• How it relates to visual culture / any examples of theory
• Examples of images
• How could you use it to interpret your theme/question?
1. Meta-communication
Communication about communication. It is secondary communication (including indirect cues) about how a piece of information is meant to be interpreted. It is based on the idea that the same message accompanied by different meta-communication can mean something entirely different, for example with irony where the opposite is meant.
The term was popularised by Gregory Bateson to refer to "communication about communication", which he expanded to refer to "all exchanged cues and propositions about (a) codification* and (b) relationship between the communicators".
*in linguistics, codification is the process of standardizing and developing a norm for a language.
Theory - Psychology - In the early 70s, Gregory Bateson coined the term to describe the underlying messages in what we say and do. Meta-communication is all the nonverbal cues (tone of voice, body language, gestures, facial expression, etc.) that carry meaning to enhance/disallow what we say in words.
How it relates to visual culture? - Advertising, branding, logos are a universal language of sorts and can communicate a corporation or service and its values by using simple shapes, pictograms, and visual symbols.
Road signs designed by Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir. They are simple and easy to understand, used nationally as well as internationally.
Very well-known examples of logos that represent entire corporations. We see the McDonalds logo and immediately understand that we can go there to eat.
2. Realism
The quality or fact of representing a person or thing in a way that is accurate and true to life.
Realism (art movement) - Revolted against the aesthetic traits of the Romantic movement (exotic subject matter, exaggerated dramatised emotionalism) and instead intended to portray real life and typical situations and people. Unpleasant aspects of life and reality would not be ignored, as conveying a sense of accuracy was important.
Realist works depicted people of all walks of life and tended to reflect changes brought along by the Industrial and Commercial revolutions.
How does it relate to visual culture? - Regarding the actual art movement of Realism, or an aesthetic style in which the subject matter is conveyed in a realistic manner. In terms of illustration, it could relate to reportage or documentary art where the style may not look 100% accurate but its content is based on real people, conversations, and experiences.
Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners, 1857
Olivier Kugler's reportage illustration
How could this relate to my research?
I could use what I found out about metacommunication and its relation to advertising/signage and focus on using visual symbols and pictograms to communicate something visually in a simple and straightforward way, hoping that it could be readily understood by an audience.
With realism, I could relate it to my research by basing my practical work on information that links to real people, places, communities, as opposed to it being completely imaginary or made up.
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