Re: From abstract to concrete visual representations

Gunnar,

> It's especially important
> to note that one doesn't
> have to address issues of
> the nature of reality or
> the reality of anything to
> note stylistic differences
> in representation.

True. And that explains quite a bit. <bg>

I've never been much for stylistics (as should be clear by now to most
people who read my posts ;-) or other forms of what I think of as
aesthetic evaluation.

And that's not because I accept silly style vs. substance binaries, or
consider stylistics unimportant. Quite the contrary.

It's just that my own research interests lie elsewhere -- always have.

And partly because of this, I just don't have the knowledge and
training to recognize and/or discuss "stylistic differences in
representation" of the sort described in "The Big Triangle."

So I face a *really* steep learning curve here (as would others, I
expect, who are as graphically challenged as am I).

The temptation to do what I normally do -- ignore the pix -- is strong!

(So much for unified theories, huh? ;-)

> Any analytical tool is a
> distortion of one kind or
> another. The question is
> whether the tool's
> usefulness is outweighed
> by the distortion.

Well, here's a test of this particular tool's cross-disciplinary
usefulness: what happens if those of you who work with signage and
know the genre well adapt the "The Big Triangle" for it, instead of
comics....

Or how about type? Can we plot typefaces in a similar manner?

And if so, is it a helpful way of organizing our thinking about what
it is we do, and how we might do it better?

In other words, is it a good heuristic for professionals other than
comics artists?

> BTW, Daniel Harris'
> assigning natural status
> to some colors but
> withholding it for others
> is a particularly odd bit
> of rhetoric.

Harris' book is copyright 2000, and that may have something to do with it.

(When did green become the iconic color for "natural"? ;-)

I expect he'd write that passage somewhat differently today....

Still, I thought Harris made several good points.

E.g., I've long wondered how much U.S. consumerist visual culture
influences our choice of colors in art for hospitals and
health-related communications?

I have an account of a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minnesota, in which a mother from Southern California, documenting for
concerned family and friends her adult son's visit to specialists
there, wrote about the Clinic's collection of art (which must be
something: I've not seen it myself).

Here's what she says:

	"Day 1
	"... The Mayo is a beautiful, great working center filled to
	the brim with sick people in all shapes, kinds and ages. If
	you want to know what old age can be just visit this place.
	The place works on precision but you enter the waiting room
	for a chest x-ray and there are hundreds sitting there and
	within 15 min you are called. There are about 500 wheel chairs
	in the front lobby and almost any floor, hallway, etc. you
	will find them just parked in case they are needed. Every taxi
	and van is fitted with ramps, etc. to accommodate them.
	The buildings we are in are made of all kinds of marble,
	wonderful woods and glass. The art is worthy of MOMA and S.
	and I took an art tour at 1:30 for close to 2 hrs. Agam's son
	had a heart operation here so they have lots of his work.
	Warhols are everywhere. Rodin, Miro, etc and we just saw the
	main floor. Tomorrow S. and I will hit every floor in 2
	buildings because they have works on each floor -- some art,
	some glass, some native art and all were donated to Mayo or
	commissioned and paid for by donated money. They have the 2nd
	largest collection of Chihuly's glass chandeliers. It is
	mighty impressive....

	"Day 2
	"... We took the shuttle back and he is resting now. We
	checked with the nurse and found out that we should be able to
	get home Thursday night rather than Friday or Saturday so that
	meant lots of time on the phone changing our plans. S. and I
	then proceeded to hit every floor in the 2 buildings to look
	at the art -- some we liked and others not at all. The art is
	all modern since they said patients like lots of bright
	colors...."

In the end, I don't suppose it really matters how much the natural
preference for bright, bold colors in this setting is culturally driven.

We can learn a lot just from knowing that the preference exists.

Although whether it tells us anything as to whether or not we should
use bold colors for hospital signage (back to Elizabeth's question), I
really don't know!

Deborah
_____

Deborah Taylor-Pearce
[email protected]









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