Finding Meaning

FIRST LEVEL OF MEANING: FORMAL

So after we see an object, we can understand its form: the physical attributes of size, shape and mass. With art, this may at first appear to be simple: we can separate out each artistic element and discover how it is used in the work. You had practice doing this in the last two modules. The importance of a formal level of meaning is it allows us to look at any work of art from an objective view.

The invention of the photograph has greatly changed our ideas about what looks ‘correct’. A good example of this idea can be seen looking at the two images below: the first is a digital photo, Foggy Landscape by C. Gildow and the second is a painting by the color field painter, Mark Rothko.

horizontal stripes of soft colors merging into one another.

20+ Best Mark Rothko Paintings images in 2020 | mark rothko paintings, rothko paintings, mark rothko

Left Image: Foggy Landscape, by Christopher Gildow (Used with permission of artist) Right Image: Blue, Green, and Brown , by Mark Rothko, 1952

When you compare the two, you see that formally they are similar; bands of color spread horizontally across the surface in layers. Yet Rothko’s painting is much more reductive than the photo. The space is flatter, sitting on the surface of the canvas with some variations in value, by comparison in the photo you get a feeling of receding space as areas of color merge and overlap each other. So in this case the photo might look more like the blurred atmosphere of a landscape. However, with a bit more context, you may come to see the landscape in Rothko's painting.

Born in Daugavpils, Latvia, as a young man Mark Rothko lived in Portland, Oregon, and hiked the Cascade Mountains. On hikes to higher elevations, he saw the landscape and atmosphere around him and was especially moved by the colors in the sky near the horizon just before sunrise and just after sunset. This phenomenon is called the Belt of Venus, bands of pink, violet and blue near the horizon directly opposite the setting or rising sun, below is an example of the phenomenon:

Belt of Venus

Although some might say that Rothko's color field paintings are not "realistic" based on what a photograph can capture and they don't "see" the landscape in the image, now you can understand how his paintings are based on what he had been looking at, he painted an abstraction of what he saw. Follow the link to read more about Mark Rothko's personal history and how in the beginning, he viewed art as a tool of emotional and religious expression.

Depending on cultural context (which includes technology such as photography), the formal element of making meaning shifts! For example, if we jump back in history, realist paintings from the 19^th century were sometimes ridiculed and rejected for being too lifelike and not ‘ideal’ enough. Theodore Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa, now thought to be one of the most influential paintings of French Romanticism, when first displayed was rejected by critics as a pile of corpses that repelled the viewer because the enormous painting was too real. Follow the link to find out, 15 Things You Should Know About the Raft of the Medusa, including that he built a model of the scene to paint from to achieve a realistic image.

Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, 1818–19, size 16 ft × 23 ft

Bringing it together, the first level of meaning: Form

The rise of modern art produced artistic styles that challenge viewers in finding meaning in the works they see. The use of abstraction and gesture as subject matter runs counter to traditional avenues for finding meaning. However, it is in this gesture-laden approach, that much of the grace and delicacy, as well as power, anger, or other emotions can be conveyed. In other words, it is the application of the elements that can give us clues to a work’s meaning. If we take the formal quality of application (what kind of lines or shapes are created, how the paint is applied, etc.) and combine it with a specific subject (the act of painting itself), you can discover a new meaning from the combination of these visual effects.

When looked at from this perspective, the paintings of the Abstract Expressionists become more meaningful. Abstract Expressionism is a post World War II art movement that started in New York city in the 1940's. It is the first specifically American art movement, comprised of artists struggling to find a voice to express their inner emotions, their inner landscape in response to the devastation of a world war. These artists threw out convention and experimented with every aspect of painting!

https://youtu.be/mesYlui5D3U

This bridge between formal quality and subject matter can be applied to meaning in works of art from many cultures. Gesture, pattern, and abstraction combine to enhance the meaning of more decorative works like the sculptures and paintings from a Ceremonial House ceiling from the Sepik region of New Guinea. The ceremonial house was built as a place for spirits to dwell. The sculptures and paintings themselves indicate abstracted images and geometric designs derived from specific animals, plants, objects, supernatural beings, or other phenomena associated with one of the village clans and reference the ceremony taking place inside.

So, pause before you judge an artwork as being 'good or not' based on how realistic it looks. The form of the artwork is only the first level in understanding meaning.