Objectives

Chapter 2, Developing Visual Literacy, will introduce you to some of the basic terms of "the language of art." The mass-appeal and effect of media in western culture, from magazines and television to the Internet, has made us visually dependent, but not necessarily visually literate. Learning these terms, concepts, and expressions will assist you as you further develop your "visual literacy."

After reading this chapter you should:

1. know the definitions of key terms including:
   • abstract
   • content
   • convention
   • ethnocentric
   • form
   • iconography
   • illusionistic
   • naturalistic
   • nonobjective (or nonrepresentational)
   • objective
   • representational
   • subjective
   • subject matter

2. know the degrees of distance between "real" things and the words and images we use when referring to them. If René Magritte’s painting of a pipe is just a representation of a pipe, why do we look at it as if it is a pipe?

3. know that not all cultures regard representation with the same reverence that we do in the West. Calligraphy is the chief form of art in Muslim culture.

4. understand that while there is a universal recognition of most images, we still must have a language to verbalize or contextualize those images.

5. be familiar with the differences and similarities between representational, abstract and nonobjective art.

6. recognize the relationship between form and content in a given work of art, and observe how in successful works of art they are inseparable.

Learning to appreciate works of art beyond their representational forms requires one to accept both the legitimacy and the power of abstract images and language. All artists strive to affect us with their images—some we admire for their skills, and others for the sensation of feeling or emotion their works generate within us. In The Critical Processtwo works are compared as a means of considering cultural conventions, as well as abstraction vs. naturalism. In some ways, Howling Wolf's drawing combines symbols and images in a language that creates an absolute description of the event in a way that John Taylor's image never could. The language of art enables us to describe what we feel when we view a work of art, both to ourselves and to others with whom we wish to share the experience.

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