The Relationship Between Spectator and Image: The Case of the Advertisement
Jean Sanders
Email: jeansanders2021@u.northwestern.edu
Faculty Advisor: Michael Loriaux
BIO
In a nutshell, what is your research topic?
My research uses the work of 20th century theorists such as Marx, Debord, and Benjamin to analyze the role of the advertisement on society, specifically its effect on and relationship to the spectator who views it.
How did you come to your research topic?
In the Art, Literature, and Contemporary European Thought program, we read a lot of theory based around art and how it can affect individual spectators and society as a whole. I have always been interested in advertising and its effects, and thought that it could be analyzed using the framework of 20th century theorists.
Where do you see the future direction of this work leading? How might future researchers build on your work, or what is left to discover in this field?
Many people ask the question: is advertising art? To me, that question isn’t as interesting as analyzing the mechanisms by which advertising persuades us using the work of art theorists.
Where are you heading to after graduation?
I’m not sure yet!
Q&A
My research uses the work of 20th century theorists such as Marx, Debord, and Benjamin to analyze the role of the advertisement on society, specifically its effect on and relationship to the spectator who views it.
In the Art, Literature, and Contemporary European Thought program, we read a lot of theory based around art and how it can affect individual spectators and society as a whole. I have always been interested in advertising and its effects, and thought that it could be analyzed using the framework of 20th century theorists.
Many people ask the question: is advertising art? To me, that question isn’t as interesting as analyzing the mechanisms by which advertising persuades us using the work of art theorists.
I’m not sure yet!
