This is the course blog we will be using this semester. I am posting an exemplar from a previous semester to give you a sense for what a 10/10 looks like. Each week I will post a set of prompts that you may choose to orient your post around, but you are also free to discuss additional topics so long as it is connected to the course concepts and readings.
Take a look at this image. What do you see? Odds are, the first thing you'll notice is it's an image shaped like a gun. You'll also probably notice next it is not an image of a normal gun, but a book carved into the shape of a gun. Then you'll probably experience a small moment of shock as you realize the book carved into a gun is actually the Bible.
What is the purpose of this image? What is it trying to represent? This image uses a technique known as appropriation, which is a type of reframing that challenges cultural norms in the dominant system and creates a sort of visual metaphor. The Bible, being an image of holiness and peace for many Americans, is appropriated onto an image of a gun, representing war, hatred, and violence. The image works for this reason: two opposing ideologies have been combined into a composite image, creating an incongruent and thought-provoking effect. It causes the viewer to sit and wonder: why? And a visual metaphor is thus created.
A visual metaphor is a metaphor that is created by an image. That is, an image that is likening itself to another thing, thus making a statement. This particular appropriation, combining a symbol of violence with a symbol of peace, creates a metaphor suggesting that the Bible can be used as a weapon. From impressionistic interpretation, one could suggest that this combination is a symbol of the creator's viewpoint that the Bible itself is a book of violence, or that the Bible is being used as a violent weapon to harm others, much like how a gun harms others. Because it is a combination of two things which many people consider to be incongruent, it could be an offensive and thus emotionally charged image for many people, thus generating the image's power.
What is the purpose of this image? What is it trying to represent? This image uses a technique known as appropriation, which is a type of reframing that challenges cultural norms in the dominant system and creates a sort of visual metaphor. The Bible, being an image of holiness and peace for many Americans, is appropriated onto an image of a gun, representing war, hatred, and violence. The image works for this reason: two opposing ideologies have been combined into a composite image, creating an incongruent and thought-provoking effect. It causes the viewer to sit and wonder: why? And a visual metaphor is thus created.
A visual metaphor is a metaphor that is created by an image. That is, an image that is likening itself to another thing, thus making a statement. This particular appropriation, combining a symbol of violence with a symbol of peace, creates a metaphor suggesting that the Bible can be used as a weapon. From impressionistic interpretation, one could suggest that this combination is a symbol of the creator's viewpoint that the Bible itself is a book of violence, or that the Bible is being used as a violent weapon to harm others, much like how a gun harms others. Because it is a combination of two things which many people consider to be incongruent, it could be an offensive and thus emotionally charged image for many people, thus generating the image's power.
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| This image by the Guerrilla Girls uses appropriation to make a statement |
The power of appropriation comes from this combining of two unlike things, and its purpose is to create a new way of looking at an image or a cultural norm. The Guerrilla Girls, a group discussed in class, use this concept of appropriation by juxtaposing images of gruff, angry gorilla heads onto dainty, stilettoed human female bodies, forcing the viewer to stop, look, and question the meaning of the image. Guerrilla Girls’ point was to force the public to see women and women’s art differently, drawing attention to the fact that women artists are barely featured in art museums despite the fact of a large or greater amount of female artists available. Like the Guerrilla Girls, the image above attempts to reframe a preconceived concept about an image. The Guerrilla Girls reframe women as angry, hairy apes rather than complacent art objects; the image above reframes the peaceful Holy Bible as a symbol of violence and hatred.
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