GOCA121 Assignment

GOCA Part 1

This convertible Porsche is a portrait of  perfection. This Porsche is mounted on the side of a building for everyone to see and enjoy its beauty. This car reminds me of our freedom to travel any where at any time at a turn of a key.

This television metal sculpture reminds me that there is usually nothing on television. The hole in the middle of the television set shows the world from the outside not from the inside. It is better to get out and experience the world than waste away watching television.

I really like this piece of art in front of the GOCA building. There is a smiley face on top, two people meeting in the middle and the button below with instructions. Could you imagine if you pressed the cross walk button and instead of numbers counting down and flashing red at you there was a smiley face flashing and then an imagine of two people meeting in the middle.

As the clock ticks away the minutes, and the minutes turn into hours. The crowds of people continue to travel through the Down Town Square. The crowds of people are oblivious to the passing time ticking away. 

A mother cuddles with her child on a bench as she reads a story to her child. Reading is a child's paradise full of  endless imaginative fun. Books are a get away from our busy schedules and allows us to slip into a fantasy for a couple of hours.    

GOCA Part 2

     John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” explains how different classes of the population perceive photographs and art. Also how the perceptions have changed throughout the years. John Berger explains how the introduction of modern technologies has impacted how we perceive art. After reading a couple of chapters of Berger’s writings it seems at times extremely complex, even obscure at times; but stumbling through his works can yield many fascinating pieces of certainty.

     Berger starts out by establishing how sight is arguably our most important sense out of the seven senses. He then makes us think if we can truly believe our eyes, if what we see is actually reality.  Even pictures, according to Berger, cannot be taken for face value because one must consider the intent of the photographer and other factors that may have skewed the message. “Regents of the Old Men’s Alms House” by Frans Hals is cited as an example to show us that the viewpoint of the painter affects the tone of the painting (pg.12). Berger even suggests that instead of painting the subjects as stoic government officials, they are portrayed as drunkards.

     Berger than continues by presenting the idea of how a painting or photograph can take on a look that can be the same to many different people that view it, but it may carry a different message to each viewer. I think one important idea that Berger presents is by viewing a photograph you can always see through the photographer eye. As a viewer you will never understand the photographer connection or relationship that they had to the subject matter in the photograph. Because as Berger said “the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe” (pg.8). Another key point Berger expressed is that photographs are timeless.  

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books Ltd: London  1972 Print