As I carefully observed Roe Ethridge’s Refrigerator, the watercolor artwork juxtaposed to the colorful butterflies scattered around the collage of postcards, and pictures, reveal an engaging family. Even a simple stain on Ethridge’s Basement Carpet reveals something complicated. Perhaps, a working father, over-exhausted from his three jobs, collapsed and caused the coffee to spill? Or perhaps, an eager child carried too many paint bottles at once?
Certainly, the context in which media is created hinges on the characters. The “characters” that caused the stains in the carpet created the context for this photograph. The character is also Roe Ethridge. His Basement Carpet demonstrates the stories he wants to tell that maybe reveals the marks in his life or the viewer’s life that wants to be told. Thus, we, the audience, are also characters. Ultimately the context, in which the media is created and viewed, focuses specifically on the individual. Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s Prayer Portfolio demonstrates how the “individual” provides the context for this photographic storytelling. The young boys dressed in baseball attire kneel before the game. In another photograph, a girl squeezes her teddy bear alongside her parents as they pray. This portfolio reveals different cultures engaging in faith revealed to us by the characters.
Since the individual creates the context, the media becomes a wealth of individualism. A clear example is Facebook. Even photographs, films, websites gear to the individual. These forms of media become the storyteller and even the story. In Annie Dillard’s “Seeing,” we experience how an individual sees differently, and tastes, hears, and feels her surroundings, unique to another person. The Orange advertisements demonstrate how the artist as well as the viewer engages the media uniquely, and how the media channels the individual unique from another. The Sequoia Citrus Association wanted to promote the image of California to “lure seekers of sunshine and fortune.” This ad profoundly reveals this theme of “seekers” within all media. The individual creates context because the individual, the viewer, the artist are all seekers. Similar to a character-driven story, the character wants something. We as seekers want something. This is how the context shapes the meanings that are made when you engage in that media, for “All the world is a stage, and all the men and women are merely players.” We are the “players” that seek, and ultimately create.
I think you did a wonderful job not only talking about being descriptive, but being descriptive as well. Your analysis about the carpet stains is insightful and intriguing. You create images based on your ideas and descriptions which exceeded what I got from the photograph. I also liked your point that the photographs and films that we view differ depending on the person watching or viewing them. We bring our own individual life experiences to the table when we view art in any form. We do this without even thinking about it. However, our ideologies really shape the way that we interpret pieces of art. The audience becomes the storyteller in ways that the original storyteller could not imagine. Not only are the works of art elevated in their importance, but they also become relevant and connected to the person viewing them. I think that you had a lot of good ideas and that you are terrific at paying attention or as the reading calls it, active seeking. Thank you for some of your wonderful insight! It really helped me develop my active seeking skills as well!
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