Chapter Two - From Cave Walls to Postmodernism

As the title states, in chapter two we learned a wide range of material, everything from cave walls to postmodernism. In class, our instructor made a timeline to demonstrate the variety of beliefs that made art into what it is today.

It is known that far before my time, the way of writing was very different and technology was limited. The first writing system was made up of simplistic pictures that represented words and sounds. Over time, as writing changed with different cultures, the alphabet was established. It was derived from the first two Greek letters (alpha) and (beta).

In the late 15th and early 16th century, the Renaissance, "rebirth" brought about works of art from painters such as da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. During this time period, Johann Gutenberg began refining a printing process that used moveable type. Within fifty years, the printing and typesetting industry spread across the continent and mass media was born. The Renaissance and invention of moveable type opened the doors to new opportunities and new ideas for modern art.

The different types of modern art include: Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaist, Futurist, Constructivism, Bauhaus, de Stijl, Modrian, Art Deco, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, New Realism, Super-Realism / Photo-realism, Pop Art, Op Art, Phototypesetting, and Postmodernism. Each style of art had its own beliefs as to what defined that particular form of art. For example, a photo-montage, which we can now do in Photoshop, use to be done in the dark room.
I am interested in the history of art and the way it has developed over time. From this lecture and reading, I have really learned a lot.

Chapter One - Visual Communication

As of last week, we were to read and outline chapter one. In this chapter, it discusses different aspect of visual communication, such as seeing and how the eye actually works. As the chapter continued, I found that there are five parts to clear communication. These include: sender, message, medium, receiver, and feedback. In order to communicate clearly, you must first brainstorm. This involves determining the audience, conducting interviews (research), finding the purpose, and defining the intended reaction. The next step is to choose a medium. This is how the message gets out to people (brochure, web, radio, newspaper, etc.) When it comes to mediums, we must eliminate as much noise as possible. This means that words should be easily understood, not hard to interpret; otherwise it is known as semantic noise. Static on the radio, smeared ink in a newspaper, and links that do not work on the web, are all examples of channel noise. We must also keep in mind the receiver, by keeping it personal and memorable, yet simple. The final element of clear communication is feedback. While feedback is ongoing between two people talking, it however, is not always immediate. 

The last part of the chapter elaborated on the seven different theories of visual communication. 

Not going into detail, the list includes: Omniphasism, Gestalt, Semiotics, Constructivism, Ecological, Cognitive, and Huxley-Lexter,