Waiting Time

Here is another notebook brief for you. Comes in handy when I don’t have ready time to do more lengthy posts. 

Do you find that this photograph carries a strong and simple message? I do, but you don’t have to agree, of course. But if you do, what then are the semiological or other barebones tools, that carries this message thought? How do you explain the impact in terms of these tools?

Shot at Pierre Lachaise, Paris, France, some years ago. 

Stay alive. Good luck with it.

Waiting Time at Pierre Lachaise, Paris, France. All rights reserved.

from bare bones to bare breasts

Speaking about soft tissue.

This morning I read about a commercial for a Danish retailer, Fleggaard. Fleggaard has made an astonishing commercial, which primary aim is to attract Danish males to their border shops just inside Germany. The company sells a variety of products, but this particular commercial is for a washing machine.  And Fleggaard is doing well since the commercial has already drawn 100.000 plus hits on their website. You’ll find a link to the commercial below the picture.

The reason for all the attention is that the commercial shows rows of beautiful women showing off, not their bare bones, but their bare breasts. And that, it seems, is always a good story.

The issue in this connection is this: does attractive naked, of half naked women, sell products? Or do they simply obscure or hide the real message? There are people to support both view, but what is your opinion about this? In general, and related to this particular commercial? TechCrunch labels the commercial “Quite Simply The Best Commercial Ever Made”. Do you agree?

Before you dive into the commercial, please consider this post as barebones notebook post. Let’s have your opinion on the following: do you find resources on the barebones blog, that can help you elaborate on the questions above?   My suggestion is that you  use the following barebones resources to deal with the questions: denotation and connotation, and the barebones CET-system for analysing commercials.

See the movie here.

Screenshot is published with permission from Fleggaard, Denmark.

The Pose

Copyright 2008. Knut Skjærven. All rights reserved.

Roland Barthes: “I might put this differently: what founds the nature of Photography is the pose. The physical duration of this pose is of little consequence; even in the interval of a millionth of a second (…) there has still been a pose, for the pose is not, here, the attitude of the target or even a technique of the Operator, but the term of an “intention” of reading: looking at a photograph, I inevitably include in my scrutiny the thought of that instant, however brief, in which a real thing happened to be motionless in front of the eye”. (Page 78).

Roland Barthes: Camera Lucida, Vintage Books, London 2000. Translated by Richard Howard. For full information on the book see Library Thing. Page references are made to this version of the book.

A Simple Statement on Product Positioning

Homage to the advertising community.

This is a picture of basic product positioning. And an important statement it is.

However, it is also a visualisation of how to direct and hold attention in a visual message. And to instigate story telling. Consider this post as a barebones notebook post, so you need to come up with the reasons-why yourself.

Shot in Berlin June 2008 during the soccer match Germany/Turkey. That would be June 25, 2008. They tell me that it was a great game.

Cheers

amidst other things

Barebones communication is steadily picking up readers. There have been no global burst yet, but I feel that there are enough interested readers for me to continue. And that is just what I will do.

One of the threads on this blog is the notebook thread. Small pieces of information for you to elaborate on. In your notebook, in your mindbook. Even on your macbook. Whatever way you want to elaborate on it, or do not want to expand on it. Fine with me. Notebook posts are intended as an opportunity for you to get barebones communication under your skin.

So here is yet another notebook post then: amidst other things. The title is inspired form a book written by phenomenologist Aron Gurwitsch, that I urge you to read. It merges areas as phenomenology and gestalt psychology. And lots of other good stuff. For once easily read, and highly informative, and on a level that all of us will appreciate. Meaning it is readable. Not all books on phenomenology are. The book is, of course, out of print so you need to get it second hand, which should be no major problem in these efficient times of google search. But if you are interested in this area, this book is a must. So go get it.

Let me quote the first few sentences and set you on the track. Aron Gurwitsch says on page one: “Experience always presents us with objects, things, events, etc., within certain contexts and contextures, and never with isolated and scattered data and facts. Looking at a material thing. e.g. a book, we perceive it in certain surroundings. We see the table on which the book is lying, we see other books, papers, pencils, pipes, and the thought the window, a segment of scenery outside the house. Every material thing is perceived amidst other things which form the background for its appearance. Correspondingly, the same is true with regards to thinking. When we are dealing with some theoretical problem, more then the problem alone is given to consciousness”.

And now to the notebook part. Take a closer look at the picture below. I shot that one in Barcelona, Spain on a visit there in 2003. At the marketplace in the centre of Barcelona. It is a pretty straight forward picture, almost abstract, and that gives opportunities for expressing layers of interpretations.

So here is the deal then – if you want to play along, that is: Use Gurwitsch’ indication of contexts and contextures within the fields of both physical and mental settings. Give a description of the a) physical context of the picture, and the b) the mental context of the same picture. In other words: Give an indication the physical and mental surroundings of this picture. If you don’t have a clue of how to do this, just ask.

If you want to share your notebook notes, feel free to do so as comments to this post. If you don’t have a clue of what I am getting at here, share that as well.

Good luck with it.

Aron Gurwitsch: The Field of Consciousness, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburg 1964. For more information on the book go to  Library Thing.

Mobile Man (notebook)

It has been a long time since we had the last notebook exercise. So, while I am preparing the next post on persuasion in marketing, here is the deal: Take a closer look at the image below and tell yourself how that picture works in terms of gestalt factors. Give a brief analysis of the shot with regard to the proximity factor, the similarity factor, the good curve factor, and so forth. There are plenty of information in this blog by now to make you able to make a grand analysis.

Here comes the picture shot in Berlin, June 2008. In the new parliamentary area.

Copyright 2008: Knut Skjærven. All rights reserved.

It you have a notebook then take notes of what you are analysing. If you want to share your work, you are welcome to share it as a comment to this post. Any questions? Just post them.

Good luck with it. And have a nice day.

phenomenological-method