Infographic experimentation

I have decided that a more educational poster would be more approriate for my topic as it is the short life foods that tend to be wasted the most. 

Further exploration

I have chosen to narrow down and just focus on how packaging influences the consumer to buy more than they need, here I have been inspried by the bright packaging of junk food and the colour palette of coca cola, wendys and other fast food chains. I thought it could work well as a print on a resuable bag as it is a reminder that it isn't just the packaging that needs to be reduced, but also the surplus food that seems to find it's way into your supermarket trolly through clever marketing of supermarkey brands. On reflection of this work, I think the idea is on the right track, but this looks like a processed "junk" food packet which isn't the problem as this food lasts. It is the large bags of letuce, bean sprouts, left over brocoli etc that is the major issue, so I think I need to swith round the types of food I am representing in my work. 

Further exploration

Rhetoric Work

For my initial exploration of practical work I played with a few ideas different approaches to commenting on the waste created in the food industry. 

In this piece I took photos of pieces of rubbish from my bin and layed them out like a magazine spread, but instead of listing the product at the bottom I put a fact about packaging pollution. By doing this I was trying to bring the consumption of food and excesses packaging into a editorial space, thus comparing the grotesque with the fashionable and desirable which is often equally as wasteful. 

In this piece I photographed a cropped in section of a Wellington city council rubbish bag. By doing this I was trying to capture something that is over looked and dicarded as beautiful. I chose the quote by Gabriel. Y and Lang. T to comunicate how engrained and almost inescapable over consumption is in modern society. As I am wanting to comment on the negative effects of over consumption within the food industry I feel this work does not back up my argument, but it was a useful experiment. 

After some research into waste within the food industry I was suprised to find out that most of the energy used is in food production. Because of this the collosal scale that food is wasted is much more harmful to our environment than the pollution from packaging. In this work I chose to use an infograph approach because this information made me re-think the forms waste within the food industry is made. 

Artist models

Metaphors and rhetorical devices

What is a metaphor

The word Metaphor can be defined in two different ways. Firstly metaphor is used to describe a figure of speech that describes an action, object or feeling by transferring meaning without a literal connection. For example, broken heart is used to describe immense pain and sadness, however isn’t literally broken. This is described as a metaphorical expression. The second way of defining a metaphor is when two different things are compared in such a way that a connection is made therefore one becomes a symbol of the other. For example life is a roller-coaster symbolises that there will be ups and downs in life like a roller-coaster.

Typographic style

The relationship between the style of typography and what the text is actually saying is very important in communicating a message. As this visual language and this verbal language can be used to communicate rhetorically be manipulating the viewers feelings and reaction. For example, large text filling the whole page appears to be loud and bold, compared to what could be the same text in small delicate letters in one corner of the page appears much quieter, possibly whispered. Anger, sorrow, joy etc can all be communicated through the choice of typographic style.

Rhythm

Rhythm can be used visually and as a literary device. Like music rhythm creates consistency and allows for the emphasis of a particular word or image. Rhythm can work as a persuasive device because it allows the creator to place more emphasis on particular words or images unconsciously creating a pattern which captivates the audience.

Understatement

An understatement can be used rhetorically as it can give an event or situation less importance than it should, this can help to manipulate the audiences perception of the issue.

The Dynamics of Persuasion by Richard M. Perloff.

Introduction to pursuasion summary 

To truly understand the dynamics of persuasion or rhetoric it is helpful to look into the history of Ancient Greece. The Greeks considered to be the inventors of rhetoric, for their love of public speech and debate had much use for it. A group of teaches called Sophist was formed, Sophists sacrificed truth for the art of persuasion (20). Greek philosopher Plato disagreed with the Sophists and regarded truth with the upmost importance. These two opinions on rhetoric can still be identified today. The ‘Plato’s’ of today oppose the stretched truth that can be seen in advertising, politics and sales.  Whereas the Sophist’s of today are those who have to rely on persuasion within the capitalist global market place in order to promote their products and messages (21). Plato’s student Aristotle believed “the goal of rhetoric wasn’t to much finding the truth of the matter as convincing an audience to make the best decision about that matter” (22). Aristotle was the first philosopher to break rhetoric down into a scientific function and believed rhetoric has three main modes; ethos (the power of the source of the message or communicator), pathos (the appeal to the emotions of the audience), and logos (the persuasive argument that is accepted for its logical conclusions) (22).

18^th Century America was a haven for merchants, lawyers, politicians and editors using persuasion to alter and manipulate public opinion. Persuasion shows that “disagreements between people can be resolved through logical arguments, emotional appeals, and faith placed in the speaker’s credibility” (28). When using persuasive language it is important to consider ethics, it is hard to determine weather rhetoric is moral or immoral, many philosophers like Plato believe that truth is the only way to be truly moral. Whereas rhetoric has also been considered moral as the audience has a choice weather to accept or reject the message. Rhetoric is also considered amoral, so neither moral or immoral, this is because persuasion can be used for both good and bad. When considering rhetoric in this way it is helpful to have a utilitarian approach, utilitarianism suggests that if the message leads to more good than bad then it is inherently moral, whereas if it leads to more bad that good it is inherently immoral (31).

How to see the world by Nicholas Mirzoeff

Summary of chapter 7 

Rebellion through the use of media and online platforms now coined ‘hactivism’ was first used by the Mexican rebel army the Zapatistas in 1994, with the agenda was to open up an alternative way of life to that of globalisation. The Zapatistas released their political agenda online through a series of declarations “form below, for below” (255). Since then global digital culture and social media have become widely used to evoke visual thought about representation and social change in the era of globalisation (256, 259). Social media allows for the rapid dissemination of information uncontrolled by mainstream media. This new form of communication and protest influenced other forms of visual culture such as street art, graffiti and video collectives. “Graffiti is a way to reclaim public space” and drive political debate and discussion for those who may not have access to mainstream media or art galleries (264). The 2011 movement Occupy Wall Street allowed those who were usually made invisible within the paradigm of financial globalisation a voice. The relatable slogan “we are the 99%” was used to represent this movement referencing the vast majority of people that live outside of the 1% of Americans that own a quarter of the countries wealth (274). Although the Occupy movement did little in changing wealth inequality, it opened up discussions of inequality into mainstream media, this was heavily aided by online platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter. Participants took selfies holding hand written signs telling their story, this platform allowed any participant to tell their story with the authenticity that mass produced protest signs could not (275, 276).  During the occupy movement and since, the Internet has been used to expose police brutality, through memes (a widely reproduced and circulated visual image) and viral videos. Following this exposure mainstream media started distributing these visual sources of police brutality, “what began as a social media meme has become a mainstream media pattern of reporting that unintentionally reinforces the events that are being covered” (282).