The artist and his audience
The style, or manner in which an artist like Dominic Benhura  carves a sculpture gives clues to the meaning of the work

The style, or manner in which an artist like Dominic Benhura carves a sculpture gives clues to the meaning of the work

Knowledge Mushohwe Art Zone

The use of exaggeration or irony in an artwork for example is a sign that meaning can only be deduced if the viewer is able to identify and decode these techniques that are both deliberate and uncomplicated.

Nowadays, money is the primary reason behind creating artworks. Because most artists solely depend on the products they make for a living, the desire to produce or in some cases to reproduce is driven by “bread and butter” considerations.

However, objectives aside, the need for ‘meaningful’ content in every artwork relegates money matters to the background.

That the artist needs to feed his family is an irrelevant factor for his targeted audience.

The artist’s ability to attract buyers to his/her art depends mostly on the proficiency of the artist in putting together sets of codes that emit information.

The information always carries emotional value and if a viewer ignores that second layer in the meaning, the communication model becomes less effective.

It is easy for the average viewer to fail to connect emotionally with a work of art if the coded massages within are either not enough or poorly assembled.

Creating an artwork requires two strong convictions — the ability to create an image using a specific style, and a skill to provide layers of information that combine to form the overall meaning.

Ability to create an image is a skill cultivated over many years.

But the method of encoding is a more complex dynamic linked to shared knowledge between the artist and the audience.

And because visual meaning is mostly culturally-based, context is key.

There are a number of different groups of codes within an artwork and it is through determining what they mean that the overall objective of the entire composition is realised.

Techniques used to unite components of an image to enable them to convey meaning jointly, referred to as codes of content, form the basic foundation for creating meaning within an artwork.

In oil paintings for example, people, furniture, scenery, buildings, streets or any identifiable object created by the painter and within the composition fall into this category collectively forming the content of the image.

Codes are essential components of an artwork as it is through them that meaning can be deduced.

The style, or manner in which an artist forms a composition also gives clues linked to meaning.

The use of exaggeration or irony in an artwork for example is a sign that meaning can only be deduced if the viewer is able to identify and decode these techniques that are both deliberate and uncomplicated.

Meaning in an artwork is more important than style and skill, because it is the ultimate objective of creative products.

Some artists’ style changes as they get older and that movement away from realism and towards abstraction shows that the one indispensable part of art is meaning.

Abstract artists take pride in knowing that they can communicate with a wide audience using very limited visual clues.

The overall objective of an artwork lays less in aesthetic value, because beauty without meaning is like a stunningly attractive model that is also illiterate.

The main purpose of art is to have the ability to communicate with an audience, and the longer the conversation is, the better.

Art does not achieve its intentions by showing remarkable resemblance to the something it represents.

The ‘wow, this looks exactly like James’ factor is less important than understanding the reasons for such a depiction.

The skill of an artist therefore extends well beyond ability to create an image using a personalized style.

Generally, an illustrator is said to be good if the drawings are technically well executed, when drawings bear a close resemblance to reality.

But what is often overlooked is that, regardless of how well the drawings are generated, if clues on their meaning are inadequate, they are reduced to represent irrelevant visual language no one understands.

Misguided artists think because the informalities related to their work make them odd members of society, their work should be a reflection of that ‘strangeness’ by being deliberately cryptic.

There is no point in making works of art if no one but the artist and close allies understand them.

An artwork is in a way like a newspaper — no one is around to give additional information when the public attempts to decode messages from within, therefore information needs to be as clear and as easily accessible as possible.

Being intentionally vague defeats the whole purpose of creative production.

Meaning is the principal objective of art.

Similar to music, the message the work emits is multi-layered and includes some form of emotional content.

But for any artwork to mean anything, the creator must rely on their lived experience, inspirations and aspirations in encoding within their work with messages that are significant to a wide audience and easy to decode.

No amount of raw artistic talent or stylistic craftsmanship can make up for lack of direct and relevant communication between a work of art and a viewer.

Just like in linguistics, meaning is everything.

Visual communication is a two-way model initiated by the artwork that provokes, demands or solicits a response from the viewer.

When the two strike a meaningful conversation where the viewer is left with both answers and questions, it’s a done deal.

That is all there is to it with visual art.

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