(Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2295812579_40915a9147.jpg)
This seminar consisted of a closer application of what has been learnt about Image and Text so far in the elective, to specific works and pieces, using analysis to gain a greater understanding of the effect of Image and Text in Art.
I started by looking at 'numbers 0 through 9' by Jasper Johns (above), considering how, through overlay and block colour, Johns has transformed how we read numbers from a symbolic representation of an amount, into imagery and form. The use of depth particularly alludes to a sense of space and three-dimensionality perhaps more common to moving image: the illusion of looking 'through' a film, or time. This is an example of complete Image/Text hybridity, both elements dependent on each other totally, to create the work.
(Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3716428736_fba98f4cbb_z.jpg?zz=1)
Another piece that particularly struck me was Duane Michals' 'A Letter From My Father' (above). The contrast between studio shot and hand-written text creates a slight sense of unease, as the personal nature of the text collides with the professionalism of the photograph. This piece was a good example of how the artist's choice of image and placement manipulates the viewer's understanding of the work, in that, by placing the text underneath the image, one cannot help but try and use the text to read meaning into the photograph, even after it is apparent that the characters in the photograph are models, and not personally connected to the text at all.
(Image: http://www.sauer-thompson.com/junkforcode/archives/2009/01/06/ShoreSbillboard.jpg)
We concluded the session with the consideration of how absence of text affects an image, with this photograph by Stephen Shore. The idea of a trace, or evidence of text within an image can prove almost as powerful as the image itself, and could potentially engage the viewer even more, as meaning becomes more vague, or difficult to grasp.