[ARTS `1] Reading 05 - Reading the Image

A L I C E G. G U I L L E R M O

images on billboards, paintings, sculptures, drawings, illustrations, prints, cartoons, posters, murals, photographs, film, and computer graphics

At every turn, we are surrounded by

media-oil, acrylic, watercolor, sculptural materials, film, mixed media, and others

conveyed through various

techniques, processes and technical approaches to image-making

all of which have their own

Understanding art

has to do with "reading" the visual work as a re-presentation of the world, an artistic construct and signifying practice conveying a complex of ideas, feelings, values, attitudes, moods, and atmospheres that derive from world views and ideologies

"reading" the visual work

an artistic construct and signifying practice

a complex of ideas, feelings, values, attitudes, moods, and atmospheres that derive from world views and ideologies

an artistic construct and signifying practice conveying

Since art is a vital part of our lives

reason it is important for us to know and understand it better

the formulation of methods of analyzing it

Exposure to different kinds of art forms and the practice of writing on art can lead to

introductory essay

an effort at shaping a method of analysis

semiotic approach

able to show how the material and ideational aspects are closely interlinked, if not fused, in the work of art

formalist view which limits itself to the formal premises of the work

simple semiotic approach goes beyond

coordinates of society and history in a dynamic relationship of engagement

advances a broader aesthetics

technical standards of excellence

Each visual art form has its own

choice and use of a medium with its particular properties and suitable techniques

technical standards of excellence, involving

the observation of processes

Because of this, it is necessary to familiarize oneself with the different art mediums and techniques through

these enter into the meaning of the work

It is essential to understand the mediums and processes involved in art-making because

practical approach

One can take for a preliminary understanding of the visual work, such as a painting

going through the basic documentary information about the work

We can begin by

museums, galleries, and other exhibit venues in catalogues, brochures, and artist folios

This kind of information is provided by

significant or immaterial to the meaning of the work

title may be

title or title of the work

textual element which may or may not contribute to its meaning

can be a simple label identifying the subject

relation of the title to the work

convenient naming device

label identifying the subject merely a

ironic relationship to the work or may carry a sly or witty comment about the work or its subject

At times, however, title bears an

adds a literary dimension to the work in the interplay of the visual and the literary

If significant, the title

artist’s name

brings in biographical data

generation the artist belong, peers, dominant artistic trends during his active years, personal background and training, did he keep records, diaries, publish statements that may shed light on his art

biographical data

medium and techniques

First of all, this requires that the work be identified as a two-dimensional or a three-dimensional work

drawings, illustrations, paintings, prints, posters, flat tapestries and wall hangings, mosaics, mats, textile paintings (such as batik, glass drawings, or paintings), and any other work which is reckoned in terms of length and width

Two-dimensional works include

academic hierarchization since they each have their own standards of artistic excellence

All these forms resist

sculptures in various materials, such as wood, stone, metal, glass, or they may be assemblages of found objects or junk parts

Three-dimensional forms include

installations made of different materials composed within a defined space

e also fall under three-dimensional works

Much of folk art, such as clay pottery and baskets combining design and function

e three-dimensional in form

indigenous ritual objects made by wood carving, such as the lfugao bulul.

also true (three-dimensional in form)

documentation

identifies the medium and sometimes the techniques

artistic process involving particular materials and techniques and produced under particular social conditions of production, both personal and social

Likewise, there should be a keen awareness of the painting, sculpture, print, or other form not just as a completed work but also as

a knowledge of the properties and limitations of the different kinds of media and their techniques

It is also necessary to have

conveyors of meaning and not just superficial or incidental aspects of the work

For materials and techniques are also

the sheer interest of novelty but should be part of the work's total meaning

Technical innovations do not or should not exist only for themselves in

the natural and familiar environment and precludes the sense of alienation experienced by ordinary viewers before artworks made from inaccessible specialist materials

The use of indigenous materials evokes

A note

must be added regarding the ground of a painting

greater specificity than merely canvas, paper, or wood panel

There are occasions in which the description of the ground requires

Different kinds of cloth, canvas, and wood

have been used as ground at different periods and, as such, they aid in situating the work in a particular time and place

different art papers and handmade paper produced from a wide variety of organic materials

It is also useful to identify the particular kind of paper used, such as the

pigments and coloring substances, their compositions and origins, as well as the tools used in the technical execution

This also goes for the

art media are continually being enriched, as in the use of computers in digital imaging

It is likewise important to note that with the advances in communications technology

here are two interrelated aspects in the study of art

basic premise

art has its specificity that is, its particular language or vocabulary that has to do with the media, techniques, and visual elements of art and that constitute it as a distinct area of human knowledge and signifying practice

the first aspect

it is what constitutes art as a particular human activity different from the others (specificity)

This is not just what is commonly called the formal aspect of art, but

art, while it has its specificity is at the same time historically situated and shaped by social, economic, and political forces

The other aspect

Both aspects

need to be taken into account to be able to fully understand and appreciate art

the exclusive study of the social determinants risks collapsing the artistic into the sociological

For a study of the formal elements alone will not lead to a full understanding of the work, in the same way that

a unique and highly nuanced meaning, and this uniqueness and semantic richness arise from the original use of the elements and resources of art

A visual work as an iconic or pictorial sign has

Needless to say, not statemental

the meaning, signification, or system of significations of a work is

reduces meaning to a summary, statement, or single insight or message

nor is the understanding of a work a reductive process that

the work conveys and to which the viewer responds, bringing in the breadth of his cultural background, artistic exposure and training, and human experience in a dialogic relationship with the artwork

Meaning in art is a complex of intellectual, emotional, and sensory significations, which

implying a range of possible significations that a work may accommodate, at the same time that it suggests semantic parameters

One may speak of a work's "horizon of meaning" (Eagleton 1991),

a more stable and consensual field of meaning, away from erratic, whimsical, purely subjective, and impressionistic readings

The analytic study of the various elements and material features of the work should lead to

the basic semiotic, the iconic, the contextual, and the evaluative planes

Having taken note of the information provided by the basic documentation of the work, we then proceed to the four planes of analysis

the elements and the general technical and physical aspects of the work with their semantic meaning-conveying potential

The basic semiotic plane covers

visual elements, choice of medium and technique, format of the work and other physical properties and marks

the basic semiotic plane includes

line, value, color, texture, shape, composition in since, movement—how they are used

Visual elements refer to

realized, confirmed, and verified in relation to the other elements forming the text of the work

Each element has a meaning potential that is

exist contrasting or contradictory relationships, which may be part of the meaning of a work

While the elements usually reinforce one another, there can also

viewed in a highly relational manner and not isolated or compartmentalized

The elements and all material features are thus to be

In contemporary art

art where medium enters more and more into the meaning of the work.

While the European academies or salons of the nineteenth century

decreed the choice of medium

exercises free choice in this respect, a choice determined less by its availability as by its semantic potential

today the artist

handmade paper with its organic allure, irregularities of texture, and uneven edges

is favored by a number of artists because it bears significations conveying the uniquely personal, human, and intimate, in contrast to mass-produced standard paper

the nature of the medium

Technique, of course, goes hand in hand with

valorize the values of spontaneity and the play of chance and accident

Likewise, there are techniques that

emphasize order and control.

while there are techniques that

human psychophysical experiences and the sociocultural conventions of a particular society and period (Matejka and Titunik 1976)

The elements of the visual arts derive their semantic, or meaning-conveying potential, from two large sources, namely,

psychological and physical/sensory are commonly shared;

human psychophysical experiences

a general agreement of what these elements and their usage convey in a work of art

. . . . Because these humanly shared experiences, it is often possible to arrive at

their sociocultural context with its conventions and traditions

Just as important, the meaning-conveying potential of elements also comes from

s the choice of the subject, which may bear social and political implications

The iconic plane includes

questions in the iconic plane

Is the subject meaningful in terms of the sociological context? Does it reflect or have a bearing on the values and ideologies arising in a particular place and time

the iconic plane

the image itself

style of figuration

an important part of the iconic plane.

particular re-presentation or interpretation of the world, a world view, if not ideology

The figurative style is not mere caprice, passing fashion, or the artist’s personal ecriture, beyond these it implies a

situates the work in the personal and social circumstances of its production

The contextual plane likewise

allusions to personal or public events, conditions, stages, as well as influences (such as persons and literary texts) that have been particularly biographical data may play an important part in understanding the work and its view of reality

The work may contain

analyzing the values of a work

The evaluative plane has to do with

the difficult task of evaluating it

After the understanding of the work is

the two aspects of form and content

Often, it is facile to say that evaluation involves

two are regarded as conceptually separate

However, this division is theoretically conservative since

It is semiotic analysis involving the basic semiotic plane, the iconic plane, and the contextual plane

shows how the meaning is produced through the inter-relationship of the signifiers (material features) and signified (concepts, values) in the unique pictorial sign that is the work of art

meaning

At all points anchored in material form

empirical, physical fact

value-laden

value and meaning

ensue from material fat

to what degree the material basis of the work conveys meaning or particular intellectual/emotional contents

Thus, the first consideration in evaluation would be

standards of excellence in the use of the medium and its related techniques

The evaluation of the material basis of the work reckons with

questions posed in the evaluative plane

Is the medium (which includes surface, ground, or material block, instruments, tools, pigments—all these calling for appropriate techniques) used with a high degree of artistic skill, creativity, and insight? Was the particular medium chosen as most appropriate in conveying general or specific significations? …

Understanding and evaluating the technical side of the work

requires a familiarity with and sensitivity to the properties of medium

it is possible for a critic to understand and appreciate a work viewed in its specific sociocultural context without necessarily espousing its ideas

It is to be pointed out, in the same way that one can deeply appreciate a Zen work of art without being a Zen Buddhist oneself

the contextual and, especially, in the evaluative plane of analysis

There may be general consensus on the basic semiotic and iconic planes, but differences may lie in

artists and viewers/critics adhere to diverse value systems that coincide, overlap, or are in oppositions, thus affecting the way they make or look at art

This is so in all class societies riven by conflicting interests, such as ours, it is only to be expected that

the semantic focus and parameters of the work and from these project its horizons of meaning, it boundaries and limitations, its semantic implications and ideological orientations., its conservative or transformative tendencies with respect to human life and society

Thus, after the critic/viewer has gone through the four plane it is possible to determine

parameters that are fluid and continually being expanded and elaborated on in the evercontinuing dialogic experience of art

The critic/viewer thus arrives at a more focused understanding of the work of art which, while it has a sematic core, has