Blog entry 27:
Todays Session:
Today in the Personal Practice and Methodologies session, we were given areas of the text Culture Education by Paul Duncum. The three areas of the text we were given explained simply three theories: Ideology, Intertexuality and Multimodality.
My group was given Multimodality to focus on in relation to our own practice.
Multimodality:
"Multimodality refers to the fact that there are no purely visual images; images never appear without words, music, or other sounds. Even in art galleries images appear with labels, and their assumed significance is deeply grounded in art history texts and columns of written critique." (Duncum, 2002)
From the Visual Culture: Debates sessions, I am already aware that the multimodality can affect the way imagery is represented or perceived.
When considering my own practice, I intend to create imagery for both fine art (exhibition) and illustrative purposes so I need to consider how each of these areas can be affected by multimodality.
Exhibition (conventional):
The most simple or obvious multimodal aspect for an exhibited piece of work would be a label next to the piece in a gallery (white walls conventional) with information as follows:
- My Name
- The Title of the Work
- Date
- Materials
- Size
Thinking about a conventional gallery space further, if I was to exhibit work based on The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, then I might consider the following as accompaniments:
- The whole text or areas of text lifted from the story (quoted)
- Booklets or books con tainting the story on a shelf or table for people to take (containing the image) near the work
- An artist statement about how I work or application of materials or messages
Exhibition or Installation (unconventional or away from convention):
When looking deeper into the idea of exhibition of imagery, foremost I need to consider context:
- Who will look at the work because of where it is
- The Gaze (blog entry 11) - how people will view my work because of the context
- What multimodal aspects do I intend to use
- What multimodal aspects will be evident unintentionally due to the situ of the work (for example, if work is situated near a busy road, a multimodal aspect will inevitably be the sound of cars - this can also affect other sensory qualities like in this example the smell of car fumes)
In a book or accompanying poetry or text:
If my work is used for more illustrative means, I need to consider:
The Text
- What connotations does the font already carry (intertexuality)
- How does the font work visually with the image
- How does the size of the image affect the writing or vice versa
- How often do illustrations occur in relation to image to text ratio
How it is viewed
Although a writer or illustrator who intends to put work into a physical publication to be owned by people, one might consider how said publication will be read or viewed:
- A book may be laid out on a large table made of oak or marble, under a desk light and carefully analysed
- A book may be curled up with on a comfy chair
- A book my be studied by an uninterested student who feverishly flicks pages and skims both text and imagery
- etc.
I feel that in the physical sense the multimodality of where someone chooses to read a book can be a lot more varied than potential installation or exhibit, which the artist has more control over the environment (not to say however this is always the case).
When considering multimodality, context is a key attribute along with the intentional and unintentional - I need to consider this further during task 2.
Task 2:
Now that I have a range of rough and some slightly more resolved ideas, I need to consider how to hone in on the most important aspects that I have come up with that suit me and my practice. I am currently finding it difficult to fathom how to move my work forward so I need to start by listing what it is my personal voice and practice needs and what interests me. Watch this space...
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