Critical review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical review - Essay Example 118). What emerges are relationships characterized by â€Å"homoscoial desire and dominance† and â€Å"power and dominance over women, gay men, and other straight men† (Kiesling 2006, p. 118). Hirammoto (2010) states that Kiesling’s work is demonstrative of the constructs that reproduce the dominance of heterosexual male models not only outside of a specific group but how they are used to â€Å"claim power in a same-sex social group† (236). Hirammoto (2010) also states that Kiesling’s work is reflective of the findings in the literature relative to theories about heterosexual masculinity. Kiesling informs that the way that men display their heterosexuality is deeply connected to communal practices that segregates heterosexuality and other sexual orientations. This assertion finds currency with McEhinny (2004) who argues that theories about relations among heterosexuals typically err when they take position that gender is an attribute and ignore the fact that it is likewise a practice (150). For McEhinny (2004) Kiesling’s study lends greater weight to heterosexual studies in that it emphasizes heterosexual practices as evidenced by language and speech patterns. To this end, Kiesling (2006) takes the position that heterosexual practices together with â€Å"rituals of speech events† and communal activities contribute toward establishing homosocial and heterosexual identity (p. 118). Keisling (2006) demonstrates this assertion by reference to the Greek alphabet and the concept of Greek sororities and fraternities. As Kiesling (2006) informs: The ‘greek’ letter society system is arranged through an ideology of sexual difference, such that fraternities are all-male, sororities are all-female (p. 118). Even events arranged by the Greek society are predicated on the sexual differences and power differences that emerge as a result. For instance mixers and open parties are designed to distinguish between males and females and emphasize the significance of â€Å"heterosexual desire† and â€Å"sex and alcohol† (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kiesling (2006) demonstrates the point by providing an excerpt of a dialogue from a male participant at one of these parties. The excerpt reveals a rather high regard for heterosexual sexual activities. As Kiesling (2006) reports: This high evaluation of heterosexual activity creates a social context in which heterorsexual sex is glorified as an end in itself, thus creating an ideology of heterosexual desire as an important social goal (p. 119). In the dialogue excerpt sexual activities such as â€Å"hook-up† were identified (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kielsing (2006) explores these speech activities further by seeking clarification by conducting an interview with another member the male group. During the course of this interview, Kiesling was able to identify a number of heterosexual driven speech activities such as, â€Å"throwin’ raps†, â€Å"scamming† , â€Å"a drunk thing and a do your commitment thing†(p. 121). The last two speech activities demonstrate how men categorize the difference between their heterosexual desires in terms of instant or long-term sexual gratification. The â€Å"drunk thing† is not only for instant sexual gratification but is also a male bonding affair in which these men express their â€Å"sexual prowess† (Keisling 2006, p. 121). The long-term sexual gratification desires are treated differently among the members of the fraternity. It demonstrates that that the male

Edward Burtynsky & Banksy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Edward Burtynsky & Banksy - Essay Example Thus, while Burtynsky tries to instill an artificial sense of beauty and comfort by taking his viewers away from reality, Banksy tries to make people aware about the social issues by portraying realities satirically. This article intends to compare and contrast both the artists. The early years Burtynsky was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. He was brought to the world of photographs by his father when he purchased a darkroom along with camera and instruction manuals. After gaining some knowledge in the field, he started a small business of taking portraits. Later on, he enrolled at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute for better understanding of photography. Thus, he obtained a BAA in Media Studies Program. It seems that Burtynsky was influenced by a number of other artists. Some of them are Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Eadweard Muybridge, and Carleton Watkins (Edward Burtynsky: biography). Banksy was born in 1974 and brought up in Bristol. Though he was the son of a photocopier techni cian, he was destined to get training in butchery. However, the genius got himself involved in graffiti as it was the time of aerosol boom. Thus, his work shows similarity to the works of Blek le Rat, and Massive Attack (Brian Sewell Art Directory). Burtynsky concentrated mainly on landscapes which are altered by the advancement of industry; including mines, piles of scrap and quarries. However, the mere fact is that his photographs of industrial wilderness are often more beautiful than the landscapes it altered. Thus, one wonders if he is a fan of industrialization in a world where art and science do not cohabit. As Ballamingie points out, in order to cover the grand beauty of industrial landscapes, he even visited countries like China. On the other hand, Banksy’s works mainly deal with political and social themes. They cover messages including anti-war, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism. In additi on, he exhibits mastery in exhibiting human conditions like poverty, despair, alienation, greed and hypocrisy. Technique Burtynsky is fond of large format field camera and his photographs are taken on 4x5 sheet film. They are then developed into high-resolution, large-dimension prints of nearly 50x60 inches. The photographs are often taken from higher platforms (â€Å"Artist analysis..†). Banksy is a street artist. So, his weapon was stencils. However, one has to assume that he even used computers to develop images because of the photocopy nature of his some works. According to Banksy, as he was too slow doing graffiti with stencils, he developed some intricate stencils which minimize time. His art work took every form and every place as he only considered efficacy as the prime aim. To illustrate, he painted his Gorilla in a pink mask on the exterior wall of a social club in Eastville. As Danny writes, as Banksy’s graffiti appeared in public places, at times, governmen t officials considered his graffiti as a form of vandalism. Important works Burtynsky’s one photographic series was named ‘Mines’. It was photographed in Bingham Valley, Utah; Sudbury, Ontario; Butte, Montana; Highland Valley, British Columbia and Revelstoke, British Columbia. Another series ‘