7 Lenses Flashcards
Space
Where?
Inside/outside
Where were people and objects placed?
How did the use of space change through time?A. Where is the artistic instance located?
1. Urban? Rural? Which town, region, country?
2. Outside? What can you observe about the surroundings?
3. Inside? What characteristics describe the building/enclosure?
4. Shape of space? Size of space?
B. How is the space used?
1. Does a stage or other boundary markers set apart a performance space? Describe.
2. In what ways is the space divided into different areas?
3. To what extent do different participants (including observers) use different parts of the space? (consider a floor plan, p. 124 in the Manual)
4. Visual arts: How are the visual elements spread throughout the space?
(for specific terms, see p. 151 in the Manual)
Materials
With what?
Clothes, costumes, musical instruments, electronic media, amplification, lighting?
A. What clothes, makeup, or other wearable accessories are involved? Note colors, appearance, fabrics, and any other materials with which they are made.
B. Which musical instruments are involved? Describe physical appearance, materials with which they’re made, and playing techniques (striking, plucking, bowing).
C. What electronic technologies (sound system, lighting, media) are involved?
D. What other objects are involved? Describe physical appearance, materials with which they’re made, and anything else you can observe.
Participants
Who was present? How many and of what gender? Demographics, social status. What were they doing? How were they interacting? Who organized? Advertised? Promoted?
A. Who is involved?
1. Gender
2. Age
3. Social status
4. Other demographic variables
B. What are they doing (or have they done)?
1. Who is visible during the performance? Behind the scenes?
2. What roles do they fill?
a. Creators/crafters, performers, coaches, responders/listeners
b. Event organizers, sponsors, promoters
c. Setup crew (lighting, sound, stage)
C. How do participants interact?
1. To what extent are performers interacting with each other during the artistic instance?
2. To what extent are performers interacting with the audience? To what extent do those interactions affect the performance?
Shape of the event through time
When?
How long was the event?
When did it occur?
What were the major internal sections?
A. Focus on TIME:
1. How long does the event (or visual arts) last?
2. When does the event occur? (time of year/season/month/week/day/hour; holidays or other occasions)
B. Focus on SHAPE (as extends over time):
1. What kinds of repetitions occur (musical themes, body motions, words/phrases, visual elements)? At what frequency or in what patterns do they occur?
2. What are the major internal sections of the event itself?
a. What signals a change in section (consider different music, characters, materials, or other features)?
b. How long is each part? Make a timeline.
Performance features
How?
What was everybody doing? What activities were associated with this event? Pre and post event activities?
A. Auditory/sound features of instruments or voices (consult pp. 97-100, 114 in Manual):
a. Timbre/quality
b. Pitch/melody/vocal intonation (you can draw contours, Manual p. 100)
c. Dynamics in volume; accents/articulation
d. Tempo/pace
e. Texture/interaction of multiple lines/voices
B. Kinesthetic features (consult dance notation and terminology, pp. 129-133 in Manual):
a. What kinds of movement are used?
b. Postures/gestures/movement of hands/face/body?
C. Visual features (p. 155 in Manual)
Content
About what?
What kinds of plot, text, morals, themes, language(s) were used?
A. What is the issue/topic of the performance? (Through adequate research and confirmation, can you connect this topic to a cultural value?)
B. What is the theme/idea/moral/dramatic premise (see Manual, p. 116)?
C. Which symbols convey meaning?
D. Is there a subtext (underlying issue/topic)? If so, how is it being conveyed? What allows for subtle vs. overt communication of content in this genre? (Note that answering this question will probably involve awareness of features of the other lenses.)
Underlying Symbolic Systems
One of the 7 lenses
Why?
What meanings may be associated with the elements above?
A. What features that you identified in the first six lenses always stay the same in a genre (stable)? Which features are sometimes different (malleable)?
B. If you have access to a cultural insider, ask:
1. Which sounds, instruments, behaviors, colors, materials, speech patterns, movements, or any other kinds of input related to the five senses make people think of this genre?
2. What artistic or other cultural clues tell people that this genre is happening (or about to happen)?
3. What meanings, values, or beliefs do people associate with the elements identified in the first six lenses?
Acronym for 7 lenses
Somewhere Maybe People Stay Perfectly Content Unless
SMPSPCU
