scholarly journals What Was the Visual Appeal of Kabuki?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Cao

By using several woodblock-printed pictures to explore the visual appeal of kabuki in the Edo period. (1) Focus on the construction of kabuki theatre and the props on stage, considering prevailing examples to interpret how the kabuki theatre acted as an adequate arena for the exercise of actors’ talents, thus entrancing the audiences. (2) Discuss the costumes, make-up and wigs of classic characters to directly capture the visual experiences of the Edo people in kabuki theatres. (3) The representative dancing and acting will be considered to analyse their visual characteristics.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252661
Author(s):  
Lei Zhu ◽  
Lloyd S. Davis ◽  
Anna Carr

To explore what types of photographs are more helpful means to interpret natural attractions within national parks, this study focused on the relationship between the photographs with different visual characteristics and their perceived visual appeal. A photograph-based Q method was adopted. Results confirmed the visual quality of a photograph was the most important characteristic that determined its perceived attractiveness; those photographs with a high visual quality could successfully attract tourists’ attention. The subject also significantly affected the preferences of observers, suggesting an interest-dependent pattern. Using photographs of birds as examples, the participants who were interested in birds were attracted by the photographs of birds rather than those of other subjects. This study provides a better understanding of the effectiveness of photographs for communication. Findings may help researchers, communicators and national park marketers better understand and select appropriate photographs for interpretation within national parks.


Author(s):  
David Weibel ◽  
Daniel Stricker ◽  
Bartholomäus Wissmath ◽  
Fred W. Mast

Like in the real world, the first impression a person leaves in a computer-mediated environment depends on his or her online appearance. The present study manipulates an avatar’s pupil size, eyeblink frequency, and the viewing angle to investigate whether nonverbal visual characteristics are responsible for the impression made. We assessed how participants (N = 56) evaluate these avatars in terms of different attributes. The findings show that avatars with large pupils and slow eye blink frequency are perceived as more sociable and more attractive. Compared to avatars seen in full frontal view or from above, avatars seen from below were rated as most sociable, self-confident, and attractive. Moreover, avatars’ pupil size and eyeblink frequency escape the viewer’s conscious perception but still influence how people evaluate them. The findings have wide-ranging applied implications for avatar design.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Moore

Attention is drawn to the contents, pedagogic style and visual appeal of the 17-volume “Peeps at nature” series published by A. & C. Black between 1911 and 1935. Edited by the Reverend Charles Albert Hall (a Swedenborgian minister), who also contributed most of the titles, this series was a quality production but one that was cheap enough to be readily accessible to young readers. Its volumes were written in simple language and included colour pictures. With time, the flamboyant artistry of the covers that so characterized the earlier volumes was replaced by more muted designs, possibly to reduce production costs. Later contributors abandoned anthropomorphism and the moralizing tone of many nineteenth-century popularizers of natural history, although styles of writing varied between the early and later contributors to the series, becoming less technical with time.


Somatechnics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-148
Author(s):  
Johanna Hällsten

This article aims to investigate the creation of space and sound in artistic and architectural fields, with particular emphasis on the notions of interval and duration in the production and experience of soundscapes. The discussion arises out of an ongoing research project concerning sonic structures in public places, in which Japanese uguisubari ([Formula: see text]) – ‘nightingale flooring’, an alarm system from the Edo period) plays a key role in developing new kinds of site-specific and location-responsive sonic architectural structures for urban and rural environments. This paper takes uguisubari as its frame for investigating and evaluating how sounds create a space (however temporary), and how that sound in turn is created through movement. It thus seeks to unpick aspects of the reciprocal and performative act in which participant and the space engage through movement, whilst creating a sonic environment that permeates, defines and composes the boundaries of this space. The article will develop a framework for these kinds of works through a discussion on walking, movement, soundscape and somatechnical aspects of our experience of the world, drawing upon the work of Merleau-Ponty, Bergson and the Japanese concept of Ma (space-time).


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