Final Visual Exam (1)
Final Visual Exam (1)
Question 1:
Postmodernity is a theory that emerged in the 1980s with the publication of The
skeptical view of modernity’s sciences, universally accepted designs, and its focus on
functionality. One of the fields where the effect of postmodernism can be most
experienced is architecture. Yet some of its theories and concepts provide an effective
framework for interpreting the global visual culture scene, chief among these is Jean
common weaving pattern found in many fruit baskets, which was achieved by the
architect’s intuitive use of window placements and geometric patterns. On top of the
building, two humongous leaning metal structures were constructed to mimic the
handles found on top of many traditional baskets. The building was also painted in a
somewhat bright brown paint in an attempt to resemble the glossy brown color of fruit
baskets. Lastly, the use of the gold-plated plaque to display the company’s logo and
name is a direct reference to the company’s branding found on many of its baskets.
The first clear element of postmodernity found in this structure is the departure
from the modernity’s focus on high-rise metallic buildings that dominated the 1930s,
which were often regarded as the universally-superior design. Furthermore, the irony
and humour associated with the building design is another element of postmodernist
architecture. To clarify, This irony is derived from the fact that the Longaberger company
specializes in producing the exact baskets that are resembled by the building. The
Another example from the architecture field that presents a different set of
which incorporates the famous Financial District and the Statue of Liberty. The park also
houses some miniature historical monuments, such as the Sphinx, Leaning Tower of
Pisa, and the Eiffel tower. In order for one to see the postmodernist influence inherent in
the park’s design, it is important to take into consideration Jean Baudrillard’s simulation
concept where he states that a simulation is an imitation of an object that then acts as a
substitution for the real (Sturken & Cartwright, 307). Thus, it becomes clear that these
These simulations give the opportunity to the visitor to experience all these monuments
all at once without needing to visit the originals, in effect they can act as a replacement
of the originals.
individuals use several techniques to build certain desired identities that are often
severely detached from one’s actual personality. This trend of creating hyperreal
identities has been especially pervasive in the world of social media and politics. For
himself as not only the victorious side of the 2003 Iraq invasion and the savior of the
American nation, despite the fact that the Iraq war was far from being an accomplished
and successful undertaking. Additionally, with the recent rise of A.I. and artificially
Due to the potential of these synthetic images becoming more believable in the near
future, these images can start taking precedence over the real.
Question 2:
discern the different subliminal messages and ideologies being conveyed through
different mediums of visual culture. One such aspect that one needs to recognize is
racial microaggression due to their destructive manner. These are forms of systematic
and everyday racism used to keep racial minorities as a weak and controllable group.
One example of visual microaggression that was repeatedly seen across the long
community was found in the children book Don’t Tell Lies Lucy. In
thief wearing a sombrero, serape, and sandals. These kinds of representations are
made by their authors with the aim of appropriating this form of vicious criminality to the
latino community. Nonetheless, the Mexican bandit evolved over time into the chicano
criminal that included new characteristics to it, chief among these new attributes is the
important role in the political arena owing to the recent rise of the radical right.
The black community has also faced their fair share of racial microaggression
across their history of existence in the United States, nevertheless the manner in which
they were represented differed significantly over time. Owing to these differences, this
civil war. One of these representations were of the black youth which were known as
Pickaninny. These often painted the black kids in an unkempt manner, where they are
presented with a naked body and uncombed hair. Additionally, they were usually placed
regard blacks as animals, which justified the threat they were facing in
painted blacks as brutes unfit for the freedom they were granted. For
instance, the Birth of a Nation movie depicts blacks chasing after white
As previously mentioned the main goal of these racist and derogatory renderings
through a twofold effect. Firstly, the linking of certain illegal activities to a racial group
pushes the viewing public to fear said racial group. Additionally, Huber and Solorzano
suggest that racial microaggression can help start a bigger and more pervasive vicious
cycle of racial discourse (231). To elaborate, the public who are exposed to these racial
renderings can start to develop certain negative prejudices against a certain race, which
Secondly, these negative representations of other races not only aim to tarnish the
reputation of said races, but they also attempt to establish whites as the superior race
and promote the ideology of white supremacy. Hubor and Solorzano argue that these
two effects lead to and justify Institutional Racism which are structural systems that
freedom, rights, and livelihoods of racial minorities, there are ways by which one can
resist and dismiss these racist narratives being relayed. Hubor and Solorzano highlight
internalization of these racist perceptions. Thus, one way of tackling these racial
the true identity of these minorities. It is crucial that youth be educated on the racist
ideologies that act as the foundation of these visual representations of racial minorities.
Both of these remedies can help in avoiding many from adopting these racist views, as
well as stopping the internalization of white supramacist’s perception of the black and
latino communities.
Question 3:
One of the most important elements that contributes frequently to the making of
any piece of visual art is the environment and the biological organisms that inhabit. Yet,
as will be presented in this work, the artists and architects depart from the traditional
example of such departure is Hassan Fathy’s work on rural areas planning. Owing to
this, this work will primarily focus on the traditional depiction of the environment in
This likely stems from the human desire to explore and expand
humans’ obsession with controlling nature, such as Solomon’s ability to control animals
(20).
This rivalry is also seen in Egyptian visual culture. One example of that Egyptian
conquering nature is the construction of Aswan High Dam. In terms of visual culture, the
construction of the dam and its accompanying conquering of Egypt’s Nile river can be
embodiment of the Dam successfully standing in the way of the immense force of the
between the Gazzar’s depiction of nature and Fathy’s in spite of the latter being an
architectural work. For instance, the work shown in this essay shows a plan of a rural
village. Firstly, the work has two different view angles, one is the bird's eye view of the
building’s floor plan and the other represents a street view of the buildings’ facade. The
image shows two buildings that somewhat look similar, yet they
with rural areas are seen roaming the alley dividing the two
behind and in between the houses. Also the choice of trees depicted is important, since
it shows plants that usually grow in the climate of these rural areas like Palm trees.
Finally, Fathy clearly did not intend for the ground to be paved as evidenced by the
The above analysis of this piece of Fathy’s work clearly shows his focus on
working with nature rather than conquering it. To elaborate, the fact that animals are
allowed to roam the streets of this Fathy’s imagined village rather than being
marginalized by human urbanization as in the cities shows a clear departure from not
only Gazzar’s treatment of nature but also the conventional treatment of nature by many
modern architects. Finally, Fathy’s emphasis on mediating between the environment
and human expansion is the hill that appears on the right side of the frame. As Fathy
decided to amend the design of the first building in order to avoid the hill rather than
projects.
Question 4:
multitude of times, starting with the original silver-film camera to the current digital
mobile camera. Additionally, the modes in which these images are transmitted was
drastically changed thanks to the rise of the internet and social media, where images
connectivity, certain fields that mostly rely on images and image dissemination
underwent massive changes in their methods of work. Chief among these fields are
One example of this change in the world of political activism is the 2011 Arab
clear that the Arab Spring was largely made possible by social
Facebook. The creation of facebook groups such as “Kolna Khaled Saeed” which
documented the killing of the Egyptian activist Khaled Saeed, helped to quickly incite
anger throughout the Egyptian public and nudge them further towards uprising.
country of Tunisia through social media helped in igniting the revolution on 25th of
January. Thus, it is easy to conclude that social media allowed for the needed
dissemination of revolutionary ideas and images throughout the regions in ways that
was not possible under traditional media forms due to the heavy censorship associated
with them.
could be argued that this more collaborative model allowed for more creative forms of
dissent. One example of this increased creativity and individuality is the memes and
jokes that were devised, written on placards, photographed and uploaded to social
media by Egyptian protests. These creative and humorous forms of dissent were
largely made possible by social media granting protestors the ability to freely participate
also the result of the rise of social media. This is important when
movement of 2020 that started in the United States, where the images of police brutality
proliferated social media sites such as Tik Tok. To elaborate, BLM protestors used social
media to not only show evidence of police brutality against members of the black
population such as George Floyd, but also document the actual scenes from the
protest. As a result, this ignited a global protest movement that showed support to the
American BLM movement by showing symbols such as the “I Can’t Breathe” placard.
Bonus Question 1:
The art piece that will be analyzed in this work is dominated by a sense of
disturbance which complicated the analysis process significantly. This sense of unease
is created by the mysterious nature of the paintings as well as the stylistic choices made
by the artist. Owing to this, this analysis will primarily focus on three main areas:
descriptive analysis of all the painting’s elements; the story and signs being relayed by
the painting; and the meaning behind the specific painting style adopted by the artists.
First of all, the painting’s events seem to take place in a barren wasteland, where
emptiness dominates the scene. Additionally, due to the color of this land being
brownish yellow, it could be argued that the painting is of a desert region such as the
MIddle East. However, the element that steals the viewer’s attention at first glance is
undoubtedly the possible murder scene. To elaborate, the painting shows a dead body
lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The actual source of blood in the body is unclear,
However, what is clear is that the deceased seems to be a female, due to the fact that
she is wearing an orange hijab. Additionally, this clothing choice supports the argument
that the painting’s event is taking place in the Middle East where hijab is a common
clothing choice for women. The woman’s skin tone appears to be on the darker-side, yet
it still could not be labelled as black. This again supports the argument that the painting
is of the Middle East region, since said region’s population are known to have a skin
tone somewhere between dark skin and caucasian. The dead woman is also wearing a
long purple dress. Finally, the woman’s facial features are largely unclear which add to
Another important part of the painting is the kid that appears sitting next to the
dead woman’s body. To begin, the kid’s skin tone is evidently the same as that of the
woman. Moreover, the kid’s hair can neither be labelled as short or long, which initially
made it difficult to determine the gender. However, due to the fact that the kid’s clothing
does not cover his arms and legs and the kid’s supposed Middle Eastern roots, it could
One of the main methods by which the painter conveyed certain messages and
signs to the viewer of the painter was the kid. These messages can be plainly revealed,
when one considers a connotation-denotation model of understanding visual signs
(Berger, 17). To elaborate, the kid’s face is dominated by his widely open eyes. One
could argue that said eyes connote the fear that one experiences in violent murder
scenes such as one presented in this painting. Another important element to analyze is
the boy’s placement of his hand on the woman’s body. This could be connoting a sense
of deniability that is often associated with grief. To elaborate, the painting may be
capturing a unique moment during a person’s dealing with grief, when the kid is denying
the death of the woman by trying to touch it. Finally, the kid’s other hand plays an even
more important role than the other. While the placing of his hand on his mouth might be
simply connoting a sense of fear similar to that of aforementioned eyes. However, when
one considers that kid might be the actual culprit of the murder, the whole perception of
the painting can change. Since the hand-over-mouth could connote a sense of remorse
and surprise at one’s own actions that were possibly evoked by the kid’s killing of the
emptiness of the scene of the painting, which leaves the analysis with no other possible
The stylistic choice of the painter also plays a major role in cultivating a sense of
disturbance and mystery that were evoked by other elements of the painting. To
elaborate, the painter uses a unique painting technique where individual brush strokes
appear clearly all throughout the painting. Additionally, these brush strokes largely
follow an irregular and unexpected pattern. Additionally, the edges of all of the elements
of the painting are not clearly lined and are somewhat blurred in with their surroundings.
It could be argued that these stylistic elements leave the viewer with a sense of unease,
due to the unusual appearance of the painting and its departure from the traditional
painting styles. Thus, this style adds to the overall feeling of the painting that was
Bonus Question 2:
This short analysis will cover a photograph that bears political importance. This is
because the image shows US president-elect Donald Trump celebrating with members
of the black community, which is a community that is often at odds with the former
president’s policies. However, upon further examination it appears that this image is not
image-generating software in similar fashion to that described in the “In the Age of A.I.,
Is Seeing Still Believing?” article (Rothman). Owing to this revelation, this analysis will
focus on two main points: a descriptive analysis of the image and its elements; and a
discussion of the ways in which said image reveals its fabricated nature.
First of all, Trump appears to be wearing a navy suit with a white shirt. The
president is also wearing his usual red tie that represents his political party. It is also
clear from Trump’s facial expression and his overextended grin that he is happy. The
incoming president also appears to be hugging two black women, who also appear to
be happy to be in the picture with Trump. Behind the president and the women are other
African-American people posing for the picture. The picture seems to have been made
during Christmas. This is because there are two men wearing the iconic Santa Claus
hat that is associated with the festive season. Additionally, there is a christmas tree in
the background that towers over the president and his companions. Finally, the mirror in
learning software. One can realize when taking into consideration the several elements
highlighted in this paragraph. Firstly, the whole image seems to be dominated by this
glossy look. To clarify, the president’s suit and tie seem to be abnormally clean, as they
bear a somewhat reflective look. Additionally, the skin of Trump and the rest of photo’s
participants in the photos also have this glossy look. For instance, the arm of the
woman to the right of the president reflects light to an extremely unusual degree that it
Another element that puts the image’s artificiality in full focus is the fingers of the
people participating in the photo. First of all, the gentleman on the left on frame appears
to be missing half his ring, despite him hilariously still wearing a ring. Furthermore, both
of the president-elect’s hands are even more strange. To begin, his right hand’s pointing
finger appears to be merging with middle finger. This is likely the result of a malfunction
in the imaging software used. Additionally, the fingertip of his left hand’s pointer finger is
abnormally small compared to the rest of the finger. There is a strange white thing that
appears to be extending from Trump's left pinky and left ring finger. Finally, Trump’s chin
is drooping unusually to the right, which further shows the unnatural look of the image.
Thus, all the aforementioned elements point to the conclusion that this image was
Berger, Arthur Asa. Media Analysis Techniques. 3rd ed., SAGE Publications, Inc, 2005.
Pérez Huber, Lindsay, and Daniel G. Solorzano. “Visualizing everyday racism.” Qualitative
Inquiry, vol. 21, no. 3, 25 Feb. 2015, pp. 223–238,
Rothman, Joshua. “In the Age of A.I., Is Seeing Still Believing?” The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2018,
Shalem, Avinoam. “Man’s conquest of nature: Al-Gazzar, Sartre, and Nasser’s great aswan
dam.” Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, vol. 2013, no. 32, 1 May 2013, pp.
18–29,
Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.
MTM, 2018.