Government Politics

I decided to blog about a political cartoon for once rather than movies, fascism, and architecture.  I chose this image because to me it represents the 'democracy' that is upheld in America.  Politics isn't a strong point of mine nor is it something that I follow regularly.  That being said, I chose this image because it is neutral to both parties but represents the 'democracy' as a whole.  Analyzing the image I of course see that both parties are represented as their mascots, but there seems to be a hierarchy between the two.  I know that an elephant is a much larger creature than a donkey, but this one seems to be very assertive and strong compared to the skinny donkey.  I'm guessing that is a subtle representation on the strength and assertiveness of the Republican party vs the passive nature that is stereotyped on Democrats.  From what I've experienced people seem to think Democrats are pacifists of sorts, tree huggers, and who don't voice themselves as well or as strongly as the Republicans.  Another part of this image that hints at that could be the tone of their speech, or their captions.  The democrat again could be represented as passive as he says "Step aside."  The republican on the other hand states "My way or the highway."  It appears that the democrat doesn't want confrontation but to get by while the republican voices that he is the one that needs to be in control.  There is also the image in the background that shows Egypt and Tunisia standing with Uncle Sam.  Uncle Sam is depicted as confident and as if he is being compassionate in a sense.  The Egyptian and the Tunisian look very scared at the idea of 'democracy.'  So Uncle Sam wraps his arms around them, gets down on their level, and is probably assuring them that it's all going to be okay.  It reminds me of a child who is about to be adopted and just meeting their new parents.  The look of fear of these strangers who are going to be the nurturers of the rest his/her life.  Uncle Sam is the one who put it all in motion and let them meet.  That's me going on off on a tangent, but the similarities are perfect.  Uncle Sam introduces this country to the idea of a ruling 'democracy' that he assures them will work out fine but in all actuality it is an unknown style of politics that they do not understand.  This is their first glimpse of how it actually works which isn't a very good first impression.  Also, you can't forget the caption.  "Want to learn about the Wonders of Democracy? Here's a crash course."  Obviously it hints at the idea that the two are about to crash into one another or bump heads.  I also get a sense of sarcasm in the wording.  Also, Wonders is capitalizes which makes me think that the caption is expressing that the Republican and Democratic party are somewhat of a spectacle.  They are giants that are interesting to watch and view but not be a part of.  I think the cartoon is pretty simple and to the point but uses a lot of interesting and subtle hints to represent more than you would catch at first glimpse. A job well done to the cartoonist.

Till next time.

The Spectacle of Flight

Italo Balbo's Seaplanes 

In class we discussed the idea of 'soft power' as a tool of expressing prowess, power, knowledge, etc. in a subtle gesture.  I'm going to discuss a major achievement of Italian Fascism in the 1930s that I would consider a subtle gesture of soft power in a big way.  In 1933 Chicago held the Century of Progress Exhibition that invited many national powers to come display their culture, technology, and arts to one another.  Italy at this time were world leaders in aviation as aeronautical engineering was revolutionizing the
world.  National boundaries and physical gaps between nations were dissolving as the airplane allowed us to go all over the world.  One feature flight in particular was when Charles Lindbegrh of America flew an alone flight from New York to Paris in 1927.  This being an example of nations use of the new and incredible feature of engineering that was the airplane to display technological advancements in engineering and as a subtle way to say, "Hey, were better than you."  As Italy's engineers worked harder and harder to make the best aircraft the world could see, Benito Mussolini decided to use them for international propaganda to express Italy's progress through the years.  He used organized mass flights to show the public his progression in leadership and to give them assurance of militaristic power.  However, internationally they had not achieved anything as great as Lindbergh's flight over the Atlantic.  Mussolini saw the Century of Progress Exhibition as the perfect setting to display his aeronautical engineering to the world.  He passed this task on to Italo Balbo, to lead over 20 military style seaplanes over the Atlantic to land in the harbor outside Chicago.  No mass flight of this caliber had been done yet.  *History aside for a second.*   Could you imagine being an American citizen in Chicago at that time as 20 massive Italian sea planes unlike any planes they had ever seen before came landing down in your harbor, knowing they flew over 4000 miles from Rome.  I would have to say that I would be impressed if not in a sense of infatuation with the Italians.  Back to history, this is exactly what Mussolini wanted.  He used airplanes as a multi-sensory tool to evoke emotion in the viewers to forever ingrain into their mind that it was Italy that caused that moment. 

This moment in time was not only a huge moment in visual spectacle and aeronautical engineering, but allowed for more styles of propaganda to come.  Fascism was supported by the Futurist artists, architects, and designers of the period.  Not everyone supported the futurists however, but they're new age propagandistic flyers captured the moment of the flight and Mussolini's leadership through use of photomontage, collage, and typological innovation.  I'm going to discuss one in particular that I think best expressed Italian aviation, Mussolini as "Il Duce," and futuristic style.  Bare with me now, I could not find this photo anywhere on the internet so I snapped a photo from the book I had found it in.  Keep in mind that during this time photography and film were still advancing technologies and this flier was very advanced for the time.  At the top of the image is an S.55 seaplane, one of the planes flown from Rome to Chicago.  Radiating from the propeller are waves of energy growing in scale, with the words Du-Ce inside them.  This typography can be represented in two ways.  One as a recognition to Mussolini for his efforts to put this spectacle into motion or as a representation of radio waves.  Radio being another new form of propaganda.  As the planes were landing back in Italy, F.T. Marinetti, the leader of the futurist movement, spoke over radio to the people of Italy cataloging the event in magnificent language.  The words ITALIA are photomontaged, made up of Italian citizens. This is displaying that Italy is made up of the people above all else, it is the people *literally under* Il Duce who will advance the Italian future.  Below that is a photo of the planes landing back home in Italy. A display of the mass spectacle that shot Italy to the top of the aviation rankings.  The flier, in new age futurist fashion, perfectly encapsulates the great aeronautical achievement while recognizing to the viewer that it was done so under the power of Il Duce and for the Italian people.  Aviation as a tool of propaganda became a very powerful image for the Italians and this moment in particular was one of the most iconic.  I may not know much about fascism but I think they hit the nail on the head with their efforts in propaganda. 

Politics in Video Games: Warning (Explicit Material)

Video Games today have become a key note in the world of visual culture.  More and more people are joining in on video game playing as their quality from year to year continues to get better.  Graphics, gameplay, online interactions, and stories continue to enhance as technology finds more ways to upgrade itself.  One game in particular that seems to catch a lot of flak every year a new one releases is from the Grand Theft Auto series from Rockstar and Take Two Interactive.  Grand Theft Auto games have always been considered controversial in the way that they let the player experience violence in a video game.  Not only are the games graphic and extremely violent, they also contain lots of drug and alcohol references, sexuality, foul language, and much more.  But, that is a topic for a different blog.  Today I want to discuss the upside of Grand Theft Auto.  GTA (Grand Theft Auto) will always be negatively criticized by the public and that usually outweighs the positive criticism of what took years for a company to make.  Video games are a work of art that many people don't understand how to appreciate.  Let me just state some statistics about GTA V.  It cost 226 million dollars to make, which is more than every movie ever made, except for Pirates of the Carribean 3 (I don't know why that cost so much because it wasn't that great of a movie in my opinion).  This is more than any video game ever made as well, Star Wars the Old Republic was rumored to be 200 million, and with another Rockstar game coming in at 3rd, Red Dead Redemption, costing 100 million.  This may seem expensive to put this much time, effort, and money into video games but trust me it paid off.  On the first day of Grand Theft Auto's release, it raked in 800 million dollars.  On that day alone it made more money than the biggest box office hits of the summer.  I think Ironman 3 was the closest at a little over 300 million.  Grand Theft Auto IV sold 310 million worth on it's first debut.  It is stated that GTA V sold over 1 billion dollars worth in three days.  This is the fastest any entertainment industry has reached that milestone.  Anyhow, I'm here to discuss a part of the game that was displayed on it's website before it ever released.  http://www.rockstargames.com/V/  The game did its best to represent a world similar to the ones we live in with great emphasis on satire.  One topic in particular was that of politics.  Below are two videos of slander campaigns from two fictional candidates of the GTA V world/state of San Andreas in the city of Los Santos (California and Los Angeles).  These videos are an obvious exaggeration of political campaigns and add a humorous touch to the game itself.  I honestly probably kept up with these politics more-so than I do real world politics.  Please don't judge.  Jock Cranley and Sue Murry are the candidates slandering one another below.  My first analysis will be of the clothes each candidate is represented in.  This is something we have talked about plenty in class.  Each candidate is well dressed with a simplistic stylistic haircut that automatically gives that sense of 'politician.'  They also both have a sense of 'dirty' or 'manipulative' to them in the way their smiles are exaggerated.  It makes them appear mischievous. Secondly, after watching both videos I can get  a sense of who would be represented as a republican (Jock) vs democrat (Sue).  Now to a video breakdown of each.  I'll start with Jock Cranley, a "retired stuntman and actor."  I believe this is an obvious shot at Arnold Schwarzenegger running for governor and how he actually got elected.  He calls himself "...a highly qualified candidate for governor.,"  although he has no background in politics whatsoever. Hence my belief that he is representative of what Arnold did.  People who know that they are famous and well known run thinking they can get a majority vote off of that alone.  Later in the video he slanders Sue Murry and displays her as a devil with horns which is why I decided to write about this in particular (not only because I love the game and play it regularly.)  In class we discussed the use of photo manipulation in politics to lower the standings of political candidates.  This one is a satire based off of the many images released of Obama depicted as a devil.  Now to Sue, who might be a representation of Hilary Clinton, it's hard to say.  However, her video starts off with an instant slander of Jock Cranley depicted in an image wearing a dunce cap with crossed eyes calling him 'tiny brained.'  This reminded me of the day we spent in class looking over images of Obama and George W. Bush represented as monkeys.  It shows the primitive and un-intelligent nature that she believes Jock Cranley has.  She also criticizes his past by calling him out directly on his former actions.  He has no background in politics and is a former drug addict and a subject of multiple concussions.  He believed that his stunt man career helped him develop decision making abilities and the knowledge of city planning.... how, I'm not sure.  Sue then goes on to list her plans, saying we will only have to pay up to 72% of our money on taxes through her.  This being a shot on how politicians say that they wills ave us money on taxes by passing this or that or by following their plan, but usually ends up costing us way more than we expected.  These two videos have no influence on the actual game, nor do they change the storyline at all.  They are simply additional elements that help develop that game as a well rounded satire of the lives we live in.  Throughout the game are many instances of slander and campaigning over the radio while you drive or on billboards throughout the landscape.  They'll even appear on T.V. commercials, IF I decide to sit down in a video game and watch T.V, WHILE, I sit down in real life and play video games on another T.V.   Keep in mind these were also part of advertising their video game.  These were on the main webpage and in now way tell anything about the gameplay or story of the game.  They are simply expressions of great satire in a video game context that everyone can relate to.   More to come, thank you for your extended period of time.

Casa Del Fascio (House of Fascism)

The Casa Del Fascio

 Benito Mussolini’s presence in the Italian government from 1922 to the mid 1940’s led to its changed political values to that of a fascist state.  Visual culture was used as a tool by Mussolini to help strengthen his grasp on the Italian people and spread fascist ideals.  Fascism, being a new style of government and a change in Italy’s culture could no longer be expressed by the traditional standards of Italian architecture.  A new, modern and original style was needed to best represent fascism.  Fascism would change the architecture of the city to adapt to these ideals and utilize organizational skills and new materials while adhering to public and government use.  Benito Mussolini used art and architecture in new styles as propaganda to express itself throughout the nation.  Giuseppe Terragni, an Italian architect displayed a uniform and rhythmic expression of fascism in his Casa Del Fascio, a building that was to be the center of the new Italian government. He took the words “The Glass House of Fascism,” to heart as he designed this building.  The building’s organizational layout best represents the connection between the people and the government.  Terragni created a vast openness with the floor plan and atrium that correlated with the circulatory paths of both the public visitors and the government officials who worked there.  The connection established through this represented a strong trust between the two.  It showed that there should be nothing to hide between the people Fascism supports and the people who run it.  This also allowed the people to be a part of the government at any time necessary.  Also, as you enter the building on both sides were offices of people at work, free to be viewed.  There was a black marble monument on the left as you walk in that had names of fallen soldiers etched into it.  This was interesting to me seeing that we just went over the Vietnam memorial that is very similar.  Within the rooms of the Casa Del Fascio were works of Fascist art and representations of abstract forms.  Within the main conference room was an image of Mussolini captured in one of these shapes.  After the war, the image was removed but his silhouette can be seen still, almost giving a lingering sense of his power.  The building was located in a piazza so that it would have direct access to a public gathering space for speeches and assemblies.  Terragni also used photo montage to create an image of the Casa Del Fascio in use of a gigantic gathering.  Although the gathering never took place, this was a way to express its uses and the overbearing power that Mussolini could have on the public through speech. The atrium allowed for people to gather below as Il Duce spoke.  It was also very flexible to crowd sizes based on entrances and exits that would open for larger floor space or close to confine small groups.  The circulation and floor space was referred to as a ‘square doughnut’ as the plan revolved around the atrium.  All of this was enveloped in a cubical volume of concrete with structural elements expressed in a framework outside involving steel and concrete.  Both new materials for the age that could evoke monumentality and order in a traditional sense while being viewed as modern and new.  The Casa Del Fascio was an innovative and very well designed building that encapsulated the ideals of fascist politics while establishing a connection between its leaders and public followers.

Photo Montage of Gathering

The Conference Room