As soon as a person opens their eyes, the approximately 120 to 250 million photoreceptors in both eyes enter into a permanent exchange of information with the environment. Not even five percent can convert the spectrum of light into color signals, and yet these determine the form of visual perception. The fact that people nevertheless see a colorful, sharply contoured environment in the entire field of vision is due to the processing in the brain, an understanding of which is indispensable for explaining visual perception and communication.

In the process of perception, the viewer poses questions to the colorful appearance of the environment through his eye movements and at the same time searches for answers. Using visual gestures, a viewer asks what it is, where something is, where something comes from and where it will go, what something has done, is doing and will do. This question and answer process determines the formation of objects in the process of visual perception.

What is not questioned, whether through words, looks or visual representations, remains in the background of perception and is not seen. This applies to the visual arts, which have long been professionally mediated, as well as to the perception of architectural space. The meaning and significance of spaces, images and texts are objectively present due to the existence of a culturally determined linguistic space and yet must be subjectively explored. The scope, content quality and evaluation of the answers are determined by the attention behavior and previous experience of the viewer.

Link TV report Bayerischer Rundfunk Planet Wissen

Der Beitrag Planet Wissen BR “Colors – Why we see the world in color” erschien zuerst auf Farbpsychologie.

Color in the design process

The right degree of color design, which is always a color coding, must always be renegotiated in the design process in the context of the application situation and task, so that orientation is maintained, remains or is improved. Physical, chemical, neurobiological, psychological, philosophical, semiotic, cultural-historical, sociological and practical findings can provide assistance. Nevertheless, there is no calculation method, description model or planning procedure that can fully capture the multi-layered effects of color in space. Color becomes a design tool when designers, planners and decision-makers move away from conventional assessments such as “beautiful” and “ugly” and instead focus on the communicative functions of color perception and color design.

The function of colors

Colors characterize the climatically and topographically differentiated appearance of the natural area. They enable diverse ways of life, species-specific forms of orientation and communication, they form identity. These biological functions not only characterize the natural space, but also the aesthetics of the cultural space, which brings the forms of human visual communication to life. The expressive and communicative potential of color unfolds with the cultural development of individuals and societies, finding expression in all expressions of life, in words, images, objects, spaces and performances. Color is the most important design tool for the aesthetic design of the environment, as the abstract linear structures of the planning phase are concretized in the atmospheric and material appearance of built spaces. The entire material culture is designed according to the biological principles of visual perception, as people must be able to see the purpose of the artifacts so that they can orient themselves, use them or protect themselves from them.

Colors provide orientation

An indispensable function of color is orientation, since the spatial resolution of all material structures increases exponentially with every differentiable nuance of brightness and every perceptible hue. This principle can be seen in the pixel assignments of a digital image. Entire image planes disappear or appear, shift or enter into new relationships when color and brightness are manipulated. The separation of the color spectrum into chromatic and achromatic colors follows the way the visual system works, which processes the chromaticity and brightness of light and body colors separately. By practicing color perception, the achromatic components of a hue can be identified and assigned to a shade of gray in the spectrum between black and white. The colorful parts can also be assigned to pure colors or color mixtures, whose systematics reflect the processing of visual signals in the brain. By reducing the spectrum to achromatic colors, the perception of the environment shifts, as some levels of information such as light and shadow become more prominent, while others disappear completely. By dispensing with bright colors, the perception of the edges and volumes of buildings and objects increases to the extent that the surface loses significance. Lengths, widths, depths, proportions and joins are brought to the forefront of perception by emphasizing the boundary lines. Information about the time of day, mood, atmosphere, materiality and haptics lose their significance through the abstraction process of colorfulness and become background. Color, which in this way loses its meaning and is used only as a filler for linear structures, easily becomes decoration. The degree of colorfulness shifts the focus of object and spatial perception, which is why colors should always be used for a specific purpose in the design process of architecture and design. Too many colors, or more precisely: color-coded information, can be just as disorienting as too few. Color design is visual communication.

Colors form identity

With the design of the cultural space, the human species clearly distinguishes itself from the appearance of the natural space. The colorfulness of cities, buildings, interiors, everyday objects and works of art heralds new functions that characterize the coexistence of modern societies. Through the cultural evolution of mankind, many requirements for the color coding of the environment have changed. The taste and nutritional value of food, the shape and feel of surfaces, the atmosphere and comfort of living spaces are still assessed on the basis of their color-coded appearance. Added to this are the culturally coded surface colors of countless products, packaging, accessories, interiors and facades, which have significantly changed the evolutionary mechanisms of perception and orientation to this day. Until the formation of modern societies, the colorful design of the cultural space was largely based on the use and application of regional resources and technologies. Imports of building materials, materials and dyes were extremely expensive and could only be used for important building projects, products and works of art. The colorfulness of the historically evolved cultural space reflects economic processes and serves the biological purpose of representation, which controls social behavior within a species. Color and shape codes enable the social differentiation of public and private, poverty and wealth, religiosity and profanity, rurality and urbanity. In the course of cultural history, a regionally differentiated, global color coding system has developed through which we perceive, shape and communicate the identity of individuals and societies. Industrialization brought about a profound change in production, transport and communication conditions. The global use of modern building materials and technologies is standardizing the appearance of all the world’s urban areas, revealing great differences between poverty and wealth, while cultural characteristics are disappearing. The resulting loss of identity calls for a reorientation that poses major challenges for creative planning professions and political decision-makers and demands responsible action.

Colors create space and attract attention

Eye tracking demonstrates the necessity of composing all the significant individual elements in the visual field into a comprehensibly perceivable whole. Since only two degrees of the field of vision can be fixed and consciously seen, the entire rest forms the background of the perceptual situation at that moment. This is not only atmospherically significant, but also guides the gaze to the next significant target in the field of vision. Often there is no fixation of the elements, for which a dwell time of about one second is necessary, but rather only a sweeping glance, which is why many elements are not consciously perceived, although they are evaluated by implicit memory. Peripheral perception is sufficient to recognize important interior and exterior spatial reference elements such as the sky, topography, forests or buildings or walls, ceilings, floors, doors or movement corridors. Individual shapes merge to form larger shape contexts if there is insufficient color differentiation, as the peripheral regions of the retina hardly recognize any details. For this reason, people can find their way through natural and urban spaces without recognizing or remembering many elements. Color can bring things to the forefront of perception or leave them in the background. It therefore has a decisive influence on the culture of memory or visual education, on all visually coded information that people remember about images, objects and spaces. Color generates attention and interest in the perceptual situation, an effect that can be heightened to the point of fascination. Those who are inspired by the colors of the natural or cultural space and pause in front of it in amazement perceive the associated places, content and events more intensively, coherently and in greater detail and also remember them more lastingly.

Color language in the cultural area

The cultural evolutionary process of color perception and color language can be seen in the aesthetics and function of our media and communication technologies. Images, objects, built spaces and performances as well as the technological developments in the information, learning, planning, navigation and communication systems of modern societies illustrate the qualitative leap in the processing of color codes in the brain. The aesthetics of the socio-culturally designed environment serve to communicate thoughts, feelings and possibilities for action. The term beauty, on the other hand, expresses our value judgment, which is shaped by rational and emotional as well as social and individual factors. The appearance of settlement areas, buildings and infrastructures vividly reflects the function of society, which represents a decisive contribution to the cultural evolution of the human species. For visual perception, the cultural space functions like a “vivid memory store”, whose formal structures and content-related meanings guarantee a transfer of knowledge across generations. Urban spaces are inexhaustible learning spaces. Cultivating the language of color through the color codes of clothing, products, interiors, buildings and cities creates identity and provides orientation in an increasingly complex world. Through the conventional use of colour codes, age, gender, cultural affiliation, socialization of people as well as epoch, district formation and regionalization of places can be read from the appearance. Readability and the interpretation of content and function are made more difficult, distorted or prevented if the color design focuses solely on formal effects. The inherent color of materials as well as the colors of coatings and claddings refer to the material substance, the manufacturing process and the intended use. The aesthetics of a color design therefore primarily serve to create spatial orientation, to identify the content and purpose of an object, to create identity and to enable representation.

Color as a design tool

Parallel to the development of modernism, a separation of the design profession into a planning-conceptual and a craft-executing part has become established, which is problematic for many reasons. As a result, few architects and designers today can rely on their own experience of craftsmanship in their design work, which is essential for the visual design of material culture. However, color only becomes a modern design tool when planners have comprehensive theoretical knowledge that they can apply against the background of their own practical experience. As a medium of visual design, color formed an integral part of visual communication alongside form and writing. To date, this semiotically based field of knowledge has only become established in the area of visual design of image media, from which numerous practical applications benefit. Professional image producers from the fields of graphics, illustration, print, internet and film know the formal and content-related effects of colors and can use them in a targeted and efficient way to convey messages on the basis of practical application knowledge. In architecture and urban planning, on the other hand, education in the field of technology was made more scientific, which is why the canon of subjects still focuses primarily on engineering topics. Consequently, the communicative aspects of the built space are currently often pushed into the background. As a rule, planners do not use color and light strategically to vividly convey the meaning and functional characteristics of built spaces, as they lack knowledge and experience due to gaps in the curriculum of many educational institutions. Like the technological effects, the multi-layered communicative effects of color must be considered throughout the entire design, planning and implementation process. To achieve this, color must first of all experience a holistic perception of its function as a line-, surface-, body- and space-forming element, as an emotionalizing communication medium, as an identification-forming orientation system, as a visual-haptic surface quality as well as an atmospheric light quality. The communication science, cultural history, natural science, technology, aesthetics and practical application of color should therefore be dealt with in all educational institutions of crafts, technology, design, art and architecture. No one can avoid dealing with color, because Paul Watzlawick’s axiom also applies to the medium of visual design and communication: you cannot not design in color.

Remark:

This text contains excerpts from my article “Die Funktion der Farbe – Einführung in die Farbtheorie und Begriffsklärung”, in Axel Buether, FARBE, DETAIL PRAXIS 2014

Further information on the topic of color perception and communication in: Axel Buether: The formation of spatial-visual competence. Neurobiological foundations for the methodical promotion of vivid perception, imagination and representation in the design and communication process , Series No. 23 Burg Giebichenstein Halle 2010

Link to the luxlumina magazine

Link to column 15 2016 Color, light and atmosphere

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Der Beitrag The language of colors erschien zuerst auf Farbpsychologie.

Denkwerk artwork

Lecture, January 4, 2014, 6:30 p.m., Berlin, Think tank

Preliminary remark

In line with the cultural theory ofthe “open work of art”developed by Umberto Eco, cultural artifacts are never finished, for they find their completion only at the moment of their perception. [1] The aesthetic perspective on the object of art is therefore entirely different from the historical or economic one. In “The Origin of the Work of Art,” Heidegger speaks of“the setting of truth into the work,”whereby the work becomes the site of a mediating process and inspires humans to seek the truth.[2] The concept of the openness of works of art can be extended to all products of human cultural creation, which become objects of human learning both through the act of their creation and through their perception and use. The principle of their creation in the production process and recreation in the reception process ensures that people engage with the ideas underlying the creation as a basis for discourse, that they begin to ask their own questions and seek their own answers. The productive learning process that an object of human activity triggers in the mind of its creator or recipient—the impulse that is passed on, which generates inspiration, creativity, and motivation, and initiates new actions, sets the result of the work expended apart from the multitude of traces a person leaves behind in their environment.

The concept of a work

Each work ( ahd. werka – Work ) represents the result of a productive activity and thus forms the material counterpart or the ideal expression of the intellectual or manual work performed for this purpose. The benefit of a work is not limited to the possibilities of its ideal and material utilization, but always includes the educational process of its author. Through the production process, verbal skills recede into the background, while the function of sensory perception moves to the center of the productive debate, which, like language, functions as an instrument of knowledge and understanding as well as problem-solving and mediation. The practices necessary for the production of works also demand and develop knowledge, skills and abilities of the content and methods, tools and materials, media and effects relevant to the creation process. The formation of the mental and material material into a work takes place through the visualization, embodiment and spatialization of the ideas introduced into the work process or generated from it ( gr. idea – idea, opinion, appearance, archetype ). To produce a work of art, a person needs a driving force or a motive (lat. motus – movement, drive ), which comprises the sum of the motives that move him to the work process or drive him to its end.

Every work remains dependent on the will and intent of its producer or conceptual author to the extent that it clearly conveys to users, listeners, and viewers the conditions and intentions behind its creation and prescribes its use. A work, on the other hand, only achieves independence through its ambiguity, since this allows it to become the subject of new intellectual and practical debates within the context of its reception. The creation of a work is innovative ( lat. innovare – innovate ) when it contributes to the renewal of the thoughts and practices of its creator. However, a work only becomes innovative when it contributes to the renewal of society, i.e. when it has an impact on the present of its reception. In terms of the power of change, it makes no difference whether works tell a coherent or incoherent story, make use of abstract or concrete formal elements, permit unambiguous or ambiguous readings, have been completed or remain unfinished in the sense of a draft or a sketch of an idea.

Every creator lives on and exerts an influence through his or her work in future societies, even if the “artificial genes” passed down do not create life, but rather culture. The ambivalent nature of the work places its creator in a dilemma, since in it—as in the continued existence of his biological descendants—he will be both present and absent at the same time. James Joyce explores this theme in his final novel, which he initially published under the title“Work in Progress.”The novel is based on the Irish ballad “Finnegan’s Wake,” which tells the story of the death of the master builder Tim Finnegan, who is awakened by the boisterous celebration of his own funeral.[3] Every work gives rise to a chain of new perceptions, thoughts, and actions within societies over which the author no longer has any control, even though he is present in it in a very personal way.

The work as a source of knowledge

This powerlessness and loss of control over the conditions of reception distinguishes the work form from personal conversation, from a lively discourse in which the author can offer explanations, react to misunderstandings, admit mistakes or record thoughts. This silent skill of the work already had a disturbing effect when outstanding thinkers of Greek antiquity such as Socrates decided to reject the writing, visualization or materialization of knowledge more than 2,400 years ago.

Plato also regarded textual and pictorial works as secondary sources of personally acquired knowledge and self-made experiences. In his view, an idea possesses authenticity and credibility neither through the work nor through the presence of the author, but solely through the way in which it is conveyed.

The art is therefore not in imitation (lat. imitatio – imitation, replica ) of ideas through the work, but in the persuasion of the audience through the personality of the author in a question and answer process. Plato understands the art of oratory(ancient Greek rhetorike, techne) as the guidance of the soul, which in his view can only be achieved in the form of a personal dialog ( Old Greek diálogos – conversation’ talk ) can be successful. For him, on the other hand, works are monologic forms of expression through which the author can instruct his listeners or viewers, but cannot bring about knowledge, which he equates with self-knowledge. Plato criticizes the nature of the work, which is an indirect form of transmission and does not allow the author to address the audience directly. Where it is not possible to react to a lack of knowledge, bias or simply false expectations, knowledge is left to chance. The aim of imparting knowledge, passing on experience and creating insight is lost sight of, the work becomes an end in itself.

Dialogue Between Socrates and Phaedrus [4]
“SOCRATES: So anyone who believes he can leave behind an art in writing, and likewise anyone who accepts it, as if something clear and reliable could be gleaned from letters, must be simple-minded enough and, in fact, unaware of Ammon’s maxim, believing that written speeches are anything more than a memory aid for those who already know what the text is about.”

PHAIDROS: Very true!

SOCRATES: For writing has this defect, O Phaedrus, and in this it is like painting. For the works of these, too, stand there as if alive, but if you ask them anything, they remain very nobly silent. In the same way the speeches, you might think they speak as if they understood something, but if you ask about something of what is said with the intention of instructing you, they always indicate only one and the same thing. And when it is once written, every speech goes about in all places, equally among those who understand it and among those for whom it does not belong, and does not understand to whom it should speak and to whom it should not. And if she is insulted and unfairly abused, she always needs her father’s help, because she is neither able to protect nor help herself.”

Plato, like his teacher Socrates, did not dispense with the written form, but he circumvented the problems of monologic narrative forms by inventing the “Platonic dialog” named after him. With the help of the dialog form, he brings Socrates’ speeches into work form, thereby removing one of the most influential sources of human thought from oblivion. The timeless topicality and impact of his discourses, preserved solely through the work form, can be traced back through cultural history.

It is not mortal brains, but the enduring works of culture that shape humanity’s memory—a thesis that is not meant metaphorically, as it can be substantiated by neurobiological mechanisms. Thus, neuropsychologist Karl Gegenfurtner describes the environment asthe “external image storage”of human memory, whose networking and processing structures ensure the connectivity and legibility of external information.[5] Once a work is created, the author’s externalized message is conveyed to readers, listeners, and observers within the context of their respective perceptual situations, thereby bringing the ideas underlying the work to life of their own accord.

The Platonic dialogue format continually challenges the reader to ask all these questions for themselves, while at the same time enabling them to follow the line of reasoning presented, to offer criticism, and to form their own judgment. The articulation of the questions in the dialogic form also embodies the essence of scientific inquiry, as it allows for the verification and falsification of the theses presented. Furthermore, the dialogic form leaves open the possibility of further answers to the questions raised, thereby passing the problem on to the reader.

Nevertheless, Plato does not refrain from instructing his readers in his work, as all the questions posed are answered and at the same time it is revealed that the dialog form is used as a didactic means of developing the problem. By setting up the discourse, an exchange of experiences across society and generations is stimulated, as long as it inspires people to think and act in a reciprocal way. Works that exist before history not only convey to the recipient the discourse of their time of origin, but also provide an occasion and model for their actualization in the context of the present. A timeless work of thought communicates not only the content, but also the joy of discursive thinking, in which the search for the convincing argument incites the recipient to conduct his own research, infects or infects him to shape the discourse by means of his own creations in order to keep its productive power alive. In this sense, works form the cultural seed, the genetic material separate from the body, which keeps the discourse on determining the position of human existence in the environment open, versatile and alive from the beginning of cultural evolution to the present day.

The creation process as a source of knowledge

Whereas Plato’s form was the embossing material of an eternal idea existing in it in the form of an image, Aristotle’s inner spiritual form, rooted in the soul of the author, is only realized through the shaping of the sensual material. For him, a work is more than the depiction or imitation of a universal principle, as the design or thought is realized in the concrete form and thus becomes accessible to thought. The manufacturing process becomes a creative process of perception of the particular, the craft becomes a sensual form of knowledge. While the work of depiction seeks to achieve maximum similarity to preconceived forms of thought and perception through masterly craftsmanship, the focus of the work of allegory shifts to the aesthetic form of knowledge, which is on a par with the intellectual work of science.

The observer discerns the universal in the particular through rational thought (cogitatio). The insight gained through sensory perception (cognitio sensitiva), on the other hand, consists in recognizing the particular in its particularity.[6] In his *Rhetoric*, Aristotle pointed out the active role of the listener, who should be enabled by the speaker to think and judge independently about the past and the future.[7] The creative quality of a work—whether word or image—is thus evident in the effects it has on the recipient, who thereby gains the freedom and responsibility to form their own judgment.

The act of creation is not only craftsmanship, but also the art of teaching or didactics(didaskein – to teach), whereby quality criteria such as clarity, interest, enthusiasm, awe and persuasiveness or even readability, comprehensibility and sustainability gain in importance.

Not only what a work conveys and what it is used for, but also how it conveys its message and how it is used, become central components of the work’s genesis. The question of “how” opens up a debate—one that continues to this day—regarding human perception and its role in thinking, imagining, representing, and shaping reality. Aristotle’s insight into the nature of human perception did not gain widespread acceptance until 2,000 years later, when Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, in his 1750 work *Aesthetica*, gave new impetus to the science of perception.[8] This return of art and the sciences to the roots of aesthetics (aisthetos—that which is perceptible) was possible because, with the onset of the Enlightenment, the symbolically charged work of art—which stood far above mere craftsmanship—emancipated itself from its function as a representative of state and religious claims to omnipotence and gradually regained the independent critical function that Aristotle had once intended for it.

The emotional quality of image perception

However, as one of the most important theorists of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas already followed Aristotle to the extent that, in contrast to Plato’s view, he did not define man and nature as images of eternal ideas or divine principles, but as their bodily and material realization. Man and nature thus become a perfect work of creation through which the divine spirit reveals itself in infinite diversity as the idea underlying all existence. The Church bears responsibility for the preservation and function of creation as God’s representative on earth, which gives it an unrestricted right to interpret God’s will, which it exercises through the power of interpretation and the sovereignty of representation of images and works of thought. The medieval role of the work of art as a mediator of absolute truth and divine will deliberately deprives the recipient of the freedom of independent knowledge and judgment, since criticism of the image is considered heresy ( gr. Hairesis – Choice, Conviction ) is perceived.

The revelation of the divine principle of creation calls for quiet reverence and devout inwardness. The authors of the works are not important, they remain in the background and are often not even handed down. The variance and richness of countless pictorial works convey to viewers, most of whom are illiterate, a ready-made, self-contained, irrefutable world view that represents the belief in one truth and makes independent thought superfluous.

The widespread illiteracy of the Middle Ages is continued in the realm of pictorial works, whose motifs are for the most part richly decorated metaphorical interpretations of the Bible and illustrate and confirm the truth of the spoken word in a vivid way. The Visual illiteracy, as criticized by Charles-Pierre Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin at the beginning of the age of film and photography, is the cause of human immaturity, which can only be overcome through cultural education. [9 ] Cultural education in the sense of the Enlightenment is not achieved through verbal and visual literacy alone, but requires the ability to engage in discourse in which independent thinking can emerge and develop. Cultural educational success is therefore not reflected in the quantity of memorized knowledge, nor in practicable manual skills or knowledge of methods, but solely in the quality of the discursive process of thinking and creating, the result of which manifests itself in the form of the work.

The restrictions on the content of medieval arts and crafts gave an enormous developmental boost to the examination of the manner of sensual perception, as the authors invested their creative energy in the design and persuasive power of the work form. The use of globally traded color pigments, dramatic lighting scenarios, fragile constructions, geometric forms, imaginative ornamentation, unusual perspectives, precious materials and complex processing techniques promotes the sublimation or spiritual exaltation of the pictorial object. Medieval artists such as Giotto, who lived at the turn of the 13. to the 14th century. was later appropriated as a pioneer of the Renaissance, although the inventions named for it all apply to the effect of the content, but never call it into question.

This illustrates the extent to which the genesis of each work—in terms of both content and form—reflects the social discourse of the period in which it was created, which in turn is the result of other discourses. The history of a work cannot therefore be reconstructed in a linear and hierarchical manner, but rather much more effectively in the rhizomatic form that Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari propose in their publication *A Thousand Plateaus*[10] as an organizational structure for a contemporary model of knowledge and world description. The question of how to organize the works of human culture has an epistemological dimension, as it concerns the process of knowledge that has taken form —a process that is reflected less in stylistic periods and encyclopedias than in the rhizomatic hypertext structure of the Internet.

The theatrical staging of space as a “total work of art,” as well as the deliberate manipulation of emotional atmosphere, alter the mode of perception—a discovery of the Middle Ages that was first described in the sketchbooks and textbooks of Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci. [11] The significance of emotion and feeling for the perception of works of art continues to shape the aesthetic debate right up to contemporary neuroscience; for this reason, to characterize this path, I will also draw on the concept coined by Martin Heidegger of the “mood of the work” [12], the aspect of“the Beautiful as atmosphere”[13] put forward by Gernot Böhme, and the model of brain function known as“somatic markers”[14] developed by Antonio Damasio.

Aesthetic perception as a vivid form of cognition

The 17th century. was not only the birth of aesthetics, but above all the Age of Enlightenment, which, according to Immanuel Kant, ended the immaturity of man and at the same time imposed on him the obligation to think for himself. Kant made a clear distinction between intellectual cognition (noumena) and vivid cognition based on phenomena (phaenomena). The much-discussed basic aesthetic concepts of ugly and beautiful appeared to him as purely subjective modes of perception, relative and therefore secondary, since in his view the aesthetics of a work are primarily determined by the perception of its meaningfulness.

According to Kant, the primary method of aesthetic research had to be the analysis of perception —an idea that was taken up in phenomenology and Gestalt theory and is now being expanded upon and confirmed by the neurosciences.[15] For the analysis of works of art, Kant’s ideas imply that humans can attain a direct understanding of complexity through systematic intuition. The functional analysis of the perception of wholes—which incorporates the observer’s perspective and the context of the observational situation—provides the observer not only with more insights but also with insights that are entirely different from those derived from the sum of the individual parts.

On the other hand, the work develops a model character in the process of creation, which makes it the object of aesthetic research, which is no longer only concerned with the object of observation itself, but also with the insights gained into the nature of one’s own existence in the environment. The human mind does not produce knowledge independently of the way it is in the world, but on the basis of its views, which is why the works of nature are the only original source of truth. The works of culture, on the other hand, are not original sources of truth, but models of knowledge by means of which the perception of truth in the context of its time of discovery becomes conceivable, representable, communicable and questionable. A historical review of the genesis of the work reveals not only the changes in truths, but also the changes in ideas of reality, which at the same time reflect the changes in the cognitive abilities of people and societies to perceive themselves and their environment.

The transformative power of images

For reasons of time, I will limit myself in the following to a consideration of the function of pictorial works, which, like works of music or other forms of human cognition, can be works of art and thought, but often also fulfill such everyday purposes that the thought and artistry expended in their production must be ignored in order to preserve the concepts.

While a literary work emerges from the gradual process of linking words and prompts readers and listeners alike to construct meaning, a visual work is immediately presented in the simultaneous mode of perception. Nevertheless, visual works are also understood through the successive perception of individual significant elements within the field of vision, whereby eye movements help shape the process of comprehension, while the whole remains before the observer’s eyes at all times. The contextual meaning of the whole is revealed through cross-references between the significant elements of the composition. Conventional arrangements enhance the legibility of the idea and enable the observer to analytically reconstruct the creator’s intention and working method. Unconventional arrangements, on the other hand, generate ambiguous codes and encourage diverse, imaginative interpretations, which is why the viewer must become creative through the act of recreation and can arrive at entirely new perceptions and insights.

Drastic breaks with culturally established systems of rules revolutionize the established conventions of perception across entire societies, which is why there is a constant need for avant-garde pioneers whose works not only raise uncomfortable questions but also challenge systemic functions. An unconventional approach to the creation of visual art may seem trivial or irritating if viewers do not feel engaged, fail to find new interpretations, or perceive certain forms of representation as coercive—forms that instrumentalize the breaking of taboos merely to attract attention. Whether breaking a taboo changes society or is superfluous can usually only be determined in hindsight, which is why there is a constant need for bold visual works that break with conventions of perception and accept the risk of failure. Revolutions in the perception of reality can be characterized by the unpredictability, uncontrollability, and transformative power of works of art that challenge the system—works that, even without words, consistently demand greater freedom and a broadening of social discourse.

On the other hand,the work form is dissolved when, as in happenings and new music, the shaping of the work is largely left to the performers, whereby authorship is preserved by limiting the possibilities of interpretation. The so-called aleatory ( lat. alea – Cube ) Concepts popularized by composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen or John Cage elevate chance to a theme and experiment with the performer’s ability to improvise.

The form of the work is always a means to an end, which is why improvised work forms are powerful, where creativity in interpretation becomes the central theme of creation. The completion of pictorial works by the creator can impair the legibility of the idea, which is why sketches, working models or spontaneous demonstrations often appear more powerful, inspiring and clearer than finished forms. Today, improvisation is an accepted form of work in its own right, which has also changed the aesthetic perception of spontaneous, infantile or autistic pictorial expressions.

From the epistemological order of pictorial works to the history of ideas

Human perception develops against the backdrop of cultural education, which is why visual works evoke a wide spectrum of interpretations, readings, and emotional reactions that challenge judgments ranging from approval to rejection. The interests of individuals and societies give rise to different standards for the success of visual works. This reveals the root of the divide among visual artists: some cater to the expectations of target audiences and markets—an approach that today guides nearly all craftspeople, most designers, and many artists, who act purposefully based on their professional identities as well as the need to secure their livelihoods. Others, however, view the creative process as an open, independent quest in the spirit of the Enlightenment, in which they ask their own questions, are guided by their own interests, set their own goals, and push beyond their own limits—but also subordinate their own ego and well-being to the will and development of the work, risking conflicts, crises of meaning, and ultimate failure.

According to the view already expressed by Samuel Beckett—“To be an artist is to fail”[16] —it does not matter whether an artist fails with his or her work, since both the fulfillment and the failure to achieve the intentions underlying the act of creation are irrelevant aspects of human perception. The question of what effect a work has on the viewer at the moment of its reception is far more important than the question of the artist’s artistic intent and that of his or her time.

In a cultural-historical retrospective, however, the linguistic structures inherent in visual artworks reflect the worldviews of individuals and societies in the context of the time in which they were created. But here, too, formal or functional analysis is less relevant than discourse analysis, as advocated by Michel Foucault in the spirit ofan “archaeology of knowledge”[17], since this brings the intellectual history of the work to the forefront, emancipating it from the role of merely illustrating historical processes.

From the freedom of images to human freedom

The narrative power of the ideas brought to life creates, stabilizes, renews, destabilizes and destroys societies, a function that words and images have in common. The will to change only multiplies when it is given a representative form, a face or a voice. The self-image of individuals and societies is represented in the use of visual and written works.

The power of images has not increased in the digital age of the mass media of television, internet and smartphones, it has only changed. Iconoclasm is as old as the culture of images, as is the struggle for the sovereignty of interpretation of images or the attempt to monitor and control image production, image distribution and image use. Real-time images of collapsing dreams of the inviolability of Western claims to hegemonic power in a sea of dust, rubble and blood have radicalized the way we deal with the power of global flows of images. Since then, images of anger and retaliation have determined the quality of the conflict, multiplying in civil war scenarios around the world. This also reflects a discourse that is not about justice and freedom, but about revenge and vigilante justice.

Socrates justified his refusal to evade his own death through possible flight with respect for the law, the observance of which was more important to him than his life. His death, which included his unsuccessful attempt at persuasion by argument through free speech in court, was also his final legacy, with which he put the idea of the rule of law into practice.

It is not the fear of terror, but the de facto loss of control that images captured and disseminated via smartphones and the internet cause today that is triggering increasing surveillance, censorship, bans and persecution worldwide. Internet activists ensure the free flow of images by means of systemic interventions in global networks. Developers of open source products, operators of disclosure platforms, authors of countless blogs dedicated to the independent collection and dissemination of information stand alongside amateurs such as professional photographers, filmmakers and reporters who produce visual and written works and make them freely available online. It is not in museums and galleries, but in countless private homes and studios that the avant-garde of our time is at work, using the freedom of images to defend human freedom from heteronomy and surveillance.

From visual culture to cultural education

Visual works are not only powerful symbols; they also shape, preserve, and transform reality. Only humans possess the capacity for action. Images, on the other hand, bring into focus the motives, calls to action, and instructions that humans and society need to orient themselves in the world. Evolution has ensured that humans perceive nature as a sphere of action that not only enables their species to survive but also allows them the leeway to shape the conditions of their own existence. The utilization of this scope for action is evident in the cultural transformations of the natural environment, in the visual works of settled areas, artifacts, and performances. We can therefore act coherently with our perceptions only by following the motives, prompts, and instructions of our visual works, since they constitute the externalized part of our brain that reflects the cultural evolution of our species in both ideal and material form. Without the visual works of the cultural sphere, our species would regress to the developmental level of apes in a very short time—not because, as Kant argued, words without intuitions remain empty, but because analyses of fossil remains have shown that the human genome has not changed in about 100,000 years.[18]

Consciousness, however, does not exist within the images themselves, but exclusively in individuals’ perception of themselves and their environment. This subjective form of brain development and understanding of reality is facilitated through interpersonal communication, thereby generating an intersubjective form of consciousness that is represented in the form of artworks. From a neurobiological perspective, works of art form interfaces between the brains of individuals who engage with the depicted content and, through their reception of it, simultaneously influence it in return. Visual works function as vivid fixed points or nodes in a synaptic network of brains operating in parallel. From a systems theory perspective, the concept of autopoiesis, coined by Maturana and Luhmann[19], is particularly apt here, since the purpose of visual works changes when one considers not the individual image but the totality of all images. From this overarching perspective, images serve exclusively communicative purposes; their production and reproduction are self-organizing and thus follow functional relationships inherent to the system in order to maintain communication. From the systems perspective, the internal order of images is not determined by formal criteria, but solely in relation to the connectivity of the conceptually thematized content. This systemically necessary semiotic order of concepts manifests itself in language in the same way as it does in images. Nowhere is the common semiotic root of image and language as evident as in the system architecture of the Internet.

Participation and self-organization in the global flow of images

The possibilities for interactively searching for, defining, and linking terms on the Internet—whether they refer to text or images—are already leading to an explosive expansion, densification, and interconnection of the virtual space of language and images. Databases and programs such as image search engines, hypertext encyclopedias, and social networks store, filter, organize, interconnect, and channel the endless flow of images and texts, which in today’s world is bringing about profound changes in how large segments of the global population perceive themselves and their environment. Since human abilities to orient oneself and act are based on coherence between environmental perception and reality, the changes in the virtual world are reflected in society’s adaptation processes. Just 25 years after the invention of the World Wide Web (1989) and its language, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), by Tim Berners-Lee, it is still difficult to assess what the second Gutenberg Revolution means for the creation, reception, and handling of visual works.[20] It is already becoming apparent today that digital connectivity and the participation of large segments of the world’s population in the creation and shaping of the flow of images are bringing about social changes as profound as those resulting from the cultural development and spread of print media. New digital trades such as web and software development or digital image processing, new design professions such as web design, interaction design, motion design(audiovisual media design), game design or interface design or new art disciplines such as media art, video art and digital art are expanding and changing analog fields of activity. Many other professions are in the process of being created and are generally boosting the rapidly growing cultural and creative industries, which are penetrating ever new areas of modern society. In Germany alone, 1.7 million people, from film producers to architects, are already working or are working on the virtual and real image of the world.

There are certainly justified reservations about the flood of digital images, in which the individual work of art hardly seems to have any validity, as the speed of image production is only surpassed by the expiry date of the novelties. At first glance, the creations of well-trained professionals and obsessive autodidacts are completely lost in the seemingly endless sea of amateur image producers, but this only highlights the need for excellently curated forums to exhibit outstanding digital images. On the other hand, anyone can become a curator on the Internet by commenting and integrating, which is why more and more exciting forums are forming that fish for innovative visual works online and share their catch with everyone. Once found, these collections become temporary sources of inspiration of great value, as the digital system does not invite you to return, but rather to a continuous search in which new and surprising discoveries and acquaintances can always be made.

The evolutionary benefits of images

While pessimistic media theories focus on ways to preserve the aura of the image from being eroded by mass media consumption —such as the “iconic turn”advocated by Gottfried Boehm—positivist media theories such as “communicology” Vilém Flusser emphasizes above all the opportunities offered by new media. Flusser sees the future of modern societies in their extensive medialization and networking, which dissolves existing authoritarian structures, introduces cybernetic or self-governing regulatory mechanisms, and enables a comprehensive discourse in which the entire population participates. This brings us full circle to the self-understanding of ancient Greece discussed at the outset, in which works of thought were created to sustain a cross-generational discourse—a quality that lends them timeless relevance to this day.

In antiquity, on the other hand, sculptures were viewed far more skeptically, as they were less an invitation to critical reflection than to quiet devotion, reverent amazement, or excessive amusement of the senses. At the beginning of the Enlightenment, Kant summarized these characteristics of the work of art once again under the term “disinterested pleasure“, a dramatically trivializing term in my opinion, which has shaped aesthetic education and debate right up to the present day. The fatal consequences are always evident where art, design and craftsmanship are turned into pleasing school activities and market-compliant services, whereby the factual power of images to perceive the world, think the world and change the world remains unused.

The most important aesthetic debate of our time does not concern the competition between analog and digital media, which coexist and enrich one another by generating different perceptions; nor does it concern questions of craftsmanship or technology, of creators, customers, and markets, but rather the discourse that a visual work brings into the world.

Conclusion: Dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus [21]
SOCRATES: And so it is, my dear Phaidros. But much more beautiful, I believe, is the earnest endeavor for these things, when one, applying the dialectical art, takes a suitable soul and with insight plants and sows speeches that are skillful in helping themselves and the planter and are not barren, but contain a seed from which other speeches grow in other souls, which are capable of preserving the same forever immortal and making the one who possesses them as happy as it is possible for a human being to be.

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Der Beitrag From the openness of the pictorial work to the free flow of images erschien zuerst auf Farbpsychologie.