Visual Culture Art Education Discussion

ARTE 548

March 26th, 2018

Paul Duncum Articles

Discussion Notes from Class:

Linkages to Olivia Gude’s Postmodern Art Education, and we both picked out some questions that were
stated in the article, and we created our own questions.

Paul Duncum considers the most important element of VCAE is about POWER. How art and images can
create and move power. “Who has the power over an image?” is it the creator, the viewer, the
“owner”.

 It’s a toss up: the artist can have an intention, however the context of the work or the
viewer can see it differently, that doesn’t mean that it changes the connotation of the
piece per the artist, but the viewer will take from it what they will.
 It goes back to the “mural” article that was about ownership –
 I agree with _____, for the most part, the viewer dictates the power of an image.
Everyone’s perception is different in everything. People will construct their own
perceptions of the same object.
 I agree with that, cultures will “see” things differently. The artist owes something to the
viewer to take something away with them. Jeff Koons comes to mind, in that some of his
works are embraced and some are “way too much”.
 I thought of a different scenario, like in Art history, it is mostly about what the artist
intended rather than our interpretation. Time changes how things are approached and
how they are understood.
 We have a lot of power as the artist because we can go back in and change things,
however some artist work toward specific goals to achieve. Ultimately it is up to the
audience, however, artists can direct their work to be in specific “spaces”.
 One article we read, _______ brought up the point that people ask the artist about what
things mean, but the artists have the choice to present their work without explanation if
they want to.
 That reminds me of, “does your artwork ask a question or answer a question” which is
important in this context. If I’m answering a question then it is that thing. But if I’m
asking a question, …

POWER is CENTRAL leads me to believe that the power is not owned by the artist or the viewer but is
embodied into the middle.

IDEOLOGY was segue into representation. It’s basically beliefs, values, and ideologies that are put forth
in their images.
REPRESENTATION how are they representing their IDEOLOGY. He mentioned what images FAIL to
represent. Students had to watch movies and they had to identify all that is stereotyped and
marginalized. Most stereotypes were tied to gender and sexuality identification. i.e. Women timid.

 This makes a statement toward ignorance in society… I think that as a society we need
to be more cognizant about what we are and are not recognizing in images.

SEDUCTION images that offer conditions about pleasure.

WHY are we DRAWN to certain images and NOT to others? PD says that we are seduced by things that
are pleasing to the eye.

 I’m not attracted to things that are scary or “horror”. There are things that are the
opposite of seduction. I have a friend that doesn’t like to see things that are melted.
There is an opposite to seduction.
 Everyone’s visual taste can fall along a prescribed path. If you want to find something
“beyond” the norm and get into the sophistication, even the disturbing or scary, we
almost have to teach ourselves, then once you reach that level, then you can see beauty
and value in many things.

SEDUCTION can trick you too, so if you present something that is against your value, if you wrap it in
seductive images, it can draw you in

 Reminds me about conversations in CRTW about how fads start, the more that you are
exposed to something the more accessible and seductive it can become. It’s about
familiarity.
 Agree, being able to recognize something for its quality over its content is something.
The old masters are boring, and you can make it cool, but I can see the skill that went
into it, and I can see that objectively it is good, but it doesn’t fall into my aesthetic.

WHAT MAKES AN IMAGE CREATE AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE? Either positive or negative

 I think its dependent upon the experiences that each person has had with that object.
Something that I were to find disgusting might be intriguing by someone else. Where as
I wouldn’t. I think personal experience directs this.

GAZE – You have a predisposition to see things in a certain way, the relationship that what we see, and
does the very act of looking implicate us of a violation in the act of gazing. Voyeurism. Are our opinions
predetermined based on the object of looking? Some students automatically created judgements.

 I heard once that The first thing that comes to your mind is what you were taught to
think, and the second thing is what you have developed in your own thinking. MS/HS
students are not fully developed yet, so.

THINKING ABOUT GAZE HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND OUR SOCIETY

 We only know what we are exposed to, so we need space and time to see and
understand more so that we have a more widened perception through experience.
  YouTube channel where a person interviews persons who are differently abled, and he
asks about staring. Many state that they find the “look away” very offensive. – Very
telling societal study

INTERTEXTUALITY

ALL IMAGES ARE LINKED TOGETHER. IMAGE MAKERS MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN OTHER
IMAGES. THE ART IS NOT SINGULAR, YOU ARE LOOKING AT MANY ITERATIONS OF THE IMAGE AND THE
PERIFERAL IMAGES AS WELL.

Students looked at a piece about “wheres bin laden” like where’s waldo.

How can images raise the issues that might need to be discussed.

MULTIMODALITY: THERE IS NO PURELY VISUAL IMAGES, THEY ALWAYS HAVE SOUNDS AND WORDS,
AND OTHER SENSORIAL INPUTS.

Perception of the image can be changed/altered by.

What anchors the meaning of an image? Words, sounds, images, agree/disagree?

 Even with our iMovie I was thinking about the music. Each music had a different
connotation and would change the context of what I was going to say. One selection
said one thing ,and the interaction of the senses.
 I think this could relate to VTS our thoughts about it change the more that we know
about what the artist was intending about the image.
 Finding the principles about VCAE, is it similar or dissimilar to Olivia Gude: Gaze,
Layering, Hybridity, Appropriation, Recontextualization, Representin’, etc…

WHAT CONNECTIONS CAN YOU MAKE TO OTHER FORMS OF ART EDUCATION?

 I don’t think he talks about text as much as Olivia did.

 I don’t know how to answer the question, but I have comments about the article, there
was one section of the article that talked about, “art teachers who are tierd of the
systematic, and their expectations, then they see VCAE as an escape from that system to
get more socially and culturally embraced, you have to have the systematic structure in
place to make VCAE work”. Profoundly historical although we think that its new, but its
always been relevant.

Instead of asking what connections we can make, then maybe we can ask, what are your opinions about
what VCAE is.

 Once I understood it, I incorporate it into my lesson about aesthetics, and I think that its
powerful that we can move forward into that space.
 “Postmodern Principles” – New School Art Styles – in Art Education – Olivia Gude –
School of the Art Institute of Chicago.