Experiments

For assignment two we were asked to read an essay entitled ‘The Rhetoric Image’ by Roland Barthes, and then carry out experiments to explore the ideas expressed in the essay. The purpose of these experiments was to help to understand to meaning and concepts behind a “visual Language” and also to show how this can be used as a research tool and method.
In groups we were asked to discuss the main points in the essay and how these relate to your own discipline. The essay mainly explores the idea that images can have several meanings, and messages and that these can be interpreted by looking at a number of aspects of the visual language. An example of this that the essay looks at is in advertising , by looking at three different aspects of a message, a message can be broken down further, by the name of firm, brand etc and global associations. Another is the linguistics of a message, the caption, labels and the composition of the advertisement. Also by looking at the literal meaning and symbolic meaning and how they relate to each other. Throughout the essay there are a number of ideas and areas that relate to my own displace textiles and also to the way in which I would interpret images and considerations I would make throughout my own design work. These include the area when Barthes mentions that colours can suggest meaning and stories. Also when he talks about denotation and connation, as denotation indicates the meaning and understanding of an image, where as connotation suggest the meanings and understanding of an image. This could relate to textiles in that pieces could clearly represent meaning, themes and ideas through colour etc, or they could just suggest a hint of these through colour ect. Also where it mentions the use of lexical which is the relating of the words of a language, and the skills and art of using a visual language, this relates in that it is important to have and use a visual language and work and build on these skills throughout your work to explore the ideas and moods you want to achieve. Another area which Barthas explored was the idea of cultural associations and that these can be made through certain objects and colours ect.. This can be explored through textiles in many different ways, for example we had a culture project project brief, where we had to look at a chosen culture and represent it through our work, by using colour, text, and objects which are associated to that culture.
For the first experiment we had to chose three photographs at random from a website, and then asked a selection of people to say what they think is going on in each of the photographs and create a story to link them together. For the next part of the experiment we had to add a forth image that best shows the chosen story from part one, and then show them to a selection of different people and asked them to come up with a story from the photographs. Then show the photographs again to the same selection of people but with one word of text added to each photograph and see if they come up with the same as your chosen story.
From this experiment in the first part I found from the images I used people came up with similar stories mainly including the idea of somewhere aboard, and being on holiday relaxing. When adding the fourth image and asking a different selection of people we found a varied selection of results, from kind of right to completely different. This could have been because of the different age groups, culture and personality and most people that got similar results were from the same specialism. However it seemed when we added text to the images, words such as medterrian, path, and relax, that people seemed to get a much more similar story to the original story. This then relates back the essay in that in the essay it talks about how does text add to the meaning of an image, and that text is used so that people understand the obvious. I found this experiment interesting in that from images you can translate a meaning and story from them and through adding a few words, the images and stories can then be seen and understood by a large selection of people. One thing I may have changed may have been how related in subject each photograph was in order to get more varied result and to see how effective this method is in translating a story with more varied photographs.

Assignment 1 Swapping Photographs

For assignment 1 we were asked to collect a number of photographs from our childhood or our environments and personal spaces and swap them with a person that you don’t really know. I swapped my photographs with Michael Millar, a girl from my Textile class. We decided to swap photographs of our bedrooms and personal spaces.
When looking at the photographs for the first time I found myself interested and intrigued, and through looking at them I began to get a picture and idea of Michaela’s personality and what she likes and is interested in. The thing that instantly stands out is the décor, which is pretty and youthful with its pink walls and matching furniture. This lead me to think that Michaela’s favourite colour might be pink and that she likes and en joys playing with and using bright colours. Another aspect of which was clear from the photographs is that Michaela is a very neat and tidy person, who is very organised. This is shown through the fact that everything was tidied away and organised, and everything has its place. This may be an influence of her upbringing and her parents. Examples of this is shown by the fact that all her clothes are neatly put away and there is nothing lying around.
From the photographs other aspects of Michaela’s personality is shown through her DVD and book collections, these show a girlie and playful side, through the fact that most of her DVDs are chick flicks or comedies and her books show that she enjoys reading and likes and is into the Harry Potter and Twilight books. Another interest and passion that is shown through out her room is that of art and fashion, shown through the box in her drawer which she has decorated with fashion images which shows a very creative side and the area beside her cupboard which has a pile of paintings and sketch books. There is also a really nice painting on top of her wardrobe which again bring s in the aspect of colour and brightness.
It is clear through looking at her room that Michaela is a very sentimental person, who likes to keep thing s given to her by people close to her. This is shown through the photograph on her desk which is of her and her boyfriend and other photographs around the room for example on her window sal. This idea is also shown by the teddies and other objects such as the pretty and delicate ornaments sitting on her desk and wardrobe , these not only show a sentimental side but shows she has a youthful side and that she enjoys collecting objects that might have memories and connections to her childhood.
From these photographs I think Michaela is a very neat and organised person, who is very girlie and likes pretty things. I found this assignment very intriguing in that I was surprised by how much you can tell about a person and their personality from looking at their personal space.
When looking at the photographs at first I felt quite intrusive and nosey, and after speaking to Michaela when we discussed what we thought of each others photographs, I was surprised how much she had found out about me from my room, and how most of it was right. When discussing with Michaela what I had written about her room, I found that what I had noted was mostly right, apart from the idea that her favourite colour was pink and that the colour scheme and furniture had been mostly influenced or chosen by her mum or young sisters. Also the idea that she was very tidy and organised was right and in fact that was her room messy. The idea that I had thought she is a sentimental person as she kept and collected ornaments and objects was right as she mentioned when we were discussing it that she had even named and remembered each of them and who they were from. From example her souvenir car called Elliot. I enjoyed doing this project and found it interesting how you can get to know someone and things about them and their personality from simply looking at photographs of their environment and personal spaces.