Spring Break
The Daily OrangeFind new icons to put on posters
By Jett Wells
Posted: 9/10/07, 12:18 AM EST Section: Opinion
At the beginning of every year at Syracuse University, students snag up posters of old, canonized photos of mid-20th century pop-icons such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Bob Dylan.
Monroe, Dean and Dylan are no longer representative of our post-modern culture. These posters fail to reflect our personality as these icons come from a different age and context. The ghosts of pop-culture only become mere selling points and marketing strategy.
John Berger, the much-acclaimed art critic, painter and novelist wrote an essay called "Ways of Seeing," which divulges into the spiritual side of seeing things in clear view. In the essay, Berger claims that reproducing a painting or work of art with a camera damages the meaning of the art as a whole.
This can easily relate to icons such as Andy Warhol, Bob Marley and The Beatles. Their images were reproduced by cameras decades ago, and now the photos are in a different time and context, diminishing the meaning of the icons and the work they represent.
"[Paintings] will never re-become what they were before the age of re-production. … When the camera reproduces a painting, it destroys the uniqueness of its image," Berger said in his essay.
Looking at these posters, they're just photos strained with antiquity. They don't expose the souls, stories, heartbreaks, revelations of the artists in the photos. How can one reflect upon a figure from the 1950s and '60s when so much history and development has passed us by? Do the artists' cries for reformation still remain relevant in our context? Most of all, do the posters symbolize milestones in art, or just corporate exploitation of the retro-movement?
Students see posters on their walls as a way of reflection and self-expression. It's important to have posters relevant to a post-9/11 world that no longer represents Bob Marley musings and Marilyn Monroe's sex-life.
"Posters today don't show who I am at all. I wish I did have more reflective posters," said freshman biology major Jeannie Grecco.
"Every style we have is derivative. What is now is the mixing of technology and customization, labeling things," said senior policy studies major Sarah Benedict.
One might suggest a great idea transcends time, but what does that say about our living icons and the messages they project today? Freshmen Arnes Hadzic, majoring in Pre-law and German, raised the notion that nostalgia of past figures relate to the impotent figures we have today.
"We lack present-day icons. … Icons really have to accomplish something great," Hadzic said.
We don't have young any Bob Dylans playing in Greenwich Village folk bars, or any John Lennons necking naked Yokos. No one replaced James Dean, who galvanized teen angst. The music and film industries have become sterile, and Washington is as corrupt as ever. Who is there to look to? If we continue to idolize these figures, our culture will never look away from past greats and create canonized icons out of the today's public figures.
Icons of the past should not fade away into oblivion, but in order for youth culture to move forward and evolve, posters must move out of the past and live in the now. Think tanks believe kids like us will drool over anything with a retro, celebrity label on it. We need to prove that we are a nation with our own identity that can't be calculated like a statistic.
Jett Wells is a weekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at tjwell01@syr.edu.
Monroe, Dean and Dylan are no longer representative of our post-modern culture. These posters fail to reflect our personality as these icons come from a different age and context. The ghosts of pop-culture only become mere selling points and marketing strategy.
John Berger, the much-acclaimed art critic, painter and novelist wrote an essay called "Ways of Seeing," which divulges into the spiritual side of seeing things in clear view. In the essay, Berger claims that reproducing a painting or work of art with a camera damages the meaning of the art as a whole.
This can easily relate to icons such as Andy Warhol, Bob Marley and The Beatles. Their images were reproduced by cameras decades ago, and now the photos are in a different time and context, diminishing the meaning of the icons and the work they represent.
"[Paintings] will never re-become what they were before the age of re-production. … When the camera reproduces a painting, it destroys the uniqueness of its image," Berger said in his essay.
Looking at these posters, they're just photos strained with antiquity. They don't expose the souls, stories, heartbreaks, revelations of the artists in the photos. How can one reflect upon a figure from the 1950s and '60s when so much history and development has passed us by? Do the artists' cries for reformation still remain relevant in our context? Most of all, do the posters symbolize milestones in art, or just corporate exploitation of the retro-movement?
Students see posters on their walls as a way of reflection and self-expression. It's important to have posters relevant to a post-9/11 world that no longer represents Bob Marley musings and Marilyn Monroe's sex-life.
"Posters today don't show who I am at all. I wish I did have more reflective posters," said freshman biology major Jeannie Grecco.
"Every style we have is derivative. What is now is the mixing of technology and customization, labeling things," said senior policy studies major Sarah Benedict.
One might suggest a great idea transcends time, but what does that say about our living icons and the messages they project today? Freshmen Arnes Hadzic, majoring in Pre-law and German, raised the notion that nostalgia of past figures relate to the impotent figures we have today.
"We lack present-day icons. … Icons really have to accomplish something great," Hadzic said.
We don't have young any Bob Dylans playing in Greenwich Village folk bars, or any John Lennons necking naked Yokos. No one replaced James Dean, who galvanized teen angst. The music and film industries have become sterile, and Washington is as corrupt as ever. Who is there to look to? If we continue to idolize these figures, our culture will never look away from past greats and create canonized icons out of the today's public figures.
Icons of the past should not fade away into oblivion, but in order for youth culture to move forward and evolve, posters must move out of the past and live in the now. Think tanks believe kids like us will drool over anything with a retro, celebrity label on it. We need to prove that we are a nation with our own identity that can't be calculated like a statistic.
Jett Wells is a weekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at tjwell01@syr.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Melissa Valliant
posted 9/10/07 @ 12:28 PM EST
When I first read the headline for this column, I thought it was going to be a completely pointless, whiny piece about a topic no one cares about. After reading it, however, I really changed my mind. (Continued…)
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