Realism and Noise

After looking back at last weeks lecture I began to think more deeply about what realism means to me. The word has so many meanings and explanations that I found it quite confusing to start off with. I believe realism is an interpretation of what we see and something that mimics reality. Although, realism is usually based on a photograph rather than the images we actually see. I hadn't thought about this in this way before, but it really does make a lot of sense. Our perception of the world is usually seen through photographs instead of really seeing it. On facebook, for example, I do just assume everyones photos are real.

Further on in the lecture, I remember Ivan talking about 'Uncanny Valley' and it made me think about this random guy who came into the SFX studio earlier that day. He was wearing a human-like plastic mask that looked really realistic but not quite, so it disturbed everyone. It was really creepy and very strange. I don't like things like that.

In the seminar we discusted the Process Model of Communication. I found this really interesting as I had not thought about things in this way before. The idea that all communication starts off with a transmitter that passes on information to a reciever, depending on certain variables such as speaking the same language and sharing the same channel. This all takes part in the notion that every environment has the potential for noise and that there is always a noise:signal ratio. The signal your trying to communicate is always dependant on the noise surrounding it. This then made me think about Art Galleries and how all the exhibites are always presented in plain white surroundings, so to not create any unwanted noise which could distract away from the exhibits. Following that I thought about the Frieze Fair I had missed this weekend in London. I wish I had gone because I really enjoyed it last year. However, a few of my friend's photos she took I thought were quite disturbing. The one of the stuffed dog was horrible :(

Both the lecture and seminar this week really made me see things from a different angle which I enjoyed.