New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Spectacle [
A term that generally refers to something that is striking or impressive in its visual display. The term spectacle was used by French theorist Guy Debord, in his book Society of the Spectacle, to describe how representations dominate contemporary culture, and all social relations are mediated by and through images.
] Mass Media [
Those media which are designed to reach mass audiences, and that work in unison to generate specific dominant or popular representations of events, people and places.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright
] Objective [
The ideal state of being unbiased...
] Empiricism [
A science inspired philosophy that assumes that things exist independent of language and other forms of representation, and can be known unambiguously as positive truths independent from any specific truth. An empirical methodologies relies on experimentation and data collection to established particular truths, and is in opposition to theories that see facts and truths as dependent on the context and language system in which they take on meaning.
Last week was the opening of this year’s 50 books / 50 covers exhibition in the AIGA National Center’s Gallery in New York City. Detrás del Silencio, Gilda Navarra’s Biography (and Editorial Revés’s first national award) was showcased as one of the 50 Covers. (Located at the far left of the photo.)
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright
] Spectatorship [
A theory that emphasizes the role of the psyche–particularly the unconscious, desire, and fantasy– in the practice of looking. In the theory, the term spectator does not refer to a flesh-and-blood individual viewer, rather, it treats it as an "ideal subject".
] The Subject [
Or ideal subject, abstracts from real audience members and the experience of a particular film to refer instead to a construction.
Ten (10) Possible Strategies for Designers to Improve Communication Management with Communities
by Jorge Rigau, FAIA and Alberto Rigau
The following are not presented in any particular order, as implementation of all or some strategies may vary from case to case:
1. Elucidating the Big Picture
Community members often argue their cases focusing in particulars, often missing a large scale, wider-scoped understanding of the issue at hand.
2. Make the Community’s Questions Your Own
Identify questions and concerns that are key to the conflict and address them before they are articulated as such. Answer them directly, and proceed to explain; not otherwise. Making sense is about acknowledging pro’s and con’s.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright
] Text [
A term extended by Barthes to include visual media such as photography, film, television, or painting, to suggest that they are constructed on a basis of codes in the same way that language forms a text. Insofar as they are constructions, texts can be broken down into their component parts through the work of analysis. Barthes in particular distinguished texts from works, such as art works, to indicate an active relationship between the writer and reader or artist/producer and viewer. This is because the constructed nature of the text implies that its meaning is produced in relationship to the viewer rather than simply residing in the work itself. To treat an art work as text means that we read it through codes rather than passively absorb or stand in awe of it.
] Aesthetics [
Beliefs and theories about the value, meaning, and interpretations of things.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Means of production [
In marxist theory, the means of production are the ways in which a society makes use of the natural resources of the world around it to make useful things. In Marxist theory, those who own the means of production are also in control of the ideas that circulate in a society's media industries.
] Representation [
The act of portraying, depicting, symbolizing, or presenting the likeness of something. Language, the visual arts, and media are systems of representation that function to depict and symbolize aspects of the real world. Representation is often seen as distinct from simulation, in that a representation declares itself to be re-presenting some aspect of the real, whereas a simulation has no referent in the real.
For a undergraduate film project, Omar Torresola took advantage of of the homonym of the word “goma”, by making reference to the rubber seal on a Kayak’s drainage system.
Video recording: Omar Torresola Video Editing: Alberto Rigau Acting: Johann Sasso, Alberto Rigau Technical Assistance: Donald Sasso, Cedric Sasso Music: La Secta All-Star
The third in a series of articles published in Mangrove magazine in 2004. These are not deep in academic research, but a fun read.
Photo chop
Fast-food restaurants promote indigestion in more than one way. Customarily, visual references used to advertise the menu –that is, photographs– are more than often fake. Most of the products showcased as value meals were never photographed as a group, but instead “stitched” from different sources. Not only clients save in buying a soda, sandwich and fries. Owners also play cheap by resorting to digital compositions that ultimately deceive the public. To add to the debate about the nutritional attributes of fast food, we can certify it can also endanger visual health. Read the rest of this entry »
The second in a series of articles published in Mangrove magazine in 2004. These are not deep in academic research, but a fun read.
Missing pictures
Movie subtitles, intended to facilitate the enjoyment of foreign films, often hinder more than help the purported aesthetic experience. Who decides on the type, placement, and contents of these words on the big screen? Most people have no idea, and those who do it don’t seem to either. Read the rest of this entry »
The first in a series of articles published in Mangrove magazine in 2004. These are not deep in academic research, but a fun read.
Landscape Muggers
What USA publicists call a junior page advertisement is known in Puerto Rico, more informally, as a “robapágina”, or page mugger. Reference to the “illegality” of a fake full-page has less to do with the crime problems currently affecting the island than with the aggressiveness that permeates most advertising endeavors all over the world.
The Iquique social interest housing project* by ELEMENTAL** and Alejandro Aravena.***
* ] ELEMENTAL Iquique social interest housing [ Looks to deal with extremely low-cost housing that can be a real means to overcoming poverty. The project intends to design neighborhoods of good quality, expandable housing units, which in turn can be well located in cities, and able to develop harmoniously over time. These structurally safe units would be built for $7,500 per family.
There were three goals: the best possible architectural design (having intelligence and precision in form), the best possible engineering and construction (using development and lab tests for new prefabricated components and seismic systems), and the best possible social and community work (offering pre- and post-construction guidance to residents).
** ] ELEMENTAL [ Based at the Universidad Católica de Chile's school of architecture, supported by a Chilean government grant and by the Harvard Design School, is an initiative to build seven exemplary projects of around 200 units each throughout Chile, bringing together the best practices in construction, engineering, social work and architecture, while at the same time aiming to offer a concrete contribution to housing for the poor.
*** ] Alejandro Aravena [ Architect Universidad Católica de Chile 1992, independent professional practice since 1994. Studied history and theory in Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (1992-93). Visiting Professor at Harvard University between 2000 and 2005. Professor at the Universidad Católica since 1994. Since 2006 he is the Elemental Copec Professor at UC and Executive Director of ELEMENTAL.
After coping with the idea of having to maintain and run a blog, I realized that there was no way I could live with the previous aesthetic. Ergo I decided to redesign it, which of course led me to commit the mistake of erasing everything I had before. I will slowly reconstruct it. Adieu for now…
Armando Rigau currently pursues a Master in Architecture I at Cornell University. He received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy with History and Spanish minors from Georgetown University.
