In their chapter “Viewers Make Meaning,” Sturken and
Cartwright decipher how audiences uniquely analyze images they see. They determine that images interpellate viewers and of noteworthiness is how audiences interpellate, defined as “to interrupt a
procedure in order to question someone or something formally,” (50). We, as viewers, are interpellated when
viewing a commercial, advertisement, piece of artwork, or billboard. We are forced to wonder what the
purpose of the image is, how it got there, and what it should mean to us.
Two things that all viewer interpretations involve are
aesthetics and taste (56).
Aesthetics rely on one’s analysis of an image’s style or beauty, while
taste is a cultural reference.
Taste can be varied among viewers depending upon one’s class, cultural
background, or education. The
authors allude to this as a matter of “cultural capital” (60). This creates a divide between highbrow
cultures and lowbrow cultures. For
example, look at Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans.”
The Warhol print gained notoriety among ordinary people as
his art sought to shed a positive light on the novelties of common things. In my eyes, “Campbell’s Soup Cans”
represent a modern, universal message for those of a different societal class than
previous artists had sought after.
The Product Marketing Manager even wrote Warhol a note expressing his
gratitude and appreciation for the artist along with a case of Tomato
Soup! People could finally relate
to this kind of artwork, in a way that only highbrow viewers could previously to artists such as Monet and Van Gogh. Warhol gave cultural significance to an
ordinary class of people that formerly could only dream to associate with those
of higher culture!
As social subjects of culture, we are forced to view images
in daily life and translate their meanings. How do images
interpellate viewers? Where is the
line drawn between interpellating the viewer and manipulating the viewer? Or
are they one in the same? How else can societal class alter how we view images?
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