Example of a Visual Argument with memo (for Comp 2 students who are stuck!)

So, as you can see, this would be an example of a visual argument.  The reflective memo is also included in this post...this would be a good example to follow, although, you will not be making connections to earlier readings (as is done here) but you will be asked to discuss the value of creating a visual argument vs just writing an essay...something you should be thinking about anyway...fyi, had more time been given to complete the assignment, there is a lot I would have done differently...like, change the font color to make the words stand out...reversed the image and made it transparant so it looked like the zombie masses were actually looking at a tv, etc.  This image was created in Photoshop, also, and I was VERY new to the program.  Just a thought, wanted to give you some ideas to think about when it comes time to start thinking about your own visual argument.   Happy Almost-Weekend!!

The purpose of this memo is to discuss the meaning, choices and processes implemented throughout this project, along with connections made to theories in New Media.

Meanings

“The media is the most powerful entity on earth…because they control the minds of the masses” Malcolm X. This statement for me holds great meaning and echoes earlier leaders dating back to Naro of Rome. He was famous for saying, “If you give the people circus and bread, they will never question you.” Media represents our circus. We are drawn in to being entertained, even during our news casts, and who hasn’t heard of people being, “mesmerized by the boob-tube?” The zombies are meant to represent us…the masses. The news background represents media, but I decided to choose some very different images to represent the newscaster and inlay. The inlay is the “media’s depiction” of the typical gypsy. She is standing over a crystal ball getting ready to reveal some magical outlook about someone’s future. The newscaster however, is actually a picture of a 28 year old Roma woman dressed professionally. If you look closely into her eyes, she (like all us Romani women) does have a very mesmerizing stare. The reason for these images of “Gypsies” for me plays with the concept of how these groups are portrayed in media, stereotypes of dominant culture and the reality of the culture of the Roma people.

Processes

I think that most good writing comes from sudden urges. This being said, once I had chosen the quote for this project, an image appeared in my head of what I kind of wanted the final collage to look like. This actually helped me choose Malcolm X’s quote in the first place. It is kind of hard to describe the organic deeply imbedded desire to create something artful. It is something like a sudden itch that demands to be scratched. I rarely, when composing texts for school, have this urgent, organic desire to create. I usually have to spend a long time thinking about the topic I have chosen, and then can sit at my computer and type furiously as the words often stream out of my head faster than I can type them. I then have to go about correcting the grammar and polishing it since most of the writing will be incoherent babbling to my audiences.

Much the same way, once I had this set image in my head, I had to find pictures that would work to create something similar to what I originally had in mind. I have to admit; I did get extremely frustrated and ended up changing my original plan due to my own limitations with Photoshop. Once I saw the image in grayscale, I decided that although it was not the image I originally had in my mind, I did like the finished project. I felt like no matter how much more time, or how much more Deke videos I watched, I did not think the picture would get any better. Sometimes it is best to quit when you are ahead.

Choices

I have always had a strong fascination and fear of zombies. They are supposed to be dead, but yet they are walking and grunting; you can’t kill them unless you physically destroy their brain, and they walk around really slowly sort of like they are in a trance. They eat other people, or they bite you and you then turn into a zombie. WTF is up with that?! This is why I chose the background image of zombies. Originally, I wanted just a group of zombies walking, but then I decided that the circle of zombies would be better since I would then have an open space to put the image. The zombies could look like they are then gathering around the media image and are subsequently drawn into the TV screen. The image of Fox News represents media. I chose a Fox News image because it is the least of my favorite news sources and, in my opinion, the most biased propaganda in America.  (Cause ALL news is corporate, and therfore, propaganda)

The other two images that I chose were very personal in nature. The Roma are a group of people originally from India that have over centuries, migrated throughout Europe. My great-grandmother was supposedly Roma and immigrated to this country around 1908. Throughout time, Roma have been persecuted by the dominant culture in which they reside and there are a lot of rumors and myths about their culture and beliefs. They have been labeled gypsies and are still treated as second class citizens in some countries. The image of the female sitting in front of the bookshelf is one of a 28 year old Roma that attended college in Prague. Many times media, myth, and ethnocentrism play a role in depicting Roma as dirty, panhandling, mystical nomads. The reality is most Roma are very superstitious, and they will at times practice such jobs as fortune telling and palm reading. Most Roma do not, however, put much stock in the actual reality of these soothsayer activities. But, in the interest of the project, I felt like I needed to validate that image a little since the quote does have to do with media controlling the minds of the masses…so therefore, I picked an image of a lady gazing into a crystal ball.

I did choose other, more accurate depictions of Roma in everyday life, but thought it best to choose the professional as the anchor (something that you would rarely see, especially in Europe) and the “gypsy” fortune teller as this was the best photograph I found on Google Images. Please refer to the above post for earlier drafts, and the top of this post for the original pictures.

Connections

I definitely see where the use of visual composition is sometimes both much more urgent and thoughtful than classical composition. As I stated earlier, the image I desired as a finished product jumped into my head within a matter of a few seconds. This rarely, if ever, happens in written composition (at least for me). In this way, technology was able to affect my thought processes in that I did not feel the need to “pre-write,” “draft,” “organize,” “research,” “re-draft,” “polish,” etc. in the way you would need to in writing. The steps were much more compacted…brainstorm, research, draft, polish…and in that order too, unlike with the writing process of Flowers and Hayes where the process is circular and fluid. Just as Tristan Tzara and Brion Gysin developed poems and artwork using the cut-up method, this project asks us to use the images we find in order to create something new (NMR 3, 90).