World Travel: Visual Journal

 

Generally when I think of the pole regions of the planet I think of the lack of color that exists in these environments and how dull and gray that they are. This is an image of the Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) which is a natural phenomenon that occurs over the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the planet. I wanted to show that image because color is so often associated with different countries and cultures and there is hardly any color there. It must be an amazing site to witness these natural light displays in such colorless places.  I believe that most countries are associated with some sort of color because it makes them seem welcoming and inviting.  The Asian and Indian cultures are usually depicted with a lot of red in the environment even though most of it is from the man made environment and religious imagery.  The United Kingdom is often associated with the color green because it is full of really lush fields and rolling hills.  Africa is often depicted as a very earthy continent and it makes you think of the color brown because that is the color of the soil and a lot of the foliage. It is strange though because when I think of the United States a lot of different colors come to mind and none too specific. I believe it must be the fact that we have so many different cultures living in one country and they can all be represented differently. I think that this project was really successful because it seemed almost seamless in its presentation and I’m very curious to see how she creates the extension of it for her next project. 

Perception vs. Reality

Philip K. Dick

When I think of perception vs. reality I always immediately think of movies like the Matrix and Total Recall because they focus on the idea of alternate realities that coexist and are altered by influences from outside sources.  I think it would be impossible to talk about perception and reality without making a reference to the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick who is the grandfather of such thought. Philip K. Dick is known for conceptualizing and inventing the idea of virtual reality in the 1960’s and 70’s, long before the invention of conventional personal computers, video games, and the internet.  Many of his books have focused on this concept and have been made into films by some very highly respected film directors; check them out if you haven’t seen them, they are sublime.  His book titled “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” was made into a film by Ridley Scott titled “Blade Runner”, his book “Second Variety” is the film titled “Screamers” by director Christian Duguay, the book “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” is a film titled “Total Recall” by Paul Verhoeven, the book “Impostor” was made into a film by the same name and directed by Gary Fledor, the book “paycheck” was made into a film by John Woo titled “Paycheck”, his book “Minority Report” was made into a film by the same name and directed by Stephen Spielberg, the book “A Scanner Darkly” was adapted for the screen by Richard Linklater, and last but not least his book “The Golden Man” was made into the film “Next” directed by Lee Tamahori. Enjoy!!!