In this blog you will find an interesting, but not very technical, analysis of some pages of Citizen 13660:
http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2010/10/27/mine-okubo-citizen-13660/Choose one of the instances and use your skills to improve on that analysis, considering the article on moodle about approaching compositional elements of images (read especially from p. 13 onwards), and the following sum-up:
1) Sensory elements: colour, lighting and texture;
- shadows, heavy lines, points of light, fabrics and materials
- what emotions are conveyed
2) Structural elements: axes, perspective and depth;
- horizontal axis - left (given) and right (new)
- vertical axis - up (ideal, spiritual) and down (real, sensual...)
- prominent and secondary elements - how parts contribute to the whole
- center and background
3) Dynamic elements: orientation of figure, gaze and point of tension;
- figure looking of us (demanding) or away, offering her/himself to our gaze?
- features and postures of characters
4) Emerging elements: directionality and focal point.
- what is the first thing we notice
- where is the eye drawn to and what directions does it folllow
You will find the analyzed instances of the link above in the following pages of Citizen 13660
p.82, Acme beer. This black and white image shows us several figures standing or moving through wooden barracks. The sign “Enjoy Acme Beer” in the background could suggest some kind of recreational area if we only didn’t know about what is actually happening there.
ReplyDelete1) Sensory elements: the first thing I notice here are the repeated lines on the wooden barracks that are opposed to very simple patterns in the clothes of the prisoners. The use of the colour white is abundant and it suggests me that this scene is happening in the sunlight during the day.
The shadows are minimal whereas the buildings are defined by heavy lines. The sign in the background is written in bold and is made clearly visible.
The emotions conveyed by this image are a sense of irony and sharp humour strictly related to the beer sign standing out and made clearly visible from every section of the camp; another feeling that I perceive by looking at this instance is the resignation of the people working there. They seem not desperate or helpless, it just seems like they’re doing their everyday-job.
2) Structural elements: on the horizontal axis on the left is represented the everyday activity of the people working at the camp, whereas on the right side the Acme Beer sign appears unexpectedly.
The vertical axis (up) shows the commercial sign about the beer which might be a symbol of the American culture of leisure and underlines how even something like a beer could alleviate the suffering of these people who have to endure thirst while working hard under the sun.
The down part of the vertical axis portrays instead the prisoners on the ground obliged to work, even if the sense of fatigue and helplessness is almost imperceptible.
The prominent elements of this image include the Acme beer sign, Miné herself and the people interacting or working, whereas the secondary elements are the barracks and the pathways which are useful to describe and contextualize the scene.
3) Dynamic elements: most prisoners do not look directly at the viewer and most of them do not even show visible facial features; for this reason, this image is more “offering” than “demanding” because it is just a report of a miserable routine.
The figures are standing or walking in a casual way but nothing suggests desperation.
4) Emerging elements: the first thing I notice by looking at this image is the face of the protagonist Miné Okubo, who appears to be tired as underlined by the shadows under her eyes.
There are overall three main parts: the human figures in the foreground, the beer sign and the barracks in the foreground and I think that the human eye tends to follow this path by observing this image.
-Laura Bettio
In the image found in page 163, portraying in the center a group of a mother with 8 children and Miné at their right, to represent the high birth rate registered in the American Japanese camps, what is most relevant regarding sensory elements seems to be the texture of the clothes of the subjects, which also allows to have them all well lit, especially for the young girl holding a baby.
ReplyDeleteFrom the emotional point of view, the one who strikes our attention the most is the pregnant woman in the center, who conveys a deep sense of tiredness and resignation, as she also looks like the eldest of the group, which is almost weird given her condition. She might convey this by being a mother of so many children she has to care for in a camp that doesn’t actually give her the full ability of having them live in dignity, as every mother would want and do anything for her children.
Yet, the children do not look as sad as her: some of them, the one wearing a hat and the other wearing glasses, are facing forward, looking almost like marching soldiers beside their “sergeant”, completing their task of accompanying their mother to the hospital to give birth, as she seems at the end of her pregnancy. On the other hand, the four little ones are just following by, taking part in what could be perceived by them as a sort of game given their low age; the youngest one is held by a young woman, perhaps the eldest sister, who knows that in helping her mother she is also training herself for what may wait for her in the future, and she looks as exhausted as her mother, probably for carrying her little brother and having to care for her brothers and sister to help her mother, stranded by the pregnancy.
Finally, going in their opposite direction, towards the right side of the image, which represents the new, is Miné, standing with what looks almost like a judgmental or surprised face at the number of children this poor woman has to care for; she’s moving toward to the new, but she’s looking back at the past represented by the group going to the almost empty left-hand side of the picture, except for two barracks with a cross in the background, which could be a church.
There is a dividing line between the oldest ones, placed in the upper part of the image (except for the youngest one), the spiritual part, and the lower part, the terrestrial one, where children are placed.
No one of the characters is looking at us, and the sense of movement Miné and the group give by walking in opposite directions is contrasting, but given the number of characters we are drawn to follow the group to discover where they are actually headed, leaving us with some sense of curiosity in discovering how the woman will handle such a large group of sons and daughters in such an environment.
In this image, we can see Miné Okubo walking past the community toilets of the camp. Our eyes are either immediately drawn to Miné herself or to the woman to her right, who seems to be looking down in shame behind a makeshift curtain.
ReplyDeleteThen, our eyes would probably scan over to another woman in the stall next to hers, and finally to the other woman, towards the left side and background of the image.
The image is black and white, and we can see stark shadows on the face of the beams that support the stall walls. This perhaps reinforces the partition between the women in the stalls, but it also highlights the fact that, by contrast, there is nothing in front of these women shielding their privacy.
We can see some makeshift elements in the image as well, like the wooden cover in front of the woman in the third stall and the patched-up sheet in front of the woman in the first one. This may highlight how these people need to work to get some basic human dignity, using what little they have at their
disposal. However, some people seem not even to have the bare minimum to be able to accomplish this, like the woman in the second stall, who can only use her hands to cover her face. The main emotion present in the illustration seems to be shame, and perhaps despair, especially for the last woman I mentioned.
The three women in the stalls are all averting their gaze, perhaps in shame. They are all facing left, in the direction of the "given" axis, maybe because they can't see a future for themselves, and one of them is looking down, towards the "real" axis, away from the "ideal", possibly because it seems that there is no point in looking
for better conditions. Okubo is looking straight ahead, towards the left side of the image, maybe so that she doesn't have to look at the other women's sorry state.
pg. 74*
ReplyDeleteIn the image on page 44 of Citizen 13660 Mine Okubo has just arrived at the internment camp. After being assigned to a barrack, she must go collect her mattress. However, cotton mattresses were not available so the interness had to make their own mattresses using straw. This scene shows one of the many daily tasks people had to perform in the camp and highlights the difficult living conditions they faced.
ReplyDeleteThe illustration is drawn in black and white as it its typical of comic-style graphics. Therefore, the absence of colour creates a serious atmosphere that represents how people used to see live living in the camps. In the image we can see two figures in the center. Mine and her brother appear with their heads low focused on the straw, their posture suggests concentration but also physical exhaustion.
Referring to the texture, different textures are noticeable in the drawing. The straw appears rough, dry, and uncomfortabl,e which suggests that they could not get real sleep with it. The materials and fabrics of their clothes also suggest that they lived hard.
On the other hand, shadows have a great effect upon the reader. The shadows under the characters' eyes allow us to know their tiredness, physical and emotional, due to what they were experiencing. Also, the shadows inside the back suggest that it was empty, symbolizing the lack of resources.
Moreover, in the background, the barracks draw our attention. A cross is represented above them with heavy lines. This reminds the reader that all those people who lived there were suffering and even dying. Therefore, the emotions that are represented are exhaustion, loss of hope, and sadness.
Talking about the orientation and body language of the figures, both characters are bent forward and looking down at the stra,w which symbolizes exhaustion. Although the figures do not look directly at the reader, we can see their faces and expressions. This allows us to know the emotion that they are feeling,g and for example Mine is sa,d but her brother represents a sense of frustration and anger, reflecting the injustice of their situation.
Tania Otero
On page 12 of the book, at first glance, we see Okubo in a form of public transportation surrounded by other passengers. Initially, at first glance, one could assume without context that they may be looking outside the window, or that something is occurring outside. There seems to be no major point of contention; it seems like a normal depiction. Yet when we begin to piece the story behind it together, we understand that nothing here is completely passive or a mere detail.
ReplyDeleteWhen we look at the sensory elements, we can easily place the image in what seems to be morning. By the number of people, we can even suspect it's rush hour. There seems to be an absence of shadows, which further exacerbates this possibility. Yet, what is most eyecatching seems to be the prints and patterns, particularly in the clothing. When looking at everyone excluding Miné, we find that there is a normative theme of lack of contrast; even when there is print, it's either overlapped or completely overtaken by a homogenous white, which serves to further emphasize how she's an outsider, the difference, the other. The overall monotony produced by the lack of prominence in texture and diversity of patterns creates a sort of tediousness that is almost off-putting. This makes the scene feel quiet, which is very conflicting when you take into consideration that the only harsh lines visible in the picture are around the mouths of the people, heavy scowls, and frowns.
Now, when we look and notice that Miné is not completely centered, but finds herself more to the left-hand side of the picture this suggests that what she represents (the other) is seen as a given to the individuals in the bus, with no room for other perspectives, leaving Miné in this state where she can't argue against the already conceived notion they have constructed of her. We can even assume that the angle chosen, the framing produced by the window, creates this sense of entraptment, like Miné is encaged. The background is constructed by individuals, all of whom seem to only exist to further exacerbate Miné and an elderly, visibly, what one could assume to be, discontent woman.
Lastly, we find that upon closer scrutiny of the image, especially after reading pages 11 and 13, that the attentions are not focused collectively on the exterior but on Miné, a fruit of the growing antagonism and mistrust brewing amongst the American people after the Pearl Harbor bombing. Their expressions are solemn, observant, and almost accusatory. Miné's body language seems to indicate that she's trying not to pay attention to their eyes; her body language is closed off, her arms crossed as she peers away into the right-hand side. All the figures in the picture look directly at Miné, an elderly woman with a flowery blouse standing out amongst the rest, her figure closer to the center, oddly enough, one of the first things one registers at initial glance, her figure, although meant to be secondary takes on almost a protagonist-like shape possibly due to her and Miné being the only ones with dark hair. The characters in the picture don't give us, the reader, a chance to participate actively in the scenery as we're placed as outsiders looking in.
The image presented on page 92 shows highlights education on camp. Miné Okubo was an art instructor, lecturing classes for both elementary and college ages. The author worked 44 hours per week, all to earn 16$ per month.
ReplyDeleteThe picture presents a dichotomy of colour and line, giving it a chaotic appearance that is later complemented by the text. The dense, pitch black hair of both children and Miné contrasts with the thin lines on their clothing (even Miné's pants' lines are dispersed chaotically).
However, more important than this contrast, are the emotions conveyed in every kid and Miné. Focusing on the author first, the same stands on the center of the class (the first thing we notice is the “authority” in the environment) seems confused and overwhelmed, looking around for the next solution to organize her classroom while trying to stop the fight between two girls in the top left corner and resting her hand in a girl’s shoulder, pulling focus to the kid’s worried and tired face.
Focusing on each axis, horizontally shows the state of each student, interrupted mid-way by Miné’s body. The class on the left seems overly unorganized while on the right seems confused and worried. The vertical axis drives focus to Miné and a kid with his tongue out and water spilled on the table. Both central figures might represent the overall intensity of the picture, demonstrating that both kid and educator do not know how to work in the context they’ve been put in, nor are they given the tools to do so.
An interesting topic to take into consideration is how each student contributes to the whole, centering once again in Okubo. Additionally, there is only one kid who's looking forward, maybe so as the reader has a sense of awareness and closeness with what's being represented. The boy has paint on his face and a sad expression, however one of the only ones that has done the assignment (the drawing on the table of a happy boy).