Irony

"On A Clear Day You Can See Edith Sitwell": Materialism, Affect, and Irony in Photography

Edith Sitwell and Marilyn Monroe


Source: telegraph.co.uk

In 1952, Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) announced intentions to translate her own novel Fanfare for Elizabeth (1946) into a Hollywood script. British and American newspapers ran a common story detailing her extravagant costume and monstrous physiognomy at the event: “The statuesque Miss Sitwell appeared in a black gilded cowl (‘I resemble Henry VII strongly—he was an ugly old man’) and a black bombazine floor-length dress, and sported long gilt fingernails. She also wore a topaz ring some two inches square, and her wrists were two huge gold bangles” (TD 49). Click ‘Read More’ to follow the thread of my post on how irony, affect, and materialism provide possible lenses for interpreting the above photograph, which features an icon of English eccentricity and literary modernity across from Marilyn Monroe. 

Accessorizing Surveillance - Barbie Video Girl

Video Barbie advertising from website

Image Credit: screen shot from barbie.com

H/T: Noel

From coloring books to glitter to unicorns, my viz. posts seem to be revolving around adult repurposing of the trappings of youth.  Naturally, we'll have to throw Barbie into the mix.  While she has certainly seen her share of fashion updates over her 50-year reign as fantasy icon extraordinaire, this creepy 21st-century update to Barbie's accessory collection reverses the gaze and turns Barbie’s body into a tool for surveillance.

That'll show 'em: The Rhetoric of Didactic Kitsch?

Image Credit: Scouting magazine, via Gizmodo

The poster from the Boy Scouts of America’s Scouting magazine is all smiles and no foolin' about its anti-illegal downloading message, but can you take it seriously?

Remote Sensing, Logos Images and the Irony of Evidence

My take on visual rhetoric is largely informed by my prior career with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. In the UT Visual Rhetoric Presentation I have a slide that depicts a photo from the Cuban Missile Crisis alongside a picture from Colin Powell's Presentation to the UN.

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