Malaysian Pop Culture

Pop Culture Definition :

Popular Culture is the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to  mid 20th century and emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century.

Popular culture is often viewed as being trivial and dumbed-down in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. As a result, it comes under heavy criticism from various non-mainstream sources (most notably religious groups and countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist and corrupted.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture

POP ART

Pop art was characterized with a focus on popular culture that expanded upon the prosperity of the post-war society in the 1950s and 1960s. The movement started in the USA but expanded to England. The movement used subject matter such as comic strips, soda bottles and soup cans and turned them into icons of the day.

The movement was actually a child of Dadaism; it sarcastically made fun of the art world through its use of urban images, products from grocery stores, and the mass media. Pop Art was about communicating how these objects are themselves works of art.

Pop art on cans and products

Pop art on icons

Pop art on comic strips

Malaysian Pop Culture

Pop Culture in Malaysia have been showed in some items, events and history. For example, the 10 Ringgit Note. The note have been changed from 1967 till today.

10 Ringgit note : 1967-1983

10 Ringgit note : 1982-1998

10 Ringgit note : 1996-2000

10 Ringgit note : 2012

Do refer to the motive on each of the note. Th motive will change from time to time but DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong still remain in every note revolution.

We can also view the changes in election poster in Malaysia. The graphic designs has been changed dramatically  from 1950s till 2013. 

The poster still remain with the clean lines, bold fonts but have some changes in poster colors according to the political party such as royal blue, green and cyan.

 Election poster in 1950s

 Election poster in 1978

Election poster in 2008 

Election poster in 2013

What is Optical Illusion

The broad definition of an optical illusion is essentially any image perceived by your eyesight to be visually deceptive.

For example, an optical illusion pertaining to color can be created when a bar of one color is surrounded by a box containing a gradation of color. The result of these two objects together cause us to perceive the bar within the box possesses a gradated color scheme as well, even though it is in actuality a single color.

An optical illusion occurs because the different cells and receptors of the eye perceive images and colors at different rates which sometimes result in a flase image beig relayed to the brain. The brain receives information from receptors in the eye, but in actuality, the eye only  perceives a certain quantity of visual information at any given time, while our brain continuously decodes, constructs and reconstructs visual information, giving us the illusion of continuos sight. The right combination of colors, shapes, spatial realtions, and other stimuli viewed by the eyes and reported to the brain during the relays of information can achieve the effect of an optical illusion

Types of Optical Illusion

Literal Illusions : 
The difference in the image and the actual physical objects that  make the picture.

Example :

Physiological Illusions : 
When the eyes or the brain get stimulated in excess by a particular type of stimulation. mainly like motion, color, brightness, tilt, etc.

Example :

Cognitive Illusions :
Based on the interactions with different levels perceptual processing and not physiological processing.

Example :