The date was Wednesday, 15 November 2017. I was using the site Quora as I did in any other day during those times, and one interesting question popped up in my feed.
How does visual language communicate ideas?
Of course, being an art practitioner and a visual designer myself, answering this type question was an added pleasure on its own — to know that there’s somebody out there who actually wanted to know about my field of expertise. However, truth to be told, knowing certain things about how people perceive visual art in general beforehand, I wasn’t exactly expecting much when I wrote that answer down, and I was proven right — looking at how the views on the answer wasn’t anything satisfying nor uplifting one, it tells me yet again how much people actually care about this topic, if they do at all.
Either way, the essay was originally part of my content on Quora and the following is improvised copy of that answer, with an added personal note.
Q: How does visual language communicate ideas?
Originally written on Wed, 15 November 2017.
They say, picture paints a thousand words.
That’s exactly how visuals communicate ideas — through something you can directly see. Visual arts, I argue, should actually communicate ideas — it shouldn’t exist solely for the sake of art alone.
If you glance briefly at the history of visual arts, the more notable artworks would usually be visuals which have significant social, historical, religious, philosophical or political meaning behind them. I argue that one of the key factor of their popularity and success lies on the fact that they are artworks that have significant meaning, and I believe they were created for a certain purpose in mind.
In other words, I believe that when it comes to creating a meaningful artwork, artist should keep in mind that they should not create art solely for the sake of art alone. Artworks should also convey ideas, thoughts and emotions. I do think it is fair to say that art, in some form, is a “language” in itself, that have the ability to tell a story through seeing them, as much as how literature tells you a story by reading them.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci
Time: c. 1503–06, perhaps continuing until c. 1517
Medium: Oil on poplar panel
Subject: Lisa Gherardini
Dimensions: 77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in)
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris
Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh
Time: 1889
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 73.7 cm × 92.1 cm (29 in × 36 1⁄4 in)
Location: Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Creation of Adam, by Michaelangelo
Year: c. 1512
Type: Fresco
Dimensions: 280 cm × 570 cm (9 ft 2 in × 18 ft 8 in)
The Last Supper, by Leonardo Da Vinci
Year: 1490s (Julian)
Medium: Tempera, Gesso
Dimensions: 460 cm (180 in) × 880 cm (350 in)
Location: Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan
Now, I’m sure you’re familiar to most, if not all of these paintings.
You might ask yourself, what makes these old-age paintings, so interesting to look at? Is it because of the colors used? Is it because of the pretty lady depicted? Is it because of the quality of the paintings?
Those things are some of the more important things in creating an art indeed. However, those paintings you saw are interesting, because it tells a story. It narrates experience. It immortalizes an important event.
In other words, I argue that those paintings are interesting because they have significance during the times they were created.
Interesting artworks always tell us something we might not know about the times they were created. Things such as the social constructs of that era, the way people look like during that era, the clothing people wear during that era, the common sight of social interactions, the beauty standards, the important occurrences, religious beliefs, philosophy of the art style and so on.
Artworks that serve solely for the sake of art alone, often lack the important element that make them stand out from the crowd. But truth to be told, I’ve noticed that quite a number of artworks in the modern world today often lack that very important thing that artworks in the past have. Of course it is not to say that there is no good modern artist that still persists in maintaining a certain quality of their works to set an example on how art should be done, but it is not difficult to observe that such artists and artworks are vastly outnumbered and overwhelmed by artworks that adopt more contemporary or post-modernism style in their execution, for better or worse.
All in all, to sum up, personally I believe that art and visual arts should actually be used to communicate something what words cannot. I’d even go as far as to say that, that is the sole purpose of art — to paint a thousand words.
What is the purpose of having an art when it tells nothing more than what words could communicate?
Cheers.
Personal Note on the Answer
I have a lot to say about this particular subject, really. Partly because this relates directly to what I do and my expertise, the other thing is because I am personally not fond of the way things are going in the last couple of years or so.
On more personal level, whenever I stroll around local art galleries so far, honestly, there aren’t too many artworks or artists that I could fondly remember or relate to personally. Don’t get me wrong, these works of the artists I saw are very talented artists, and the quality of their works show the dedication they put into making them. But, I don’t know — maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s something else. As I know art is a pretty subjective thing, I am certainly not going to degrade or demoralize any aspiring or professional artists out there by saying things that I said. This is simply more of a personal sentiment than anything else.
I guess — and this is a very crude guess from me — the art we see today is the way they are, because of the current demand of society. Or maybe, it could be something else entirely. Regardless, this is partly why — as many had argued — that when it comes down to it, the contemporary art we see today might have damaged the image of what art is all about, what it stands for, or the general standard on how art should be done.
I believe it is safe to say that as of now, most modern art we see today would often demonstrate the lack of proper direction that art in the past presumably have, which is, to communicate ideas. I would even go as far as to argue that the general standards of art, literature, music, theater and anything else in between, will only go as far as the standard of the society itself and how they perceive themselves.
All in all, art in its very essence — whether it’s visual, music, or theater — is a pretty subjective aspect of life to begin with. By effect, I would say that the quality and assumed purpose of art and artworks are very much heavily influenced by people’s general perception of reality and the way they see things around them. Hence, the standards of what makes a good art, how art should be done, what it stands for and its purpose, would only go as far as the way a society perceive what art is and what it stands for.
In other words, I argue that the society itself is actually the one that would set the standards of art — not the other way around. I would even say that, I believe that most of us as artists — whether we like it or not — also are creating our own artworks by subconsciously absorbing information and taking cues from our own surroundings, thus shaping our own artworks to fit the society’s narrative so as to find a way to express our own personal experiences better, in a way that’s more understandable by other people. At least, I personally am doing that whenever I wanted to create an artwork myself. How about you, if you happen to be an artist yourself?
When it comes down to it, I think it is by no accident that — dare I say — the current shallow, superficial and social media obsessed society we have today, is arguably setting a particular standard on how artists are doing their artworks on its own. From meaningless modern art form we see today, to the simplified lyrics and “worsened” quality of music in the pop music industry — all of these things arguably are pointing in the same direction, which then should give you the general idea of what is happening to our society right now.
Either way, whether you agree or disagree with that, or whether that stands true after all things are concerned, I’m afraid, is something you have to decide for yourself. I am here merely to state my personal opinion and sentiment. Even if I don’t change your mind or that you find my findings went a little bit off the mark, I still hope that you could still see things from a new perspective.
Thank you if you read this far.
What do you think of my take on this subject? Do you agree or disagree on my take on it? If you find my content interesting, do follow me on Medium to be updated on future highlights or check out my profile on Quora to see other things if you’re curious.
Footnote
This writing was part of my content on Quora.
— A simpler copy on Quora.
Feel free to check out my profile over there as well:
— Teguh Li on Quora.
See you around.
