Well, why not?
Oprah Winfrey. Copyright 2009: Knut Skjærven.
Well, why not?
You probably didn’t think I had a picture of Oprah Winfrey. True, this morning I didn’t, but now I do. Just to remind you that absence can be turned into precence if you work on it. Please read this post and stay alert for more 
.
As I told you, Oprah Winfrey is in Copenhagen for the last push for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago. Here leaving the lunch at the Royal Palace Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Yes, the Danish Queen was there too. In pink.
Go here for more images moving into precence .
Phenomenology: The Larger Picture.
Presence and Absence. Copyright 2009: Knut Skjærven
Following this blog you will agree with me that it stills needs a more practical approach to phenomenology. We need some tools that can be applied when doing, understanding and analyzing pieces of communication. Being it text or pictures or other.
Aspects of gestalt psychology have been pretty well covered in a number of posts. So have certain practical aspects of semiology. And there are plenty of useful information on both advertising efficiency and human behaviour, for readers that seek that kind information. (To be linked later).
The next series of posts will deal with a more practical approach to phenomenology. This is important since we have stated several times, already, that phenomenology takes up a special position within the barebones universe being both the basic of reflection as well as a particular area of investigation. Normally you refer to phenomenology as the method of phenomenology. The phenomenological method has been randomly covered by a series of posts taking it offset in the big book on phenomenology by late philosopher Herbert Spiegelberg. The big book being his The Phenomenological Movement. This however is by far not enough. Spiegelberg’s steps of phenomenology may be good, but not very practical.
Making the whole area more practical shall be very interesting since a similar effort had never been done before. Correct me if I am wrong here, but in my humble opinion this is the case. I am pretty sure that this effort have never been tried in anything that resembles a communication theory. So, it will be interesting to see what develops in the course of the future posts on barebones.
It is all in the photograph above. I call it Presence and Absence. There may be some presence, but there are certainly more absence. Let’s see, then, if we can get more absence present.
Please take a note that this post is written the day before President Obama arrives for the IOC conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Michelle Obama arrived early yesterday and so did the Spanish King, The Brazilian President, and Oprah Winfrey. And many more celebrities doing a warm up of for the 2016 Olympics. Chicago Tribune calls it The Big Push. Friday all will be settled since the voter’s votes will have been cast. And all the presidents will leave.
What this last information has to do will phenomenology? Well, the facts are certainly there, aren’t they? And the celebrity information around IOC’s meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, is likewise missing from the picture above, right? That is precisely why this information belong to the photograph.
Confused? Just wait till you read the next post on phenomenology. That post will deal with presence and absence and everything will become clear to you .
Have a good morning.
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Barebones Pitstop Puzzle
Pitstop Puzzle. Copyright 2009: Knut Skjærven.
I just did you a favour.
From time to time I have posts that simply consist of a quote. Often an image added. These posts are all tagged “pitstop”, but unless you go for that tag in the tag cloud, you will never find them in one go.
I have collected them all for you. Linked from the same blog post. This one. If you visit the blog page pitstop puzzle you will find the same linked there. I will update that page whenever I publish a new pitstop post.
The idea with the pistop posts is simply to give you a break. Read them, or leave them.
Each pistop is a breath of fresh air. They all stand on their own and can be read in isolation. However there is an intention with these pitstop posts. Not expressive written down, or instructed. They are pieces of the same puzzle. They are pieces of the same picture. The are pieces of barebones.
Take a closer look at the photograph above. It is one single shot. Not a compilation of many. By viewing them all together you get a picture that is different from viewing each “piece” in isolation. You get THE picture.
Your turn now. Here are the collected pistop posts. Collected for you. You must make the picture by piecing them together.
Here you go: The Barebones Pistop Puzzle.
And Nobody Can Do Anything About It.
The Unsurpassed Elegance of a Stork.
No Substitute For Original Thinking.
Good luck with it. I never told you it would be easy.
The good news, however, is that these pitstop posts do not only fit into one particular picture. They fit many. Could even be yours. There are stuff in there that will last you a lifetime. You need to fill out the blanks.
For once, I have listed things in a chronological order. Bottom up.
Just Married
Just Married. Copyright 2009: Knut Skjærven.
A picture tells a thousand words.
I haven’t got time for that many words right now, so you need to go for it, and I’ll be with you shortly. Try deconstructing this image. Go for the connotations in it, then add gestalt factors to your analysis and maybe the CET-test for looking at impact.
I am sure that you will find this photograph interesting, and a suitable case for analytic treatment. Good luck.
What About Hermeneutics?
It is long over due, I know.
On occasions I have used the term “hermeneutics“, but so far refrained from explaining what hermeneutics is, and how is it to be understood as a barebones notion. I will do that now.
Some of you may remember the very basic barebones communication diagram (below), that I posted last year. No need to change that, and I will show it here once more. See the word “hermeneutics” on the horizontal cloud in the illustration? Why it is placed there in the same section as phenomenology, and not as a separate vertical cloud similar to semiology, gestalt psychology, et cetera?
The answer to these questions are easy to give: In the barebones universe hermeneutic is not considered as a special region of the communication area, is it considered as a communication fundamental.
Basic Barebones Communication Diagram. Copyright 2008/2009 Knut Skjærven.
Using the esoteric words of philosophy, you could say that hermeneutics here have an existential or even ontological status. Don’t let yourself be scared away from this area by these words. Existential means simply: that which fundamentally comes with human existence, and ontology is simply the science of that area. If you are in for an academic career, you are welcome to obscure this to a lesser and even larger extend (irony). You’ll find indications of such obscurities when you look these words up on Wikipedia
The barebones’ stand on hermeneutics has been phrased very well by David E. Linge in his in Editor’s Introduction to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s “Philosophical Hermeneutics”, University of California Press, 1976. Here is what he says, and you are welcome to read this as a statement that goes along perfectly with barebones communication.
“The task of philosophical hermeneutics, therefore, is ontological rather then methodological. It seeks to throw light on the fundamental conditions that underlie the phenomenon of understanding in all its modes, scientific and nonscientific alike, and that constitute understanding as an event over which the interpreting subject does not ultimately preside. For philosophical hermeneutics, “the question is not what we do or what we should do, but what happens beyond our willing and doing.” Hans-George Gadamer, Philosophical Hermeneutics, University of California Press, 1976, page ix.
To be continued …
Why is hermeneutics important?
Why is hermeneutics important? Why is it even very important? Here as some of the obvious reasons, spelled out:
1) If hermeneutics is fundamental, as we see it on barebones, it attach to every act of communication.
2) If hermeneutics attach to every act of communication, it a good idea to understand a bit of how it works.
3) If you have the idea, that you want to have a bit of control over what and how you are communicating (many people have that idea), you might want to use hermeneutics in an active way.
4) If you have the idea, that you want to understand some of the mechanisms at work at the receivers end of your message, verbal or visual or other, you may want to use hermeneutics in an active way, as well.
5) As advertising is not different from communication, but just a special branch of it, advertising people should take notice as well.
I good way of getting you there is to have a look at a new model of communication, and that will come up on this blog pretty soon. From this post on, there will be more posts on hermeneutics. I am sure that you want to know the basics of the hermeneutic circle, and the hermeneutic spiral.
So you need to stay tuned. Have a good day.
Eyes Wide Open: Roadmap 2009.
Looking for the right direction to take in 2009?
At barebones communication, that is not a big deal since it has been advertised along the way. So, like the beach man, in the picture below, we are slightly turning our head, but keeping our body steadfast. Eyes wide open.
Beach Man, Spotorno, Italy.
1. The first year, barebones communication, has concentrated on cutting through the soft tissues of communication, and has tried to lay bare the bones that effects every real life acts of communication. There are still missing links in this work, and I will continue to fill in what is missing. Roughly this work will add to the themes that are already well established on the blog; semiology, phenomenology, gestalt psychology, naturalistic human sciences and types of experiential resources. These themes are the barebones pillars, and they will continue to play a crucial part of what is going to come on this blog.
2. I will continue the two more pedagogical threads: barebones pitstops, and the barebones notebook.
3. The turning of the head, however, means that I, to a larger extent, will put these things to practical use. Elaborating more on specific real life communication. You already find a hint of this direction reading some of the recent posts published. I am referring to the post on a Danish commercial, and the post on Canon and their black dots.
4. Last, but not least, I will continue using photographs to illustrate.
What you will see in 2009, then, is a mix of the above mentioned with eyes wide open particularly towards what I call real life communication. As a consequence you will see more of the newly introduced theme Barebones Orchid Scale (BOS).
you need to be able to cut through soft tissue to get to the bare bones
I have been told, off blog, that the barebones communication blog is difficult. So, I am going to deal with that in this post.
Do I agree that this blog is difficult? Yes, in certain respects I do. I takes a portion of work to grasp the content of the terms used on the blog. For instance terms like denotation, connotation, phenomenology, gestalt psychology, and the like. None of these are self explaining, and my task is only to point to the “headlines” of these areas. You need to do the real hard work here by following the links suggested and elaborate and expand on the “headlines”.
But is it well worth the effort, in my humble opinion. That is if you have any intention at all of understanding the basic stuff about how communication works, and how pretty simple tools, in a short time, can make you a better analyst of acts of communication e.g pictures, other images, texts, et cetera, and constructer of such acts – writing a text, taking a picture, composing an add, et cetera.
That said, I will also argue that the understanding of the content of the this blog it not at all difficult once you grab the structure of the blog and the reasons why for this structure. But you have work with it, and do your training as we all do. This is the reason why one of the themes on the blog is simple notebook post: I set the stage and you are asked to act it out.
The blog project is not very different from what you find in other areas of serious work within an area. Within any area, in fact, if you want to do it right or at least try do to it right. Take the surgeon that are to operate on living persons. Could be on your own body. Or mine. I would very much appreciate, thank you, that he had the proper education, and clinical training, before he started swinging his knife on my tissue. It does not really bother me that part of his training has been digging into dead meat of human bodies to acquire that expertise. He knows (or some do at least) beforehand where the heart is, and how it works; he know how my lungs function, and how they work; he are able to distinguish one leg from the other. In other words; I expect him to know his craft and do the right thing when I am laying there flat out on the table.
It is not very different from you you should expect from a communication craftsman: he should know what he is doing.
So here is what my intentions are in this post.
1. I will list some reasons why this blog probably could be considered difficult.
2. I will, once more, explain the structure of the blog, and the reasons why.
3. I will argue why this blog, then, is not at all difficult to follow or to grasp.
4. I will argue that you need to do your homework, PARTICULARLY, if you are in the communication business.
Here we go then:
1. Reasons why this blog probably could be considered difficult.
The reasons are obvious:
1.1 The blog uses uncommon words.
I am sure that many find terms like denotation, connotation, gestalt factors, phenomenology, semiology rather uncommon in a blog on operational communication. The reasons for this is that these terms mostly are know from academic circles and seldom are used for operational purposes. I don’t understand why, but this seems to the way it is.
It is my opinion that “terms terminate”. By this I mean, that if you don’t know the term and are able to use it you will not understand the “problem” that it suggests or describes. I would, for instance, have a hard time explaining, and even look for connotations in a photograph, a text or a speech without knowing the word “connotation”. So, without the “right” words my consciousness and horizon of understanding are limited.
And so are yours.
Terms terminate, but they also expand. That is the crucial point here. More differentiated words, more opportunities for interpretation and understanding. And in communication you are better off the more you have. You simply get new ways of looking at, and grasping things.
1.2 The blog uses scientific resources that are not among the most common.
Yes it does. Some of the resources that this blogs draws on, are simply originally written in such a language that you will find it a nightmare. This particularly goes for the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. So, if you are not really interested, and have a lifetime to invest it is a good thing to stick to clever interpretations. You can uses Husserl for more special research if that it what you aim at.
Besides, did some of his writing are still unpublished, you you will have a hard time knowing what Husserl “really meant”. And there are schools of interpretations, as well. The good thing is that Husserl urges you do do you own phenomenological investigations, and that is really what phenomenology is all about: Doing your own thing bases on a/the phenomenological method, which of course require that you know the basics.
1.3 The blog combines there words and resources in a way that is new and original.
It does not make it easier that barebones communications tries to combine resources from quite different quarters, does it? There is, you might think, a long way from Ogilvy to Barthes, but they both have that in common that they seriously try to master parts of communication. They do even better doing so hand in hand. Ogilvy tries to master the art of advertising, Barthes tries to master the art of photographs.
It just so happens that photographs constitute a large part of most advertising, so Ogilvy benefits from Barthes. And the other way around. Who was it, by the way, who said about creative advertising people, that we have a lot of knowledge about what work and do not work in advertising? That was David Ogilvy many years ago, and his statement still stands. More so than ever. And he continued: creative people must learn to use that knowledge.
Good communication walk on three legs: creativity, experience and science. Pity so often this seems to be forgotten.
1.4 The blog combines resources with themes.
It is important that you distinguish resources from themes. Resources are where the things come from, themes are how they are treated in this blog. Resources are pretty fixed, but themes can change. I can e.g. chose to have resources materialise in more themes later on. For the moment, however, resources and themes are pretty congruent apart from the fact the notebook, and pitstop posts are not connected to any resources in particular.
I realise, that this does not exactly make the intuitive reading and the understanding of the blog more easy. But now you know, and once you have adapted to it, it should not be too burdensome.
1.5 The blog used open ended techniques.
Yes, definitely, it would be nice if every question had a fixed answer, and every challenge had the same solution? (Un)fortunately not so. If you work with the human sciences, or with human issues like communication, you need to get to terms with ambiguity. Therefore, barebones communication, often uses an open ended structure. Questions are asked, issues indicated, but you will not necessarily find an answer to the question, or a closure to the indication.
If you have looking for definite answers, you are probably reading the wrong blog. Bare bones are more than one.
Handling an area with this kind of human uncertainty can pose a severe problem for many. On the other hand, being able to ask the right questions takes you more than half way to a reasonable answer. Think about.
I am sorry about this, but this uncertainty is part of the human predicament.. But, of course, some answers are better than others, but you need to bring the answer yourself. You need to get used to open ended processes. Troublesome, eh? Only make sure, that you join the process coming forward with the best and most reasonable “answers” . Science, experience and brilliant ideas are good pals in this process. Getting you closer to the truth.
Is there any reason, you think, that this blog should not reflect this human predicament?
1.6 The blog uses an indirect language.
There is a gap between how good, efficient advertising work and the way of this blog. Reason why? This blog is not an add and you don’t want to value it on the same principles.
I use a good portion of indirect language, for instance in the heading of this post. Could this have been done otherwise, to promote a quicker understanding of the points in question? Yes, I think it could.
I could definitely, have used a more direct language, but that would have eliminated what for me is one of the more interesting parts of communication: the human predicament (once more), and the excitement of not knowing exactly where you end up when you go out for a walk There is also the teasing part of indirect language, that I enjoy. Sorry, my human predicament. Add to that a general fascination with what you can do with language.
Combine these things, and it definitely does not make thing easier. I admit.
1.7 The unfolding of themes, and resources do not come in a chronological order.
The posts belonging to specific themes are not presented in a chronological order. First of all this a matter of convenience for me writing them. I don’t have to stick to a theme, but can load posts from different themes along the way. Hoping that I can glue posts to a specific theme by tagging them properly. Using this style I am able to “multitask” several themes at the same time.
I am well aware that this process is demanding for the reader, who have to pull in some extra weight to find our what is going on the barebones blog.
And besides this is a blog and not a book. The former is a lot more flexible than the latter. It also gives me the opportunity to go back and correct language as well as to make adjustments to whole posts, or series of posts, which for me is a good thing, as I sometimes post drafts later to be corrected.
The are plenty of places where you can pick up the themes if you want to read theme posts in continuity. Use the tag cloud, or one of the shortcuts to themes that the blog offers. Here is one window that you can use.
1.8 You, as a blog reader, are asked to take part in the unfolding of the blog.
It is, of course, deliberately that I ask the blog reader to do some thinking of their own. Who knows, it might come in handy some day .
Two of the themes are barebones notebook, and barebones pitstops. The notebook themes simply asks the reader to participate in more or less simple exercises bases on one or more blog posts. The pitstops are much more tricky since they simply bring you a quote and you have, as a reader, to elaborate on that on your own. The first one is pretty easy, the latter rather difficult if you are not used to abstract thinking.
Is simply ask you to find your own way. A challenge not unknown from the real world.
You’ll find examples on both notebook exercises, and pistops by hitting the proper tags in the tag cloud. Go for it.
1.9 The blog is thematically unfolding as it goes along.
Yes, this is true, and I am not unaware that this might be an issue of some disturbance too.
From the start I had no clear idea of how this blog was going to develop. Let me rephrase this: maybe I had a more or less clear idea where I wanted to end up with the barebones blog, but not in such a way that I beforehand had a plan for what stones I has to step along the way. I still am not able to map future stepping stones.
Why is this? Well, having a precise agenda for each post would be asking me to complete the book before I ventured on the blog. I could have done that, but given such a task I am quite sure that we would not even have a blog on barebones communication today. And certainly not a book. Working with an open end like this, means that we at least have a barebones communication blog under construction. For what that is worth.
The blog format suits me well. I can do bits and pieces whenever I want to or feel like it. And the order of theme posts could be “random” as long as I string themes together by tagging each post properly. For me this a a grand way of publishing.
So then, I am very exited to see where this blog ends up. Who knows, there might even be a book . Some day.
2.0 The blog uses photographs to illustrate themes, resources and arguments.
At first I had picture in the posts simply because I have pictures. Lots of them. And to escape the monotony of the mere written word, I thoughts I could put them to some use here.
Along the way it ocurred to me that I could use the photographs in a more clever way than as mere illustrations to break the monotony of the text (and the blog visuals). As a picture speaks a thousand words I thought I could use them more intelligently and even cut down on some of the words. So, that us what I tried to do. I see now that this blog could hardly have been done without the pictures. Particularly in the posts that talks about visuals. I hope I succeeded with this.
On the other hand, I know that some people simply don’t have the ability to read pictures. They don’t intuitively see a composition, the don’t see colours or colour casts, and they have basically no idea if a picture is a well composed and precise message, or not. For people that are not good readers of pictures, the use of pictures in this blog might come as an obstacle for understanding.
I am sorry if this is the case for some, but there is really not much I can do about it.
(This post is to be continued … The title may even change along the way . In the mean time please take a good look at the picture below, and try to figure out how it works in terms of barebones themes and/or resources. Elaborate on what the two people really are checking in this picture? Using the barebones toolbox, I would look for connotations in the shot, and gestalt closure. You could also elaborate on how well the shot communicate in terms of One Unified Impression. Just as a starter).
CheckPoint Charlie, Berlin 2006. Copyright Knut Skjærven.
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.
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