SECTION VAN INTRODUCTION TO KEY THINKERS AND CONCEPTS IN ART, MEDIA AND DESIGN
One of the most important characteristics of the study of art, media and design today is its close relationship to theory. In order to develop your practical work within an academic context, it is essential to be able to relate it to concepts and ideas.
The problem of the connection between theory and practice is not one that can be avoided because the organisation of art, design and media studies around academic principles means that ways of thinking and arguing typical of more intellectual academic fields dominate. In these fields, the rational organisation of words around concepts and ideas is considered very important and valuable, and this principle has been imported into the more practical and visual disciplines of art and design.
It can be argued that the West excessively values an ability to present clear, distinct, rational, objective and analytical ideas through the medium of verbal language. We are uncomfortable with material things and actions, and with states of ambiguity, ambivalence and indeterminacy. This is especially problematic for the study of art, media and design because it is exactly these characteristics that lie at the heart of the visual media. Unlike words, images are intrinsically more vague in meaning – they are polysemic. Furthermore, images make an appeal to our senses ...
Get The Winchester Guide to Keywords and Concepts for International Students in Art, Media and Design now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
