MTV Buzz: avant-garde television
"Buzz is a long forgotten MTV experiment from 1990. In 1988, Mark Pellington developed an idea for a non-linear collage program he called "Buzz". Created in partnership with MTV Europe producer/director Jon Klein, Buzz was an ambitious 13-part global series commissioned by MTV and channel 4 (UK). It was hailed by critics as ground-breaking, adventurous television. This is episode 1 of the 4 episodes that have managed to survive on an old VHS tape to be digitized for your edification in this modern, digital age."
(Black Flag Party, YouTube Channel)
Fig.1 Buzz Episode 01 Segment 01
Fig.2 Buzz Episode 01 Segment 02
Fig.3 Buzz Episode 01 Segment 03
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Pioneering colour photography showing everyday Russian life
"Three young women offer berries to visitors to their izba, a traditional wooden house, in a rural area along the Sheksna River, near the town of Kirillov."
(Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA)
[The photograph was created by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in 1909 as part of his survey of the Russian Empire. The image was created using an early 3-colour technique and was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II.]
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
70 Billion Pixels Budapest: 360 degree panorama image
"The observation tower of János-hegy [the Elizabeth Lookout on János Hill is], the highest vantage point of Budapest with a 360 degree panorama, was an obvious location. It also allowed us to take on previous world records in both the 'highest definition image' and the 'largest spherical panorama' category. When contacted, the Council of District XII informed us on the upcoming anniversary of the tower. We agreed to cooperate in commemorating the September 2010 event by setting up new world records-give them our best shot if you please. ."
(360systems Ltd., 360world.eu)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Drawing study: Head of a Girl
"The eminent art expert Bernhard Berenson called this sheet 'the most beautiful drawing in the world.' It is thought to be a study for the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks in the Musée du Louvre, Paris."
(Web Gallery of Art)
Fig.1 Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1483. Silverpoint and white highlights on prepared paper, 181 x 159 mm, Biblioteca Reale, Turin.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Defining visual thinking and visual literacy
"Wileman (1993) defines visual literacy as 'the ability to 'read,' interpret, and understand information presented in pictorial or graphic images' (p. 114). Associated with visual literacy is visual thinking, described as 'the ability to turn information of all types into pictures, graphics, or forms that help communicate the information' (Wileman, p. 114). A similar definition for visual literacy is 'the learned ability to interpret visual messages accurately and to create such messages' (Heinich, Molenda, Russell, & Smaldino, 1999, p. 64). The ERIC definition of visual literacy is 'a group of competencies that allows humans to discriminate and interpret the visible action, objects, and/or symbols, natural or constructed, that they encounter in the environment' (http://searcheric.org/). Robinson (as quoted in Sinatra, 1986) describes visual literacy as 'an organizing force in promoting understanding, retention, and recall of so many academic concepts with which students must contend' (p. v). And lastly, Sinatra defines visual literacy as 'the active reconstruction of past visual experience with incoming visual messages to obtain meaning' (p. 5), with the emphasis on the action by the learner to create recognition.
The use and interpretation of images is a specific language in the sense that images are used to communicate messages that must be decoded in order to have meaning (Branton, 1999; Emery & Flood, 1998). If visual literacy is regarded as a language, then there is a need to know how to communicate using this language, which includes being alert to visual messages and critically reading or viewing images as the language of the messages. Visual literacy, like language literacy, is culturally specific although there are universal symbols or visual images that are globally understood."
(Suzanne Stokes, 2002)
[1] The Occasional Wife
[2] Stokes, S. (2002). "Visual literacy in teaching and learning: A literature perspective." Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education 1(1).
Branton, B. (1999). Visual literacy literature review. Retrieved December 26, 2001, from http://vicu.utoronto.ca/staff/branton/litreview.html
Emery, L., & Flood, A. (1998). Visual literacy. Retrieved September 22, 1999, from University of Canberra, Australian Centre for Arts Education Web site: http://education.canberra.edu.au/centres/acae/literacy/litpapers/vislit.htm
Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J. D., & Smaldino, S. E. (1999). Instructional media and technologies for learning (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Sinatra, R. (1986). Visual literacy connections to thinking, reading and writing. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Wileman, R. E. (1993). Visual communicating. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
