Thoughts on Modernity and the Visual: Image and Text

As our final class has now come and gone, I find myself reflecting on what we have looked at as a whole. Similar to how we looked through these little magazines (every week in simultaneous detail and as whole works of art), Dr. Janzen-Kooistra’s comment on the class as a serial is so relevant. We have been able to dive into each little magazine with exceptional detail, but each time we come back to it and how it functions in context. This includes the social milieu from which it stems, the marketing tactics at play at this time, as well as audiences and readership. There is so much to consider here, and I am shocked at how much ground we’ve been able to cover. I was excited to hear about everyone’s individual projects. I’m sure that each one will be both exploratory of specific subjects but also will take into consideration their magazine as a whole (or sometimes two magazines). It is through this process of constantly contextualizing images and text both in where they are featured within the little magazine, as well as how they are presented to the broader public, that we discover so much more. I never would have considered detail as part of a broader contextualized conversation, but I feel that I do and will now. I will also begin to look at how today’s magazines function (especially since so many exist online). Like Alevtina’s project, I realize how important a decision on font must be when presenting text online. Overall, being able to consider image and text alongside one another, discuss its relevance and importance (art over text anyone?), has been eye-opening.

Sabrina Pavelic. 7 December 2020.