I started my visual journal researching symbols and gestures and how they are interpreted in different cultures. There are many examples of gestures and actions having different and in some cases almost polar opposite meanings from culture to culture. For example pausing between words while talking is seen as comfortable in japan whereas in Europe and north America it is often a sign of insecurity and can cause embarrassment.
I made some street signs to represent these cultural differences. the top sign is to show that in many Asian countries it is polite to leave straight after eating dinner at someone else's house, staying afterwards implies you have not been fed enough. In Europe and North America this would be seen as rude, suggesting all you wanted was the food and not the company of the people that made it.
The bottom sign represents the conflicting meanings of shaking your head from side to side. In most countries shaking your head means no but in India means yes.
I wanted to research how we interpret visual information. This image to me is clearly Homer Simpson even though some of the key information is missing. I recognise this collection of shapes and colours because I am familiar with it and have been almost all of my life. Although I see this as a universally recognisable image and would be surprised if anyone didn't recognise it, this is not necessarily the case if different parts of the world. For something to be universally recognisable it must be common to everyone on the planet.
I made some minor changes to the image that is made up of the same shapes with a couple of additions. the image now looks like a chicken and to me does not signify Homer Simpson at all.
Images can be abstracted in certain ways and remain easily recognisable but these abstractions need to be considered to work well. I would like to know if there are rules to this abstraction or simplification to maintain the identity of the original image.
No comments:
Post a Comment