Buttons as a form of visual rhetoric has led me to consider all sorts of clothing as visual rhetoric as well. Whether it be wearing political colors, wearing your favorite football teams jersey, or even wearing pajamas, one is always making a statement of sorts by what they wear. Most often, I feel, the clothes one wears has the purpose of social acceptance. In a formal occasion, such as a wedding or a high-class restaurant, we wear suits and dresses. In informal moments, with friends, we wear jeans and t-shirts. For the minority that defy this pattern, they are usually the poor, the crazy, and the ones who are definitely trying to make a point. Like the nudists, the choice to not wear anything is a visual message to others that they either don't care about normality or they want attention.
Our clothing is definitely a means of visual rhetoric, whether we know it or not. Since it is obviously the way we want to be seen or not seen.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Reading Response on the Practices of Looking
From the reading, I found the concept of images as representation especially fascinating. Rene Magritte's painting of a pipe followed by the text "This is not a pipe" I think is quite genius. Furthermore, the relates to "the myth of photographic truth" as images (and even exact pictures) will never simply show the object as is. There is always a purpose behind each image, to in one way or another, manipulate the reality. There is always the separation of the paint, the lens, or some sort of medium between the actual truth and the truth that is being told.
As a creative writer, I find this idea of representation to be very applicable. In whatever I write, there is a purpose, and to best fulfil that purpose, I'd do whatever I need to, even if the genre is nonfiction. Afterall, who's to say what is true and not true if one thing signifies another and another and another?
As a creative writer, I find this idea of representation to be very applicable. In whatever I write, there is a purpose, and to best fulfil that purpose, I'd do whatever I need to, even if the genre is nonfiction. Afterall, who's to say what is true and not true if one thing signifies another and another and another?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
What is Visual Rhetoric?
Visual Rhetoric can be defined as the art of persuasion through the use of images.
Firstly, I think that visual/visible rhetoric is a form of communication as the creator is using the creation to say something to an audience. This leads to visual rhetoric being art as it is an expression from one to influence, manipulate, or affect another (this definition of art is my own from what I've learned through history as well as my own claim to being an artist). Thus, in my opinion, art and persuasion almost always go hand in hand, but especially in the case of visual rhetoric. As discussed in class, rhetoric = persuasion. Though one usually thinks of language or words initially when rhetoric is mentioned, in visual rhetoric, the use of images as rhetorical tools is key. By images I mean anything that can be seen: pictures, graphics, text, color, shapes, and all sorts of design.
I know this definition of visual rhetoric seems really loose, but I would like to argue that all art can be seen as visual rhetoric including literature and music (perhaps through the use of imagery). But for this class, visual rhetoric will deal with art that is literally visual and art that is specifically on persuasion.
Firstly, I think that visual/visible rhetoric is a form of communication as the creator is using the creation to say something to an audience. This leads to visual rhetoric being art as it is an expression from one to influence, manipulate, or affect another (this definition of art is my own from what I've learned through history as well as my own claim to being an artist). Thus, in my opinion, art and persuasion almost always go hand in hand, but especially in the case of visual rhetoric. As discussed in class, rhetoric = persuasion. Though one usually thinks of language or words initially when rhetoric is mentioned, in visual rhetoric, the use of images as rhetorical tools is key. By images I mean anything that can be seen: pictures, graphics, text, color, shapes, and all sorts of design.
I know this definition of visual rhetoric seems really loose, but I would like to argue that all art can be seen as visual rhetoric including literature and music (perhaps through the use of imagery). But for this class, visual rhetoric will deal with art that is literally visual and art that is specifically on persuasion.
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