Reading a Cultural Text

This picture is apart of a series called ‘The Bloodless War’ by artist Manit Sriwanichpoom and it depicts a group of people carrying chanel bags and clothing whilst walking barefoot along a train track whilst followed by three men in suits. All of the people in the foreground have worried and saddened looks on their faces as they face the camera, whilst the three men in the background are oblivious and are not looking at the camera.

From looking at the image there are various elements in which I can gather that comment on our society, the time period and the whole aspect of culture.

Firstly the use of such branding within the image of the chanel bags and designer clothing enforces an idea upon our society about the capitalist culture and high class culture in which we are constantly bombarded by. This image reveals vast amounts in order to reflect a sense of what the time period and society was like at this time period. For example the use of three men wearing suits following the people in the foreground who are wearing loose clothing and no shoes reflects the idea that in this society the poor are scrutinized. It connotes the idea of suppression and struggle. Which if looking at this text as a piece of not only a reflection of this culture and living but as our global worldview we can see how demanding and overpowering our government and law is and how it reflects this mindset to us, that this is the “norm” and how it should be.

This image raises such questions for me as, why should we conform to this notion? How have we let such a notion control our lives? When did we allow the extremism of capitalism and political force to control our culture and define who we are as a culture?

A sense of ambiguity is also enforced due to the black and white color. It suggests the idea of whether our sense of what we believe our culture to be, really plain and simple, black and white?

The way in which the image is arranged, forcing the people towards us, encapsulates the idea of culture being fast moving and such instances and topics of poverty, capitalism is overlooked as not much attention is given towards it.

Lastly it presents the notion of high levels of consumerism, emphasizing an outlook about our culture to be overly materialized and ignorant.

I feel this image brings out the negative aspects of our global culture, truly reflecting what our culture is made up of, poverty, consumerism, capitalism etc.

(citation for image) - Scriwanichpoom, Manit. The Bloodless War No 3. 1997. Photograph. Rama XI Art Museum. Artist:Manich Scriwanichpoom. Web. 26 Jan 2012. <http://www.rama9art.org/manit_s/>.

Paper Topics

For my initial set of ideas there are two that I think could be used for my study in Writing and Rhetoric II.

One, is a topic based on my work environment and probably looking at the aspect of family, possibly the idea of how strangers can become family and how I transitioned into this “family” that our work has. The reason why I think this could be an interesting topic is because being in that environment a few times a week I will be exposed to a lot of observation and information in which I can work on notes and seeing as I have been there a few months I can talk from my past experiences, when I first started there. I want to explore this, as before getting a job I never knew this kind of relationship or atmosphere existed and now it’s just instinct, its apart of my culture and who I am. I want to explore how, when and why we suddenly transition into these “families”.

Another topic I was thinking about maybe exploring is the idea of living amongst two prominent cultures. Coming from a British background and now an American but also being apart of the Sikh religion I can see the difference in my American cultured life versus my Indian cultured life. I feel that maybe this idea is a bit basic, but if I could make it more specific it may be a successful topic. I am interested in this as I want to see how or if these cultures merge at all or meet in the middle, due to beliefs, values etc.

I hold a strong relationship to both of these topics because with one I am constantly apart of its like second nature. The other it’s a place like home, a place where I am happy and feel apart of and have strong feelings towards.

Assignment 1 - Introduction

            My name is Harveen Sandhu and I was born and raised in the United Kingdom where I have lived for the past eighteen years. This past June I moved to the state of Illinois where I live in the suburbs and commute to Columbia College three days a week. People tend to ask me why I chose to move to Chicago and attend such a school as Columbia, and all I can say to them is that it was time for a fresh start and a new change. Having lived in England for so long, it was a huge adjustment for me when I first moved to the states, as neither places felt like “home”. Well they still don’t, to be honest, but I believe there was a reason for me to move to Chicago at this age, a chance to experience a new way of living.

            I have various interests that range from reading novels, drawing and photography, to hanging out with friends and watching movies. I am highly interested in the media, and so most of the activities and hobbies I have, revolve around this aspect, such as watching tv, reading magazines, surfing the internet.

            My favorite artist would have to be Beyoncé, as she has become a figure that I not necessarily look to as a significant role model, but when I see her perform, act or when I go to the stores and see her clothing line, I see the success in life that I also strive to have. On another note, I do enjoy listening to her songs too.

            For fun I love to spend time with family or friends, just hanging out, ,watching tv, playing games. I value the small, humble moments in life and its what makes life fun for me.

            I chose to come to Columbia as I pictured it as the one place of opportunity for the field that I want to work in. My major is interactive arts and media and so being in a known college, studying media, is all that I could ask for at this very moment. But when it comes to expressing myself through a particular type of medium, I am torn. I associate my emotions and feelings of the day towards a medium, as some days I want to express myself with photos, or other days with drawing or film. But if I had to pick one medium as a way of portraying myself,, it would have to be photography, as I love the way a picture can reveal many stories and can present my life in different ways.

            From this course I hope to become more confident in expressing my ideas to a collective. Also I hope to broaden my knowledge and view on various topics and aspects in the world that people bring forth for discussion. I also want to fully understand the whole idea of ethnography and how many media could create one final project.

But I do have some fears about this course, and particularly it has to do with the idea of expressing myself in the written word such as narrative in contrast to a media form, as I feel when it comes to writing I doubt myself in how much I can write upon a subject. I fear that my ideas that I come up with may not be good, or that it will take me much longer to come up with ideas compared to peers in the class. But this is something that I feel throughout the time in the class, I will overcome.