Margaret Mead (10/2/2011)

Both articles concerning the work of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson were extremely relevant to the present day. Mead, capable of predicting the media's impact on cultural values and social norms, used her academic background to make knowledge, usually taught only in universities,  accessible to the wide public. This is reflective of the current issues facing visual anthropology as a field: where is the border between ethnographic film and entertainment? And is it possible to transform media so that entertainment is actually intellectually stimulating and culturally relevant, creating a model for, rather than a mockery of, society?

In reading both articles, I found it interesting to see the parallels between art and ethnography once again. Although "art" is a commodity, and exists only as art because there is a market for its consumption, perhaps we can begin to think differently about it and its cultural context. I believe it is a form of media, which serves to document the ever changing and ephemeral experience that categorizes modern life. If this form of media, rather than corporate owned news, were to be popular, maybe we would have a more authentic source of information and means of societal communication. For isn't media just that, a source of information, reflective of the present time. And if art became the main source of mass produced and consumed information, I believe we would be living in a completely different society, one where the choice of representation is left up to every individual, not just a few.

I also found the method and and means to creating both a visual and verbal ethnography of the Balinese possible to be really fascinating. The impact of the current technology is evident: if it were not for the camera and the ease of its use and access in the 1930s, the films, photos, and books would probably have never been produced. Also, the environment created in Bali by western artists is something to wonder about. In the chaotic times preceding World War II, most of the people who fled Europe were artists and intellects. Despite all of its effects, this exodus created a colorful environment for Mead and Bateson in an already exotic Bali.