VERTICAL ROLL, JOAN JONAS

Here is the link to view Vertical Roll by Joan Jonas:

http://ubu.com/film/jonas_vertical.html

 

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

Joan Jonas, 1972. A 19 minute video in black and white named Vertical Roll.

With the photo or video you are examining when was it produced (date)?

1972.

How was the photo or video authored?

A black-and-white video centered upon a technological glitch common to television.

“The reason why it’s called ‘Vertical Roll’ [is] because in the piece there’s a rolling bar of the video, which is a dysfunction of the television set,” the Jonas has explained. “And I made a piece which is structured by that bar…in which I perform around the rolling bar; all my actions are related to that bar….”

How was the photo or video published?

Jonas chose to publish Vertical Roll in video as at the time of the 60’s-70’s it was a new concept and medium for artists — and a medium that was yet to be dominated by men.

When Jonas made Vertical Roll, television was a widespread phenomenon, and viewers were used to consuming its images. Representations of women in the media, and notions of female identity, were of great concern to Jonas. By presenting herself in such a disjointed manner, Jonas hinders viewers’ ability to scrutinise her televised image, claiming a measure of control over how she may be perceived.

How was the photo or video distributed?

Vertical Roll was shot in Ace Studios in Los Angeles.

This piece of video art, as well as other works by Jonas, have been distributed and showcased in many art institutions across the globe, including The Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis, The San Francisco Museum of Art, The Kitchen in New York and Rosamund Felson Gallery in Los Angeles.

Jonas is considered a key figure in the history of both Performance and Video art, and has been enormously influential on many contemporary artists who use their bodies in performance to explore what it is to be female today.

 

 

 

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

This photograph was taken by Heinrich Hoffman, the personal photographer of Adolf Hitler. Hoffman was charged with choreographing the regime’s propaganda carnivals and selling them them to the German public.

With the photo or video you are examining when was it produced (date)?

This photo was taken, alongside many others, in 1934. This was on September 30 at the Buckeberg Harvest Festival, where Hitler walks amongst his adoring and heiling troops.

How was the photo or video authored?

Hoffman took more than 2 million photos of Hitler and the regime’s message — feeding the demonic dream. Always showing position of power, and masses of the Nazi army as well as insignia. All of Hoffmans photos show adoring folllowers, strong and authoritative troops and paint the regime in a positive light.

How was the photo or video published?

Hoffmans photos were published as postage stamps, postcards, posters and picture books. Hoffman and Hitler received royalties from all uses of Hitler’s image, even on the postage stamps.

During the Third Reich, Hoffmann assembled many photo books on Hitler, including The Hitler Nobody Knows’ — a book that is defined today as a “central to Hitler’s extremely shrewd, extremely well-controlled effort to manipulate his image…to turn his notoriously non-Nordic-looking foreignness, his much remarked upon strangeness into assets to his charisma.”

How was the photo or video distributed?

This photograph was distributed throughout German society in a time when the country was humiliated by World War 1 and when the regime was eager to reclaim its sense of self. Hitler’s visage and portrayal of confidence and adoration by his troops and followers presented an uplifting message in distribution.

Hoffmans expertly rendered propaganda is a testament to photography’s power to move nations and change perspective through the simplicity of photography.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is the personification of passion and talent. Listening to him describe the world of photography and photojournalism and what it means for him made me excited and see a multitude of possibilities in the medium of photography for expression and art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Cartier-Bresson, a man self-described as impulsive, illustrates the beauty in acting in the moment and losing yourself to a situation to capture it for what it really is. I think that is beautiful. You can really see the connection and care in each and every one of his photos…looking at them you just know he’s got it — got what photojournalism is all about — people, places, shapes, space, time.

A lover of geometry, Cartier-Bresson’s photos portal the visual pleasure he finds in design — in shapes and shades and everything ‘fitting together.’ You know that feeling you get when editing a photo and you say to yourself ‘ah, yes thats it’ — this feeling is almost an in instilled talent that Cartier-Bresson holds, but with much more rawness. “Life is once, forever” he says, and probably thinks to himself in those moments of witnessing life. Forgetting himself whilst also being himself enables him to lucidly and freely be in the moment, and see things with an open eye. His camera is a weapon, photography a way of shouting the way he feels with just one, precise click.

Assignment #1: Annotated Bibliography

Natalie James

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I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services

Blog Reflections

1. Week 1: blogs in media education
2. Week 2: Affordances
3. Week 3: The Network
4. Week 4: Social Media

Our class prompt

“How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?”

Annotated Bibliography

Selected Text 1 — Blogs

Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006): 66–9. Print.

“Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning” written by RMIT lecturer Adrian Miles introduces the reader to the concept of blogging for educational purposes. Miles expresses the view that blogs provide a medium for producing more variance of content over other traditional writing forms  —which can contribute to teaching and learnings. This viewpoint is relevant for students today as technology plays a significant role in both an educational and personal sense. Steering away from traditional rote learning and imploring students to put thought and reflection in a blog post can assist in in-depth learning of concepts being taught. This being said, not one individual learns the same way — there are visual, aural, physical and verbal learners and thus blog writing for educational purposes may only work for some. In the article, Miles offers the view that blog writing allows for diversity in style, tone and presentation and that they are a great platform for communication — stating blogs are “exemplars of an interlinked, networked, fluid and distinctly contemporary writing practice and communicative space, and it is these qualities that can be leveraged to make them effective learning environments.” This adds to another one of Mile’s points that blogging can assist in building and finding an online identity for the author. Blogging allows an individual to freely express their thoughts and opinions and communicate that in whichever way they wish — with a casual tone, with humour, a more professional sentiment or portrayed visually. Coupled with this, the article highlights how the sharing, linking and commenting by others can assist in learnings for students — where students can gain insight of thoughts by their peers, can understand concepts in different ways and can receive feedback.

These opinions held by Miles hold relevance in regard to our class prompt, which looks at how affordances of Instagram affect the authoring, publication and distribution of photos in the network. Just as blogging exists as a platform for expressing, communicating and creating an online identity, so too does Instagram. The affordances of Instagram in filters, stories and posting photos encourages individuals to produce content in an expressive way. Miles states that blogging is useful for “developing multiliteracies that allow students to participate in contemporary information ecologies as creators, rather than as passive consumers” and this is exactly what Instagram users do as they portray themselves online with a particular persona, use specific filters and layouts and participate in a communicative space with likeminded people (followers) in a proactive manner.

However, there are limitations that exist in the article. Firstly, it is made clear that Miles is expressing a personal opinion and discussing his own personal experiences with blogging in media education. The inclusion of statistical information and a discussion of outcomes he has experienced from using blogging as a learning tool would have legitimised the article further.

Overall, “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning” written by RMIT lecturer Adrian Miles was a comprehensive account of the usefulness in blogging as not only learning tool but a tool for individual growth and expression in the online world and highlighted concepts that tied in well with our course prompt surrounding affordances of the Instagram and the way in which material is authored, published and distributed.

Selected Text 2 — Affordances

Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things, Basic Book, New York (Sections: Preface vii-xv; Chapter one 1-13; Chapter 4 (constraints) 81-87; (computers) 177-186)

“The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman explores the concept of design, stating that design serves as the communication between object and user. He unpacks the design of poorly  designed and well designed things and adds that visibility in design is the most important principal. Well-designed objects are easy to interpret and understand, and contain visible clues to their operation. This sings true for the affordances of Instagram that allow users to author, publish and distribute content in the network. The app is simple in its design, gives clear clues on how to edit a photo, apply a filter and post a photo or story. This coupled with the fact that Instagram alerts users to new changes in the addition of filters and story components makes it easy to follow and understand. Norman states “the human mind is exquisitely tailored to make sense of the world. Give it the slight clue and off it goes, providing explanation, rationalisation, understanding” and this holds relevance for not only why and how we do things in our everyday lives, but is accurate in understanding the evolution of networked media. We live in a world where we seek things that offer us many affordances, the more the better. Norman defines an affordance as “the perceived and actual properties of an object, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the object could possibly be used.” For Instagram, these are stories, filters, the possibility to link to Facebook and so on, and whilst the visibility of these affordances provides the mapping between intended actions and actual operations, there are also constraints that exist. Affordances suggest the range of possibilities and constraints limit the number of alternatives. This can be seen in the design of Instagram where, for example, you can apply one of 24 available filters and furthermore can apply edits to the brightness, saturation and so forth but on a constrained scale. The various sub-forms of constraints also hold relevance for Instagram. Physical constraints are the limit of possible operations (as explained above), semantic constraints are the application of meaning to a situation to control a set of possible actions (eg: Influencers only posting at specific times for more engagement), cultural constraints are the set of allowable actions depending on the individual (it may be frowned upon to post certain objects or representations of yourself online) and logical constraints (eg: not being able to apply two filters on the same photo). Another viewpoint that is expressed in The Design of Everyday Things that holds accuracy in relation to our prompt is that good design is an act of communication between the designer and the user, except that all communication has to come about by the appearance of the device itself. Instagram has designed it’s app for simplicity and ease of use — from it’s concept of photo-sharing, to it’s filters and icon buttons. If Instagram were not designed well, it would not be as popular as it is today — showing a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.

Donald Norman expresses the concept of design, affordances, constraints and mappings in easy to understand terms, using many real world examples to illustrate his point. The inclusion of clearly set out lists of what to do and what not to do wrapped up the message in a nice little parcel. Limitations exist though in applying the knowledge to more technology based concepts, though Normans message does generalise objects overall, more specific relation could have assisted in the accuracy and relevance in relation to our prompt.

Selected Text 3 — Social Media

Hinton, Sam, and Larissa Hjorth. Understanding Social Media. Sage Publications, London 2013.(pp. 1-31)

“Understanding Social Media” by Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth discusses the presence of social media across multiple platforms and contexts with focus on Web 2.0, the rise of networked publics and communities and participative media challenging established structures of media and government. The demographics of social media are changing, with boundaries between personal and professional identities no longer applying. This is particularly relevant for Instagram, where many individuals coined as ‘influencers’ use the platform for a full time job — being paid by brands to post photos sporting their products for figures ranging from $50 to hundreds of thousands. Instagram has also become the main source for brands in the marketing of their products, with the app leading other forms of media for user engagement and awareness. A key topic of discussion was the evolution of Web 2.0, and the fundamental concepts of personalisation and content creation that are associated with it. Web 2.0 can be defined as the second stage of the development of the internet, where dynamic user-generated content and the growth of social networking sites (SNS) are prevalent. This goes hand in hand with social media being linked with business to attain market dominance, as businesses need active and engaged users seeing and loving their products and content through online platforms. The affordances of Instagram in the terms of filters, stories and the ability to post videos on IGTV afford businesses and influential individuals to express themselves via authoring, publishing and distributing content specific to their needs. Hinton and Hjorth’s viewpoint that Web 2.0 makes creating content less complicated,  leading to more content being put online due to technical barriers to creation being removed is also accurate and relevant to the authoring, publishing and distribution of content on Instagram. Anybody can create an Instagram account, build their profiles up to portray whatever they wish and have their content shared and viewed by anyone. This can make social media a tool for greater access to information, and exposure, across the network. It also means that views and content can be expressed eluding regulation by authorities — having positive and negative affects for society. This welcomes another viewpoint by Hinton and Hjorth that the public and private spheres are now merged, and where social media is both controlling and empowering at the same time. Just as Instagram affords a user to author, publish and distribute content in the network, doing so also allows control of a users analytics and data helping the company of Instagram overall.

“Understanding Social Media” by Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth expresses a strong illustration of the online space for users, businesses and explains the importance of the shift in the relationships between identity, place and community, whilst raising important issues about privacy and how we narrate and attach meaning to what we produce in the network. This being said, the document presents limitations in terms of relevance for our prompt. Whilst in-depth coverage of history and components of social media are included, these concepts do not contribute as specifically to how and why the affordances of Instagram enable users to produce content, instead explains the overall existence of social media and what it means for society and business today.

Over the years, media has changed as a result of social pressures, norms, ideas and practices. Think of traditional and digital media and how that compares to the social media world we exist in today. In not only a competitive world but one where we want to make things easier, social media platforms prioritise the element of connectivity — with others and also with other media. Social media bleeds across platforms (laptops, mobile phones, iPads etc) and blurs the liens between personal and professional identifies, and what is kept public and private.

Where social media was once originally used as a way to communicate with friends and family, it has now become a platform for business — especially on social networking site (SNS) Instagram. It has become a platform for in people to influence and market their lifestyles and further their livelihoods. From models, to reality stars, celebrities, cafes and restaurants and small businesses…all of us follow the lives and antics of those we deem as ‘influencers’ on an online space. It is through the affordances of Instagram in which exposure is made possible — with concepts of vanity, ease of use, popularity and visual appeal key factors into the apps success.

“Once the internet changed the world, now the world is changing the internet” — Lovink

Where Web 1.0 was all about reading or watching content, Web 2.0 concerns itself with providing users with the means for producing and distributing content themselves. This is largely thanks to the ease of SNS. Where most everyday individuals can’t code a website or build an app, we can share with easy to use apps such as Instagram, Blogger and Facebook that implore us to connect and share.

Though with the popularity and engagement of SNS, it also can be a cause for concern — Hjorth and Hinton stating social media can be seen as empowering or it can be seen as a set of tools for commercialising the social, affective and creative efforts of the user. Can we trust what we see online? Instead of a few people being in charge of what we can see and hear, now we are the producers and reproducers of media.

Social media today is somewhat of an ‘open field’ where it is both controlling and empowering at the same time, and with that users have to take the good and the bad. Yeah, there are alarming trends of unrealistic representations, lies and rumours but social media also offers platforms to raise awareness of important issues, to network and find work, to find friends and family. It allows for more individuality, more freedom for expression and if used positively, can be an integral tool in the catalyst for change.

In week three we looked at the Network, with a focus on the evolution of the internet. Lister describes the existence of the internet being attributed to the result of numerous factors — including accidents, passions, collisions and tensions. As time moves forward, pressures of commercialisation and the desire for communication has seen Web 2.0 in the form of social networking sites. The internet poses a threat to conventional business practice and has given rise to online distribution, retailing and services — with this tension between culture and commerce an integral part of understanding networked media. All forms of media now have to have “360-degree programming”, which allows content to be marketed, distributed and altered across a range of media types.

 

Instagram has evolved to be the leading social media platform for brand exposure, with the app’s users being significantly engaged with the content posted by influential figures. Products and services were once traditionally marketed and found only mostly when a person needed that service, now all I need to do is scroll down on my Instagram feed to find a new dentist and eyebrow technician. The network allows people to express themselves, with peer-to-peer sharing now being a goldmine of an opportunity for brands to reach a larger scope of people and new target markets. It also allows for extensive debate on current affairs, contentious topics whilst also affording media distribution in deceptive ways — downloading movies and music illegally, purchasing followers and likes on Instagram.

 

The network is now full of platforms that go hand in hand with one another, creating an endless environment for expression in a creative, business, personal or opinion-based sense. To post photos on Instagram you have to be linked to a Facebook account, to create certain photo layouts you have to download specific apps and to add a song on your Story you have to use Spotify. Instagram affords the user connection in the network through such domains, it implores the bigger picture of peer-to-peer collaboration and what it means it be network literate. This intertwining of media platforms are what Miles describes as “social software” as they are designed to facilitate the collecting and sharing of information between otherwise disparate individuals or groups. The network has its own language and understandings in the form of hashtags, links and RSS feeds attains affordances in multiple ways across multiple platforms.

In week two we look at the concept of Affordances, which looks at the relationship between a person and an object — and what a person can do with that object.

Sometimes objects we come across in our day-to-day lives are not all that clear to understand how in which they function. Whilst it is true that a well designed object will have a rich set of affordances that allows the user to do an array of things with it, sometimes aesthetics can get in the way.

As described in The Design of Everyday Things natural signals and natural design are more and more neglected in today’s design and abstract focused world of innovation. A situation is painted of a man whom is lost amongst floor to ceiling glass doors, with no clear directing signals of push/pull from hinges and handles.

Though ease of usability is important, individuals are more likely to purchase items due to their physical appearance and design and/or brand status than they are likely to purchase something that is more basic and easy to operate. Think of the world of designer furniture, which always looks a little weird and more like a piece of art sitting and waiting to be analysed than a practical coffee table. Same goes for fashion…why do women prefer style over comfort?

These ideas link seamlessly with our prompt, “How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?” as there is always a good deal of thought put in the crafting of what an individual chooses to showcase. The emergence of filters, stories and the social need for validation all contribute to how, why and what we post.

The Design of Everyday Things states that affordances offer strong clues to the operations of things. The constant update of Instagram components such as filters, gifs, fonts and so forth enable and persuade users to not only post more frequently, but to post more high quality or desirable content. This combined with the influence of Instagram personalities and their idealistic sequencing of photos heightens the pressures for the everyday user and showcases how the affordances of Instagram are vast, with many possibilities for content to be authored, published and distributed and for many different purposes.

In the reading by Don Norman he states that affordances specify the range of possible activities, but affordances are of little use if they are not visible to the users. Hence, the art of the designer is to ensure that the desired, relevant actions are readily perceivable. This is the secret to success with Instagram and what keeps it’s novelty and immediacy as a popular medium for users — attractive updates, easy to use interface and desirable lifestyle possibilities from usage.

During the course of Networked Media, we as students are asked to contemplate…

“How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?”

An Affordance can be loosely defined as the possibility of an action on an object or environment. In the first reading by Adrian Miles, we gain insight into how blogs are utilised in media education – and how the affordances of blog writing can have many alternative outcomes just like those of Instagram.

Miles distinguishes a blog as a “communicative space” where an authors opinion and stance is made public and open to comment and scrutiny. It is a platform for an individual to create ideas, reflect on topics and gain feedback via peers. This similarly links to Instagram, where an individual representation of an author is painted in a public domain.

 

The concept of viral exposure also link with blogging and Instagraming, where carefully curated content by the author is open to the possibility of being shared and networked by other bloggers and posters. This is where Miles eludes that contribution to a wider audience can create a community of likeminded individuals, rallying together around a cause or idea. In terms of of educational blogging, an inclusive environment persuades students to collaborate and share ideas in an expressive and supported way, through a platform where peers can interact and help each other gain new understandings. It also assists in students being able to create their own ‘voice’.

Blogging in media education allows a student to absorb content in copious amounts of ways, in order to help paint a broad picture of any topic. Such can be said about the affordances of Instagram, where millions of users have the freedom to curate a representation of a topic in an individual way in which they feel characterises it the best.

 

Miles states that blogging allows students to ‘more effectively see and understand the differences that exist between each others capabilities’ and the same is true for Instagram. Both are platforms for learning, growth, understanding of ideas different to our own. The concept of an online identity demonstrates the possibility in the curation of content, and it is only when the author is able to see how their voice and their content is portrayed in a networked space, do they begin to alter their directives toward certain goals.

Just as with blogging as with Instagram, different voices and techniques are utilised to create a specific representation of what an author is hoping to convey.

 

 

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