
CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
Killing Fields: Concepts and Processes
Division: Humanities
Dept/Program: Visual Studies
Document Type: Undergraduate Student Research
Mentor(s): Renata Holod
Date of this Version: 15 May 2006
This document has been peer reviewed.
Supplemental video clip (Windows Media 9) can be found here.
Abstract
This is an accompaniment to the multi-channel video installation Killing Fields, for Visual Studies Senior Seminar. Images of violence are perhaps the most dramatically divisive and manipulative subset of consumed visuals. We refuse to condone "real" violence, and act appropriately shocked when violent images are labeled "real," but when they are "fake," we devour them with an insatiable appetite. Engaging this issue requires examination of the process by which images are perceived as violent — those particular components which make up a "violent image" and how visual definitions of violence are constructed, as well as issues of responsibility. What cues do image consumers use to identify what they may enjoy, versus what they must show empathy for? As image consumers, do we play of perpetrator, victim, or something else?
Suggested Citation
Weed, James M., "Killing Fields: Concepts and Processes" 15 May 2006. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/40.
Date Posted: 08 September 2006
This document has been peer reviewed.
Video sample from installation (Windows Media 9 format)