the capitalists create the feeling that life in modern society is troubling and unfulfilled, and that consumption can lead to self-fulfillment. Therefore, consumption is therapeutic and good/necessary for our mental health, as it fills our emotional needs. Through consumption, people can get the identity and sense of belonging that they are looking for. For example, we buy Clemson T-shirts to show that we identify with the school. Consumption also evolved as a form of leisure and pleasure. Shopping is no longer a chore but a type of entertainment. The purpose of shopping is not to buy products, but to enjoy the shopping experience. Many people find pleasure in buying things for other people. Even window shopping becomes popular because it brings visual pleasure.

Moreover, capitalism and consumption create the illusion that shopping can fulfill our desire, yet this desire can never really be fulfilled. The consumers’ desire must always be sustained so that people can buy more and more things. Lacan’s notion of lack and desire can explain the situation. The subject’s lack will always exist. The object of one’s desire can never fill the lack, because the object of desire will be replaced by another object in a chain of replacements. Once people actually get the object of their desire, its charm disappears. From the capitalist perspective, when designing and selling a product, the lifespan of the product cannot be too long, or else consumers will not buy a new one. Recently there’s a commercial about a brand of everlasting gum. The gum lasts so long that the manufacturers are begging consumers to start chewing the second piece. This is why companies are always coming up with newer versions of their products, so that even when consumers already have the product, they will be intrigued by the latest fashion.

From this respect, it might be easier to sell an experience rather than a product. Experience is not something that people can hang on to. In order to get the same pleasant experience, they must purchase again and again. For example, coffee shops are selling not only the coffee, but the whole atmosphere and café experience. The tourism industry is all about selling travel experiences. Tourists can take photos and buy souvenirs, but the desire for the travel experience can never be fulfilled. The famous slogan for Las Vegas is: “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” This slogan is telling tourists that they cannot take the Las Vegas experience home, so that tourists have to come again and again.

8
Postmodernism is about questions. The postmodern tradition is to question the universal truth, fundamental knowledge, and the origin of power and authority. The purpose is to shake the very foundation of our beliefs and to deconstruct all assumptions and dominant ideologies. But even though postmodernism claims that there are multiple truths instead of one big Truth, there is still one central idea in postmodernism—that there is no Truth, no reality, no authenticity, and so on. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense (I’m not even sure if I understand postmodernism), but is there a way for postmodernism to deconstruct itself? Or that it is still dominated by one main thought.

In order to question the master narratives, simulation and remix became popular forms of postmodern art. Through remakes, parodies, fragmentation, and appropriation, people are able to reflect upon their understanding of the world and different systems of meaning. In this chapter, the authors used Shrek and The Simpsons as examples of remake. Shrek and The Simpsons are both popular in Taiwan, but I think for people from non-western cultures, it’s very difficult to understand and appreciate the hidden meanings and references in these parodies, so people may just think that Shrek and The Simpsons are cute or funny. So I am thinking: What makes a good remake? Shrek and The Simpsons are good examples, and I also like the TV show, That 70’s Show, which uses a lot of parodies. But there are also some movies like Date Movie, Epic Movie, and Not Another Teen Movie, and some of them are just awful. So what makes a successful postmodern remake and what not?