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Figure And Ground (media)
Figure and ground is a concept drawn from Gestalt psychology by media studies, media theorist Marshall McLuhan in the early 1970s. This concept underpins the meaning of his famous phrase, "The medium is the message". The concept was an approach to what was called "perceptual organization." He began to use the terms figure and ground as a way "to describe the parts of a situation" and "to help explain his ideas about media and human communication." The concept was later employed to explain how a communications technology, the medium or ''figure'', necessarily operates through its context, or ''ground''. Overview To McLuhan, "'figure' refers to something that jumps out at us, something that grabs our attention, [whereas] ‘ground’ refers to something that supports or contextualizes a situation and is usually an area of unattention." When we first experience a new image or sensation, there are certain aspects of the object that grab our attention and engage us and certain aspects tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward Titchener's elementalist and structuralist psychology. Gestalt psychology is often associated with the adage, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". In Gestalt theory, information is perceived as wholes rather than disparate parts which are then processed summatively. As used in Gestalt psychology, the German word ''Gestalt'' ( , ; meaning "form") is interpreted as "pattern" or "configuration". It differs from Gestalt therapy, which is only peripherally linked to Gestalt psychology. Origin and history Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler founded Gestalt psychology in the early 20th century. The dominant view ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media Studies
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mostly draws from its core disciplines of mass communication, communication, communication sciences, and communication studies. Researchers may also develop and employ theories and methods from disciplines including cultural studies, rhetoric (including digital rhetoric), philosophy, literary theory, psychology, political science, political economy, economics, sociology, anthropology, social theory, art history and criticism, film theory, and information theory. Origin Former priest and American educator John Culkin was one of the earliest advocates for the implementation of media studies curriculum in schools. He believed students should be capable of scrutinizing mass media, and valued the application of modern communication techniqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan (, ; July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media studies, media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his teaching career as a professor of English at several universities in the United States and Canada before moving to the University of Toronto in 1946, where he remained for the rest of his life. He is known as the "father of media studies". McLuhan coined the expression "the medium is the message" (in the first chapter of his ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man''), as well as the term ''global village.'' He predicted the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. He was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s. In the years following his death, he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Medium Is The Message
"The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by the Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan and the name of the first chapter in his ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man'', published in 1964.Originally published in 1964 by Mentor, New York; reissued 1994, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts with an introduction by Lewis H. Lapham, Lewis Lapham McLuhan proposes that a communication medium itself, not the messages it carries, should be the primary focus of study. The concept has been applied by others in discussions of technologies from television to the Internet. McLuhan's theory McLuhan uses the term "message" to signify content and character. The content of the medium is a message that can be easily grasped and the character of the medium is another message which can be easily overlooked. McLuhan says "Indeed, it is only too typical that the 'content' of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium". For McLuhan, it was the medium itself that shaped an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Understanding Media
''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man'' is a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan, in which the author proposes that the media, not the content that they carry, should be the focus of study. He suggests that the medium affects the society in which it plays a role mainly by the characteristics of the medium rather than the content. The book is considered a pioneering study in media theory. McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as an example. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence". More controversially, he postulated that content had little effect on society—in other words, it did not matter if television broadcasts ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Held
Al Held (October 12, 1928 – July 27, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist painter. He was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings. As an artist, multiple stylistic changes occurred throughout his career, however, none of these occurred at the same time as any popular emerging style or acted against a particular art form. In the 1950s his style reflected the abstract expressionist tone and then transitioned to a geometric style in the 1960s. During the 1980s, there was a shift into painting that emphasized bright geometric space the deepness of which reflected infinity. From 1963 to 1980 he was a professor of art at Yale University. Background and education Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928, he grew up in the East Bronx, the son of a poor Jewish family thrown onto welfare during the depression. Held showed no interest in art until leaving the Navy in 1947. Inspired by his friend Nicholas Krushenick, Held enrolled in the Art Students Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Figure-ground (perception)
Figure and ground or Figure ground may refer to: * Figure and ground (media), a concept developed by media theorist Marshall McLuhan * Figure–ground (perception) Figure–ground organization is a type of perceptual grouping that is a vital necessity for recognizing objects through vision. In Gestalt psychology it is known as identifying a ''figure'' from the back''ground''. For example, black words on ..., referring to humans' ability to separate foreground from background in visual images. Figure-ground perception is one of the main issues in gestalt psychology. * Figure-ground in map design, the ability to easily discriminate the main figure from the ground See also * Background (other) * Foreground and background (other) {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media Studies
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mostly draws from its core disciplines of mass communication, communication, communication sciences, and communication studies. Researchers may also develop and employ theories and methods from disciplines including cultural studies, rhetoric (including digital rhetoric), philosophy, literary theory, psychology, political science, political economy, economics, sociology, anthropology, social theory, art history and criticism, film theory, and information theory. Origin Former priest and American educator John Culkin was one of the earliest advocates for the implementation of media studies curriculum in schools. He believed students should be capable of scrutinizing mass media, and valued the application of modern communication techniqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
