Something I’ve been working on during down time at work because I’m an Art History NERD!

 

Gesture in real time complements communication with expression, emotion, and meaning to the world around us. I cannot help but acknowledge gesture in the visual arts. How can we use gesture to communicate in a silent medium?

When working in a silent medium, gesture can carry many roles. Pre-20th century gesture was a subject of pictorial representations. Gesture provides instructional details for a task, dramatizes action and movement, and iconographic interpretations to communicate meaning. In addition to pictorial representations, the rendered or painterly motions in mark making of modern art adopts the use of gesture.¹

Ancient Egyptian images represent stiff gestures of performing a task and figural postures indicate the status of a person.²

One of the most famous ancient pieces, The Discus-Thrower, demonstrates gesture in the round. The viewers can feel the anticipated moment of the swing and releasing of the disc. This still moment in the course of an act allows indication of the action underway.³

Body motion communicates meaning in part by foreshadowing what comes next.

 to be continued…

Grünewald’s notoriously innovative use of gesture forced a shift in figural representations in Northern Renaissance… (My favorite! One day I hope to see this!)

Source:

Streeck, Jürgen. “Depicting Gestures: Examples of the Analysis of Embodied Communication in the Arts of the West.” The University of Texas at Austin Gesture 9:1 (2009): 1-34. Accessed 2015.

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this article today.

A Troublemaker’s Manifesto: The Benefits of Wandering
-by Sean Blanda

…solitude matters and that for some people it is the air that they breathe. And in fact, we have known for centuries about the transcendent power of solitude. It’s only recently that we’ve strangely begun to forget it.

–Susan Cain

In history, the silent protest originated as a non-destructive way to communicate a message while avoiding violent confrontation with police. The famous, “parade of silent protest” in 1917 demonstrated the power of a silent message. A silent and united community that identifies themselves as victims of violence and injustice can evoke much stronger empathetic despair than a loud, aggressive group protest.¹

I can’t help but wonder, In such a self-involved and plugged-in world, can anyone hear the silence today? When is dialogue necessary? Is silence the best way to communicate a serious issue today, especially an issue where silence is the enemy? How many conversations can this actually create in our world today?

References:

1. Barron, James. “A History of Making Protest Messages Heard, Silently.” City Room.
2.“Students March on Campus to Protest Sexual Assault.”

Martin Scorsese – The Art of Silence from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.

Even though Martin Scorsese is famous for his use of music, one of his best traits is his deliberate and powerful use of silence. Take a glimpse at fifty years of this simple technique from one of cinema’s masters. SPOILERS for Shutter Island (2010), Superman (1978) and Man of Steel (2013)

-Tony Zhou

Within each of us there is a silence – a silence as vast as the universe. We are afraid of it . . . and we long for it.

When we experience that silence, we remember who we are: creatures of the stars, created from the birth of galaxies, created from the cooling of this plane, created from dust and gas, created from the elements, created from time and space . . . created from silence.

-Gunilla Norris

Artist Ahn Kyu-chul invites audiences to engage in his participatory art installations

By Lee Woo-young

Here is a very interesting article I found in Korea Herald about a new exhibit of conceptual artist, Ahn Kyu-chul, which tries to explore themes of silence, solitude, and remembrance. What I enjoy most about the sounds of this multi-part exhibit, titled “Invisible Land of Love,” is it seems very open to viewer interpretation. I imagine a wide variety of both confused and specific emotions will develop for viewers, which I’m sure the artist intends.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150917001129