DTC 355 - Hook and Sturken

Hook's Dream House

I feel that Hook's high school art class assignment on which she was instructed to design her dream house, did infact take the attention away from "political realities, from class, race, and gender differences" (396-400). On the surface, these things are removed by placing the quality of fantasy on the dream house and by removing the dream house from the context of the designer's life and background. It is my assumption that the art teacher did not know an extensive background on each student, therefore taking away the context and the underlying motivation for the design of each dream house. Hook explains her realization that her dream house infact did illustrate the economic standing of her family; her dreams were the result of "class-based longings" (396-400). She explains that her dream house was designed in a way that was greatly affected by the house she grew up in. Though someone looking at the plans for her dream house might not gather this information, Hook knows it is there.

[Side note: Why exactly does Hook feel so inclined not to capitalize her own name?]

Architecture as a cultural practice.

Architecture is a cultural practice in every way, shape, and form. The materials we use are a reflection of our research. The style and structure of our buildings and dwellings are a result of our opinions on style or what looks good and the development of our knowledge in what works.

The Compton Union Building (CUB), for example, is a reflection of our current awareness (or you could call it an obsession) of the environment and what we as humans are doing to it. The CUB renovation used materials from the original CUB to "recycle" and they have implimented a system that should save energy throughout the building. The current culture of most Americans includes environmental awareness; our culture has created the "Green Movement." This building is a reflection of that.

Additionally, in Marita Sturken's essay The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, she describes the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.. The architecture of a memorial can be a reflection, a snapshot in time, of what culture cared about. In this case, the Vietnam Memorial represents a gash in the ground, a "black gash of shame" in our culture(Sturken 401-416).

Works Cited

Hook, Bell. "Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice." Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World. Comp. Carolyn Handa. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Sturken, Marita. "The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial." Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World. Comp. Carolyn Handa. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Is Cornell Scream-ing for Attention?

Don't laugh, I thought it was a clever title. Maybe you don't get it. But who really cares anyhow, here's what's up:

So apparently I live under a rock. Otherwise the advertising for Chris Cornell's new R&B influenced album took a road I don't roll on too often.

Two weeks ago, Cornell released a new album, Scream, produced by the one and only Timbaland. (If you are unfamiliar, he has produced the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Missy Elliott--the man is pretty well-known in the pop world.)



Alright so here's the deal. I haven't heard the album yet, though I fully intend to. Cornell's title track and first single "Scream" is so catchy I can't stand it. Timbaland sucked me in with those sweet beats of his. When I first heard the song about a week ago.. (on my favorite radio station 107.7 TheEnd), I couldn't help but wonder if it was a remix. After the song was over the dj so kindly informed Seattle that it was not. In my mind I'm thinkin', "What has he done?! A whole album of Chris Cornell on a pop extravaganza? Hmmm but I sorta ...like it. The man is CRAZY!"

I could ramble about how I so dearly miss Audioslave and Soundgarden and how I wish I could hear Cornell rock his vox like nobody's business. I could call him a sell-out. I could call him selfish and greedy for attention, calling on one of the top producers to make him a pop star. (In my own healthy opinion, "rock god" is a much cooler title than "pop star", but who asked?) Finally, I could call him a conformist for taking some anti-aging drugs and poking botox needles into his face... Oh, he just has incredible jeans--I mean, genes? Right-o!

In conclusion, "Scream" = my new guilty pleasure.

Watch the music video (which Timbaland so shamelessly appears in) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBjBFEByEDE

Btw, that's some sweet album art.

U2 - No Line on the Horizon

It's been a while since I've written an album review; there just hasn't been a whole lot released lately that I've been genuinely interested in.

When I heard U2 had a new one hitting the stands, I was excited for one reason:

New album = World Tour.

(Which, if you haven't taken a glance at the column on the right, would enable me to check "See U2 in concert" off on my Bucket List.)

OK, now to the review.

I wasn't too interested in hearing the new album--for Pete's sake I wasn't even aware it was released this week, ..nor did I know "No Line on the Horizon" was the title. I was sitting in class yesterday when a friend of mine pointed proudly to the screen of his MacBookPro, "Look what I got. It came out on Tuesday." He had listened to it once through (which is how it's supposed to be done, people) and then listened to a few songs here and there. Overall it sounded like he thought it was one of those albums that grows on you after a few listens.

My friend bought the digital album on Amazon for $3.99, so I decided I'd have to try it out. Why not? I grabbed my Sony headphones, flipped on the noise-cancelling switch and sunk into the couch to take a ride out to "The Horizon." (Okay, that was cheesey.)

"No Line On The Horizon" was as boring as its album cover.

There was nothing to it, no substance, no golden moments. It was flat. Stale. It was Boring. Plain. Unoriginal. Did I say it cost $3.99? I had to use every ounce of self restraint not to skip through every track on the first listen.

With the exception of the second-to-last track, "Breathe", there were no guitar solos. Bridges barely existed on this album. When songs are 5 and 7 minutes long, ideally there is a bit of contrast somewhere. But there was nothing. The intros were long and gave me anxiety. Not only did Bono pull out the talking-but-sorta-singing act (which drives me nuts), he pulled lyrics out from where the sun don't shine. And I don't know if this is just me, but I felt as though Bono's ego was so oversized you could actually hear it.

I get the feeling this one was overworked, overproduced and maybe...just maybe, they tried too hard to be mainstream. You'd think after 11 studio albums, U2 wouldn't feel the need to impress anyone--just make your music, man!

DTC 355 - Clarity-Brevity-Sincerity

The C-B-S model, clarity-brevity-sincerity, represents clear, truthful, and to-the-point communication. This theory of human communication was, at first, a difficult concept to grasp. I might have been thrown off by how unrealistically it represented the communication I've experienced; but then I read on. Lanham goes on to explain that the C-B-S model may be a great theory to recognize, but it is “less useful in practice" (140).

I fully agree with Lanham on this point. The C-B-S model can be an accurate model for a small amount of communication, but I think the majority of human communication leans more on the side of rhetoric; rhetoric being the way in which we conduct an argument. The fact that this model exists, just helps us recognize what rhetoric is and how we utilize style and argument to communicate because we have something to compare it to. Humans do not communicate with full clarity, with full brevity, nor with full sincerity. Lanham points out that his theory "leaves out much of what it sets out to explain--human behavior. And if it does not work as a theory of behavior, still less does it work as a theory of expression" (Lanham 141).

People, sometimes unfortunately, don't always tend to speak with utmost brevity. Personally, it is just against my nature to not have descriptive words flying around. My friends tell me I am the worst story-teller they know. I tend to include the most unnecessary details that usually have nothing to do with the storyline. So I like to paint the whole picture? "Get to the point!" they tell me.

In any case, the C-B-S model model may be a great theory, but it doesn't work too well in practice. I am sure there are cases where it works, but the majority of humans generally have a bit of style, a few extra words here and there, and perhaps not the whole truth in their use of everyday language.



Works Cited

Lanham, Richard A.. The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 130-156.