- At the beginning of this episode, when Krukowski asserts that “the marginal-the rejected-the repressed-is whatever the powerful have decided is of no use at the moment.”, he meant that when people lost their attention on something or when they found it unfamiliar, it will be considered as the marginal. But if we always listen to the familiar one and never be open to the new experiments, we won’t be able to go forward from here. That’s why the marginal-the rejected-the repressed] might be a key to alternate approaches to art, to society, to power itself.
- The music listening experiences enabled by Forced Exposure is closer to what we are looking for and what we would like. Because, before they present those experiences to us, they are listening to that music in person and evaluate it the way one of us would do. But in platforms like Spotify, algorithms are the ones that chose and recommend the music to us. So, those recommendations may not be as successful as the ones Forced Exposure’s, since the music is for souls not for machines.
- The distinction Krukowski draws between being “surprised” by music and “discovering” is how much you feel familiar with what you listen to. Even though it’s the first time you listen to a song, it may feel like you listened to it before. But this is not the case when it comes to being surprised. Being surprised is listening to something that is not likely to anything you listened to before. Many people don’t like being surprised. So, when making recommendations, algorithms chose songs that familiar with what we listen to.
- Noises are sounds that we are not there to hear, like the surface noise in a record. And, to Dr. Quinnell, signal is whatever sound we are trying to pay attention to.
- The central idea of the episode’s message about the distinctions between signal and noise. Anything you pay attention to is a signal, and anything you don’t want to hear is a noise. The distinction between them is up to the person who hears them. For example, in the subway, the sound of a baby who is crying is a noise to the other passengers, whereas it is a signal to the baby’s parents.
- In this episode, we saw a new thing that the digital world brought to us. From the beginning to the end, every episode we talked about this. Sometimes we miss the analog world but we can’t unsee the improvements that came with the digital.
Author Archives: Zeynep Yildirim
Discussion questions #7
- At the beginning of this episode, when Krukowski asserts that “the marginal-the rejected-the repressed-is whatever the powerful have decided is of no use at the moment.”, he meant that when people lost their attention on something or when they found it unfamiliar, it will be considered as the marginal. But if we always listen to the familiar one and never be open to the new experiments, we won’t be able to go forward from here. That’s why the marginal-the rejected-the repressed] might be a key to alternate approaches to art, to society, to power itself.
- The music listening experiences enabled by Forced Exposure is closer to what we are looking for and what we would like. Because, before they present those experiences to us, they are listening to that music in person and evaluate it the way one of us would do. But in platforms like Spotify, algorithms are the ones that chose and recommend the music to us. So, those recommendations may not be as successful as the ones Forced Exposure’s, since the music is for souls not for machines.
- The distinction Krukowski draws between being “surprised” by music and “discovering” is how much you feel familiar with what you listen to. Even though it’s the first time you listen to a song, it may feel like you listened to it before. But this is not the case when it comes to being surprised. Being surprised is listening to something that is not likely to anything you listened to before. Many people don’t like being surprised. So, when making recommendations, algorithms chose songs that familiar with what we listen to.
- Noises are sounds that we are not there to hear, like the surface noise in a record. And, to Dr. Quinnell, signal is whatever sound we are trying to pay attention to.
- The central idea of the episode’s message about the distinctions between signal and noise. Anything you pay attention to is a signal, and anything you don’t want to hear is a noise. The distinction between them is up to the person who hears them. For example, in the subway, the sound of a baby who is crying is a noise to the other passengers, whereas it is a signal to the baby’s parents.
- In this episode, we saw a new thing that the digital world brought to us. From the beginning to the end, every episode we talked about this. Sometimes we miss the analog world but we can’t unsee the improvements that came with the digital.
Discussion Questions 6
1. One of the main differences between a cellphone and a microphone is, when you are using a microphone you should do it with a technique. The sound that will reach to the other person/people changes according to how close or far you are to microphone. But when you are speaking to someone on a cellphone, the sound that other people will hear, will be the same no matter how much you are close to the mikes on the cellphone.
2. Gary Tomlison asserts that we had utterances with musical qualities which we used to communicate before the languages. He believes that our ability to communicate with the nonverbal parts of our voices goes so deep that it is coded into the genetic makeup of our species itself and today, the way we use the technology encodes our language, sends it over the Internet and make it perceivable to the other end of the specif distance.
3. We use our voices to communicate with each other for thousands of years. Digital tools helped us to do this without worrying about the distances or even if we know or not know the person who we communicate with. But while sharing our voices over these digital tools we lost an amount of the emotions in it.
4. In my opinion, one should be able to share the music that they created, freely. If they put enough effort into it and if they have the gift, their music will be appreciated. Otherwise, if people don’t like it, this can break the will of the musician and they might give up trying5
5. Music is the expression of people’s feelings and culture. History of it goes way before the existence of languages. I believe it is magical because we can hear the same emotions in the different cultures’ musics. Music connects us with each other without needing words.
Sonic Example
In the first episode of Ways of Hearing, Krukowski talks about how we can change the pace of a sound on a digital platform. We can increase the pace of a sound 2 times, and make the speaker sound like a maniac, or we can decrease it in the same amount and make the speaker sounds like a drunk person. Similarly, we can do the same thing with the songs to make them reflect another emotion. For example, the music of ”Hababam Sınıfı”, which is a Turkish movie, adjusted like this. We can hear the same music in both sad scenes and funny scenes. The only difference is the pace of it. They use the slow version for the emotional scenes and the fast version for the happy and funny scenes. And, this makes the music even more special. I think this is one of the gifts that the digital world provides us.
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Discussion Questions 5
Discussion Questions #4
1. According to Berger, how do “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers and why is this significant?
According to John Berger, a publicity picture makes viewers think if they buy what it offers, that possession will change their lives, including their relationships. By showing images of happy people who use their products, they convey a message of if we buy that product too, we can have a life like those people.
2. As he compares oil painting to publicity (advertising) photography, Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.” Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” Why are these differences important? What do they reveal to us about the production of images for publicity?
According to John Berger, oil paintings began with facts of its owner’s life. It shows the current wealth or achievements of its owner without including how they get that wealth. It doesn’t offer something, it just shows what they already have. But, publicity shows us a perfect life that we want to have. And, it offers that life to us by purchasing their service or products.
3. Choose one of the “dreams” he offers or think of your own. How does this dream offered by advertising use imagery to manipulate consumers?
I chose the dream of a faraway place. This is a dream that both he offers and of mine. Since I was a kid, traveling around the world is one of my biggest dreams. Especially after the increase of my interactions with technology, I realized that this dream get bigger and bigger place in my heart. Travel agencies advertisements have a big role in this. Images of other countries have always very distinct colors and usually, everyone in those images looks so peaceful and happy. Noone shows a signal of a bad mood or difficulty which makes me feel like if I go to that place the only thing I feel will be happiness and peace.
Blog#3
- Is the purpose of the essay to educate, announce, entertain, or persuade?
The purpose of the essay is to educate its audience.
- Who might be interested in the topic of the essay?
People who want to learn how to write a proper opening paragraph and improve their writing skills might be interested in the topic of the essay.
- Who would be impacted by the essay or the information within it?
Students and anyone trying to improve their writing skills would be impacted by the essay and the information within it.
- What does the reader know about this topic?
The reader knows that this topic gives information about how to write an engaging opening paragraph properly.
- What does the reader need to know in order to understand the essay’s points?
The reader needs to know certain writing terms in order to understand the essay’s points.
- What kind of hook is necessary to engage the readers and their interests?
There are many factors that can make a hook engaging, such as opening with a striking mental image, raising a question or series of questions, and beginning by quoting an expert on the respective topic or an inspirational individual. It is very important to the hook to be engaging because it will be the thing that captures the readers’ attention and motivates them to continue reading.
- What level of language is required? Words that are too subject-specific may make the writing difficult to grasp for readers unfamiliar with the topic.
The essay doesn’t require a high level of language, but there are many subject-specific words. That’s why the reader should be interested in the topic, or at least need to learn the terms of this subject to understand the essay.
- What is an appropriate tone for the topic? A humorous tone that is suitable for an autobiographical, narrative essay may not work for a more serious, persuasive essay.
A neutral or serious tone is appropriate for the essay. However, using humor at some points might be good to keep the reader’s attention.
2. Write a draft of your opening paragraph based on Chapter 3.2 Opening Paragraphs from the English Composition: Connect, Collaborate, Communicate
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader-not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” once said, E.L. Doctorow. This sentence explains why a good writer should be a good reader in the first place. It may not always be easy for the author to convey the events and feelings that occurred in their dream world to the paper. And if the writer is not a reader, it becomes even harder to look at their own writing through the eyes of the reader, which may cause worse problems than you think.
Discussion Questions #3
- One of the main premises in this episode is Berger’s distinction between nakedness and the nude female form as it is traditionally represented in Western art. What are the differences between these things and why are these differences significant? Do they apply to images you have encountered in your experience?
According to John Berger, to be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by the others and yet not recognized for oneself. Nude has to be seen as an object. Also, he says ”The Nude implies an awareness of being seen by the spectator. They are not naked as they are, they are naked as you see them.” That means the difference between these terms are depends on how other people see the subjects. In the pictures we see, the subjects wear fig leaves, cover themselves with gestures, or looking directly at viewers which show their awareness and make them nudes. - According to Berger, how have Western works of art depicted and defined different roles for men and women? According to Berger, what is the significance of this? Do these depictions influence the ways we think of the differences between men’s and women’s roles in society today?
In the pictures we see, the women subjects are represented as material or source for pleasure, whereas the men are the ones who get pleasure. For instance, the painting called Sussanne and the Elders shows the men spying on the naked women and the women looking at herself in the mirror, trying to picture herself as how men see her. Or in the other example ”The Judgement of Paris”, women are in a beauty contest where the male subject shown as the judge. I believe, today, the positions of men and women in the society are way more closer to each other. But still, in several situations, we can see that society’s general idea on women doesn’t change much. - How does Berger describe the significance of the mirror in paintings depicting women? What does this object say about the ways beauty is defined in these paintings? What does Berger say about the depiction of the female gaze in the paintings he discusses? What kinds of more contemporary examples does he relate this to, and what significance does he draw from these connections between older European art and depictions of women today?
In the European oil art, the mirror became a symbol of the vanity of women. In the video, Berger says ”You paint a naked woman because enjoy looking at her. You put a mirror on her hand, and you call the painting vanity.” What makes the nude beautiful is the judgment of male spectator owners in most of the oil paintings. The female gaze is usually directly to the one who looks at her. This shows her awareness of being seen. Likely to this, in the modern photographs, such as magazine covers, we can see that the female subjects are looking at the person who looking at them and judging their beauty.
Discussion Quentions #2
1. One of the first points John Berger makes is that the act of seeing something is not as objective as we might at first think. Instead, he argues that what we see is conditioned by habits and conventions. What does Berger mean when he says that the process of seeing is not “natural,” that it is shaped by habits and conventions? What kinds of habits and conventions shape the ways we see and how do they do this? Why is this significant when we think about what artworks like paintings mean for viewers?
When Berger says that the process of seeing is not “natural,” that it is shaped by habits and conventions, he meant people see incidents and objects through the logic filter. For example, if we put a purple filter in front of a camera, every photo we take with it would be purplish. Likely to this example, the way people see is affected by their emotions and thought at the moment.
2. According to Berger, how has the camera changed our senses of perception? How has this device changed our engagement with works of art? Conversely, Berger describes the experience of being in the presence of an authentic artwork–at a museum, for instance–in terms of “stillness” and “silence.” What does he mean by this? According to Berger, why is seeing an artwork in a museum different from seeing it on a screen or in a book?
The invention of the camera affected art in both beneficial and harmful ways. Before then, the only way to see those works of art was by visiting the museums and seeing them in real life. But with the cameras, we are able to see and have knowledge about them from all around the world. Although, cameras can not reflect the brush strokes, which show the artist’s emotion while painting, and we can’t get the meaning of the painting as well as in the museum.
3. What does Berger mean when he describes reproductions of paintings becoming a “form of information?” Paraphrase what he means by his idea of “talking with reproductions.” What is the significance of this?
Especially with the popularity of social media and usage of photoshop, everything can be a material for memes and advertisements, including art. So, the meanings of artworks become transmittable according to the topic of people using it.
Blog#2
In the first image, we see Russian brand Hi-Fi Audio’s advertisement by copying Dali’s Madonna of Port Lligat. Salvador Dali created Madonna of Port Lligat in 1949. The painting depicts an image of Mary holding baby Jesus in her lap. Each seemingly random element in the painting has a purpose and however vague it is meant to communicate something to the viewer. For example, the Child is holding a globe in one hand and a cross in the other, and both Mary and the Child are joined in what seems like a mirror-like reflection, symbolizing the reach of spirituality.
But someone who didn’t know about this painting can’t get any of these meanings from the Hi-Fi Audio’s version. In the image, there is a woman holding a headphone between her hands, surrounded by big speakers. The surrealism factors in the advertisement and hole in the torso of the woman grab people’s attention easily. So, even though the meaning changed a lot this is a very interesting advertisement and, this can make people look for the inspiration of painting and learn much more about painting. That’s why I think this advertisement benefits the art as much as it harms the meaning of the painting.