Cecilia Serafiffiini MAGD 2014 Workshop Unit Word & Image
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Barnard, M. (2002) Fashion as Communication. 2nd ed., London: Routledge
It is never the case that one receives denotative meaning and then, later, the connotative meaning
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Part I
Defiffiining basic terms
Connotation 1 a : the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes b : something suggested by a word or thing 2 : the signification of something
Denotation 1 : an act or process of denoting 2 : meaning; esp : a direct specific meaning as distinct from an implied or associated idea 3 a : a denoting term :name b : sign indication
Part I
Leon Ferrari, La civilización occidental y cristiana (1965)
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W&I
In terms of denoted image, we can fiffiind a fiffiigure of a bearded man wearing a robe and bleeding. He is nailed to a United States Air Force aeroplane (model FH 107) carrying missils. In terms of connotation, we could say the bearded man is Jesus. That model of airplane, which was used in the Vietnam war, along with the title of the work of art (The christian and western civilization) could be refering the the USA’s intentions in the time of that war.
Part I
Cindy Sherman, Untitled (2000)
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W&I
In terms of denotation, this picture shows a pregnant woman, wearing a ragged shirt and make up. In terms of connotation, we could say, for example, that through the sexualization of a pregnant woman, the artist is critiquing the way women are portrayed in the mainstream media.
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W&I Part I
Anchorage Images are prone to multiple meanings and interpretations. Anchorage occurs when text is used to focus on one of these meanings, or at least to direct the viewer through the maze of possible meanings in some way.
Part I
Barbara Kruger, Your gaze hits the side of my face (1984)
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W&I
In Barbara Kruger’s piece, the words that the artist included on the left are opening a whole new world of meaning to what would otherwise be the sculpture of a face. We could say, for example, that the image is refering to the concept of “male gaze”, that was introduced by Laura Mulvey only 5 years before the piece was made.
Part I
Alejandro Ros, Cover for Las 12 (20??)
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W&I
A double-sided pencil could have a number of different connotations, lots of them related to duality. Through text, the designer makes the viewer focus on a especifififfiic one: bisexuality. (The text reads Bisexuality)
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W&I Part I
Relay It happens when the text adds meaning to the image and both text and image work together to convey intended meaning e.g. a comic strip.
Part I
Liza Donelly, Untitled (2010)
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W&I
In this image the concept of relay is very clear. The meaning of the cartoon would not be understoon without the text. The text, in this case, is adding meaning, and not helping the viewer focus on one of its existing meanings.
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Part II
Word & Image Workshop
Workshop A We were asked to bring 3 images of the environment, 3 images of people within the environment and 3 images of objects withing the environment. After getting in groups and selecting the most successful pictures -the ones that were open to the more interpretations-, we tried to create a narrative using words to imply a specific meaning in each photo.
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quote by Jean Luc Godard
A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order
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Environment
W&I Part II
Objects
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People
W&I Part II
Berger, J. 2008, Ways of seeing, Penguin, London.
We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice
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Movement After thoroughly examining and classifying all of our pictures, we tried to relate each one of them to words -any adjectives or verbes that would come to our minds- which led us to create a narrative around the concept of movement.
Examples
Analysing the images
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W&I Part II
Denotation The photo shows the top part of what looks like a carrousel. The lights are on. The sky behind it is light, with some clouds.
Connotation The fact that it seems like daytime and that the carrousel lights are on could suggest the picture was taken while the carrousel was functioning. The colour and look of the sky suggests it was taken in the afternoon. Because of the lack of buildings on the background we could say the carrousel is on a park.
Part II
This picture shows a person on the street. We can see a bridge, the river, the road and buildings and cars in the background.
Connotation
We could deduce by the clothing and the hair of the person that it is a woman. She looks like she is walking towards the end of that road. Because of her clothing we could also say it is winter. The look of the bridge and the building on the right could indicate this picture was taken somewhere in Europe.
Denotation
This pictures shows an empty street with no end, with a sign at the end that reads “Rent a bike”.
Connotation
During our workshop, we discarted this picture because of its limitations when it came to fiffiind meaning. In terms of connotation we could maybe say this picture was taken during the day, in a speakingenglish country. It might have been a weekend because of the lack of people.
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W&I
Denotation
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W&I
Words
In the opposite page we can see how words can help the viewer focus on one of the many meanings a picture may carry. In this case, for example, a carrousel could mean the remembering of childhood, the freedom associated with it, the joy of playing, among other things.
Play
Move
Think back
Remember
Imagine
Let go
Amaze
Enjoy
Now, how does the font affect the message? Typography can be expressive; this is why for our ffiinal piece in workshop A we chose a traditional sans-serif font that we wish could act as the crystal goblet and not affect the image too much.
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
Remember
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W&I
Part II
About the font
The narrative The following pages show the outcome of workshop A. Again, concentrating on the concept of movement, we tried to create a sequence of pictures that illustrated the natural movements in life. The words -discretely placed in the center of each imagehelp reinforce the narrative and the meaning of each image.
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W&I Part II
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W&I Part II
Part I W&I
Everytime we look at a photograph, we are aware, however slightly, of the photographer selecting that sight from an infinity of other possible sights
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Berger, J. 2008, Ways of seeing, Penguin, London.
Part III
Workshop B & Outcome
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W&I Part III
The narrative For my fiffiinal outcome I chose to work with the public image of the current president of my country -Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner- and how she is being compared by the media to Eva Per贸n (former 1st Lady of Argentina and wife of president Juan Domingo Per贸n). At the same time, I focused on the idea of stardom and fanatacism that is and has been seen around both of them.
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W&I Part III
The visuals Apart from the comparison and fusion of both ficharacters, I included with sutilty -and not so much sutilty- the idea of pop art. Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe and the idealization of celebrities he constantly brought into his pieces. This way, I thought, would help convey the idea of these two politicians seen as pop or movie stars.
The text The text used in the outcome is exclusively taken from Evita Peron. I specifically chose certain quotes that reinforced the concept that I am trying to communicate.
Eva Per贸n
In government, one actress is enough
Part III
Texts
Berger, J. 2008, Ways of seeing, Penguin, London. Toorn, J.v. & Poynor, R. 2008, Jan van Toorn: critical practice, Uitgeverij 010, Rotterdam. Toorn, J.v. 2006, Design’s delight, 010 publishers, Rotterdam. Crow, D. 2003, Visible signs: an introduction to semiotics, AVA Publishing, Lausanne.
Images The images that are not referenced here were taken by me or by my workshop colleagues.
p. 7 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/sEsCbDNQbGA/TpEdny9FSvI/ AAAAAAAAB_A/-g8MopWc7h4/s1600/ civilizaci%25C3%25B2n+Le%25C3%25B2n+Ferrari. jpg
W&I
p. 9 http://s3.production.artbash.co.nz/2657original-Untitled-Cosmo-Cover-Girl-1990-91-fromthe-series-.jpg p. 13 http://c300221.r21.cf1.rackcdn.com/ untitled-your-gaze-hits-the-side-of-myface-1981-1391628342_org.jpg p. 15 http://www.dgring.com.ar/wp-content/ uploads/2008/03/1.jpg p. 19 http://lizadonnelly.com/wordpress/wp-content/ gallery/cartoons/sake-of-parents.jpg p. 44 http://things-images.com/44/images1/evaperon-biography-9.jpg
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p. 45 http://veja.abril.com.br/assets/ images/2011/12/60518/cristina-kirchner-casarosada-eleicao-argentina-20111210-size-620.jpg