Self-Portrait Description
The collage in my self-portrait is a vivid work about my experience in popular culture, especially music. The painting, which mirrors my identity, is heavily focused on billboards of the five most influential artists of the respective periods. Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Adam Levine, and Justin Bieber are the foundations of my musical space. They are associated with different phases of my development and what I have gone through.
Every artist carries a particular time in my life, representing a phase and memories. A Taylor Swift song elated me whenever it felt like I was going through the storms of adolescence. The Weeknd’s triumphant melodies grasped my spirit during moments of reflection, reverberating like deep human emotions. The optimistic tone of the lyrics and the excellent beat in the songs made my ordinary life feel musical, bringing back these moments frequently as my soundtrack. To sum up, Justin Bieber’s catchy songs symbolize teenagers growing up, with them making cathartic hymns of persistence and abrupt change.
My choice of a collage as the medium for my self-portrait reflects the multi-faceted aspects of my identity that make my self-portrait just like the spectrum of cultures that art has to offer. The collage form unites multiple components into one work, becoming a visual proof of all the complexities of my experiences and origins. The portraiture using billboards vividly displays the prevalent role of the media in the authoring and shaping of society as well as the definition of identity for the people. These texts go beyond mere media of amusement; they turn into mirrors where an image of a community’s values and utopian aspirations are reflected and copied. Each sign within the collage is a true mirror that reflects the finer parts of cultural identity and the ever-changing social dynamics of individual stories and the social narrative.
How did you gain cultural and social capital through these texts?
As I journeyed through various physical and virtual spaces, popular culture has catalyzed culture and social capital building. According to Bourdieu (1986), cultural capital refers to the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to a particular cultural setting – essential for those navigating the educational system. Being part of varied music genres and artists, I can comprehend how music affects individual lives. The lyrical and musical references with which culture is interwoven served as the basis for my interaction with others. In this way, I came to relate to others and experience a feeling of unity and belonging, familiar with those traditions. My appreciation of Taylor Swift’s songs’ lyrics offering a view into human emotions and relations was eye-opening.
Besides, socializing with popular culture texts could also accelerate social capital development, enlarging our network and social ties for accessing resources and improving our social status. According to Fiske (2010), it is a culture that mediates the exchange of information and lays the foundation for forming social bonds. Interacting and talking about familiar stories facilitated the formation of bonds with fellow students, thus socializing, school, and hence the feeling of a sense of belonging and community. Such interactions helped my social capital to grow by empowering my social network and increasing my cultural competencies.
Besides, Bourdieu describes different types of cultural and social capital according to his view, namely embodied, institutional, and objectified capital. The embodied cultural capital, the socialization process through which we internalize cultural norms and tastes, also contributes to deeper understanding. My inclination toward popular culture texts immersed me in the cultural capital, as it formed my taste and shaped my identity and way of self-expression. In my painting, the personification of artists and billboard images reflect cultural capital objectification. These artistic images symbolize the recognition and fame within society’s culture.
How did your habitus affect your relationship to these texts?
According to Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it is the innate tendency to absorb the manners and the behavior that one inherits from being socialized and spending time in a particular social environment. Such being natural, it is logical for the human mind to get through the perceptive barriers by molding, training, and cultural factors. To a large extent, habitus acts as spectacles where a person forms impressions and thoughts about how the world works.
My habitus set up the patterns I observed in my relationship with the pop-culture texts in my self-portrait and the social capital I gained through them. Besides my family, where the song was highly regarded as a form of expression and connection, I learned to love and embrace popular genres and international artists from my youth. I found music to be an instrument of emotions and cultural expression. This disposition affected my relationship with the texts.
I realized that the internal factors of my habitus are innate and influenced by the environment. What was known before as ‘innate’ or ‘normal’ tastes are now interpreted as the effects of being raised and exposed to popular culture. Giroux (1999) reveals how the diverse Disney animated films are interrelated with children’s culture. They determine how children view the world and behave from the early years of life. For example, because of the cultural habits I conformed to in the circles of my friends and culture, there were specific genres of music that I was inclined to listen to. It was not just the subjective maneuverings involved, but the cultural capital vested within particular genres of music, and popular culture was instrumental in shaping these preferences. My habitus was increasingly influenced by the cumulative experience and the sense of the symbolic meanings and societal values externalized through these texts.
Conclusion
The study of metanarratives within popular culture texts presents the requirements for a stable link between culture, the individual, and society. Wе can еncountеr thе layеrs of complеxity in it via critical thinking and inquiry and thеrеforе and can unravеl thе influеncе of pop culturе on individual an’ communal consciousnеss. This assignmеnt madе mе look bеyond thе surfacе mеaning and discovеring thе world of famous cultural richnеss an’ divеrsity of various culturеs and making mе rеalizе thе impact of thеir rеprеsеntations on who I am and who I aspirе to bе.
Discovеrin’ thе complеx mеta narrativеs twinеd into thе lush fabric of popular culturе has indisputably altеrеd thе landscapе of my global picturе and pouring into it a colorful mixturе of visions and еxpеriеncеs. Entеring thе music spacе whеrе artists likе Taylor Swift and Thе Wееknd and or Maroon 5 talk of thе things most familiar to us, and I am mеrgеd with thе world of lovе and loss and survival likе a drop in thе ocеan. In onе mеlody and thе composеr sеamlеssly portrays diffеrеnt fееlings and еmotions and whilе thе lyrics of anothеr piеcе unvеil еmotional complеxitiеs and rеlations as if by magic. Thеsе еxpеriеncеs sеrvе as a multidimеnsional prism through which I analyzе thе complеx pattеrn of human life. It gavе risе to a profound еmpathy and undеrstanding that transfеrs bordеrs by agе and culturе and and past еvеnts.
Furthеr and using this assignmеnt and thе analysis of cultural tеxts allows us to bе a critical analysis of thе impact of how cultural prеsеntations shapе individual and collеctivе idеntitiеs. Symbolism and theme analyses in my portraiture helped me understand the sociocultural inscriptions in the processes of manufacturing and market-based set-ups. I learned that the narratives in cultural works promote and reinforce social norms. As a result, I take extra precautions in selecting the media I consume since they portray the values and beliefs of society.
References
Giroux, H. A. (1999). Children’s culture and Disney’s animated films. The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence. Edited by Henry A. Giroux. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 83-121.
Fiske, J. (2010). Understanding popular culture. Routledge.
Szeman, I., & O’Brien, S. (2017). Popular culture: A user’s guide. John Wiley & Sons.
Bourdieu, P. (2018). The forms of capital. In The Sociology of Economic Life (pp. 78-92). Routledge.
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