Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The proliferation of imagery

These days, there are many images that have universal meanings to which everyone can associate. You know which bathroom to go in because of the symbol on the door. A cigarette with a circle and a slash over it obviously means your not allowed to smoke there. But is it really so obvious? These images have been presented to us constantly since we were born. If you visit a secluded tribe out in the middle of a jungle they probably wont associate a tree with lights and bulbs with Christmas, even if they did know what Christmas was. Images are used so often that many times, you don't even realize what your looking at, you associate it with what it means.




I want to say its a good thing. Imagery is such a powerful and convenient tool. It has made it a lot easier to communicate general ideas and concepts. Besides communication, it gives people a way of expressing themselves. They can put their own twist on any image to convey or induce certain beliefs or feelings. With the basic knowledge of a general image, the viewer is able to then interpret the actual meaning or content. I searched mickey mouse and this is one that i found. Everyone associates mickey with childhood, cartoons, amusement parks, innocence or whatever. Someone put this twist on him and just at a glance, you can tell exactly what the artist is trying to communicate through imagery, good, bad, stupid, funny...its up to the viewer to decide.



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