Critical positions in the media and popular culture.

Notes....

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin TASK AND SEMINAR

NOTES

Task 2

Before this lecture i had never heard of Milton Glaser but without realising i was fully aware of his work, the 'I Love New York' Text Design, this infamous piece of design is one of the most famous pieces of text and is recognised by the public world wide. 

It has become New York's trademark promotion logo and is used for the the citys souvenirs and brochures throughout the state. Glasers design is ripped of, sold and distributed to small shops , markets, retail stores, designer brands and printed onto a wide range products in not only America but all over the world. "Mechanical reproduction simply means copies, copies that extend beyond the aural setting or ritual within which the art/image was originally displayed"

Since designing the logo in the mid 1970's, Milton Glaser has been helping many businesses re-value and improve the three magic letters of their company , USP (unique selling point), although this is benefiting the retail industry  from small boutiques and shops to luxury brands , it is De-valuing the logo which had in tern lost its uniqueness itself. 

In Walter Benjamins essay 'The work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reporiduction' , Benjamin talks about the universal equality of things and how mechanical reproduction destroys aura , in this case the 'I Love New York' trademark. However this is not a necessarily a bad thing , i found a video of Glasers opinion of the reproduction of his logo and how it has been overly re-used until this day .“I did the bloody thing in 1975 and I thought it would last a couple of months as a promotion and disappear.” Glaser talks about how shocked he was that his simple icon design became so widely recognised and appreciated, he also expresses how it is a 'great thing' to have happened and how he doesn't have a problem with the mechanical reproduction of his design. Glaser also states that he does not know why it has become so used , but of course its the brilliance of its minimalistic style and how well it has been considered in terms of communicating a message in its simplest form using type , American Typewriter. 

The plump red heart and the American inspired black type sit so well together even though they contrasts , which is very rare in terms of design. In my opinion the reason why it is used so much 'mostly for selling products that promote the city' is because its communicating such a warm and positive energy about New York , using a rebus 'the heart' to portray the feeling of love, which in turn encourages people to experience the city themselves and buy 'I Love New York' merchandise during their trip. 

In my opinion , the iconic design has been used too often and has lost its unique appeal, the icon is most famous for being printed onto unisex white t-shirts , and it was always a tourists desire to purchase one during their visit to New York , however the t-shirt can now be purchased in many countries , including England where i purchased mine from. This is just one example of how re-production of art and designs can DE value it dramatically “the authenticity... is jeopardized by reproduction”.

CTS LECTURE - TECHNOLOGY        -       REPRODUCTION       -       VALUE 

                                   photography

                                   new techniques

W.BENJAMIN - The work of art in the ago of mechanical reproduction , 1936.

In pairs of two , analyse and explain a section in the peice of writing that has been given, SECTION 5 AND 6. 

V

Works of art are received and valued on different planes. Two polar types stand out; with one, the accent

is on the cult value; with the other, on the exhibition value of the work. Artistic production begins with

ceremonial objects destined to serve in a cult. One may assume that what mattered was their existence,

not their being on view. The elk portrayed by the man of the Stone Age on the walls of his cave was

an instrument of magic. He did expose it to his fellow men, but in the main it was meant for the spirits.

Today the cult value would seem to demand that the work of art remain hidden. Certain statues of gods are

accessible only to the priest in the cella; certain Madonnas remain covered nearly all year round; certain

sculptures on medieval cathedrals are invisible to the spectator on ground level. With the emancipation of

the various art practices from ritual go increasing opportunities for the exhibition of their products. It is

easier to exhibit a portrait bust that can be sent here and there than to exhibit the statue of a divinity that

has its fixed place in the interior of a temple. The same holds for the painting as against the mosaic or

fresco that preceded it. And even though the public presentability of a mass originally may have been just

as great as that of a symphony, the latter originated at the moment when its public presentability promised

to surpass that of the mass.

With the different methods of technical reproduction of a work of art, its fitness for exhibition increased to

such an extent that the quantitative shift between its two poles turned into a qualitative transformation of

Walter Benjamin  The Work of Art in the Age. . .its nature. This is comparable to the situation of the work of art in prehistoric times when, by the absolute

emphasis on its cult value, it was, first and foremost, an instrument of magic. Only later did it come to be

recognized as a work of art. In the same way today, by the absolute emphasis on its exhibition value the

work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions, among which the one we are conscious of, the

artistic function, later may be recognized as incidental. This much is certain: today photography and the

film are the most serviceable exemplifications of this new function.

VI

In photography, exhibition value begins to displace cult value all along the line. But cult value does not give

way without resistance. It retires into an ultimate retrenchment: the human countenance. It is no accident

that the portrait was the focal point of early photography. The cult of remembrance of loved ones, absent

or dead, offers a last refuse for the cult value of the picture. For the last time the aura emanates from the

early photographs in the fleeting expression of a human face. This is what constitutes their melancholy,

incomparable beauty. But as man withdraws from the photographic image, the exhibition value for the

first time shows its superiority to the ritual value. To have pinpointed this new stage constitutes the

incomparable significance of Atget

13

, who, around 1900, took photographs of deserted Paris streets. It

has quite justly been said of him that he photographed them like scenes of crime. The scene of a crime,

too, is deserted; it is photographed for the purpose of establishing evidence. With Atget, photographs

become standard evidence for historical occurrences, and acquire a hidden political significance. They

demand a specific kind of approach; free-floating contemplation is not appropriate to them. They stir the

viewer; he feels challenged by them in a new way. At the same time picture magazines begin to put up

signposts for him, right ones or wrong ones, no matter. For the first time, captions have become obligatory.

And it is clear that they have an altogether different character than the title of a painting. The directives

which the captions give to those looking at pictures in illustrated magazines soon become even more

explicit and more imperative in the film where the meaning of each single picture appears to be prescribed

by the sequence of all preceding one

V – The Magic of Art: Cult and Exhibition Value
One of art’s functions is its value: its “cult value” and its “exhibition value.”
•    Cult:  Originally, art was meant to be magical and hidden from the outside world, a “magical” projection of early man’s inner aspirations.
•    Exhibition: Modern “emancipation” of art has increased the chances for it to be on public display as means for profit and economy.
The shift between original “cult value” and modern “exhibition value” has thus transformed the overall quality of the art produced.

VI – The Portrait and Photograph
Exhibition value outweighs cult value only in early portraits.
•    Portraits from centuries ago maintain a “melancholy” aura about them.
•    Photographs do help with understanding historical events but don’t require the “free-floating contemplation” that a painting might invoke.

TASK NO1

CHOOSE SOME ASPECT OF SOCIETY TODAY THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF PANTOPTISISM - A SHORT BIT OF WRITING - CRITICAL , USE TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY 

A barefaced example of panoptisism in society today is the popular television franchise Big Brother. It is a reality show where a group of individuals spend a certain amount of weeks , sleeping , eating and taking part in tasks together under the same roof, isolated from the outside world but constantly viewed by the public eye. 

The brilliant element of the programme is that the people who are put into the house are complete strangers and their relationship is monitored by TV editors 24hours a day by live cameras situated around the house ,which is also broad casted on live television. This in turn makes it so blatant to the housemates that they are being watched. This makes the contestants play up and act differently so that they become liked by the public so that they will then win the show 'or the money!'‘power relations have an immediate hold upon it [the body]; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs’ (Foucault 1975)

The fact that the individuals are strangers to each other is so entertaining as they do not always see eye to eye, this is when popularity and statuses evolve of the housemates by the public , who decide which person will be evicted from the house each week. 

I find it so interesting how people become so judged and categorised by a nation of people who don't actually know them, big brother can make or break you , a perfect example of this is the status of a former celebrity 'Jade Goodey' who was made into a celebrity , loved by the British public from entering the house in 2003, until 2007 when she re-entered the big brother house which then put her into an unfavourable light on accusations of being racist whilst her time in the house. 

Constantly being watched form a self regulation within the housemates , it emotionally and physically changes the them throughout the programme, which is what makes the simple reality of it so popular. This relates to Faucaults view on the INSTITUTIONAL GAZE - the idea of an institution to the prisoners, being watched by 'people' as oppose to 'one person' which in turn makes you act as though the law institution wants you to act, how society has coded you to act.  Being constantly watched effects the contestants and persuades them into being someone there not so that they don't get evicted , which then effects their relationships in the house as it create a competitive attitude amongst them. This relates to the section where Faucault talks about the prisoner constantly being watched and how this effects them, Foucault calls this a 'Docile Body;, somebody who wont resist, somebody who will be trained and forced to act a certain way which is what Disciplinary Society produces , in this case , the production team of big brother and the public eye - 'RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER, KNOWLEDGE AND THE BODY' 

The layout of the big brother has panoptitism written all over it! The house is surrounded by a barbed wired fence , is under 24hour surveillance and the housemates are forbidden to leave the house unless evicted. Which has all the same elements of a Panopticon which is a circular building , under constant surveillance , surrounded by an outer wall, containing occupants (for example, inmates in a prison). This layout design of both the big brother house and a Panopticon both open plan which makes it very easy to be monitored and extremely hard to escape view of the higher power , in my example the higher power being the public eye and television editors'.

"power is not a thing or a capacity people have – 

it is a relation between different individuals and groups, and only exists when it is being exercised"

CTS SEMINAR ONE - PANOPTISISM

CTS 

SEMINAR ONE

THE UNKNOWN IS MUCH MORE THREATENING 

PANOPTISM , Relies on surveillance 

PANOPTICON MAKES YOU CONFORM- Jeremy bentham designed this prison in 1791, he was an architect , could have been the layout for anything, hospital, school , prison? you are totally isolated , lack of contact with others, make you chance mentally very quickly. lit from the windows, makes the prisoners constantly on display, being watched and visibly to the unknown, the prisoners conform to the idea that someone may or may not be watching you, so you start controlling you re behavior by yourself- SELF REGULATION

the prisoners are visible but unverifiable.

POWER IS A REGULATION - The ruling class of society 'the hierarchy of individuals e.g. feminism, business statuses' Faucault believes the people with power , only have power because they enter themselves into that role/situation , and the people that are getting rules are letting it happen, and exploiting themselves into being on a lower level, e.g we are the students , being ruled by the higher individual , our lecturer , because we are letting him teach us. however , there is always a possibility that we can resist, but as a human we don't always realize this, control is all about people letting others control them by choice, and this is not always obvious to the less powerful. 

question to ask yourself -

WHY AM I BEING CONTROLLED? 

WHO AM I DONG THIS FOR?

WHAT AM I DOING?

a key feature of the prison is that the people watching have to be NOT VISIBLE , especially to the prisoners, and the prisoners have to be VISIBLE at all times, without this it would not work!

Building designed very well!!!

Michel Foucault ' a french philosopher ' was interested in the panopticon not because of its physical form , but because it was like a metaphor for how society was controlled, interested in what the panopticon reflected 'a control through peoples mind' 

ANOTHER KEY POINT - The panopticon also controlls and watched the prison guards, one big circle, an example of this is out lecturers are being watched as well as the students , where theres power there is always resistance !!

1970'S a switch from.....

PHYSICAL CONTROL(an irrational way) -----> MENTAL CONTROL (a more human way)

MODERN DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY 

it is more effective to try and make/persuade people behave than to try and force/push people to behave

THE PANOPTICON, trains you to change you re ways, change and twist you re mind, it is PRODUCTIVE in the way that it phsycalogical focuses the prisoners into becoming a better behaved individual, correcting a person into behaving the way in which you want them to, 

As oppose to a regular prison where it just keep the criminal locked away so they cannot commit a crime again. In turn the individual continues to be a criminal, but they are hidden away and prevented from committing a crime again. 

INSTITUTIONAL GAZE - the idea of an institution to the prisoners, being watched by 'people' as oppose to 'one person' which in turn makes you act as though the law institution wants you to act, how society has coded you to act. 

A DOCILE BODY - "one that may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved. and that this docile body can only be achieved through strict regiment of disciplinary acts"

Foucault argues that we cannot choose to enter modern society; we are controlled utterly by it through it technologies of power

EXAMPLES OF PANOPTISISM - 

*fake cctv cameras on houses to put off burglars 'visible , but you never know if it is recording - a fake threat'

*neighborhood watch - close houses and villages 

*gardeners , do not do it for themselves although they think they are , but they want to impress others in the village , they are not aware of this. 

*

CTS LECTURE - TECHNOLOGY WILL LIBERATE US

Joanna Geldard
NOTES....

CTS LECTURE - PANTOPTISISM

INSTITUTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL POWER

Panopticism: Institutions & Institutional Power 

Richard Miles 2011

The lecture introduces the work of Michel Foucault and particularly his theoretical application of panopticism, techniques of the body and ‘disciplinary society’. Funnily enough ‘institution’ is not defined in the lecture, but take it that institutions can exist on two levels, first, organised bodies which have some kind of collective material physical entity, [e.g., hospitals, government, the police] and secondly, organised practices which are more solidly defined around customs and practices, such as the institution of ‘marriage’, the ‘family’ and so on.

‘Literature, art and their respective producers do not exist independently of a complex institutional framework which authorises, enables, empowers and legitimises them. This framework must be incorporated into any analysis that pretends to provide a thorough understanding of cultural goods and practices.’

Randal Johnson in Walker & Chaplin (1999)

Learning Aims:-

UNDERSTAND THE DESIGN MODEL OF THE PANOPTICON

UNDERSTAND FOUCAULT’S CONCEPT OF ‘DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY’.

UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY AS A MEANS OF RENDERING INDIVIDUALS PRODUCTIVE AND USEFUL

UNDERSTAND FOUCAULT’S CONCEPT OF TECHNIQUES OF THE BODY AND ‘DOCILE’ BODIES

PANOPTICISM

  ‘Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power.’ (Foucault, 1975)

What Foucault is describing is a transformation in Western societies from a form of power imposed by a ruler / sovereign to A NEW MODE OF POWER CALLED PANOPTICISM

The panopticon is a model of how modern society organises its knowledge, its power, its surveillance of bodies and its ‘training’ of bodies

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER, KNOWLEDGE AND THE BODY.

Disciplinary Society produces what Foucault calls ‘docile bodies’.

‘power relations have an immediate hold upon it [the body]; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs’ (Foucault 1975)

Disciplinary Techniques
“That the techniques of discipline and ‘gentle punishment’ have crossed the threshold from work to play shows how pervasive they have become within modern western societies” (Danaher, Schirato & Webb 2000)

Foucault’s definition of power is not a top – down model, as in Marxist theory, but is more subtle. Thus,

power is not a thing or a capacity people have – 

it is a relation  between different individuals and groups, and only exists when it is being exercised – 

The exercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be resisted. 

For Foucault, ‘Where there is power there is resistance’.

Bibliography

Please see yr 2 bib,

But also, 

Foucault, M.  (1975) ‘Panopticism’ 

from Hall, S. & Evans (1998) Visual Culture a Reader 

Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison London, Penguin

See also web sites on Foucault of which there are plenty

The emergence of forms of knowledge – biology, psychiatry, medicine, etc.,  legitimise the practices of hospitals, doctors, psychiatrists.

Foucault aims to show how these forms of knowledge and rationalising institutions like the prison, the asylum, the hospital, the school, now work on human beings in such a way that they alter our consciousness and that they internalise our responsibility.