The More the Better

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

Nam June Paik and he had his debut exhibition in 1963.

With the video you are examining when was it produced ?

It was created in 1998.

How was the video authored?

It is 22 Meters tall. It involved 1003 TV sets with 4 video feeds. Its shape was made possible through having TVs stacked in a cylindrical shape. Also, there were patterns created between different screens showing the programms of television stations from 12 different countries at the Seoul Olympic Games.

How was the video published?

It was shown at the Olympics in Seoul.

How was the video distributed?

It is on display at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province and several other exhibitions.

The photograph itself doesn’t interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.

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

The practitioner’s name is Henri Cartier-Bresson and he started practicing photography in the early 1930s.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

Ile de la Cité

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

1952/20th Century

How was the photo or video authored?

It was photographed  using a 35 millimeter Leica camera.

How was the photo or video published?

It was Gelatin Silver print developed in 1967.

How was the photo or video distributed?

It was purchased in 1982 by the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, and distributed through multiple museums across the globe.

Hi there!

This week’s topic revolves around the contemporary concepts of New media and Social Media. There were two main arguments that structured the discussion.

What’s so new about New Media?

Prior to this course and class, I have never given this any thought..making it all the more interesting to talk blog about. According to Siapera, what makes new media ‘new’ is the fact that it is on an endless evolvement loop. In other order, new media is new because it never stays the same long to be old! Hence, the fact that there is no unified explanation to this notion. Another aspect of new media is the emerge of social media..which brings us to the second argument.

What’s so social about social media?

That argument is something that has been discussed for many years in regards to the fact that social media is ironically shifting our society into being less social. I have never actually agreed with that, but it was something I was forced to think about every time I had to write an essay about ‘the effect of social media’  in school. According to Hinton and Hjorth, the social aspect of social media arises from the attitude people have towards social media sites – that is people use them in an engaging and participatory manner. Personally, I think that social media does make us more social. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with friends and family from different parts of the world. Some might argue that e-mail could have been sufficient in that context, yet it isn’t near as convenient or instant.

Overall, I found this week’s topic insightful and Elaine’s relay of the matter made it all the more educational!

There is real concern about Sudanese gangs. You’d have to be walking around with your hands over your ears in Melbourne not to hear it

I never thought that my idea will make it through the polls, but it did and a significant amount of research was done. Honestly, the more I discovered about Malcom Turnbull, the weirder he appeared to be. For starters, he portrayed a noticeable pattern of self-contradiction. In relation to his racist comments, Turnbull proceeded to defend sudanese migrants by saying “No one is making any reflections about Sudanese migrants. I have spoken about the enormous achievements of Sudanese migrants to Australia, in every respect.” Yet, issuing a public comment regarding Sudanese migrants forming gangs and attacking Melbournians is the very definition of making a reflection about Sudanese migrants. It’s one thing to be racist, but performing a racist act and then claiming it’s not racist…is a whole other matter. Furthermore, Peter Dutton – another well known Australian politician- made a similar comment prior to Turnbull. He claimed that people are afraid to go out to dinner as a consequence of Sudanese gangs. When Turnbull was asked about whether Dutton had initiated racial hatred with his comments, Turnbull said it was “nonsense” to suggest that, adding he was “simply seeking to do the best job” as the minister for home affairs, responsible for domestic security and migration.

Moreover, Victoria’s Statistics Agency provided statistical evidence regarding this issue.The statistics read that the comments led against African communities resulted in an increase of 34% in racial discrimination. Yet again, Turnbull dismissed those claims. In addition, VSA states that the general crime rate has decreased by 8.8% in the past year. As well as, Sudanese migrants make up to 1% of all crimes committed as opposed to the 71% of crimes made by Australia-Born Australians. Not to forget, there has been a report issued by the Victorian Police that reads “People from African backgrounds only represent a small portion of offenders in our country”.

Last but not least, when Christopher Pyne- Defense Industry Minister- was asked about “Are you afraid to go out to restaurants in Melbourne?” He replied “No, why? Should I be?” The reporter then mention Turnbull’s comments, which led Pyne to panic and try to salvage the situation “Oh, because of the gangs, the violence…”

“Oh, because of the gangs, the violence…”

So, it’s safe to say that these remarks weren’t based on any factual evidence..or any sort of evidence really, but rather there was an ulterior motive. Turnbull made these comments a week prior to the Super Saturday Elections and, sadly, appearing tough on African communities is the way to go if you

The research for this idea has been fruitful, and this post will cover how my group member and I managed to get to the final result. I have always thought that collaborative research will appear to be complicated and messy, but it turned out to be easy-going. Taking into consideration that the idea is originally mine, I felt that it is my responsibility to bring the group together and come up with a plan. Prior to the research process, I gave a general summary of the idea. Then, we proceeded to the challenging bit, that is the direction the idea is heading towards and the material needed to acquire that goal. Once that was decided, the research was set in a smooth motion. Although the idea came from me, I did not know much about Australian politics and ideologies, that’s when a group member stepped in and provided me a much needed insight into the inter-workings of the Australian society. According to every member’s knowledge, delegations were initiated; I will focus my research on Turnbull’s racist comments, its effects, and the circumstances surrounding it, whereas my fellow group mates will focus on the history of racist incidents done by either Turnbull or any other similar politician. This will provided a complete outlook of the issue, starting from the origins of the problem all the way to the present circumstance.In addition, the research process will be more efficient. On the bright side, there weren’t many challenges faced regarding the search of information. There were multiple major media/news agencies that provided coverage of the incident, including The Project. To pursue this further, Waleed Aly provided a seven minute segment that intensively dissects the issue using a suitable amount of satire elements. Fortunately, this signals that the predicament received a fair and moderate amount of media coverage. Yet, having multiple reports of the issue doesn’t finalize the research in any way as there is always a new perspective, a new update, or a response that should be considered. Hence, the valuable practicing of using more than one source for information.Finally, this research assignment opened our eyes into the cruciality of this step when producing a comedy news segment, or any sort of production really. As well as, the set of skills that accompany research like data gathering and documenting will not only be of use in this particular assignment, but they will continue to be valuable in the future. Personally, it made me realize the amount of work that is put into research by successful shows like The Daily show and The Colbert Report.

Hi there,

This reflective post will address last week’s studio session. I have only seen the TV studios from the outside as they were adjacent to one of my other classes, and I was attached ever since. Honestly, the idea of working in a TV studio with all sorts of cool equipment was what drove me into picking this studio. Initially, I thought I will be exposed to a great amount of green due to the whole ‘green screen’ studio thing. Although the studio wasn’t as green, it was just as cool!

Another unanticipated aspect, studios have a lot of safety hazards, and telling from the detailed instructions that we were given….there’s a good chance that I might fall and break a bone or something. Moving on, the equipment was exceptional. It is safe to say that the control room containing roughly 10 screens was my favorite. I think proceeding the studio tour is the moment that I realized the seriousness of the situation. Furthermore, it is worthy to mention that to carry a smooth studio process there must be strong communication within crew members. As well as, everyone must set be in their own place and alert to any issues arising in the studio.

Prior to the studio visit, we had a discussion of this week’s reading regarding The Daily Show. This reading entailed numerous interesting facts and concepts – concepts like the emerging of a new form of journalism. All points covered in the reading resulted in some additional thought regarding the future of comedy news done by myself. It’s admirable that programs like The Daily Show raise awareness of important issues, while entertaining the public at the same time. We’re accustomed to typical journalism – one that creates news from dull stories. Whereas, comedy news turns news of influence into a funny joke, so that the public can digest them properly. According to numerous statistics, that seems to work! People rely on shows like The Daily Show to receive updates on the whereabouts of the world. It is worthy to note the fusion of ‘comedy’ and ‘politics’ achieved by such shows. They successfully use comedic elements like satire, parody, and dialogue to interrogate power, critique news, and provide a democratic model. As a result, a whole new form of contemporary journalism is created! Personally, I have immense respect and appreciation for this revolution in journalism and I would like nothing more than to be part of it.

(Assignment 2b) and (Assignment 2c)

Hi there,

This week’s reading discusses the notion of ‘Networked Media’ in more depth. It starts off by introducing the foundations of Networking i.e. the internet, then discusses further the foundations of the internet itself. After covering the foundations of media, we go on to covering the foundations of society, which you guessed it,…is media. The way we generate, produce, and share content and ideologies shifted our society into a whole new shape. That change resulted in more change regarding our politics and economics. The author,then, introduces ‘Long Tail Economics’.In simple words, the theory presents that there is a greater demand for less popular products than there is for the popular products. I found that hard to believe, but there’s a graph, so I guess it’s true..?

All in all, this reading was informative and intellectually challenging. I’m appreciative of the exposure that it put me through and the way that it altered my outlook to modern society as a whole!

Cheers!