« The Story of Genie | Main | Semiotics »
September 27, 2005
Ch 1 of Practices of Looking
I never really realized that seeing and looking are considered to be two distinct practices. Seeing is more of just observing and taking in object that we may see on an everyday basis, while looking involves interpreting something that we see, exploring it in depth and trying to understand its significance. I think that I spend time seeing objects more than looking at them. I just sort of glance at something and not really pay attention to it or try to analyze it. This chapter gave me a lot of insight into how objects are viewed, and after reading it, I realize that a lot of the visual images that I see constantly are meant to be percieved on a whole other level than I have perceieved them.
For example, in Andy Warhol's work Marilyn Diptych (1962), he created multiple depictions of Marilyn Monroe's face on a very colorful grid. I thought that this was an interesting depiction of art, because it mimics the trends of society, which is mainly to repeat a visual image frequently in order to have an influence on a specific audience. This is so true for the teen generation today, because celebrities are of major influence in the media, and many teens want to resemble those celebrities or "become" them. Now that plastic surgery is so available in today's society, these endeavors are made even more realistically possible.
After reading this chapter it just makes me want to sit back for a while and think about how quickly society is changing, and how much of a powerful influence that visual images have on us. Sometimes it can be too much to absorb.
--Yasmin
Posted by lcisperez at September 27, 2005 04:02 PM