Visual Assignment #2

Visual Assignment 2.

                As once we talked about, I(or we) had expected to learn German languages while staying in Berlin. I think that understanding a culture starts from its languag, so I thought I could learn about the culture with trying to speak their language. It depends on the personal effort to try learning language though, but I only know less than five expressions such as Hi, Thanks, Bye and so on. Also, I think if I came directly from Korea, not as a member of an American group, I might try more to speak Germann language.

As our professor explained, I agree that it is about the economic power of the U.S. I have thought that I could some basic things in German language such as buying something at a store or asking direction, but even if I asked a simple questions to someone in German, people answered me back in English. We tried to speak German at the first time, but it is much easier to use English even for the German people who we talked to, so we were getting not to speak German. It happens in Korea too, when someone who is from the U.S, or any English speaking country, then Korean people also try to speak English. And what I was surprised is that more than half of German people (I have seen) speak English and most of them are pretty fluent.

The image that I chose is taken at a café near Chandan’s place, which is not really in travel area, but they also have English in the menu. It is exactly what I couldn’t expect before, but after I got used to German people’s English fluency, I understood it.

Vlog project, week4.

Visual Assignment plus writing assignment #1

Visual Assignment plus writing assignment #1

Honors: Mobility And Negotiations of Identity

Summer 2011

Visual Assignment #1

The whole sphere of authenticity eludes technological-and of course not only technological-reproduction.

--Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Technological Reproduction”

You will remember from our Spring seminar the following words from Walter Benjamin:

Just as the entire mode o f existence o f human collectives changes over long historical periods, so too does their mode o f perception. The way in which human perception is organized-the medium in which it occurs- is conditioned not only by nature but by history. The era of the migration of peoples, an era which saw the rise of the late-Roman art industry and the Vienna Genesis, developed not only an art different from that of antiquity but also a different perception.

The final sentences of this provocative quote from Benjamin—that the era of the migration of people produced a new regime of perception—couldn’t be more apt for our class on mobility and the negotiation of identity. For this assignment, you will be working with visual representation in order to historicize and engage our moment of perception in this period of modern globalization. As you will remember from our class, how we see in many ways defines what we see. In our time, with the universal spread of technological reproduction—the photographic image-- and the development of mass society— the rise of modern urban life—we see with the desire to denude the world of its shock, its differences, its otherness, that which prevents us from believing that all experiences are available and consumable to us.

For this assignment, you will be asked to post 7 images.

1) The first image is one that “shows” the camera’s power to make the different, the shock, the other an object available for your “experience.” This is an image that implicates you as an “outsider” in your use of technology to handle the new and the excess of sensations that comes with being in a new world such as Istanbul. Boredom and sleepiness are other ways that we deal with this excess of sensation or “shock.”

2) The second image is one that conveys for you a difference or otherness in the buildt environment or social spaces of Istanbul that in some way has surprised or shocked you. This image does not try to control the shock but instead to focus on it, to try to linger on this shock.

3) The third image should be one that you think helps you convey the “limit” or the violene of the camera. That is, this image is one that is important to you because it somehow comments on the technology that you use to capture this image.

4) The fourth image engages the politics of photography in the non-western world. Historically the camera has been seen as offering Westerners the truth of the Orient. The camera is used less as an apparatus of art than it has been used as an apparatus of scientific truth when picturing the non-west. To counter this it is important to think of images or shots that for you either undo the west/non-west binary in some way or that pushes the image away from being scientific document and toward being more of an artistic composition. As an artistic composition the image is valuable because it demands interpretation. Can you come up with an image in the city that for you is so complex that it demands interpretation?

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5) The fifth picture should convey your struggle to capture deeply personal memory through an image. Is there an image that you have or could take that is meaningful to you because it evokes personal memory? How do you take that picture without loosing its quality as a memory?

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6) The sixth and seventh images are related to our three lectures by Jen, Orhan, and Didem. Can you take two pictures in the city/of the city that you think conveys or aids in conveying what you have taken away from these first three lectures. What in the lectures was most rich and meaningful to you. What was the take away for you? Power and inequality? Cities and their complex relation to nations? Modernity and its demand for homogeneous citizens? States and the way they hide their violence through what a citizen sees and remembers (ie, gentrification).

Related Blog Posting:

For the last two images we would like you to provide a short blog entry (500-900 words) that describes what you’ve been thinking about while in Istanbul, especially after our three lectures/tours. Use the blog space to tell a reader why you chose the images you took, how they relate to the theme of our study and how they express your interests. Tell a reader how the images are expressive of the connections you’re making between being in Istanbul, thinking about migration and identity, and learning about the history of cities, states and communities.

            As the result of my quick research about Turkey before I arrived in, I only noticed that the country has mixed looking as a bridge between Asia and Europe. However, as Orhan said, Turkey is not only (or, not) the bridge of western and eastern continents but also it connects north and south, so I thought Istanbul has various looking of its surroundings. I however, think the surroundings created an another cultural form, in other words, Istanbul has its own looking which is distinguished from the other (surrounding) cultural groups. Also the most impressive thing to me was the city has its traditional style of architecture in the city and their life. I have lived in Korea and the U.S, but except some artificially preserved places, we can’t see any traditional buildings in common places, so I was amazed the city looks like an old historical picture.

The first photo that I chose shows the two different style of towns in a single scene, it is enough to show how much I’m impressed by the sight. The second is a sight of a street near our hostel. I was hanging around this street on the free day and I was kind of shocked that Istanbul has been so much globalized more than I thought. On this street, there are a lot of international brands and for example, even there is Zara which is internationally popular but not opened in Seattle. The interesting thing of the place is the street doesn’t look like any other metropolitan cities, it still has their own traditional style of buildings. I have been taught that we have to learn and understand our own history to establish our identity correctly, and it is the reason that countries try to preserve their cultural heritages and teach their histories. Turkey is the great example of a country having its tradition as it is, so I thought the people in this country might have very strong ethnicity. 

GemanyTurkeySummer2011YurimN: Research Topic

GemanyTurkeySummer2011YurimN: Research Topic: "Economy of Germany As a student who majors Global Studies, the country of Germany is quite interesting object for economic approach. Beca..."

Research Topic

Economy of Germany 

As a student who majors Global Studies, the country of Germany is quite interesting object for economic approach.

Because Germany is the largest exporter in the world, and the second top trader (import+export,), students in economic major possibly have interests in the country’s economic system 

One thing I was really impressed in our program description was that the cost for food per day is about $50. It is not very expensive, but we usually don’t spend that much, even if we eat in restaurants for all three meals. 

It brought me a question that why the price is higher than spending in any other countries. It is possibly one of these: high price level, high taxation on food (assume that especially food is expensive), or high price for agriculture land use or transportation. I think it would be just Germany has a high price level and if it’s true, I want to research more about its economy or commercialism.

GDP (2009 nom.): $3.339 trillion.
Annual growth rate: (2010 est.) 3.5%; (2009) -4.7%; (2008) 1.7%.
Per capita GDP (2009 nom.): $44,525.
Inflation rate (September 2010): 1.3%.
Unemployment rate (October 2010): 7.5%.
Agriculture (0.9% of GDP in 2010): Products--corn, wheat, potatoes, sugar, beets, barley, hops, viticulture, forestry, fisheries.
Industry (26.8% of GDP in 2010): Types--car-making; mechanical, electrical, and precision engineering; chemicals; environmental technology; optics; medical technology; biotech and genetic engineering; nanotechnology; aerospace; logistics.
Trade (2009): Exports--$1.124 trillion: chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products, manufactured goods, electrical products. Major markets (2009)--France, Netherlands, U.S. Imports--$937 billion: food, petroleum products, manufactured goods, electrical products, motor vehicles, apparel. Major suppliers--Netherlands, China, France.

References

Travel Document Systems, Germany-Economy http://www.traveldocs.com/de/economy.htm

What Is The Secret to Germany's Economic Success? Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZqBSKa4Zqo&feature=related

Shopping in Germany, How to Germany.com http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/shopping.html