Art as Communication

 

Art as Communication

 Elisabeth Puruto

 

For the sake of simplicity masculine personal pronouns only are used. This is in no way meant as prejudice towards female artists.

 

Artists are communicators. There are very few artists who want to keep the products of their creative minds and hands to themselves. They may prefer to work in a solitary environment because it furthers concentration and development of thoughts and ideas but when the painting, the sculpture, the wall hanging or the story has been finished it needs to be shared with others in order to convey the message or messages embedded in it.

Consider visual arts.  Have you ever thought about the variety of expressions possible? The art galleries and museums of the world are filled with millions of paintings, sculptures and other expressions of visual communication. And yet – are there ever two items exactly the same? Even by the same artist? How amazingly varied are the expressions in visual art!

In almost all instances the artist wants to convey a particular thought, an idea, a feeling to those who will be seeing his work. Not all who look at a painting perceive what the artist wanted to express, and a psychologist may say that the artist himself does not always know what he wants to say through his work. Symbols, colour combinations and shapes can arise out of our subconscious and take on visible dimensions. Even if the viewer knows nothing about the artist he cannot escape the overall mood of a painting. Bright colours lift the spirit, dark ones convey a somber feeling or even depression but these impressions can be influenced by adjacent colours and shapes, by juxtaposition of light and dark or the use of complimentary colours.

Shapes alone can convey a restful feeling or rapid movement even though the lines on the canvas are frozen in space and time.  And when I look at a sculpture I want to touch it, I want to experience that third dimension of communication – its depth. I remember an exhibition of

works by the Swiss sculptor Hans Arp, who, similar to Henry Moore, but on a smaller scale produced beautifully rounded, smooth, shiny forms and figures. A sign in the museum forbade touching the exhibits but like a child, I was drawn to touch them to make my enjoyment of these masterful shapes complete.

When we see a two-dimensional work of art we may be content to feast our eyes on it but a three-dimensional work asks to be explored in all the dimensions in which it was perceived. Its form, its solidity as well as its surface texture.

In this way the observer somehow responds to the artist’s choice of subject by answering his invitation to communicate.

Art can also communicate a powerful healing effect on the viewer, who may be calmed by looking at a relaxing scene, rejuvenated by viewing a lively dance of happy children in a meadow, or consoled by a picture of the prodigal son being received by his father. But often, though not always, the greater healing occurs in the artist himself when releasing sorrow, pain, hurt, fear or other stressful emotions into a creative outlet. The result is not always a disturbing or sorrowful work of art. I know from my own experience that in times of great difficulties the simple act of creating something with my hands brought back joy and self-esteem. First, there was the meditative influence of perceiving in my mind a piece of art, then the concentration in making it and finally communicating the finished work to others by showing it to them and receiving a positive reply.  Many people discovered their hitherto hidden talent for creative work during times of distress.

Working in the mission field with mentally and physically handicapped children in Bangkok I saw to my amazement how not only language barriers but also basic communication barriers were overcome by allowing these children to use paper and colour pencils. Not all were equally ‘talented’ but they all came out of their shell and definitely wanted to share what they had created. Their self-esteem rose and they began to smile and respond.

As in verbal communication, so visual art requires honesty by the ‘sender’ and “receiver’, the artist and the viewer, to establish successful communication, otherwise the artist creates ‘hollow’ images that do not touch the soul of the viewer. The artist has to give a part of himself into his creation that is also the reason why hand-crafted items are valued higher than similar mass produced things, even when the latter are more ‘perfect’. That’s why

paintings by numbers and tracings are no more than exercise pieces. The artist has to think, and sometimes agonize, over his work like a writer over a poem or a novel; the technique may become easier in time but the content always demands honest expression.

The viewer, too, needs to be honest, allowing the work of art to touch what it wants to touch – or walk away. It is perfectly legitimate to walk away from an artistic expression, like from any other communication, if we feel insulted or if we really do not understand the language of it but it would be dishonest to pretend overwhelming interest and arousal of feelings when there is none.

Communication is a two-way process in visual art as well as in a spoken or written way.

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