Language and Understanding

Greetings all,

 

Over the course of my years on this planet, certain things have crossed my path and stolen my attention.  One such thing began in University while I pursued an English degree.  My entire first class was instruction on Dictionaries and proper source material.  The whole class stunned me, because I didn’t think people needed to be told that the National Enquirer is not reliable and that it’s important for people to comprehend what you’ve written.

My minor irritation here stems from that day.  In my quest to determine which style of art my work belongs in, I've come across Abstract, Art Nouveau, Geometric, and Surrealism.  During this search, I’m more in favor of the conclusion that there is no apt way to define every aspect of my style. 

Let us first be on the same page.  

That's always a good place to start.

To my understanding, Abstract Art is a representation of anything which lacks definite realism.  An Abstract Artist may create something loosely based on reality that a viewer may identify it, but the Artist doesn't desire to recreate the real world.  However, this style can also encompass seemingly random shapes and figures organized in whichever manner the Artist chooses - Geometric Abstraction.

I've given only two definitions above.  There are more, and that doesn't cease to amaze me that we're so obsessed with creating words to categorize our world, so much so, that defining something we see becomes difficult. 

For instance, the word ‘jargon’ refers to words with specific definition in a certain industry.  In effect, we created a word to describe how some people use words differently.  I’d be interested to know how many words we have, even compared to 50 years ago.  This will be a question for another day.

In our world, it's no wonder the people debate about things like words.  They don't all mean one thing to every person, and people wage intellectual wars over such nonsense.  Granted, most people also have an insatiable urge to be right all of the time.

So, to be abstract, by the simplest form of the adjective definition, is to lack physical existence.  Than, to create Abstract Art should simply be to draw something that doesn't have a physical form.  However, in drawing it, it’s being given form.  The whole definition has been manipulated to include an out of focus reality to suit an idea that developed quite recently.

I find this mildly disheartening, because we all depend very heavily on language to communicate.  I know the tone of our voice and the twitch of our faces play a part, but ultimately, right now, you are relying on my words to understand my thoughts – scattered as they often are.

The occurrence of misunderstandings is only becoming more frequent.  I fear, eventually, meaningful and effective communication will cease to exist.  To solidify my point, please ask yourself the following questions.

How many times have you had to clarify what you meant to say in the past week?

How many times in a day are you confused after interacting with another human?

How many times did you ask yourself what I’m talking about in this entry?

 

Yours Truly,

~Angel and the Stickmen