Since March of the current year, people have been forced to isolate themselves from each other due to the coronavirus pandemic. During this tough period, many try to maintain communication with the outside world through social networks. People created many different challenges while staying at home in order to entertain themselves and others. I would like to mention about “self-portrait” challenge. The idea is to choose any famous artwork and recreate the picture using improvised objects from home.

These works are a kind of parody of the original works. First of all, the participants of the challenge tried to convey the main details of the portraits, introducing a little of their own elements into them. However, if you look at these parodies without the original picture, we see a regular photo portrait. For example, look at the portrait of a young woman who was trying to reproduce a self-portrait of Van Gogh. This portrait alone does not catch our attention, but if you see the original self-portrait of Van Gogh and a parody of this picture in one place, you can see some similarities between these images. Turning to the video of John Berger in Episode #1 “Ways of Seeing”, I agree that this is a kind of manipulation of our vision, putting the original artwork and reproductions together. Due to this, they interact and reflects with each other.    

After spending some time on the Internet, I was also attracted by a selection of amusing parodies of another Van Gogh self-portrait painted in September 1889. As the Berger said, through artwork we can see, feel and hear the spirit of the time in which this work was created. Of course, these meme images are also changed in such a way as to convey the spirit of the times. At the same time, looking at these pictures, I understand that only the content of the picture has been changed, but the essence remains the same. Namely, this is a static portrait of a person, reflecting the experienced emotions of the artist when creating this work.

Nowadays, many paintings are misusing in many ways. One of the most common way is it uses for ‘’meme’’. I know it’s awkward and hilarious, but it’s changing our perspective of paintings. It decreases the value of the painting or sometimes it’s doing the opposite. Such as somebody made a meme by using McDonald’s burger on the pitchfork holding by the old man in the famous ‘’American Gothic’’ painting by Grant Wood. Also, there many memes and parodies of that painting around the world. I want to clarify that the painting called “American Gothic” was not famous before.

However, the meaning of the painting is in the eye of the beholder. The artist portrayed the painting by imagining the kind of people should live in that specific house. The painting shows a farmer standing beside his daughter, often mistakenly rumored to be his wife and they were standing in front of a white house with a gothic-style window. However, here the meme changed the perspective of the painting. After seeing the meme people who never see the painting will definitely think that the two persons on the painting are fighting/seeking for food. Or the old man tokes the burger of the girl. But in reality, it’s not. Here invention of software/Photoshop changed the value/meaning of the painting like John Berger pointed out in the video that reproduction changes the actual meaning of the painting.

A meme of the “American Gothic”

Original painting of the “American Gothic”

However, here the meme actually spreads/increasing the popularity of the painting. The reason is when people see the meme, they will try to find the real meanings or the story of the painting. That’s how the fame of the painting can be increased. Similar like the meme there are many parodies about the painting. Also, many movies, animated movies use the painting for entertainment purposes. These things made the painting popular. As a result, the painting is well-known to many people in the world. Also, many people saw the painting as a joke. Therefore, reproduction can be a good way to increase popularity of a painting such as the “American Gothic”.

Nowadays, in many situations we use camera to change images in order to give information to our viewers. That mean we can modify art through the camera and talk with the image for our own purpose. In the video “Abraham Lincoln for kids/biography” by Homeschool Pop! modifying Abraham Lincoln’s picture, kids can learn the moral life and that all people are valuable.

The presenter in the video use Abraham Lincoln’s bear in the picture to make children recognize him by comparing his bear to the cat’s fur. In addition, the presenter uses Abraham Lincoln’s images to show how he serves the union of America and abolish slavery because his parents taught him what was wrong and right including slavery. The presenter wants kids know that slavery was a terrible system where slaves were treated like property and he also use images to show that Abraham Lincoln was killed for what he believes was right. I see that the presenter arranges different images to transmit his information to the kids. When we make a connection between this video to the previous video by Berger, we realize that by using camera we can change the meaning of the art and talk to the pictures. Also, when we use camera and play different songs for the same art, viewers can perceive different information. We know that the original, authentic picture of Abraham Lincoln is somewhere at a particular place. It cannot be in different places in the same time, as Berger said it is still and silence. For that reason, many people prefer to travel and pay a lot of money to see the original art because they believe that nothing can be like the original one. That mean we use camera to duplicate the original one and change or rearrange pictures for our own purpose.

The first image is the picture of a famous bronze ware in China. This bronze ware named “Copper Flying Horse”in English was from the Eastern Han Dynasty which is about 1800 years from now. It was found in a grave of a general lived in that period. This artwork shows us there is a running horse whose one foot rests on a flying swallow. It seems that this horse is flying on the sky. And this picture of it was taken in Gansu Provincial Museum. Through this picture, its metallic luster shows me the honor of that great general. The muscle of this horse indicates us that it is a warhorse. Maybe 1800 years ago, it accompanied its ower to fight for their kingdom to agasint enemy. It is impossible for a horse to fly in the sky in the real life. But in the imaginary world, it can. Its flying pose shows the best wishes of the ancients at that time—-people’s intense curiousity to the sky. They wish they could be a flying horse to explore the unknow in outer space. Take advantage of the invention of camera, I could see such an outstanding artwork on my screen. By watching the introduction video of it, I could follow the lead of camera to appreciate its detail and know so many backgrouds and story of it.

The second image is the symbol of Chinese tourism inspired by this extraordinary artwork. Chinese National Tourism Administration use the image of “Copper Flying Horse” as our symbol for three reasons. First, it symbolizes that Chinese tourism is full of glory, with bright futuer. Secondly, horses have played a very important role in China from ancient times to the present. With the meaning of endeavor, tourists can enjoy travelling in China. Thirdly, its peerless status in broze also symbolizes Chinese splendid cultural history for thousands of year. And this logo gives “Copper Flying Horse” a new meaning. Its a kind of reproduction of this artwork, it not only conveys the ancients best wishes for human’s exploration, but also expresses the desire for the better future of Chinese tourism.

Pictures have reached a more persuasive age. On social media, on the Internet, images are very popular. Colorful pictures attract people. People think what they see is true, but it’s just the opposite. In the book “Smart History”, art is created with lines, colors, and shapes. People use it in many ways. Now the advent of high technology has created many opportunities for false information. They spread so fast that they spread faster than anyone could have imagined or controlled. For example, advertising. advertising makes perfect moments that mislead many people because using pictures or videos can convey a message in the most direct way. The most persuasive ones that we see everyday. When people see this advisement  youtube.com,  How do we feel? The direct uses clothing, hair, environment, tells a story. There is no gorgeous language in front of the camera, but it is especially close to life and perfect music. It’s a perfect artwork, but it also gives some inappropriate information. What about food in real life?  romantic? beautiful as advertised? There is a big gap between the picture and real life. The lens, the music, the technology can completely change the facts. Cameras can record time or beautiful moments, but when people use the camera, the camera has people’s ideas. So I think sometimes the camera or the machine is innocent, and the big problem is people who develop the technology and operate the technology.

In the video “How art can help you analyze” has concepts such as precision, logic and significance. The author shows precision when she describes how the doctor and police officer develop each case. For example, the doctor had to match three symptoms to determine which disease the patient had. While, the police had to see each and every detail/clue to see how many robberies there actually were and analyze the crime scene. The two cases showed logic being used. It showed how all of the five senses are important because it helps to find the solution and analyze everything. For example, the doctor questions the patient’s symptoms. Asking him how he feels to determine what is really wrong. The doctor also pays attention visually to see how the patient looks externally. He also checks the x-rays. The doctor tried to eliminate the possibility of chickenpox because he only had high fever and fatigue but not the last symptom. This means the patient was negative and needed to continue to be diagnosed. At the same time the police officers questioned the robbers to see how many were actually there. Visually analyzing help them further their investigation. For both cases the author describes every significant detail to find solutions because using analyzing helps to solve problems. In the video the presenter used four techniques such as Kairos, Logos, Ethos and Pathos. She used these techniques to help convince the audience to understand clearly her argument. She gave clear examples in the video and how it is important to analyze everything in a problem. Politicians running for office use ethos, pathos and logos to convince/ connect with people so they can vote for them.