In this unit’s reading, Comparing Cultures the author talks about how most undergraduate courses are taught. I must say that the author’s description is pretty spot on. Most of the courses I’ve taken consist of me showing up to a huge lecture where the professor recites the lecture slides. Not to mention, the professors who have consistently taught the same course for multiple terms will use the same material every term. This way of teaching is not effective and like Lessig states, “Students don’t listen to lectures” (pg. 86). I don’t know about you but I get bored when professors just stand there and read off of the slides and other things usually distract me.

Moreover, Lessig introduces the way that law school courses teach their students which is through an active forum method. This method allows students to participate in the lecture and gain active knowledge. In my opinion, this active forum method is much more effective for learning. Even if a student is not participating in the discussion this method requires the students to be attentive during the lecture. I agree with Lessig’s statement that, “This form of education teaches responsibility as well as the subject. It develops an ethic as well as knowledge about a particular field” (pg. 86). I wish that more courses were like this because I find it easier to learn.

References:

Lessig, L. (2008). Comparing Cultures. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (pp. 84-116). New York: Penguin Press HC, The.

The primary thesis of the “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins” by Beverly Jones is that technology overtime improves which helps to aid in cultural maintenance and change. Technology however is a very broad topic but Jones chose to focus on computer graphics. Jones (1990) explains that art and humanity theorist should help technicians, scientist, and engineers to direct the development of new technology products in order to reach cultural goal instead of technological goals (p. 22). In the article Evolution of Technology, there is a quote that states, “Technology involves manipulation of the environment to meet human needs such as food, shelter, communication, and health” (2014). This statement agrees with Jones (1990) when she states that, “This would entail emphasizing potential effects on the quality of human life, especially in aesthetics and ethics” (p. 22).

In the reading, Jones provides historical examples to help support her thesis. One of these examples starts off with, “At the Second West Coast Computer Faire held in 1978, several projections were made” (Jones 1990). Because of application software programs small computer systems, rather than the larger systems, could be used to create fabrics, prints, and furniture. This application software allowed people to have a choice in technology usage and help in mass production. This historical example helped to show that advances in technology have ways in helping cultural maintenance and change. Application software allowed for smaller systems to have multiple uses, which allowed people to have one computer system instead of multiple to do a multitude of tasks. Also, with mass production products can be made faster in proportion to the growing population demand. The world population is growing exponentially every day and new technology needs to keep advancing in order to keep up because there is a demand that needs to be met.

In the article Evolution of Technology, there is a quote that states, “The development of various technologies within the last 10,000 years of human history has been affected by and has affected the environment, human societies, and science” (2014). It is now 2014, and technology has come a long way since it first came about. In the reading, Jones (1990) states that, “Now daily life is affected by computing” (p. 26). This statement is so true because in today’s culture technology is everywhere and used everyday. Take a look around, I bet you could spot at least 10 people using some type of technology. Right now I am currently sitting in LLC’s Dux Bistro and everyone has either their cellphone or laptop out but that could be just because I am on campus at a college. Our society/culture lives in a time where almost anything could be done through a computer or some sort of technology. I mean, think about it we are currently taking a college course completely online. I remember when I was little and surfing the web was so difficult because there was only dial-up Internet. Now days I could load and look at over 20 different websites in the time it took to load and look at one website while using dial-up. Overtime, all products of technology has been tested, used, criticized, and re-vamped into what it is today. With that, could you imagine living in today’s society but still having to use dial-up Internet? Life and keeping up with anything would just be impossible. The development of technology obviously does help with culture maintenance and change, like Jones explains in the reading.

Reference

Evolution of Technology Module. (n.d.). Evolution of Technology: Overview. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://voyagesthroughtime.org/technology/index.html

Jones, B. J. (1990). Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins. LEONARDO: Digital Image – Digital Cinema Supplemental Issue, pp. 21-30.

In this unit’s assigned reading, Jones talks about the development of technology. She explains that technology aids in the maintenance and change of culture. There is one excerpt that I want to talk about that Jones states in the reading:  

“As time passes the original users develop familiarity and facility. New users bring additional assumptions and considerations of form, content, material, technique, meaning and purpose. However, some traces of the origins and practices remain in these forms, which consequently contribute to both cultural maintenance and change. Cultural patterns are affected in proportion to the spread in the use of these forms.” (1990)

This excerpt really caught my eye because even though Jones is talking about technology, this could be applied to other ideas such as fashion, food, and art. Culture itself includes all of these ideas and more. I believe that in general as time goes on, everything evolves into better counterparts of its original self. Also in time as these products develop and change they gain more users. The original and new users criticism intertwine to help create better versions of the product. The development of all products helps to maintain and change the culture that we live in. When looking back at the past, everything, not only technology, has come such a long way. Technology however has developed the most, we are now surrounded by technology in our everyday lives whereas in the past technology was hard to come by.

Spirituality is something I’m not too familiar with but it is something that I would say is quite similar to the idea of a soul. There is no doubt that everyone has their own spirit/soul. Both a spirit and soul cannot be seen nor controlled, however an individual can do things in order to connect with it.

For example, Grey introduces the ideas of chakras in this unit’s reading. There are seven chakra’s going down the center of the  body and Grey states that these chakra’s are supposed to “mediate the energies of the auric bodies that surround and interpenetrate the physical body” (2001). Each chakra describes a different psychological worldview that goes from a material level to a spiritual level. The seven chakra, also known as the “crown chakra”, is the goal of yoga – the union with God (Grey 2001). This is the union of the highest spiritual source which means that an individual’s entire being is unified; which includes physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Another way that artist’s use spirituality is to see. In this unit’s reading, Grey also talks about Saint Bonaventure’s three eyes of knowing:

• the eye of flesh sees the “outer” realm of material objects
• the eye of reason sees symbolically to draw distinctions and make conceptual relationships
• the mystic eye of contemplation which is able to see luminous transcendental realms

Grey states that, “artists need to be able to see on each level in order to bring technical beauty, archetypal beauty, and spiritual beauty to their work” (2001). Artist may use these three eyes in order to build their artwork from a muse or evaluate and understand another artist’s artwork. This was very interesting and obviously the use of the three eyes of knowing is not exclusive to only artists. I believe that all viewers of art should utilize the three eyes of knowing in order to evaluate and understand works of art, just like artists do. Maybe if more people knew how to use the three eyes of knowing, then more people will be able to appreciate art in general. I feel as if art is a very complex subject. There are many artworks that people look at and just think “What is this? What was the artist thinking?” – they just don’t connect with the piece and don’t understand the underlying meaning that the artist was trying to convey to the viewer.

References:

Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.

1.     How do you define “spirituality”?

The idea of spirituality, to me, is something I automatically link with the topic of “soul”. Everyone has a soul, or we are led to believe that everyone does. It’s just one of those topics that will always be unclear because we can’t see or control it. However, you may access your spirit. In the reading, Grey states that “Inspiration means access to spirit. Spirit brings vision to the artist via the imagination, the multidimensional media center of our minds” (2001). I would argue that the ideas of soul and spirit are either one, the same, or intertwined because “Third, and only in the deepest art, a condition of the soul is revealed, one’s heart is opened, and spiritual insight is transmitted to the eye of contemplation” (Grey 2001).

2.     Does spirituality differ from religion?

I believe that there are some differences between spirituality and religion, but on some levels they do intertwine. Religion is the belief in a high power. There are many different religions in the world, majority but not all believe in God. In the unit reading Grey states that, “The opening of the crown chakra is the goal of yoga, union with God” (2001) – this is an example of how spirituality intertwines with the ideas of religion. Chakras are believed to “mediate the energies of the auric bodies that surround and interpenetrate the physical body” (Grey 2001) – these chakras are a widely believed in by people all over the world, in order to better connect with your spirit. Grey also talks about spirituality using the three eyes of knowing which include the eye of reason, the eye of flesh, and the mystic eye of contemplation.

3.     How do you define “creativity”?

Creativity, to me, is one of those ideas that have no real definition. The definition of creativity may be different to everyone due to how they look at the idea of creativity itself. Personally, I believe that creativity arises/prospers within an individual. It’s the ability to use your imagination & experiences in order to create something. This something may be anything from an object to an idea. Remember in middle school or high school when you had an assignment and your teacher tells you to use your creativity? The process of creativity takes place in your mind.

4.     What is the source of creativity?

Before this unit, I would say that creativity arises/prospers within an individual. Even though this is still true, the idea of creativity is much more than that. In this weeks reading, Grey explains that “First, artists see their subject, which inspires them to create” (2001). With this statement, I questioned whether the artist’s mind or the object that evokes the artist’s creativity to start going is the “source” of creativity. One could debate that both could be considered as a source of creativity. The process that creativity goes through takes place within the artist’s mind but the creativity is usually triggered by some type of object that they see.

I guess I would say that there are three types of people when it comes to horror films; there are those who hate watching horror films, those who don’t mind watching horror films, and those who enjoy watching horror films. Personally, I’m not a fan of horror films and out of my 20 years of life, I would say that I’ve watched maybe about 10 horror films. I definitely believe in spirits, ghosts, and just all things paranormal therefore I try not to watch any films that contain any of these topics. Even though horror films aren’t only exclusive to the paranormal “world”, I don’t enjoy being scared at all but that’s just me. I am not alone though, in fact, horror films tend to gross far less money than other mainstream genres (Evan 2012). With that said, horror films are still around which means that there are people who enjoy watching horror films and I never understood why, until now.

In the article, Why do we watch scary movies the author includes quotes from Stephen King whom is a very infamous for writing award winning horror books as well as suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. One of the quotes that caught my eye stated that, “We are drawn to things that stimulate our emotions and particularly stimulate them without any adverse consequences to us” (Evans 2012). This made me understand possibly why people like horror films. Some people, not like me, are very curious about the paranormal realm and things that society leads us to believe aren’t true. Horror films allows people to get their emotions and curiosity about horrific things stimulated without actually having to experience them in real life. This is similar to an idea that Carroll had talked about in this unit’s reading. Carroll stated that, “Thus, we are attracted to, and many of us seek out, horror fictions of this sort despite that fact that they provoke disgust, because that is required for the pleasure involved in engaging our curiosity in the unknown and it into the processes of revelation, ratiocination, etc.” (2002). This really made sense to me because as human beings we are naturally curious about things we do not know. For example, if someone knows something that you don’t know, like a secret, it is likely that you will be curious to what it is that you don’t know.

Another thing that I’d like to touch base on is that everyone is unique and handles their emotions differently. Not everyone is going to be a “scaredy-cat” like me; some people may enjoy the experience of emotions that horror films give them. In this unit’s reading Carroll explains that there are pleasures that may arise from watching horror films (2002). Which is similar to an idea that Evan’s had quoted from Norman Holland that said, “A movie is just like any experience. It may or may not have any positive effect at all or any effect at all” (2012). I guess, it really just depends on the viewer whether they receive pleasure from watching horror films or not. I receive pleasure from watching genres like comedy, action, or romantic dramas.

These pleasures that we get from watching movies arise from the aesthetic qualities within the films, and every genre has them. In the book, The Horror Sensorium Ndalianis states “recognize the diverse nature of that experience from the sensory reactions and impulses to perceptions that activate cognitive processes of understanding and interpretation” (2012). These reactions that we get from watching any type of films are results from the cognitive processes that we use to understand and interpret the movies aesthetic qualities. For example, some of the aesthetic qualities that we covered this week include diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, and mise-en-scene. Diegetic sound are sounds within the film, where the source of the sound is visible in the frame. This may include anything from character’s dialogue to sounds given off by objects. Non-diegetic sounds are sounds where the source of the sound in either not visible within the frame or not implied within the present action of the film. Some examples of non-diegetic sound that Ndalianis talked about in her book include the ominous background music that every horror film contains to set the mood of the scene, those creepy sound effects that the director’s add to scenes for dramatic effect in hopes of scaring the audience, and it could just be the narrator’s commentary that explains important information that may hold the plot together (2012). Moreover, mise-en-scene is things behind the scene, aspects that most people overlook. This may include lighting, framing, production, or actor’s performance. These all contribute to create the aesthetic reaction we get from watching films. It’s very interesting to believe that we can go through or get all these reactions through just sight. Ndalinani explains that, “our perception of onscreen kinetics has the potential to give way to a ‘type of kinesthetics’ that activates the senses and creates for the ‘viewer’ an offscreen response to the onscreen space” (2012).

References

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (Eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., pp. 275-294). New York, NY: Routledge.

Evans, Whitney, (Oct. 25 2012). Why do we watch scary movies?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765613770/Why-do-we-watch-scary-movies.html. [Last Accessed May 6, 2014].

Ndalianis, A. (2012). The Horror Sensorium: Media and the Senses. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from http://reader.eblib.com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/(S(gq4l4k5lufrahxxe5oyqh5qq))/Reader.aspx?p=1034991&o=1338&u=ScbbvwZ%2fU0nhOxo25VSQ1A%3d%3d&t=1399663404&h=C98CD1E12EBE3E846CCB55FACD972A8D198573D3&s=23115803&ut=4509&pg=1&r=img&c=872&pat=n&cms=2#

After watching the assigned Buffy the vampire slayer video, I noticed that there were a lot of examples of mise en scene, diegetic sound, as well as non-diegetic sound. Although there were multiple examples of non-diegetic sounds the scene that I would like to talk about is when the strange creature places and opens the odd wooden box on the table, inside a house at night while everyone was sleeping. Soon after the box was opened and everyone’s “voice” was leaving his or her bodies, odd background music with whispering voices started to play. The purpose of this music is to set the mood that something bad is about to happen. This background music is an example of non-diegetic sound because it’s source is not visible on the screen nor is it present in the action. I believe that the non-diegetic background music and whispering voice definitely contributed to the aesthetic of horror for the episode because it was during a crucial part of the story because it leads to the plot of the story.

Moreover, an example of diegetic sound that I want to talk about is when Buffy and her friends are all together at Giles’s house watching the news on their town. This is an example of diegetic sound because the source of the sound is visible in the screen. I choose this scene because it clearly shows that only everyone in their town has lost his or her voice, whereas others outside of the town still hold the ability to speak. I would say that this contributes to the aesthetic of horror and overall story line because it shows that the epidemic is only happening within their own town and the news caster stated that, “no one can go in or out until the syndrome is identified or the symptoms disappear” – which means that no one outside of the town can help them.

There multiple examples of mise en scene that I want to talk about because the episode was crawling with examples, of course. The first example is the lighting of the episode. Although the lighting is nice and bright during the day, most of the episode took place at night where it was dark. This contributes to the aesthetic of horror because it gives off a scary unknown feeling. This is very common in all horror films. The next example are the costumes that the “gentlemen” wore for their parts, this helped to create an unknown creature for the story. Without the costumes there wouldn’t be any unknown creatures and then it wouldn’t be a horror.