Videosphere (Definition according to Regis Debray)
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Each of Régis Debray’s mediaspheres is categorized by the influence of a predominant technology. Even technology is not the only aspect which determines the social, cultural and economic relationships that identify a media period, as Debray stablishes, it is true that technology is one of the elements that should receive special attention. With the aim of offering a visual overview of the implications of the videosphere, characterized, according to Debray, by the devitalization of the book via audiovisual media.
The video its a collection of images and sounds that function as metaphors of the elements listed in the taxonomy elaborated by the french thinker in his work towards mediology. In order to make explicit the main issues of what has been defined as “videosphere” I consider useful to add Debray’s taxonomy of this mediasphere.
VIDEOSPHERE
Strategic Milieu (protection of power): Space.
Group Ideal (and political tendency): Each One (population, society, world) Individualism and anomie.
Form and Vector of Time: Point (current news, event) – self-centered (the cult of the present).
Canonical Age: Youth.
Paradigm of Attraction: Imago (emotions and fantasies).
Dominant Symbolic Mode: Models (iconology).
Spiritual Class Holding Sacred Power in Society: Media (diffusers and producers) Information is sacrosanct.
Legitimate Reference-Point: The Perfomative (we must, it works).
Motor of Obedience: Public Opinion (relativism).
Usual Means of Influence: Appearance/Broadcasting.
Control of Circulation: Economic, Indirect (over messages).
Status of the Individual: Consumer (to be seduced).
Identificatory Myth: Star.
Statement of Personal Authority: I saw it on the TV (truth of the broadcast image).
Regime of Symbolic Authority: The Visible (the Event) or the apparently true.
Social Unifying Principle: The Arithmetical One: the Leader (statistical principle, opinion poll, rating, audience).
Subjective Centre of Gravity: Body (sensorium).
Here there are the links to the video The videosphere. As it has been mentioned before, the audiovisual doesn't pretend to offer an exhaustive explanation of this mediasphere, Far from this, it seeks to be inspiring and to offer a visual impression of elements take part in this media period.
The videosphere (320x240)
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The videosphere (640x480)
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The audiovisual is divided in three parts. The first part could be considered as an introduction of the theoretical concept of mediasphere and videosphere, as well as an aproximation to the context defined by the term videosphere. Next to this, it starts a reflection about the subject of this videosphere, anonymous, individual, among other aspects, to end in an audiovisual portrait of the role of media, icons and publicity in the videosphere. The final image showing TV's snow crash works as a closing metaphor of the importance of tv in this period dominated by the audiovisual media.
Would have been easier realizing a writen essay talking about the videosphere? Quite possible, creating a visual narration makes you think in everything you include and also in what you omit. Personally, while doing this video I've felt it was more complicated to choose an image, or the audio, than a word (in the video appear some sentences too). Visual language is more suggestive than the writen one. You can't control the image's lecture as much as you do in a text (unless you're doing poetry or a very literary document). The fact that I was also translating Debray's lectures into an audiovisual material made me do an extra effort. The impossibility of completely determining the images' interpretation as well as the aim of finding the most adequate metaphor, made me question myself about the author concepts much more than if I had been writing an article. Simultaneously, I started to question about the election of the media used. I started to realize that talking about the videosphere through an audiovisual was a kind of meta-reflection. Here I leave some of the questions that arose during this process: Was it useful the visual language for explaining abstract and complex concepts? Is always need the presence of a narration? Does a fast rythm prevent from critical thinking?
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