Response to first week of classes

I was intrigued this past week by our exploration of the idea of communication as defined in its simplest form extended through the concept of mass communication and our system of language as a fine tuned and potentially problematic cascade of messages, receivers, media created thought triggers and visual patterns that constantly test a viewer/interpreters ability to read between the lines and create their own full picture/conclusion.

The dodge ad was a prime example of this media system, letting us know that they know we are smart enough to read between those lines. They poke fun at the system almost, a system which can't come out and say what they want all of the time. This is an effective method because it acknowledges our abilities, which catches our attention and makes us laugh.

I was particularly struck by the exercises we conducted in class, creating images on the blackboard according to descriptions constructed of language. This in conjunction with the Rene Magritte "c'est n'est pas une pipe" piece brought the contradiction that exists between visual representation and language as a human construct/channel of communication at even the simplest level. The movie we watched in class talked about how we turn to language to communicate everything that is important to us which sometimes becomes problematic when we try to explain ideas that are abstract, such as emotions (love). We forget that words can never truly represent a deep emotional feeling just as Magritte cannot recreate a pipe by painting one. There is a distance between the communication systems we cling to and the true reality of the messages we are receiving.