"Riders on Earth Together"

I found this week's reading "Contested Global Visions" by Denis Cosgrove to be one of the most interesting of the quarter so far.  The "Earthrise" and "Whole Earth" photographs taken during two Apollo missions created a interesting cultural dichotomy between the idea of international cosmopolitanism and the competition and unrest brought about by events such as the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Space Race.  Seeing the Earth for the first time from afar was a momentous moment for humanity as a whole because all of a sudden we could see our continents in their true size and scale and without the national borders seen on maps.  The "Whole Earth" picture which featured Africa in the center reminded me of the Peters-Gall map from earlier in the quarter which showed the true size of Africa and how much it is minimized and distorted on most maps.  This picture was refreshing for that reason, and also because of the lack of visible borders which enhanced the feeling of global brotherhood which became so culturally prevalent.  While this idea of global unity can be seen as romantic and unrealistic, I think it is extremely important for all of us, perhaps especially leaders and politicians, to step back from our strongly nationalistic viewpoints and remember that despite our individual interests, we are all "riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold -- brothers who know now they are truly brothers" (MacLeish).

Earth in space

22727 was a powerful discovery. After finding that perceptions all across the globe were changed a lot for the better. To reference from previous chapters, many worldviews consequently became a lot more cosmopolitan when everyone saw what the earth really looked like. It really strikes a note with my conscience also because I can sympathize with that feeling. It’s that feeling of feeling really small. When you realize that all you are is a tiny speck on a tiny speck in the Universe you feel very humbled. Many people especially when they are young have this inflated view of themselves that “the universe revolves around them” but when they see 22727 they really begin to feel small. On the other hand though seeing the earth in this way also allows people to see other parts of the world easily. It can even make mapping into an art, different ways of drawing the continents can produce different responses. 

War and Technology

     Even though we all agree that war is bad, it does have a huge effect on the progress of science and technology. From modifying ballon and camera for military information gathering to sending satellite into space, we can see that throughout history, technology has been used for military purpose. In my opinion, war, or the potential possibility of having war, is a catalyst for the advance of technology. The government concerns about the national security and always seeks for better and more advanced technology in order to make sure the country is in a more advantage position during wartime. Therefor, elites from different scientific field will have a chance to gather and work on projects with sufficient fundings and resources . Take the Corona project as an example, with the support form the government and military, it came to reality from some drawings on papers within only a few years. Imagine without the cold war, it might took a lot more time to build up such machines and send them into space. But because of the threat from the Soviet Union, the whole progress got pushed forward with the effort of the whole nation.

     However, I sill think the world should do everything it could to avoid another war. Although war can boost up the progress of science and technology, we need to remember that it also has the power of destroying everything, including the entire human civilization. A peaceful world is always the best environment for the study of science and technology. 

Apollo 11, Photograph 22727

While reading this week's passage "Contested Global Visions: One-World, Whole-Earth, and the Apollo Space Photographs," I was drawn to the differing levels of popularity between the Apollo missions. I had never heard of or learned about photograph 22727 or Earthrise. Looking back, the major hype of the Apollo missions is centered around Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. Far less recognition and remembrance is given to the other Apollo missions, including the Apollo 17 photograph 22727. Photograph 22727 was the first unobstructed, unshadowed view of our entire planet. It was a low priority photographic, taken by the whim of an astronaut in addition to the assigned views that needed to be captured. Upon development back on Earth, photograph 22727 made its way into nearly every aspect of popular culture. The whole globe view graced the covers of magazines, newspapers, and research papers. Airlines used the globe in their company logos. Large corporations erected huge globes as monuments to their company's international potential. Even to this day, countless corporations use the globe to symbolism power, ability, and global connection. It is fascinating that an image so popular and entirely taken for granted today was taken by the whim of an astronaut.

The Shuttered Box and Dual Use

The John Cloud article entitled Imagining the World in a Barrel drew my interest, particularly the concept of the "shuttered box" in reference to the military-industrial complex and the military intelligence community. This entails that instead of a black box in which the public in society would have absolutely no information about high-security military operations, the shuttered box enables the public to acquire a limited amount of information. The US government practiced the shuttered box in the 1950s during a period of rapid growth in military technology. Since they were cognizant of and enabling the public's knowledge of this growth, the government leadership disguised the public face of some programs. For example, the CORONA project was publicly disguised as a component of the Apollo program. The notion of the shuttered box and the appropriation of dual use clearly have present-day relevance. What top-secret, classified programs are being run by our government and governments around the world under the guise of purely harmless scientific research or other similar facades?

Reconnaissance and tech

When one thinks of the Cold War they think of spying and reconnaissance. But nobody actually talks about the technology that’s behind the spying and reconnaissance. Which is why I’m glad that this chapter focuses so much attention on CORONA. It’s rather enlightening to go behind the scenes a bit with what Americans were actually using against the Russians. And when I read the part about the Black/Shuttered box it would make me think of science fiction movies. This is because a lot of science fiction focuses around possible government conspiracies except that in Science fiction it actually happens. And also after reading about i the levels of Reconnaissance technology that we’ve gone through really makes me wonder how much money and effort we spent on the cold war. There was at least four or five levels of the recon tech that we used before the cold war ended. No wonder people felt nervous on black Saturday, I now understand the magnitude of the situation much better. 

Kitchens are better than bombs.

The most recent chapter I found rather humorous in some ways. It’s really nice knowing that if we can’t outclass the Russians in terms of war making power we can defeat them in terms of Home appliances. We not only have a better system of government and society we have a much better kitchen as well. We have washing machines, dishwashers, color televisions, suburban well-kept houses, lawnmowers, supermarkets, cadilllacs, pepsi and so many other things. The Russians may have gotten into space first but we got managed to achieve a much more comfortable material everyday life before them. Its also comforting to know that when President Nixon and Khrushchev argued, it wasn’t over politics or war or who’s more powerful, they argued over what kind of kitchen was better and who is better suited to be in the kitchen. I find that reassuring because the debate is over a more peaceful topic. 

Cinerama, "Glimpses...," and a new media-savvy audience

From this week’s readings and discussion, it is clear that by the 1950s, American landscapes were being presented in revolutionary new ways to cater to an evolving media-savvy audience. Fred Waller’s Cinerama and the Eames’ presentation of “Glimpses of the USA” are both evidence of and a way of encouraging a new aesthetic of viewing that fascinated an increasingly curious and cosmopolitan world. Under the guise of sharing technological advances and experimenting with new visual communication methods, these films also fortified a sense of nationalism within the US, as well as fostered international awe and envy when shown in settings like Syria and the Soviet Union. Beatriz Colomina describes “Glimpses of the USA” as “simply intensify[ing] an existing mode of perception” which speaks to the increasing speed of spectators’ ability to process moving images and the broadening awareness of what the human mind could process and how. In using new technological capabilities to access the public’s new kind of attention, Waller and the Eameses were able to make visual representations of America that established its role as both a world leader offering “the good life” and a technological giant that was simply ahead of the curve. The lasting impressions of these two works no doubt enabled the often inexplicable sense of American exceptionalism still seen today. In reconstituting space, structure, and time to manufacture their installations and the experience they facilitate, characteristically American innovation spawned new propagandistic tools to cater to, engulf, and influence the masses in a complex and lasting way. What this week’s discussions leave me with is wondering what makes innovators like these believe that they can or should create the things that they do? Are they aware of the gravity of appealing to audiences through such sensory techniques? Was it all just an experiment or were they confident with the same sense of technological and national superiority that they promote?

A Deeper Cold War

It's interesting to look at the Cold War and the concurrent relations between the US and the USSR as more than the military arms race that dominates contemporary historical narratives. This was of course an extremely significant affair in the lives of American and Russian citizens, but there were various other layers to the conflict. One that we examined in the readings this week was the apparent competitiveness between the two countries in issues besides military dominance, including the assertion of cultural and societal superiority by both nations. This seems to be one of the objectives of "Glimpses of the USA" as it demonstrates a hard-working and virtuous American populace. This is also demonstrated in the so-called Kitchen Debate, in which two prominent world leaders bickered over the state of modern home appliances. Most of what we have studied in this course so far has looked at the way Americans see the US, but it is also significant to our studies to learn how foreign nations view us, and historically how we have wished to be perceived.

The epicness of cinerama

Movie theaters have certainly changed a lot since I was young. From tiny movie screens to massive theaters with big projectors, the movie theater has undergone revolutions. The Original photography relied on twenty seven millimeter lenses and it has since expanded much. I do remember the old days though. We did used to have the curved Cinerama screens and those used to be iconic. And in ways those are much more epic than the ones that we have these days, the way that the screens curve give a sense of epicness. Because it curves around the audience while amplifying and surrounding the movie, it can give a much more impressionable image. This all reminds me of something too. I personally believe that movies and the way that they are presented (cinematography) can be a kind of sublime also. Sublime doesn’t just have to be natural wonders of the world and massive monuments. We also are in awe of movies and it should make us even more awed when movies are presented to us in a more epic way than before.

The Compression of Information

I find the theory and development of the Eameses communication methods to be quiet fascinating. The article that we read talks about how a technique called "fast cutting" corresponds very closely to the way our brains record images. In this filming technique images are shown in quick succession. The Eameses added further to the technique when making the film Glimpses that was shown in the American Exhibition in Moscow when they added multiple screens to the mix. The whole idea behind Glimpses was to convey a huge amount of information in a relatively small amount of space and time. It was in effect, compressing the information.
It makes me think that this type of information overload must have been very impactful on the Russian people especially since it was a completely new thing. Because it was such a large amount of information, the Russian people also must have left the exhibition feeling like they have a better grasp of what America is like. Glimpses seems to me to have been a very effective form of propaganda used to win over the Russian people to Americas side and also to gain admiration. I would be very interested to hear a personal account from a Russian who saw this Exhibit to fully understand the impression that one was left with after viewing the images.
There is also something kind of Sci-Fi about the idea of compressing information and relaying it to a human being to absorb and then process that information possibly subconsciously. But then it makes me wonder how much information am I myself processing subconsciously on a daily basis in our ever-growing multimedia society.
-Michelle Finch

Cinerama and "Glimpses of the USA"

            The two readings this week both relate to technology and its impact on the American way of seeing. As Beatriz Colomina stated in her article “Enclosed by Images: The Eameses’ Multimedia Architecture,” the American way of seeing during the 1950’s was through television. Lowell Thomas and Merian C. Cooper’s This is Cinerama attempts to immerse the audience in their film. They altered the technology of cinema and television to include a curved screen. Their goal for this was to make the audience feel as if they are actually in the film and feel as if they are experiencing everything that happens in the film. For example, the film includes a roller coaster sequence that is shot from the perspective of the front seat rider. This sequence illustrates best how well the film immerses the audience. Moreover, this film and the Eameses’ film Glimpses of the U.S.A., portray how concerned America was with television and film. Glimpses of the U.S.A. is exactly what it sounds like. It is a movie portraying America, or the common idea of what America is, through various images. This is Cinerama also portrays America in a similar way.

            In addition, Cinerama reminded me of Imax and how filmmakers today are still trying to improve the affect motion pictures have on audiences. Imax and 3D were also created to make audiences feel as if they were in the film. They also created HD to enhance the viewer’s experience and to make the movie/show closer to reality. Even though there is Cinerama, people still seem to want to improve their viewing experience. This reminds me of how we are still trying to improve on technology and how our wants will never be fully satisfied.