Location Activity

Katelyn Broda

Introduction to Mass Communication 102

Location Activity

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Lawton Art Gallery

I was able to visit the Lawton Art Gallery, http://www.uwgb.edu/lawton/ which is located on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus. The exhibit that I was able to experience displayed pieces of art that was created by university students. The forms of art that I was able to see included drawings, sculptures, paintings or a piece that was created from more than one media.

Two pieces of art really captured my attention as they connected to information that I had learned in the Mass Communications class. These two pieces include,Needles and Thread by artist Kasey J. Hembel and Because “WE” say so by Jenna Neumann.

Needles and Thread is an art piece that contains different forms of media which include, news clippings, pieces of fabric, thread and various buttons. These forms of media all work together to create the idea of how society has viewed the ideal women throughout different ages in time. This art form displays three females from different centuries that all reflect the “perfect body” from those times. Above these images the following phrase is represented through different styles of font, “It’s hard to blame others for the stitches when you sold them the needles and thread.” This reflects the idea that society creates ideals of an unachievable perfection that individuals obsess their lives over. Mass communications plays a role in this because they broadcast these imagines of ‘perfection’ through print, audio and visual elements.

Because “WE” say so, also depicted this same ideal of “perfection” but in relations towards the male gender. This art form displays a well dressed businessman that is slim, tall and good looking. The image of a business man reflects how society expects men to be the successful 'breadwinners' for their families. Success is expressed in this image because the male figure is standing on dollar bills that are larger in size than the actual person. These pressures are apparent with the three panel mirror that represents how society looks at men constantly to see if they are meeting the stands. Mass communications again plays a role in establishing this ideal because it this image is shown to the public through a variety of medias. Mass medias does not only inform or entertain people, but it also shapes society and ideals that they believe and strive to achieve.

These two images are not only interesting to look at but they also address issues that society needs to evaluate in the sense of how they use mass communications for the positive and negative. After visiting the Lawton Art Gallery, I was able to understand how mass communication is present everywhere we look or hear. It was not the first time that I had visited the gallery but it was the first time that I really took my time to look at each piece of art in order to discover how mass communication had influenced the artist to create their specific image or sculpture.