Date: 17 May 2011

Context: googled “edward gorey tattoos” + my own computer files

Notes: In response to Chao’s discussion of tattoos and body modification, I offer two things—first, an image of art by Edward Gorey (since I brought his work in as an example earlier in the quarter) and second, one of the illustrations I have saved as part of my “future tattoo” file on my computer. I think both of these images are interesting when read against what Chao writes: “To state a generalized paradigm: the tattooer mortifies his flesh, whereby he becomes a social scapegoat. But we must qualify that generalization to include the fact that the fashion model or the trendy teenager might not have the same motive as the convict. More than likely, they identify solely with their own subset among the tattooed while rejecting any of the ‘other’ subset” (330). I thought this point was particularly interesting, especially as I am not sure I totally buy it. Moreover, with Chao’s discussion of Burke, in particular, I think it might be valuable to think about multiple subsets at work at once here.

Date: 14 May 2011

Context: AVPM fan blog/tumblr

Notes: I found this image on a fan blog and tumblr site for A Very Potter Musical. I find this image particularly interesting as it falls into the category of fan art, but it’s fan art that refers back to a product of fan culture itself. I think this creates some interesting questions about circulation and definitions of community, particularly with a larger, slightly amorphous, internet fandom.

Date: 10 May 2011

Context: Photo uploaded to Facebook by a friend.

Notes: This image demonstrates two phenomena (or maybe just trends) I’ve noticed online. Lately, I’ve noticed people posting screencaps from television shows, movies, or here, a youtube series, and overlaying it with text, just like an image macro. Unlike other image macros, however, like lolcats, these are overlaid simply with the dialogue from the scene that has been screencapped. I think this is interesting in terms of circulation and fandom practices (often, what I have seen of these are taken from shows which have particularly active online fans) as I don’t quite understand why one might choose to create and circulate this image rather than clip and circulate the video itself.  Second, this is evidence of fan practices which I have been interested in lately. Namely, this screencap comes from a video of A Very Potter Musical, a fan produced musical, and a fandom or fan culture has sprung up around it. This fandom is interesting as it seems to be fandom twice over, and while I haven’t yet figured out the significance of this, I think it’s related to circulation and the ways in which online interaction and activity can promote multiplicity in engagements and communal identifications. As this fuzzy talk suggests, I’m still working this out, but I think there’s something important going on here in terms of online fandoms, appropriations, and communal identities.

Date: 10  May 2011

Context: image macros posted on facebook

Notes: Another example of an image macro. This macro has a corresponding image, in which a teacher berates the alligator for trying to answer a question because, as an alligator, it’s unlikely he/she has the answer.  This image macro stuck out to me because it’s really just pretty silly.

Date: 24 April 2011

Context: uploaded to Facebook by friend

Notes: I am interested in this image macro for a couple of reasons. First, it’s another iteration of the Rebecca Black phenomenon and meme. Secondly, it plays on a relatively racist snowclone, “once you go black, you never go back.”  In combination, these two illustrate a certain amount of remix—taking a snowclone that had already become cliched, applying it to a new scenario, and redistributing to comment on a meme that was already in circulation.

Date: 10 May 2011

Context: Facebook

Notes: This image has been posted by a couple of friends on Faceook, including a former student. Certainly, it’s another take on a circulating image we’ve already encountered. I actually think photoshopping the image to include superheros points to the potential of this image to become iconic as well as the rhetorical weight and perhaps intent of the image. Generally, as our discussions went over, time seems to be an important element for determining the iconicity of an image, but the recirculation and photoshopping of the image suggests there is something here of interest.

Date: 7 May 2011

Context: webcomic by Natalie Dee, NatalieDee.com

Notes: With NatalieDee comics, verbal anchorage becomes an interesting and, I think, important element. As with the previous comic, the joke is often revealed in the title of the piece, as the images themselves often do not have much text. This image does, however, include much text and its title, “yay we solved all the problems forever and ever,” to guide the reader. I like this as it was a topical and relevant web comic, offering yet another take on the death of Bin Laden, but it also provided a smart commentary on the political moment with a pretty cute, and simply drawn, representation of him.

Date: 5 May 2011

Context: webcomic by Natalie Dee, NatalieDee.com

Notes: I found this image particularly striking because it is the story of my life. Also interesting when it comes to this particular series of web comics (created by a Columbus-based artist) is its reliance on verbal anchorage (a la Barthes). Indeed, the title of an image very frequently contributes to the humor of any given comic. Here, for instance, the image portrays an angry-looking flower with a text bubble saying, “suck my pollen;” while this is humorous on its own, the title of the image, “that flower is hateful as hell,” adds another layer of humor.

Date: 2 May 2011

Context: News story with photoshopped image of “dead” Osama Bin Laden

Notes: I chose not to display this image because even though fake, it falls into the “intolerable” category, at least for me. Of course, this news story was interesting for a variety of reasons. First because it was intended to take the place of the intolerable image or, perhaps, fill a gap that its absence created. It also represents an interesting desire either for the intolerable or maybe better yet the real.  On top of that desire to see Bin Laden dead is move to envision or imagine what he would look like dead through photoshop. While in some ways the inauthenticity of the image makes it a problematic representation, I think it’s also somehow realer, particularly as it demonstrates that the intolerable is not the unimaginable. In fact, one knows also exactly what it should look like and create an image to represent that.

Date: April 2011

Context: Coffee by Lara Jo Regan <http://larajoregan.com>

Notes: A shot from Mr. Winkle’s 2011 calendar series, “Nudes.” Curious about the rhetorical appeal of something like Mr. Winkle; does he get to become a phenomenon because of his rhetoricity? Or is cuteness not a rhetorical (pathetic, ie) appeal?