Media, Imagery and Culture

1 In my thesis titled Media, Imagery and Culture, I deal with the interconnection of these three separate fields of research. In the framework of visual studies, I search for visual research methods applicable in the cultural field. In the theoretical section, I discuss the conceptions of Canadian philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan who determined three stages of communication development, one of which referenced an electronic culture. I go on to examine the philosophical Noosphere concept of a Catholic priest and scientist Teilhard de Chardin, corresponding with the McLuhan idea of electronic culture and the global village. I also analyze the concepts of art historians Ernst Hans Gombrich and Erwin Panofsky. In the field of visual studies, I follow the visual culture research of Marta Filipová and Matthew Rampley, and I examine communication expert Gillian Dyer's essay on pictures and advertisements. Lastly, I search for visual research methods applied in a variety of fields: anthropology, sociology and art history. The final part consists of four probes in which I apply visual research methods to the culture. In the first probe, I compare three different types of galleries: classic gallery (Czech Center in Prague), alternative exhibition hall (Tacheles) and virtual galleries. The probe was..