Notes: The Architectural Uncanny

Anthony Vidler, 1994. The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely. Revised ed. Edition. The MIT Press.

Red - Definitions 

>'Something is uncanny- that is how it begins. But at the same time one must search for that remoter 'something', which is already close to hand.'

Ernst Bloch, 'A philosophical view of the detective novel' 

>A contemporary sensibility that sees the uncanny erupt in empty parking lots around abandoned or run-down shopping malls, in the screened trompe l'oeil (deceive the eye) of simulated space, in, that is, the wasted margins and surface appearances of postindustrial culture, this sensibility had its roots and draws commonplaces from a long but essentially modern tradition. 

p.3

>'the uncanny, in this sense, might be characterised as the quintessential bourgeois (belonging to or characteristic of the middle class) kind of fear: one carefully bounded by the limits of real material security and the pleasure principle afforded by a terror that was ,artistically at least, kept well under control.' 

p.4

>'A whole history remains to be written of spaces- which would at the same time be the history of powers (both these terms in the plural)- from the great strategies of geo-politics of the habitat, institutional architecture from the classroom to the design of hospitals, passing via economic and political instillations.'

Michael Foucault - 'The Eye of Power'

> 'Architecture, oscillating (going back and forth) between the endless play of formal images and the economic determinism of property and space allocations, has uneasily responded to this condition' 

p.190

Nonplaces - Auge: Notes

>The homogenisation of needs and consumption patterns is one of the overall trends characterising international business environment... Starting from an examination of the effects of globalisation phenomenon on European business, on the validity and content of Euromarketing and on predictable developments in the international marketing environment, numerous issues were discussed.
>p.6

>And while we use the word 'space' to describe the frequentation of places which specifically defines the journey, we should still remember that there are spaces in which the individual feels himself to be a spectator without paying much attention to the spectacle.
p. 86
> The spectator in the position of a spectator were his own spectacle.
p. 86
> The traveller's space may thus be the archetype of non-place.
p. 86 (the example of)

Uncanny Valley

'In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is the hypothesis that human replicas that appear almost, but not exactly, like real human beings elicit feelings of eeriness and revulsion among some observers.'

RECOGNITION - objects/things that have human likeness or have a link to humanity but aren't explicitly human. Not being able to distinguish that it is human straight away makes the situation uncomfortable/strange/uncanny. 

In terms of my essay, architectural uncanny is something that I need to look at. Examples: Disneyland uses buildings they know we are familiar with like the Disney castle, but it isn't exactly the same because no one actually lives inside and is actually made from steel beams, plaster, concrete and fiberglass, not bricks. We judge what the building looks like as much to what we know it to be (recognition) 

I think it also links to Adam Smith's 'homo economics' that how we are now very individual centred and that we do things for our own gains. So in terms of shopping, everything is now in our own image  (which links to the own gains) so that we are familiar with it in terms of human likeness. 

Individual Tutorial Feedback 25/10/16

Second Individual Tutorial -
>Delve deeper into the uncanny - architectural uncanny - recognition
'is something new that exists in something already known'
>Look into liberalism

After my tutorial I feel more confident with my essay, but I think that I'm focusing so much on the essay and the theory that it's pushing me away from the practical. I need to produce more drawings to get back into practice, and hopefully come up with a refined practical proposal.  I also need to choose a theme/theory from my essay which I think will be best to illustrate for my practical, instead of doing the whole essay and it'll just become a bit too much.

Kin Hung Ken

Kin Kung Ken is an artist that Pete told me to look at for my practical. His chaotic compositions is something that I think could work really well with my subject matter. Although collage is something that isn't really my strength, I think this is still something to be inspired by. But if I tried to do something like this it might be a bit too much. I think there's a fine line between looking good and hectic and just messy and shit. 

Chapter 2 Theory: Context and Themes - Guide

Q: To what extent has western consumption influenced the development of hyper real spaces?

Chapter 2 Guide (Theory):

>This will be beefed out

Paragraph 1 Consumer culture stems from eighteenth century liberalism, where the idea of people as individuals became dominant over collective communities. When philosophers (ADAM SMITH-his definition on liberty&how that changed the way of his individuals changed their conceptualised within philosophy(neoliberalism book its on my shelf first few pages)) started to think of people as individuals, out for their own gains. (A PIECE THAT TALKS ABOUT IT HISTORICALLY). Miller’s (why shopping matters), Benjamin’s flâneur 

Paragraph 2 Hyperreality is a concept proposed by Baudrillard to denote the simulation of reality observed in social sciences since the 1960s. (SPACES OF CONSUMPTION&BRIEFLY MENTION PLACES) Koutsobinas lays out a structural framework of the development of hyper real spaces; his histography of ‘ordered disorder’.

Paragraph 3 One of the most prominent concepts within the literature is that of Disneyization. The concept of Disneyization was first written by Alan Bryman in ’The Disneyization of Society’ explaining that (explain what it is here). 

Paragraph 4 Bryman draws heavily upon the concept of hybrid consumption within his findings, (what hybrid consumption is). The theory identifies the active enrolment of 'Stay longer theory' & 'Destination theory’ (explain what stay longer theory & destination theory).

Paragraph 5 (The uncanny-freud)  

Key Theorists:

> Baudrillard

> Miller

> Benjamin

> Koutsobinas

> Bryman

> Smith

> Freud

Key words: 

> Consumption

> Flâneur

> Hyperreality 

> Ordered Disorder

> Disneyization

> Hybrid Consumption

> Stay Longer theory

> Destination theory 

> The Uncanny 

Victoria Gate

Leeds have just opened Victoria Gate, a glitzy new shopping centre. I really wanted to check it out with hyper reality in mind and see if I could apply what I've been reading to real context in front of my eyes. Destination theory is the first thing I thought of when walking in. The over fancy decor and high end shops and restaurants made me think that this is a place where people would travel to for a day out not just to buy something. It's also made me think that another reason for why you would want to go here is be seen being there. This links to the idea of the destination, because it means that it's not even really about the consuming anymore, it has gone further and created a social space. If you're seen being in a fancy place, the connotations of this means that you must have money or a moderately high social status, which we as egotistical beings enjoy. 

Finally painting for practical

I have been doing so much research and reading that I realised I hadn't actually drawn something yet. Subject is something that I've been struggling with quite a bit, as I really didn't want to just draw Disney characters, but I felt like it couldn't really be avoided. I do like my painting in terms of aesthetics, but I'm not that happy with the subject, it's just too obvious. I need to start thinking more conceptually with this!!!!!

Colour Psychology

http://www.arttherapyblog.com/online/color-psychology-psychologica-effects-of-colors/#.WAdJZpMrKRs

When thinking about what I could do for my practical, colour is something that I feel is something that needs to be highly considered. So I had a google to see what I could find...

Purple - utilises both red and blue to provide a nice balance between stimulation and serenity that is supposed to encourage creativity

Green/Blue - these cool colours are typically considered restful.

Yellow/Orange - These colours are often associated with food and can cause your tummy to growl a little
>Used a lot in restaurants 

I'm not sure how accurate this 'scientific' understanding of colour is, but it's something for me to think about. Especially the idea of warm colours making you feel hungry and how most fast food restaurants do actually use those colours.

Essay Plan - Basic Structure

Essay plan/structure

Chapter 1 - Intro (1,000)
>What am I planning on talking about - what do I want to say
>What is my methodology? (research methods)
>What stance am I taking on the subject? -
>Who my key theorists are

Chapter 2 – Main Body 1: Context & Themes (3,000)

>Key theorists - Baudrillard, Eco, Koutsobinas

>Key terms - Destination theory & stay longer theory (hybrid consumption), film theory, 'the uncanny', nonplaces

> Historical events, key dates

>Triangulate 

>Explain how what is spoken about in this chapter is relevant to eachother and the essay question

Chapter 3 – Main Body 2: Case Studies of Practice (3,000)

>Art&Design - relevant artworks 

>Case studies (at this point of time have not found any)

>Image analysis 

Chapter 4 – Main Body 3: Reflective Practice (1,000)

>Discussion of practical work produced - theoretical and contextual 

Chapter 5 – Conclusion (1,000)

>Summarise findings

>Successes and/or shortcomings of your research project

>Answer questions stated in intro

Film Theory

Definition: Film Theory or cinema studies is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large.

Viewers may take what they see in films as reality and apply it as real knowledge. This can be the case mainly in films depicting historical events, as this is all that we have to go by so assume it's real.  

Notes: Hybrid Consumption - The Disneyization of Society

Summary: Institutions are made specially to incorporate as many consumption opportunities as possible 

> Two key principles behind hybrid consumption - Destination principle & Stay longer principle 

Destination Principle: 'by including several different forms of consumption in one place or nearly one place, a destination is created that is more than the sum of its parts.' p/75

> no longer just a shopping centre to solely do your shopping in, if other consumption features are put into place such as a cinema, food complex, it becomes a destination. 

Stay Longer Principle: 'essentially saying that the more needs a venue can fulfil the longer people will stay' p/75

> Leading (of course) to people spending more money 

> 'By introducing unique blends of forms of consumption, especially when combined with theming, the planner is able to differentiate sites that might otherwise appeal unremarkable. The blending of different forms of consumption serves to create environments that are constructed as being spectacular.' p/76

> 'Create extraordinaries where otherwise ordinariness reigns.' p/76

Nonplaces: 'Chains of identical shops and restaurants in unimaginatively reproduced locations have no identity - they could be anywhere' p/76

^Termed by Augé and Zukin 

> Places with no sense of identity 

Notes: Contradictory Hyperreality: Baudrillard, Žižek, and Virtual Dialectics

Notes & Points of interest

'everything that happens to a person is already contained virtually'

'Indeed, ontologically speaking, for Leibniz whatever is actual is only the realization of virtual possibilities that have always existed in the mind of God. In this sense, we can say Leibniz held a position that the actual arises from, and is dependent on, the virtual.'

'actual arises from, and is dependent on, the virtual.' (the hyporeality thesis)

^Thoughts of Zizek

'that the virtual arises from, and is dependent on, the actual.' (the surreality thesis)

^thoughts of Bloch 

Youtube Video: Can We Trust the Media? (Baudrillard) - 8-Bit Philosophy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RwhEHzuulA

>The media wouldn't just post the raw footage/information of what's happening, but instead post a copy or copy of a copy etc to the masses, as it seems to please the masses.

>People willingly choose deception and that we'd much rather be fooled by this hyperreality as it is a distraction from our own real lives. We seem to much rather prefer the copy.

Library Books & More resources

Shopping: a century of art and consumer culture. / Hollein, Max (ed.) & Grunenberg, Christoph (ed.) (2002)

The immersive worlds handbook: designing theme parks and consumer spaces. / Lukas, Scott A (2013)

The Psychology of Design: Creating Consumer Appeal - Rajeev Batra, Colleen Seifert, Diann Brei - Routledge, 24 Jul 2015

A contradiction of hyperreality: 

Contradictions of Hyperreality: Baudrillard, Žižek, and Virtual Dialectics

http://www.zizekstudies.org/index.php/IJZS/article/view/92/373

"The Uncanny" Freud

http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/sigmund-freud-uncanny-summary-and-review.html
^The site I used to understand this concept

I was a bit confused by this, but I think I have some kind of understanding that is relevant to my subject. It explains that basically it 'is something new that exists in something already known'. So I took this as, in relation to hyperreality, that places such as theme parks and shopping centres are models of what we already know and are comfortable with. But I think it then goes onto us not liking the idea of not being able to tell what's real and what's an copy of reality straight away.

This text used this example:
the mannequin is an example of something which appears to be familiar as a human figure, but is in fact lifeless and therefore a potential cause of dread as a result of this dissonance of not knowing at first glance whether we are looking at a human or a piece of plastic.

Phenakistoscope

June 28, 2014. The optical toy, the phenakistoscope, was an early animation device that used the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of motion. It was invented by Joseph Plateau in 1841.The phenakistoscope used a spinning disc attached vertically to a handle.

This is something that I wanted to look at for my practical. I think it would link quite nicely, as it was used to create an illusion, in the same way that hyperreality relies on people's perception and suspended belief.

Although I have no idea what I could animate??? I also want to work with layering and im not sure if I can do that with a phenakistoscope. Maybe I could think of a way of there being two different sequences?? So If you play it clockwise then you get one story and then if you play it anti-clockwise then you get a different one? But I think this may be something quite difficult to achieve. Or even if you look at it in the mirror or a reflection it's different to when you see it with your own eyes?

>I could also look at the similar invention of the Zootrope

Notes: Hyperreal.life : The New Paradigm of Visual Culture

Hyperreal.life : The New Paradigm of Visual Culture

Shakeil Greeley
http://hyperreal.life/essay/

Snippets of importance 

'In these massive representations of reality, Eco pointed to examples like the Epcot Center, which acts as a condensed, commercialized, and idealized representation of the world. Eco later defined hyperreality as “The authentic fake,” further blurring the line between what is real and what is not.'

'Firstly, hyperreality is pervasive and is tied to current economic systems. Hyperreality can affect how people perceive both themselves, as well as the world. Hyperreality compounds upon itself. Hyperreality smuggles in traces of the supernormal, but is far less obvious than an oversized egg.'

'However, in 2015, the spectacle has become so ingrained into the public’s visual language that we don’t just absorb spectacles, we communicate with them.'

'Hyperreal content operates under the presumption of being real to some degree, yet is inherently more shocking, attractive, perfect, etc. than its real counterpart, just like the supernormal stimulus that is amplified to elicit a more powerful response.'

'Made by people for people, people may not always be aware that they are creating or consuming hyperreality'

'surface appearance of things is more important than the underlying complexity of something (if there is any), and images are used primarily to incite a response or address a want or need.'

Theodore Koutsobinas Notes

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF STATUS
Superstars, Markets and Culture Change
Theodore Koutsobinas

Definitions highlighted in yellow 
Own thoughts/sidenotes in blue

Notes/Important info:
p/88
- Used as an escape from 'normal' routine
- From 1960s, 'served as sites of ordered disorder or packaged dreams'
- 'fantastic world' using imagery and simulation of 'exotic locations'
- 'Edutainment' -'developed by the aid of signature architects, leading-edge artists, marketeers of branding chain stores and footloose performers. these synergies are necessary because they manage to offer maximum economic and cultural capital returns.'

p/89
- the gap between art and popular culture has been closed during the last decades - used in industrial design and advertising
- 'new cultural intermediaries' - professionals who work in that craft

p/90
- 'Culture becomes the 'very element of consumer society itself, no society has ever been saturated with signs and images like this one'. - this statement leads to the destruction of high culture and expansion of popular culture
- Integration of social life and culture due to the increase in signs and senses within hyperreality.
- 'the real and the imaginary have become mixed'
- 'aesthetic fascination has become a major force'
- 'what in fact individuals internalise is a sort of simulational post-modern culture.' - MTV being the first form of simulational culture.
- films and art movements also like to 'blur the boundaries'

p/91
- Being figural is a major quality of simulational culture.
figural
-adjective
-another term for figurative.
> (in postmodernist writing) relating to or denoting a form of signification which relies on imagery and association rather than on rational and linguistic concepts.

(Basically simulational culture relies heavily on imagery and association)

- 'Spectators get lost, or live in the object as distances collapse' 

(This linking to suspended belief) 

The term suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.

- 'Medium is images rather than words' 

Individual Tutorial Feedback 11/10/16

My individual tutorial, I think, went a lot better than the group presentation as I my ideas were more refined. At this stage I have a clearly understanding of my theorists and what I would like to talk about. I'm looking forward to seeing how my feedback will improve my journey.

(Philosophy Realism)

Realism is something that comes to mind when thinking about hyperreality, the word reality being the main connection of course. The  philosophers who profess realism often claim that truth consists in a correspondence between cognitive representations and reality. (what we see to be true and previous knowledge that we have to come to the conclusion that something is real). They also believe that what we know now is only an approximation of reality as our knowledge can become enriched and can create a deeper understanding with time. This contrasts to the concept of Idealism, using fundamentally mentally constructed. 

I'm not sure if I'm overthinking this concept, but I think that the concept of realism blends the hyperreality into the reality so you find it hard to differentiate which is hyperreality. This is because a realist would take what they see to be true and what they understand to be true and draw conclusions from that, so if they see the hyperreal, which is created from models (which we've had experience with) and then see them in real life, we'd assume that was just reality.

Pleasure Island

Pleasure Island is a bizarre theme park in the story of Pinocchio. It's a place where bad/stupid boys are lured to to do whatever they want- smoke, drink, destroy eat. Then after all this, they turn into donkeys for their behaviour by the weird creepy coachman. It's a weird thought that this is actually meant to be in a story line of a child's film, as the connotations are explicit, but as an adult it's interesting to see. 

My mum would always compare holiday destinations like Zante and Aya Napa to Pleasure Island, because they're unreal places full of activities to do what you wanted to do without any consequences. My point being in relation to what I'm looking at is the creation of using a space to allow you to exploit your needs/and or wants, being simulated from models or defined by reference to models (hyperreality). It's full of temptation to that of it's audience, similar to shopping centres and casinos. The people in charge of these sectors know who their audience are and so what is needed to be there for their clients to be there (and spend their money) for the longest time possible - hyper consumption. It's interesting to see how this has been captured so early on (1940s) and depicted in film so clearly is something that has been around for a long period of time. 

http://the-artifice.com/pinocchio-darker/

(article about the dark side of Pinocchio)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_wfqqnhbLU

the clip of Please Island 

OUIL601 Project Proposal

Expectations vs Reality

This may be diverting slightly away from hyperreality, but I like how in the film 500 days of summer they show the expectations next to the reality and how the differ. I think this is something that I could consider for layout in my practical, having the two worlds next to each other and not actually over linking so you can clearly see the difference. 

Dismaland: Banksy

This is something that came to mind quite quickly, Dismaland. A sinister twist on Disneyland and far more realistic version of reality. It had been criticised for being easy sarcasm and just overly too depressing. But what I have taken from this is that maybe I could strip back the hyperreality or the simulations and see what lies underneath them. Although I of course don't just want to copy what Banksy did, but take it as inspiration.  

Keiichi Matsuda: Kaleidoscope

http://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/23/keiichi-matsuda-hyper-reality-film-dystopian-future-digital-interfaces-augmented-reality/

I found video created by Keiichi Matsuda based on Hyperreality. It is quite scary to watch, it felt like I was watching a Black Mirror episode. But it was quite interesting as the video mixes both the real and the virtual and shows how much we depend on the virtual. Although, I think that this video edges more towards how technology has encouraged hyperreality and technology really isn't something I'm interested in. It has made me think a bit about the practical side of cop, as I could try and have two separate realities that you see at the same time (maybe using acetate or layers of some kind???) and experimenting with colour. From what I've seen so far, it feels that hyperreality is depicted using bright colours, and reality dusky bland ones.
The world that lives in the video is filled with advertising, games and internet servers, linking to how the world of consumerism is expanding (a concept I'm interested in). I think that this subject area is great for writing and the practical.

Example: Vogue 'The Real Edition'

Whilst watching the news yesterday morning, they were showing off the latest copy of Vogue's new release - 'the real edition'. Being marketed for 'real women' and attempting to close the gap between reality and hyperreality. But if you take a look at this magazine, it heavily supports Baudrillard's idea that this gap just can't be closed. For starters, Emily Blunt is on the front cover. Amazing as she is, this isn't a 'real' women, she's a celebrity. Another man in the video asks where all the big women are, again showing that this magazine just isn't realistic.

Hyperreality?

I took the word 'hyperreality' from the Baudrillard quote that I was drawn to and focused upon it. I wondered if this alone would be something that I would be more interested in talking about than Disneyization. The more I look into it and apply it to real life situations that I find, I think that this is what I would like to talk about.

Key Texts

Jean Baudrillard hyperreality theory:https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SDCbgJsBW60C&oi=fnd&pg=PR6&dq=jean+baudrillard+hyperreality+theory&ots=tgff--wh-j&sig=nyL9wL688tjGgLIAkUNOKV0SKng#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://enterhyperreality.weebly.com/jean-baudrillard.html

https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/in-theory-baudrillard-9/

http://hyperreal.life/essay/

Keywords

METANARRATIVE: A metanarrative (also meta-narrative; French: métarécit) in critical theory and particularly in postmodernism is a narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealized) master idea.

HYPERREAL: In semiotics and postmodernism, hyperreality is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies.

REFERENTIALITY: the quality or state of being referential or containing references

REDUCTIONISM: the practice of analysing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents, especially when this is said to provide a sufficient explanation.

EDUTAINMENT: computer games, television programmes, or other material, intended to be both educational and enjoyable.

aestheticize: past tense: aestheticized; past participle: aestheticized 

represent as beautiful or artistically pleasing.

After first tutorial - group presentations

I am still a little bit lost with what to do with my dissertation in terms of the writing/context. I need to focus on a key quote that I'm most drawn to and run with that.

From what I have already gathered, this quote is what I've been most interested in:

French philosopher Jean Baudrillard: says that Disneyland is the most real place in the U.S. because it's not pretending to be something that it isn't. In his essay Simulations he writes:

"Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyper-real and of simulation."

I want to explore this idea further and see if I can try and form a question from it.