Blog 3

In one of my courses, a group presentation discussed visual literacy. The interactive portion of the presentation required us to create a symbolic poster with a theme. I can’t recall the exact theme for our group, but it was supposed to symbolize harmony and acceptance? Multiculturalism and harmony? Anyway, we decided to portray people from other countries and drew them in clothing that would make it easier to identify where they came from them, they were all holding hands and welcoming others to join them (acceptance/harmony). Well as soon as we finished I thought someone would mention that it could also be stereotyping and ???? (I can’t recall, but it was negative). Well some did see it as such and others were a little more offended by it and one person even called it down right racist. I think with Visual Literacy, people’s experiences (past and present), their interaction with others and whether they are the glass half-empty or glass half-full, will determine how they view a piece. This could be a positive or negative experience for both students and teacher. What one person intended to symbolize could be distorted by another person’s beliefs, experiences and views.

                Thinking and using language is already a complex process and visual literacy is the same. The audience will always find another interpretation. Just like the controversy that surrounds the song Puff the Magic Dragon (by Lipton and Yarrow) was deemed to be about drugs and getting high or whether it really originated from a poem that the writer wrote a song about. Although the song writers consistently deny the drug references, the audience/masses ultimately win out. Why? The belief of many is easier to believe than the word of one or two people.