Presented by Alma Hoffmann at the Annual Conference of the Visual Resources Association, April 18th - April 21st, 2012, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Session: THE VISUAL CULTURE OF THE VISUALLY UNCULTURED Marita Sturken, Associate Professor at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California and Lisa Cartwright state the following in their book Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture: “Over the course of the last two centuries, Western culture has come to be dominated by visual rather than oral or textual media. Even the bastion of the printed word, the newspaper, has turned to images— and color images by the end of the twentieth century— to draw in its readers and add to the meaning of its stories. Images have never been merely illustrations, they carry important content.” We all seem to agree that our culture has moved from oral in tradition to a visual one. Since the digital revolution that introduced the personal computer in the 1980's our interaction with images has increased dramatically. Music videos, video games, computer graphics, computer games, and now social media contribute to increase an emphasis in the visual in our culture. Let's not forget the smart phones, the tablets and the incessant need to be connected and see something. However, it seems that our immersion in a visual culture has left us less prepared to engage in a critical visual discourse. How do we engage in critical discourse of the visual messages we receive? How do we analyze and contextualize these messages? In this session we will define context, content, methods, and examples of how a visual culture indeed shape our beliefs and ideologies. ORGANIZER: Alma Hoffmann, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne University MODERATOR: Erika Church, University of Utah PRESENTERS: • Alma Hoffmann, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne University • Brooke Scherer, University of Tampa • Renee Meyer Ernst, St. Ambrose University

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2. {warning}
the images in this
presentation have been
heavily edited
and sometimes use
obnoxious visual
effects
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3. visual culture
Over the course of the last two centuries,
“ Western culture has come to be dominated
by the visual rather than oral or textual
media. Even the bastion of the printed word,
the newspaper, has turned to images…”
Introduction to Visual Culture
Marita Sturken & Lisa Cartwright
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4. visual culture
James Elkins, art critic &
historian, dates the term
to 1972 in this book.
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5. visual culture
…marked above all else by a saturation of
“ social space by visual technologies, and,
one must assume, a related shift in their
function and significance.”
The Science Journal,
online encyclopedia
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6. to cultivate
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7. to cultivate
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8. to cultivate
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9. who is the visually uncultured?
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10. this is what we think the
visually uncultured looks like
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11. this is what we think the
visually uncultured looks like
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12. insert
daydream
here
this is what we think the
visually uncultured looks like
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13. but this is what they really look like
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14. and this
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16. we are technologically
savvy and visually
saturated online
social butterflies
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17. The Myth of Mulitasking
Christine Rosen
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t, “ uns ith
pa tien able w
e im omfort
com unc
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ave ss, and oundation R epor
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The Myth of Mulitasking
Christine Rosen
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19. atis fied
t, “ uns ith
pa tien able w
com unc e im omfort
be
ave ss, and oundation R epor
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ry “ qui
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en gag thin
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J ane H
The Myth of Mulitasking
Christine Rosen
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20. the average person sees
The Image Culture, Christine Rosen
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21. the average person sees
10,000
The Image Culture, Christine Rosen
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22. the average person sees
10,000
of images in the
course of a day.
The Image Culture, Christine Rosen
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23. & because visual culture is facilitated
by social media & technology
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24. “ …we’re a species of editors.
We all recycle, clip and cut, remix and upload.
We can make images do anything.”
Manifesto for visual culture
for Visual Culture published by
Rencontres d’Arles in 2011
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25. but the problem is that
the more we see,
get pic of three monkeys!
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26. but the problem is that
the more we see,
the less we see
get pic of three monkeys!
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27. but the problem is that
the more we see,
the less we see
the less we feel
get pic of three monkeys!
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28. but the problem is that
the more we see,
the less we see
the less we feel
the less we understand
get pic of three monkeys!
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29. Huffington Post collected
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30. Huffington Post collected
21 tweets
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31. Huffington Post collected
21 tweets
of young people who didn’t know the
Titanic was real.
Here are some…
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42. or the student who had this quote for a project
“ Give a girl a good pair of shoes and she
will conquer the world.”
Marilyn Monroe
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43. and brought images like these
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44. The Myth of Mulitasking
Christine Rosen
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45. we have become not only
creators, editors, curators
but we have also become
“media multitaskers”
The Myth of Mulitasking
Christine Rosen
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46. “Human beings have always had a capacity to attend
to several things at once. But there is no doubt that
the phenomenon has reached a kind of warp speed
in the era of the Web— enabled computers, when it
has become routine to conduct six IM conversations,
watch American Idol on TV and Google the name of
last season’s finalists all at once.”
The Multitasking Generation,
Claudia Wallis
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47. “Human beings have always had a capacity to attend
to several things at once. But there is no doubt that
the phenomenon has reached a kind of warp speed
in the era of the Web— enabled computers, when it
has become routine to conduct six IM conversations,
watch American Idol on TV and Google the name of
last season’s finalists all at once.”
The Multitasking Generation,
Claudia Wallis
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48. this could be
our brain
The mental habit of
“ dividing one’s attention
into many small slices…
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49. this could be
our brain
The mental habit of
“ dividing one’s attention
into many small slices…
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50. “…has significant implications for the way
young people learn, reason, socialize, do
creative work, and understand the world.”
The Multitasking Generation,
Claudia Wallis
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51. we tax our brains…
when the brain
tries to divide
its attention between
2 or more
tasks that are
equally taxing,
we can’t do both.
The Multitasking Generation,
Claudia Wallis
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52. What do we do?
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53. What do we do?
stop and start really looking
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54. What do we do?
stop and start really looking
analyzing each element on a picture
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55. What do we do?
stop and start really looking
analyzing each element on a picture
don’t take anything for granted
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56. What do we do?
stop and start really looking
analyzing each element on a picture
don’t take anything for granted
realize that images can be manipulated
and we do form opinions however quickly
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57. What do we do?
stop and start really looking
analyzing each element on a picture
don’t take anything for granted
realize that images can be manipulated
and we do form opinions however quickly
have conversations about the content of
images we receive
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58. Last thought
To see someone not seeing is the best way of
“ seeing intensely what he doesn't see.”
Roland Barthes on Chaplin
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59. Thank you!
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60. References
1. Rosen, Christine. "The Myth of Multitasking." The New Atlantis, Spring 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking>.
2. Every :60 in Social Media Millions of People Connect - This Graphic Shows the Where and How." Socialjumpstart.com. 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
3. "Manifesto for Visual Culture : BatesHook." BatesHook. 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.bateshook.com/manifesto-for-visual-culture/>.
4. Cantor, Joanne. "Conquering Cyber Overload." Don’t Speak Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes. Psychology Today, 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/conquering-cyber-overload/201108/mining-your-brain-jump-start-your-creativity>.
5. Cantor, Joanne. "Conquering Cyber Overload." Flooding Your Brain’s Engine: How You Can Have Too Much of a Good Thing . Psychology Today, 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/conquering-cyber-overload/201108/mining-your-brain-jump-start-your-creativity>.
6. Cantor, Joanne. "Conquering Cyber Overload." Mining Your Brain to Jump-Start Your Creativity. Psychology Today, 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/conquering-cyber-overload/201108/mining-your-brain-jump-start-your-creativity>.
7. "Internet 2011 in Numbers." Ramblings and Tech News from the Pingdom Team. 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-
numbers/>.
8. Malamed, Connie. "Section One: Getting Graphics." Visual Language for Designers: Principles for Creating Graphics That People Understand. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2009. 19-44.
Print.
9. Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "Introduction: Whta Is Visual Culture." Introduction. An Introduction to Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
10. Rose, Gillian. "Researching Visual Materials: Towards a Critical Visual Methodology." Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials. London: SAGE
Publications, 2007. 1-27. Print.
11. Rosen, Christine. " The Image Culture." The New Atlantis, Fall 2005.
Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking>.
12. "Social Media Growth Statistics." The @KISSmetrics Marketing Blog. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://blog.kissmetrics.com/social-media-statistics/>.
13. Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Introduction. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford ; New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 1-13. Print.
14. Visual Culture - The Visual Turn, Visuality, Historical Emergence Of The Field Of Vision As A Site Of Power And Social Control. http://science.jrank.org/pages/8145/Visual-Culture.html
15. Wallis, Claudia. "GenM: The Multitasking Generation." Time. Time, 27 Mar. 2006. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html>.
16. Walter, Ekaterina. "Will The Rise of the Photo Apps Kill the Written Word?" Convince and Convert. 14 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.convinceandconvert.com/blogging-
and-content-creation/will-the-rise-of-the-photo-apps-kill-the-written-word/>.
17. Zuckerman, Marvin. "Are You a Risk Taker?" Psychology Today. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <www.psychologytoday.com/node/22317>.
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