Gaby
over at Hopeless Lingerie wrote a very interesting blog post about
art history in reaction to our fickle viewing of images with no real
thought to the meanings and historical contexts behind them. Much as
this hasn't crossed my mind hugely since I graduated from university,
it is a really good point and much of the literature about visual
culture – especially in blogs – does not help this 'fast-food'
type culture. My background is in criminology so this will look a
little different to Gaby's thoughts on the matter...
So,
like her, I feel it is important to think a bit more in depth about
how we look at visual stimuli. In the modern age, we are bombarded
with so much information that it is beyond our capacity to take it
all in. My undergraduate dissertation was actually on a topic very
close to this one so it is hugely interesting to me. Even with
information so shocking as that of serial murder or kidnap, we are
able to let it pass through our minds and remain relatively unphased.
This kind of denial is a basic tool applied by all of us in some measure to
neutralise the kind of information imparted to us on a daily basis so
that we can continue with our day-to-day lives relatively free of
paranoia or trauma.
Part
of me thinks this is a little to serious for a blog post, whilst part
of me strongly disagrees and feels that without the
intellectualisation of daily life, we would continue into oblivion,
unaware of the reasons behind our actions. Maybe I should stop
over-thinking things and lighten up? Anyhow, there's a thought for
the day...
