In analyzing visual culture it is important to remember that everyone’s interpretation can be different. What one person finds beautiful can repulse another. A great example of this can be found in WTF (which stands for “what the fuck”) imagery as well as videos. The genre is difficult to pin down but can generally be categorized as a video or image in which something unexpected happens or when what one perceives to be normal (or possibly banal) is obviously repulsive and unsettling to another. One of the great things …

Great new documentary about Helvetica from Gary Hustwit.

New advancements in glass has fostered the development of smart glass with the French based company PrivaLite leading the way. SGG PRIVA-LITE® is a laminated glazing made of two sheets of extra clear glass and a liquid crystal film.
The current standard composition is +-12mm thick.
The polymer and the liquid crystals are encapsulated in the LC film of which both faces are covered with a transparent, electrical conductive coating and are connected to the power supply thanks to 2 flat electrical busbars.
Simply speaking this new technology can turn any building with …

The male and female signs at the entrance to bathrooms from around the world also carry strong cultural narratives. EyeBlog has written a nice piece investigating and uncovering the hidden stories which can be found inside these common and unobtrusive images we all see and use frequently.

Interesting use of body motion combined with imagery. They kind of remind me of early animated gifs.

Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most …

You can view the entire documentary for free HERE
Americans are swimming in a sea of messages.
Each year, legions of ad people, copywriters, market researchers, pollsters, consultants, and even linguists—most of whom work for one of six giant companies—spend billions of dollars and millions of man-hours trying to determine how to persuade consumers what to buy, whom to trust, and what to think. Increasingly, these techniques are migrating to the high-stakes arena of politics, shaping policy and influencing how Americans choose their leaders.
In “The Persuaders,” FRONTLINE explores how the cultures of …

What motivates individuals to destroy visual culture? Is the destruction of a symbol in itself also an artistic act? In the words of Russian Anarchist Mikhail Bakunin “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge” . Every day we take in thousands of instances of Visual Culture. It’s all around us. Whether it’s the buildings which we inhabit, the pictures on the walls, the logos on the billboards, or the tattoos scarred into our skin. With such a sustained barrage of visual imagery it’s easy to block most …

They spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. They conduct endless surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of the “next big thing” that will snare the attention of their prey–a market segment worth an estimated $150 billion a year.
They are the merchants of cool: creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. But are they simply reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires …

“But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain …