Week 5: The Mechanical Bride

Hello everyone! Just a little reminder: Project #1 is due Sept. 30 in class. Everything needs to be in hard copy--don't try to turn in a thumb drive or a disc. Please look at the project prompt and think deeply about what I've said in class the past 2 weeks to make sure you have followed the directions.

I'm looking forward to seeing your projects; people have been coming up with some REALLY creative ideas. I'm glad that so many people have made it to my office hours. Keep up the good work!

OK. For this week, you're reading selections from The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man (1951), Marshall McLuhan's analysis and critique of advertising images. Here are my questions for y'all (answer both of them):

1. What is the relationship between McLuhan's argument and the image on the book's cover (visible on your right)? Use at least 1 quote from The Mechanical Bride as evidence to support your point. Note: please do more than repeat the title of the book.

2. McLuhan offers us a portrait of advertising in (primarily) the late 40s. If you were to write a new book based on McLuhan's model, what title would represent advertising in the late 2000s? What image would you put on the cover of your book? Why? Describe the image, which should function as a symbol for advertising in contemporary America (just as, for McLuhan, the mechanical bride is a symbol for advertising in the 40s).

Extra points for anyone who can post the image and not only the description (you can insert your image as your blogger profile picture and it will be visible to the right of your post).

Week 4: Haunted Media

First of all, this is your lucky day:
I've decided to give you an extra week to complete Project #1. The new due date is Tuesday, Sept. 30 (in lecture). Please use this extra time to do a really bang-up project. I want to see you folks do well in this class!

And now, the question of the week:
In the introduction to his book Haunted Media, Jeffrey Sconce articulates two key metaphors of electronic media--the metaphor of living media and the metaphor of flowing media. Choose one of these two metaphors to discuss in relation to a media practice of your choice. Your answer should have two parts. First, explain what Sconce means by the metaphor you have chosen (using quotations from the text to facilitate your explanation). Second, apply this metaphor to a media practice that illustrates Sconce's idea. Do not limit yourself to forms of media that Sconce mentions. You may choose anything from video games to ipods to photography.

Week 3: The Aesthetics of YouTube and UbuWeb

Watch a video of your choice on youtube.com and another on http://www.ubu.com/film/index.html (the latter, by the way, is a wonderful resource for avant-garde and experimental film and video; just click on one of the names listed on the site, click on one of the artist's pieces, and finally, click to play!). Keeping in mind Wasson's discussion of the "dynamics of size, colour, shape, clarity" and proximity that affect our perception of screen images, compare and contrast the AESTHETICS of both sites. How is the presentation (and not the content) of each video similar? How is it different? How do the websites themselves affect the way you view the videos? Please be as specific as possible. In the course of your discussion, integrate 1 well-chosen quotation from either Wasson's or Huhtamo's article.

Here's one of my favorite YouTube videos, artist Pipilotti Rist's I'm Not the Girl Who Misses Much:

Week 2: no worries

Hi, folks! So, the class list is in flux--students adding, some dropping, as these things go during the first 2 weeks. To avoid confusion and to give y'all a break, I've decided not to make you do a graded blog post this week. Don't forget to complete the reading; we will discuss the 2 articles on Tuesday!

In lieu of a graded blog post, here's what I'd like you to do: post a brief profile of what kind of media you like. You know, what kind of films you're into, what kind of music you listen to, any media artists you're obsessed with--I'll leave it up to you. Think of this as a virtual introduction. Like every blog comment you do in this class, don't forget to sign your first and last name.

I'll start: I love makeover shows, Degrassi Junior High (old and new), Japanese and Czech animation, video art, Strangers with Candy, and the old post-punk band The Fall. Here's one of their videos starring artist/fashion designer Leigh Bowery as the man with polka dots: