Saturday, January 25, 2020

Globalisation Affected The Design Culture Cultural Studies Essay

Globalisation Affected The Design Culture Cultural Studies Essay It has been determined that our genetics play a huge role in what we are as people in terms of our looks and personality as well as our likes and dislikes. It has also been argued that creativity is generic and thus can determine what we individually find aesthetically pleasing. Yet do our upbringing of morals and beliefs play a role in how we view the world in terms of creativity and design? In his chapter on Taste, Clay (2009:13) states that The particular culture an individual is brought up in has inescapable influence in that persons preferences. I tend to agree as I do believe our preferences when it comes to design, stem from where and how we were brought up and in correlation to this, what we were exposed to in our upbringing. However, it seems in todays fast passed technological world where we have advances in technology that ten years ago seemed impossible, that we are losing touch of what culture and heritage are. This generation of technology allows for us to interact in what I believe to be an impersonal fashion. With services through the internet such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype we can communicate globally with the click of a button, which in terms of communication has advantages, yet we seem so detached from human interaction and all that comes with it. This is an effect of globilisation, as we are connected around the world, not only through technology such as the internet, but through the ever growing and advancement of travel networks of railways that link continents and aviation links that allow for transcontinental travel. The reality of the 21st century is that one can be in a different continent within a matter of hours and can communicate throughout the world at any point of time. In term s of creative problem solving, todays connected society has advantage as we can collectively gather and share information that can be used for solutions to global problems and therefore have a global interaction that will determine changes. It is not my argument that this is bad, as we have been allowed a freedom to travel and communicate and therefore experience the world. It is however, my concern that we have been detached from our roots in terms our cultural beliefs and heritage as cross cultural and socio-economic integrations have occurred as a result. Research that has dealt with this topic in particular speaks to how cultures have integrated and mixed and some argue that this is simply a continuation of evolution, yet I feel that as a result we could lose not only cultures that have grown through the ages but the sense of belonging or as Clay (2009;13) terms an individuals status in society. It is thus my intention to determine how globalisation has affected cultures through design changes. Literature Review Preliminary research on globalisation as a general topic has identified the cause of global change and development as a result of technology development that has allowed for the expansion of communication and travel. Cultures have been integrated in the sense that we are all connected through a similar thread that is the internet, where we can share information and discover and solve problems. As a result of this, we are better educated through the extent of knowledge that has been shared through this medium and thus have a better understanding of global issued that are being solved through design. It can be said that every aspect of our lives have been designed as we are constantly looking for ways to simplify our lives, mainly through technology. However, it is through this ever-growing advancement in technology that we have made our lives and therefore our economies and to some extent of which I intent to determine, our cultures complex and thus integrated. Jarzombek and Hwangbo (Global in a not so Global World.[sa]) base their theory on globalisation through what they see as the integration of modern and tradition and how cultural relevancy has been modernised to the extent that tradition is seemingly extinct. Examples of Eastern and Asian Architecture are used here to explain how politics and global integration can determine what is built and for what purpose a building takes on, regardless of the socio-economic situation or cultural effect that will occur. Although this article shows a bias argument, it is the issue of how cultural relevance has taken the back fall to global change in power and political battles that are of a result of globalisation that is of interest as this can determine how culture in terms of design is at risk. Therefore, it can be said that our lives are designed according to these changes as Marcus. G. H (What is Design Today.2002) asks the question What is Good Design? which can lead to an infinite array of answers that are determined by the individual. It is however my interest in Marcus take on how each aspect of design, from industrial to product design, relates to each other and forms a correlation that will affect each other as a result. Archer. B.L (Design Awareness.1974) similarly discusses creativity and how design is brought about. Elements of design from corporate strategy to consumer demand and conflicting issues in design are explained in a simplified way which break down design into a logical format from creativity and ideas to how and why designs are brought into effect and the global process that either demands or supplies influence on new design. However, it is the effect on society and heritage that is discussed in a business like format, which is of interest as Archer gives perspective on the global effect of design and why consumers are a part of the change. This leads to the idea of the consumer based society whereby we show demand for new products especially in technology and as a result we are affecting what is designed and produced and how we live our lives. Clay. R.(Beautiful Thing.2009) uses examples of art and design to correlate the relationships in all forms of creativity and therefore delves into the evolution of design and how this has effect on culture. Design in relation to our personal upbringings and where we live in todays society coincides on design decisions we make and why and how the human condition has evolved and changes with technology and global issues that are being discovered and solved through design. Cultural influences are debated through examples of clichà © designs and how these design methods have influenced design today and in what direction design is taking in modern society which will further more change culture and society which serves as the underlying issue of this research. On a similar chord, while dealing with culture of a region or geographic whereby consumers can be influenced through design, symbols and signs play a role in what is attractive or desirable in design. Culture can be described as familiarity and it is that which shows difference in culture and therefore design takes inspiration from this. Saleh M. (The use of historic symbols in contemporary planning and design*. 1998) explains that The meanings in symbols can be derived from three distinct forms of interaction: first, the ascription of economic and intellectual status to an object as a result of historical discourse; second, through use of an object when mediated by the cultural sphere; and third, when exchange values are transformed to sign values, as citisens, designers or decision makers interfere with the meaning of a landmark under cultural, economic and political relations of production and therefore introduces the realm of symbolic relation between culture and design and there fore how globally this relationship has been affected, of which the intention is to determine. Significance of Research My preliminary research has indicated that this topic is relevant in correlation to what is already known and it is the intention to further my knowledge of both cultures around the world as well as design that relates to culture and heritage. I have always been interested in travel and how other people live and moving to a new country has expanded my interest as I have learnt how people in South Africa live and how different the various cultures are. Language has also been a significant as I have learnt three languages that I would consider to be beneficial to my intended travel plans, and through language I have learnt that there is culture and heritage that is connected to a language; a topic that I could incorporate into my research paper. As it is my intention to research further into the implications of globalisation in relation to cultural changes and how this has influenced or been influential on design, I see this topic to be relevant to todays society and in relation to South African design. Research Methodology Though the current literature review, the topic of interest is placed into what is already known and it is my intention to further my research through the following questions and therefore derive a chapter outline for my proposed research paper: What is globalisation? How have cultures changed? What determined these changes? How has design changed? What has determined these changes? Does globalisation determine design change? How? Does design change determine cultural change? How?

Friday, January 17, 2020

Animal Farm Compare and Contrast

Many books are made into movies whether people realize it or not. Some movies could be very well done, and others completely terrible. When the producers of Animal Farm made the book into a movie, they did not do as well as they could have. The book and movie of Animal Farm can be compared in many ways through their differences, similarities, and even why it contains the changes it does. Animal Farm was written to ridicule communism and the idea of a perfect world. The movie made it seem like a comical story of animals trying to run a farm, when it really is not.The narrators of both are very different. In the book, the narrator is not a character and does not show any bias at all. That makes it very easy to understand the main idea. Whereas in the movie, one of the characters plays the narrator keeping the movie in only one perspective. Mollie, who represents the bourgeoisie, flees because she does not like the way things are going in the book. However in the movie, she sticks aroun d and never leaves. The bourgeoisie did not like the idea of changing their ways in the idea of communism, and her role was not clear in the movie.The windmill in the book gets knocked down and Napoleon blames Snowball for it, in the movie Frederick knocks it over which does not make sense because Frederick symbolizes England. Another big difference is how the wood deal in the book represented the Non-Aggression Pact between Russia and Germany, and in the movie there wasn’t really any such thing except for a meeting with Napoleon and Pilkington, and all they did was get drunk. That occurs towards the end, and then the movie ends with a scene of a new family moving into the farm house.That family is John F. Kennedy’s and that really does not have anything to do with the book. The end of the book is a meeting with every other farm and Napoleon playing a card game. The card game represents the beginning of the Cold War. Aside from all of the differences, there are few imp ortant similarities. The similarities can also compare the two stories even though there are few. The seven commandments are a big similarity. Old Major mentions at the beginning of both stories some â€Å"rules† the animals should live by.How they are written down is the same, including how they eventually get changed. The pigs start to develop human-like characteristics and that makes for a lot of fall out towards the end. The saying, â€Å"Four legs good, two legs bad†, is the same for both and even gets changed to the same thing, too. Squealer is a huge manipulator in both story lines. He convinces the animals that Napoleon does everything to better them and even covers up some suspicions the other animals have. Since Animal Farm is about Soviet Russia and their revolution, it contains a lot of historical satire.The movie makers most likely changed many parts of the book so that it would be humorous for a younger audience, completely lacking the main points. The mo vie would have been a lot better if it was the same as the book and was animated. However, movie makers probably did not make it animated so that it would not seem child like. Even though they did not succeed at making the movie like the book, if it was animated it could have been more enjoyable. The differences, similarities, and why it contains the changes it does are all ways to compare the Animal Farm movie to the book.Movies that are based on books should really be more like the book so that it doesn’t seem like two different stories. That could confuse the reader/watcher if they are not very similar. This movie should not be recommended if the reader of the book wants to watch a movie thinking it would be like the book because it is not very correct at all. The movie should be somewhat similar due to the fact that it is a historical satire. The book should be read though because it is a great example of what power does to people, and it is very historically correct on t he events in the Russian Revolution.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Identity vs Identity Confusion - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1229 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/15 Category Psychology Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? IDENTITY VERSUS IDENTITY CRISIS INTRODUCTION Our group decided to have a case study on a subject who involved in a group called Skinhead. This is a true story of a person that is closely related with one of our group members. He was a 16 years old male student who studied in a vocational school. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Identity vs Identity Confusion" essay for you Create order According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Skinhead is a young person, usually a man, with a shaved head and often wearing braces and heavy boots, especially Doc Martens. It first appeared in Britain in the 1960s and was known for their violent behaviour and their support for the right-wing political group. In Malaysian context, Skinhead first appeared in the early year of 1990s, firstly appeared as Punk, which got community’s disagreement as their appearances are too loud- boots, Mohawk, leather jacket, skinny jeans and spike hair. So they change to a new culture called Skinhead; which they say that it is cleaner and not too loud. They have their own genre of songs. Subject started to involve himself with Skinhead when he was 16 years old. He was so enthralled with the idea of being in a group and executing new things he never knew. He claims that he and his friends felt like they were strong and powerful as they shared things together. They did not have the slightest thought about any other things other than merely enjoying themselves. It was self-satisfying and what was more important to them is that, they felt that they were fierce and everyone was afraid of them. Subject states that he was â€Å"proud to wear Dr. Martin shoes, jeans, jacket and simple t-shirts. † The members of the group could be identified based on their similar hairstyle – they must keep their hair not longer than one inch. Subject admits that he was feeling obligated to follow the ‘trend’ in order to avoid negative assumptions by his peers. He in fact did not have any idea what Skinhead was all about at that time. However, he knew that it was a culture from the Western countries. This factor encouraged him more that he ended up being one of the followers. He was feeling secured knowing that he belonged to the group and he got his friends on his back. Subject however denies being brutal as the other group of followers. The grand weekly meeting was held every Friday. Subject also adds that usually the other members of any group alike of Skinhead would talk about loyalty to the group as well as proving bravery and strength. Nevertheless, the most important above all things for them is â€Å"autonomous social relationship†. He states that the members were free to mingle with each other regardless of their genders. However, subject makes it clear that he did not take alcohol or any kind of drugs. As a teenager, subject admits that he was not aware that what he did could actually give effect to the other people around him. What he wanted was, â€Å"to give a go for anything that I feel curious about. † He does not blame anyone because whatever he did had nothing to do with his parents, school and society in general, he says. He got everything he needed as a teenager and the people around him cared about him. He admits that the greatest influence came from his peers. APPLICATION OF THEORY: According to Erik Erikson, the fifth stage of his eight stages of human development – the identity versus identity confusion (also known as role confusion), best reflects the adolescent’s life. During adolescence, life is getting more complicated as we are going through a phase of changing from a child to being an adult. At this rate, adolescents begin to have the feeling of acquiring identity. This feeling includes their certainty about their own characteristics (who they are), their concern about social identity (what they are all about or to which group whom they belong) and their certainty about their own values and ideals (where they are going in life). In our case, when subject engaged himself with the group, he actually made a commitment without attempting any other identity exploration. Adolescents face many new roles and adult statuses such as occupational role, beliefs and values as well as sexuality. However, they need to be allowed to explore different paths in order to obtain a healthy identity. Without enough exploration, adolescents are likely to fail from creating a positive future path because the experience they have obtained is not helping at all. As a result, they will remain confused about their identity and thus maladaptations and malignancies (negative outcomes) arise. The involvement of subject with Skinhead could be classified as one of the negative outcomes that take place as a result of inadequate identity exploration by subject. In the process of creating a philosophy of life, we often get the tendency to be idealistic rather than being realistic. We often go to what we think as ideal, conflict-free, and choose to reject reality. This always happens to adolescents. The problem is that they are lacking in experience but always find it easy to substitute ideals with experience. However, strong devotion to friends and causes is always easy to get developed and that is why our most significant relationships are often with peer groups. Subject found that his peers’ expectation on him was very important. His sense of belonging to the group grew higher since the group members acknowledged his presence. When subject said they were fierce and that everyone was afraid of them, it could be that the society was giving in to them. Society allows a certain degree of freedom to the adolescence in their search for identity. The society does not only provide them with formal institutions such as schools, colleges and universities, but the adolescents are also given tolerance which Erikson calls the psychosocial moratorium. CONCLUSION According to Erikson’s fifth psychological stage, adolescent need to be allowed to explore different path to attain a healthy identity. If adolescent do not adequately explore different roles and did not carve out a positive future path, they can remain confuse about their identity. In my understanding, Erikson encourages the adolescent on trying new things and learns from them. Experience sure is the best teacher out of all. It is like trial and error situation. An adolescent might be involved with something bad like Skinhead, Black metal or drug but in the end, what important is they had their lesson. Thus, they will avoid them from doing the decision and it was a process in finding their own identity. In this situation, Sam involved in Skinhead influence because of his curiosity and his friends influence. At that time, Sam might not think that what he did was wrong but as time passes and he gets more mature, he realizes the fact that his action was wrong. Maturely, he does not put the blame on others but himself. Thus, adolescent need to think carefully before taking any action because it can affect his future. They should involve in activities that are healthy for them. Erikson surely said adolescent need to be allowed to explore different path to attain a healthy identity, but adolescent must choose the right path in order to gain it. It will be such a great loss if your young time was wasted doing unproductive activity.