1.
PURPOSE -
1.1
to provide for all levels of possible viewer a visually orientated
taxonomy of the ways in which pictures are used to tell stories. To
provide wherever possible entire books, or at least indicative selections
from key works which I believe to be important;
1.2
to commemorate individual artists whose contributions have been underestimated,
and to celebrate those artists who have contributed significantly
to the telling of stories in our world;
1.3
to make this material accessible to people of all races and cultures
on a no-cost basis;
1.4
to keep in touch with students past and near-present.
2.
HISTORY
01
the website was originally written by me in html coding using images
I owned;
02
it began as course support for the MA Narrative Illustration/Editorial
Design course at the University of Brighton for part-time working
illustrators and designers, using material
from freelance teaching 1970 - 1989, and gigs at the Norwich School
of Art. The provision of lecture notes was useful for students
on part-time course who sometimes could not attend;
03
almost immediately I added material from books I owned which I
did not want to carry in - sometimes the material could not be
found elsewhere on the WWW;
04
when I left the MA to supervise PhD theses, I documented individual
projects and academic progress;
05
the site was never discussed nor supported within the University
and it gradually appeared to conflict with other ideas the Faculty
had for a Research website. I say 'appeared' because I never had
the opportunity to discuss what I was trying to do with anybody.
In January 2006 I removed all references to the PhD projects ;
06
with the appearence of dedicated applications such as Dreamweaver
and Fireworks, the control of the interface, the weighting of size
and editorial layout was possible beyond the limitations of html coding;
07
there was no teacher with overall responsibility for website design,
and students largely taught themselves on their own equipment which
was usually superior to thatprovided by the University;
08
the research community at the University was primarily logocentric
despite lip-service to studio based research projects;
09
the University policy towards provision of websites seemed one
of centralisation and all information to be held and supervised
centrally;
10
I resigned with some bitterness at a lack of support and understanding.
A major concern was the complete lack of understanding of the
relationship between learning, image making and the new technologies
despite some ingenious obfuscation;
11
In March 2005 I began reconstructing the site which had been summarily
shut down on the basis of a flimsy excuse. The site
could at last be systematised and supplemented in ways that were
impossible before.
12.
The site has encouraged artists and their friends/relatives to
keep in touch. It has provided images on a non-commercial basis
for interested parties.
5.
GENERAL CONCLUSION - THE TEACHING OF MULTIMEDIA
In
the light of the history of the site and my own career, the site
is a plea for the greater understanding of the role that digital
imagery can play in the learning process. I don't mean some inflated
conference paper from a theoretical perpective, nor some workshop
given by a teacher who has boned it up over the weekend. I have
observed a palpable gap between those who understand the mechanics
of the applications, and those who seek to deliver information -
a sort of fragmentation where websites can be taught by application
specialists -the Photoshop tutor, the Dreamweaver tutor, the Flash
merchant, the Shockwave specialist, without ever meeting or discussing
the entirety. Websites appear to be generated universally by the
cartoonist or the librarian. What a lost opportunity!
6.
GENERAL CONCLUSION - VISUAL LITERACY
The website of The Visual Telling of Stories aspires
to being a Visual Lexicon, dedicated to the primacy of the Visual
Proposition. Above all it tries to create an overall consistency of
structure and environment, as if it was all taking place in one characteristic
landscape through which you are allowed to wander. The main delight
and challenge is the invention of non-linear means of navigation through
spaces of knowledge with a created balance of reference and discovery.
Dr
Chris Mullen
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