Thursday, January 29, 2009

Visual Communication Experiences

Sturken and Cartwright define a medium as a "means of mediation or communication--a neutral or intermediary form through which messages pass" (p. 229). The plural form of medium, media, refers to the group of communications industries and technologies that together produce and spread public news, entertainment, and information. When referring to the media, people usually mean a plurality of media forms (news, entertainment, radio, television, film, the Web, and so forth). It is important to note that a medium is not a neutral technology through which meanings, messages, and information are channeled unmodified. The medium itself, whether that medium is a voice or a technology such as television, has a major impact on the meaning it conveys. The capacity of the mass media to reach so many viewers both nationally and globally has historically given the media industry a significant amount of power (p. 236). Some people harness this power for their own purposes. For example, take the iconic images of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. I remember that day all too well. I was a sophomore at UNC and in the process of getting ready for class. As I did routinely every morning, I was watching Good Morning America while getting ready for class. I remember watching the coverage immediately after the first plane hit, and then while broadcasting live images, the footage captured the second plane hitting the second tower. Just like Sturken and Cartwright mentioned, "television viewers watching the live broadcasts at a safe distance could watch with these witnesses, feeling their shock and fear through the medium of voice" (p. 252). As one of those viewers, the experience is one I will never forget. Here is the actual clip that I saw that day almost 8 years ago. The video quality is not terrific, but the effect is still the same.



Sturken and Cartwright also discuss how visual technologies have enabled people to reproduce and copy paintings, images, and motion films. Although image reproduction has its benefits, the copies often do not hold the same exact value the originals once did. Value is a key factor in the status of reproduction, originals, and copies (p. 190). The value of original works and the lower numbers in the series, still hold the highest value in the art market. As reproductions become more widely available, the copies become hard to distinguish from the original. However, seeing the actual original painting compared to the copies is a completely different experience. I had the privilege to travel around Europe a few years ago where I developed a new-found passion for original works of art. I had the opportunity to visit The Louvre in Paris as well as the Uffizi Museum in Florence. One of the most incredible experiences I had was in the Sistine Chapel at St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican. Words cannot express and no postcard or take-home poster can replicate the feelings and emotions that are evoked when viewing the original works of art in these settings. The architecture in Europe is also another experience that cannot fully be transmitted through copies, reproductions, and models. Here are some of my favorite examples:

Pisa, Italy

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Rome, Italy
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