Task one- Images That Persuade.
Berger, died on January 2nd at the age of 90, has had a profound influence on the popular understanding of art and the visual image. He was also a vibrant example of the public intellectual, using his position to speak out against social injustices and to lend his support to artists and activists across the world.
"Berger states that personal envy did not exist in old times, therefore glamour did not exist, because status was determined by birth. In the precomputer/internet age, personal envy was propagated by models or well-known public figures in publicity images. Therefore, The Marlboro Man became someone to aspire to be, a symbol of manhood."
Comment on how Berger believes publicity will change our lives.
The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled."
Berger believes that publicity sells dreams and ideas, and if you were to buy what they are selling then you will be a lot happier. He talks about how a certain products can change your life and does this by showing us pictures of people with a better lifestyle since buying the product.
He says when classical oil paintings were around, the idea of glamour didn't exist. He also talks about the similarities between the two and how models today use poses from oil paintings.
Berger identifies 3 dreams that publicity offers us - name these three dreams.
'The later tonight' this shows us that if you buy a product you will become happier. You don't need it but you want it. The second dream was 'The skin dream' meaning the surfaces you can touch make you feel luxurious, like for example clothes. The last dream is 'The dream of a faraway place' giving you the idea of a place far away where you can travel and have freedom.
Berger states that publicity works on our anxieties in two specific ways - what are these?
The first one being money, that you need more of it or need to spend it on a certain things. The other anxiety is the fear of not being enough, being undesirable. Not having what everyone does.
