...Question: To what extent is literature like a mirror? Inquiry paper In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Narcissus is a handsome young man who saw the reflection of his face in the waters of the Styx River. He became so captivated by his own reflection, that he sat looking at himself until he died and a small flower grew in his place. After the manufacturing and widespread existence of mirror, human have became obsessed with the reflections of themselves. Literature provided us with a unique type of mirrors. It helps us to discover the perfection of ourselves but at the same time, grab our eyes on the defectiveness as well. Just like Narcissus, we never stop seeking for self-identification and self-conscious through the way we look at our own images. An examination of the books I read, I found literature to be like a mirror to a great extent in many ways. The Secret daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, is a book that compares the treatments of females in two different families - one in India and one in America. The book begins with the unforgettable birth of a baby girl named Usha in a remote Indian village on the eve of monsoon. In a culture where females’ infanticide is rampant, Kavita, the baby’s mother sent her daughter to an orphanage in order to save her life. Dr. Somer, an American woman who adopts Usha (they call her Asha) after the discovering that she can never have children of her own. The two women mirror each other in the sense that they both make difficult decisions to save and...
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...The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts presents 11 photographers who have taken photographs since the 1970’s. Each photographer has his own space in the exhibition for approximately fifteen of his photographs, mainly in black and white framed with a light brown frame, realizing in a whole a retrospective of how society has changed in Quebec throughout the years. It conveys the photographers’ concerns and interests in the quality of urban lives. The photographers transmit a reflection of society, collectively, individually and creatively by the use of a keen critical sense, while respecting the subject in its environment. This exhibition will conduct the visitor to ask itself some questions, “Where are we going?” “What is reality?”. In fact, the role of the photographers in this exhibition is to present artistically, a documentary on the society with its diverse values and inhabitants. In this exhibition Benoit Aquin’s photographs portray the after hours bars, between three and five in the morning, in the streets and nightlife places of Montreal. It is a look at the people living during the night, always having fun, detached from the daytime life and somehow perverted by society. The ideas of shock and surprise are present. It is a contrast with the other photographers, who have depicted residential areas and working class everyday life. Instead, Benoit Aquin shows the hidden side of a city, what citizens cannot see if they do not wander into the night. We can observe in Benoit...
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...Germain. The History of World Sculpture. New York Graphic Society, 1968. I discovered The History of World Sculpture by conducting a search on the art library’s online catalog. After finding the book’s call number. I received assistance from a librarian in locating the publication on the oversized book section of the Sloane Art Library. As inferred from the title, the amount of information in this publication was daunting, however, once I located the section specifically on Roman sculpture, I found that the information it offered would be useful for my research, particularly because of the background it provided on how the Romans adopted Greek styles. Translated from French, I did an online search on the author, Germain Bazin, and discovered...
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...ASSESSMENT 1: TUTORIAL REPORT 1 DOES ADVERTISING MIRROR OR SHAPE SOCIETY? Table of Contents Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................................... 1 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 The evolution of advertising and it’s roles in business and society ........................................................................ 3 Analysis of the agency structure and its key players .............................................................................................. 4 The process of developing an effective advertising campaign ............................................................................... 5 Summary of Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 6 References .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Executive summary The argument of whether advertising mirrors or shapes society has been going on for a long time. According...
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...in various ways. Modern society is founded on universal law, enlightenment of reason and science is solution to social problems, utopia is possible (except the poor will always be poor); Western-centric humanism will save the world; mass consumption means mass employment and modern society contained in the grand narrative of history. Progressive social transformation of the post-modern turn will take us on new adventures; resituating science, technology, society & capitalism into a multi-perspective and multi-disciplinary framework. One attempt to account for the emergence of post-modern condition is the shift during the 20th century of the economic needs of capitalism from production to consumption. Reality is what we see fit by these various forms of seductive illusion. The prefix ‘post’ clearly implies a break, a relation to a period that has happened before. In the case of post-modernism the previous period is undoubtedly ‘modernism’. Thus, postmodernism refers to a breakdown of the distinction between culture and society - emergence of a social order in which the importance and power of the mass media and popular culture means that they govern and shape all forms of social relationships. For Lyotard, a key post-modernism theorist, the post-modern condition is neither a periodizing concept nor does it refer to the institutional parameters of modernity and post-modernity. Rather it is: “…the condition of knowledge in the most highly developed societies. I have decided to use...
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...building structures along with changing political powers. There were articles about the religions significance of mosaic mirrors and jadeite are also examined throughout the paper. The origin of Maya sites was identified through textile and Nahuatl languages that were found on the architecture walls. The issues of collapse in Maya cities are also identified and discussed in the paper. Blainey, M. G., & Healy, P. S. (2011). Ancient Maya Mosaic Mirrors: Function, Symbolism, and Meaning. Ancient Mesoamerica, v 22, n 2, p 229-244. The article examines the meaning of the mosaic mirrors in ancient Maya through the process of how the mirrors are made and what it is made out of. As mentioned in other article, ancient Maya were creative at art and artifacts. Also, their community were hierarchically organized. Therefore, these well made lithic reflectors were used for ceremonial artifacts and mostly used by elite individuals. These mirrors were flat, shiny objects with highly polished plaques and it has been described as luxury goods which indicate high status for the owner. Furthermore, the meaning of ancient Maya iron-ore mirrors was used by the elite individuals to communicate to the spiritual world. There are over 500 mosaic mirrors found in ancient Maya in highland and lowland area such as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. But majority of the mosaic mirrors were found in highland area and only one or two were found in lowland area. This indicates that highland Maya area...
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...Snow White Fairy Tale Comparison The story of young girl forced to flee from her home due to the jealously of her step-mother has been told in many languages in a variety of ways since its first publication by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Storytellers capture their audiences by relating the common man’s plight to that of Snow White. To gain a greater understanding of this story, it is best to examine three versions that have been told at significantly different times within society. The original story “Little Snow-White” by the Brothers Grimm, Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, and Disney’s “Mirror Mirror” serve as inspiration when discussing the story, language, art direction, heroines, heroes, conflict and resolution with them. As each new adaptation of the story Snow White is told, many individuals will reference the Walt Disney version as fact over the original story by the Brothers Grimm. Two hundred years have passed and the story of Snow White has kept true to its original telling with only minor changes that have been implemented only as a way to appeal to the intended audiences at the time. The physical description of Snow White, our heroine, has always remained close to the original, “a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood” (Taylor, 1884). With Walt Disney being a family oriented individual he made only a minor change to her description, "lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow" (Snow White and the...
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...Kate Kollwitz was an exceptional artist who transformed emotions and experiences into art. Kollwitz art is the reflection of civilian victims and the pain war has brought upon individuals and society as a whole. Kollwitz expressed the devastating effects that war brought upon people, and the lives and souls that were destroyed and shattered. Through Kollwitz art, she stands against war to protect human lives, and not only does she raise conscious to others about the effects of war, but reveals the injustice and how inhumane war was. Before Kollwitz became opposed to war in great ways, her religion and socialism anchored her motifs and commitment for a social growth and a world that depicted the beauty she saw in art, which was the freedom...
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...Developing Europe into a powerhouse, the Renaissance marked complete cultural transition of Europe out of the Middle Ages and identified a societal change of values and ideas reflected in the art and literature of the time period; the “rebirth” in Southern Europe, however, differed from Northern Europe. As both the North and South had access to newly printed materials courtesy the printing press, they did share commonality of thought- both supplied predominant Christian artistic themes, had an artistic ‘center’, and provided systems of guilds and patrons. The Southern, or Italian, Renaissance began during the 14th century and “inevitably, trade and commerce brought Italian ideas northward, where they influenced the artistic traditions” beginning the 16th century Northern Renaissance (Benton and DiYanni 53). The South focused on a return to the concept of humanism and revival of idealist, classic Greek and Roman values, but the North focused on the common man and daily realities of life. Centered around Florence then later Rome, aided by the patronage of the Medici family in the Early Renaissance and Popes in the High Renaissance, and inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, the Southern Renaissance movement emphasized humans (their capacities, values and worth). Italian artists made the viewer delve into the inner working of the human mind and their subject matter primarily consisted of gods and goddesses displayed with symmetry, balance, and linear perspective. Known for his goddess...
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...Tyler Trimm April 15, 2010 Predestination in The Lady of Shalott The ballad, “The Lady of Shalott”, written by Alfred Tennyson in 1833, is an analysis of the Victorian woman's predestined role in society and her free will desire to abandon this identity and break free into the male dominated world. In the Victorian Age, society had very little tolerance for those who did not conform to the predetermined roles. This is shown through the main character in “The Lady of Shalott”. The Lady represents those who did not reciprocate the idealized role of women during that time period. The Victorian age was one of much turmoil with women actively campaigning for more rights in a male dominant society. During this time men were considered to be intelligent, strong, powerful characters, while women were emotional, and only capable of housework and raising children. It is the Lady's rejection of these Victorian ideals of femininity that ultimately lead to her destruction. After seeing the city's people interacting and the charming Knight Lancelot, she rejects her life of solitude and seeks a new lifestyle, but unfortunately, the restricted society she escapes to has no place for the creative female and ultimately leads to her demise. The Lady is doomed to remain a stranger to society. She is completely isolated on her own island in a tower near the Victorian town of Camelot. The Lady’s confinement reflects the Victorian attitude towards women. The image of the “four grey walls...
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...There is a deep connection between Tennyson’s poem ‘The Lady of Shalott’ and the Jessica Anderson's novel “Tirra Lirra by the river. Anderson uses the lady of shallot as a constant reference throughout the novel relating to nora and memories of her past. The deliberate parallels established between tirra lirra by the river and the lady of shalott enhance our understanding of her life experiences. Although nora isn't physically trapped in a tower like the lady of shalott, she to spends the majority of her life suspended in a state of becoming, always waiting to escape. Both women are trapped by the expectations that society has placed upon them, belittled by those around them and forced to conform. The metaphorical towers in which they are trapped mean that they are alienated from the rest of society and leave them searching for lancelot, the ideal man, which ultimately leads to their destruction. This is evident for the lady of shalott when she expresses her desire to be a part of reality, “I'm half sick of shadows”. The images of shadows represents a weakened or diluted sense of what reality actually is. The idealised lancelot leads the lady to leave the confinements of her tower, into the outside world which in turn precipitates her death. Nora longs for a Sir lancelot who will provide deliverance from the loneliness that seems to dominate her life. Her romantic aspirations and desperate need to escape have made her vulnerable. It is because of this that nora believes that...
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...Oscar Wilde was a passionate admirer of art, an intellectual dandy and a keen advocate of the Aesthetic Movement. Through his essay The Decay of Lying: An Observation, Wilde uses an obviously self-modelled character named Vivian to set out a series of doctrines which detail his personal philosophy on the relationship that exists between art and life, and the rolls that they should play. Chiefly these are: art should only express itself, expressing life and nature makes for bad art, life imitates art more than art imitates life, and that lying is the true aim of art . When applied to his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray these doctrines add an extra layer of meaning to the themes already presented, and this allows for a greater level of understanding. There are several instances during the narrative of the novel which show a relationship between the roles of art and life, and the ways in which they are separated, combined, and reversed. Understanding the theories set out by Vivian helps with comprehending the relationship between Dorian and his portrait, as well as with his friends Lord Henry and Basil Hallward. The Decay of Lying is presented as a slightly confusing and seemingly contradictory essay on the relationship between art and life which treads the border between being sincere and ironic, while The Picture of Dorian Gray is a metaphor infused novel which blurs the lines between art and life as actively as it seeks to separate them. Both writings leave room for speculation...
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...Contemporary art- art that is relative to our current society. Art of the present. Artist is usually alive and making art right now. Being a flux: constantly changing. There is no unified, crystallized interpretation or theory of it. Diverse nature of issues, styles, and forms. Part of our culture and visual culture. * see a lot of mediums and diverse. * no dominate style or medium * what is considered painting is becoming blurred * New art forms appear besides traditionally recognized art forms. ex: installation art, process art, video art, digital and experimental forms *diverse and eclectic. No single medium or ideology dominates *Medium categories are broadening, boundaries are getting blurred and redefined. *referencing and sampling from contemporary popular/consumer culture. * Art becomes interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary (artist as scientists, cultural anthropologists, journalists, reports, etc.) continuation *Technologies -> new way of producing and conceptualizing art (digital culture, Internet, virtual reality) *New media potentials: video, robotics, transgenic art, etc. * new technologies create new paradigms *up until the late 1800s, what was the way to send a picture? <- painting. *what changed that? <- photography Art world goes global ( global production, reproduction, art market: global economy, dissemination) - Paris and NY ** *”About-ness” artist as social and cultural observer, critic *Artwork functions...
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...might be considered valid. Hypothesis : Advertising itself is very indistinguishable to the idea of complexation as it has got multi-purposes but connects as one. By having a consumer society it would unquestionable mean that advertising will posses negative aspects that cause manipulative and persuasive, therefore a false consciousness society is established, this is quite visible throughout history of Advertisement. However Advertisement can also influence positive attributes, depending on how an advertisement is understood. Essay: Advertising is often referred as a “mediated form of communication” (Richard and Cullen) usually from a recognisable source that manipulates as it gains control over the viewer to take a particular action in order to be satisfied whether it is materialistic or informational. In the article “Distorted Mirror” by W.Pollay, he suggests that advertising is nothing but pervasiveness and leads to consequences in our society. As he states “Perhaps the least important aspect of advertising’s significance in society is its role in influencing specific consumer choices about purchasing products”. Despite Advertisement has always been contributing to the economy largely, it should be understood that it also causes social consequences within the society as it commercialises many aspects. Sometimes Advertisement is understood as a basic conception where many just...
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...The “Society Meals” “The goods considered as a luxury in the 18th century in Paris varied widely over and between social groups. For some people luxury was represented by a pair of stockings or a cheap watch; for other it meant diamonds or even an abundance of those same objects wich were held in esteem by the poor.” (M. Berg and E. Eger, Luxury in the 18th Century, 2003, p.89) Bread, butter, meat, cheese, and potatoes were the five principal foodstuffs that people wanted at the end of 18th century. A peasant’s diet aspiration varied from one part of the country to another, but those were the basics that french Common People worked for; these items were the main and most important in their budget. (M. Berg and E. Eger, 2013). As it...
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