According
to Brian Kennedy in his Ted Talk entitled, Visual
Literacy: Why We Need It, “Visual literacy is the ability to construct
meaning from images. It is a form of critical thinking that enhances
intellectual capacity.” With so many stimuli around us we often do not actually
see things even when we are looking directly at them. Being visually literate
goes hand in hand with the term “mindfulness” which we have explored throughout
the Alverno curriculum. Mr. Kennedy
states that the process to become more visually literate has the following
steps. You must look, see, describe, analyze, interpret, and construct meaning.
The object I have chosen to focus on is an aesthetically beautiful triangular table which has been in my living room for the past two years. I have often admired it from afar but never really looked at this piece of furniture. It is made of wood and the pattern looks to be painted with light brown, dark brown, tan, and black tones. When looking closely I noticed that there are birds and faces in the decoration on the table top. It is of excellent design and follows the rules of form and function. After reading chapter 1 of the textbook a sentence stood out to me, “The rules of design are equivalent to visual culture’s grammar.” That prompted the questions, “Of what culture did this table derive? What is the artists chosen pattern telling me?”
After researching online I found that this table
was not painted but instead was beautified by a technique called Italian
marquetry. In marquetry an artist uses different veneers to create shapes and
pictures. If I were more visually literate I could pin point which Italian
style the image was. I am guessing it is a Renaissance or Baroque pattern. I am very curious as to what kind of wood the
piece is made from and what historical time period it was created. There are many
questions I may never have the answers to but this exercise into visual literacy gave me a better
understanding and appreciation for the table that I see every day. 
