For this weeks blog we’ve decided to put focus on the first essay.  I never really get a chance to talk to other classmates about interesting essay topics and what we plan on writing on so now I’ll do the most interesting thing i can.  I invite you all to engage in an open forum for so we can pick each other brains.  Now you don’t have to necessarily post your thesis statements however you could post your examples of visual rhetoric and say why you find it interesting (or uninteresting).  

Option 1:

Now because we’re allowed to write about anything, I’d assume anything we chose to write about for this essay is a personal choice and perhaps gives insight into who we are (to some extent).  And really, what I’m most personally interested in, is aesthetic.  So do you think your visual is aesthetically pleasing?  Why or why not?  Provide some analysis on colors used, typeface/font, shapes, etc.  There is much opportunity in this option to use what you know and the best part is, we get to see into the minds of other students which is rare for any class.

Option:2

The readings we've done in class have helped familiarize us with terminology and visual concepts. Many of these terms and techniques will be utilized in your first essays. As an alternative to going in depth into your essay's topic, cite and discuss a particular section of a reading (or an entire reading itself) and discuss why the reading helped you gain a stronger understanding of visual rhetoric. What did you consider to be very useful to you or excellent advice? What was confusing? Use this space to discuss any material you may not have understood or need some clarity with. How did having the student example essays help you think about your own essay? Was there anything these students did that you found to be effective?

A quick note from Dave to start things off:

Originally I was going to write about something different but instead I switched it to the subject of music videos, specifically one of my favorite ones.  Music videos are hard for me to write about because I wear my biases on my sleeve and of course the song is capable into persuading you to like any accompanying visuals regardless of what they are.  However I’ll apply a trick I learned from a film class and watch the video with sound and then without it. This video is more aesthetic with sound than without it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10oBReNHcEA

Practicing Analysis of Visual Rhetoric: Ramiro Gomez's "Happy Hills"

This week we will read communication scholar Sonja Foss' "Theory of Visual Rhetoric." In this chapter, Foss argues that the term "visual rhetoric" can describe both a communicative artifact and an approach to analyzing an artifact. To jump-start this week's blog discussion, I will present an example of visual rhetoric and ask that you apply what we have learned about visual rhetorical strategies (including classical rhetorical appeals and Gerrard and Durkin's definitions of composition, shape/size, line, and color) to analyze this example.

The Artifact
Artist Ramiro Gomez’s series “Happy Hills” is a powerful example of visual rhetoric. This series includes acrylic paintings of domestic workers and day laborers applied to advertisements that represent luxury homes.


Figure 1: Portrait of an Affluent Family by Ramiro Gomez. Retrieved from: http://ramirogomezjr.blogspot.com/

Figure 2: Lightness and Heaviness by Ramiro Gomez. Retrieved from Policy Mic.

According to Sonja Foss' definition, Gomez’s adaptations of luxury magazine ads are examples of visual rhetoric because each piece

1) is symbolic (i.e., he uses acrylic paint and magazine images to represent people and ideas),

2) involves human intervention (i.e., Gomez is a human artist who made these pieces), and

3) is presented to an audience via the media, gallery exhibitions and Gomez’s blog (Foss 144). I first encountered Gomez’s work when a friend shared Kinsey Lane Sullivan's interview with him on Policy Mic.

The Prompt 

Gomez uses visual elements (color, composition, shape & size, line, light, texture) and other rhetorical strategies to achieve a specific function. I ask that you look closely at Figures 1 and 2 from Gomez’s series. Then, choose 1 of those pieces to write about as you respond to these prompts.  

1. In his Policy Mic interview, Gomez explains his purpose: “I re-appropriate the advertisements with an intention to interrupt the underlying sales pitch. In the case of these luxury magazines, they consciously present an ideal environment unconsciously devoid of the people tasked with maintaining those environments” (qtd. in Sullivan). Gomez wants to make visible the often invisible people who make/keep those homes so pristine. While this is the artist’s stated intention, what is the actual “function” of the piece? What is the “action the image communicates” to viewers? What does it encourage viewers to do?
2. Identify at least 1-2 visual rhetorical strategies you see employed in this piece. Be sure to use terms from the reading and class discussions this week.