Viewing art has baggage. Historical significance, names, dates

VERY HIGH IN CHROMA VIVIDITY AND IMMATERIALITY
Viewing art has baggage. Historical significance, names, dates, influences, and hierarchies, all studied with
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diligence to enlighten us as viewers, to fill in the unknown and shower us with supplemental associations.
But where does the rush of enjoyment and satisfaction come from when we initially happen upon a work of
art? Responsible for making this proficient contact, one of the most overlooked yet rewarding qualities in a
work of art is its Vividity. Vividity is the active element facilitating the merger between a viewer and a
work of art. It is this union that propels art appreciation to art absorption. Through highlighted paintings,
religious iconography and an investigation into transient properties, the mysticism of Vividity will be
exposed.
Defining Vividity is an expansive task; A sharpness, a striking visual element, Hypervision,
Producing a strong or clear impression on the senses, Acting clearly and vigorously, Of a color; very
strong; very high in chroma. All of which are accurate, yet aloof. Another description which relates
Vividity to existence prevails in the context of this article, “having the appearance of vigorous life or
freshness; lively.”1 This statement asserts that Vividity is life. A work of art with a strong vivid nature not
only references life, but also mimics the life of the viewer. As the viewer reaches in, the work reaches out
using its vivacious energy. It is in this mutual exchange of particles that makes Vividity more than an
element or a principle of art, it becomes a means of satiation.
Atop the mimicry of life, Vividity’s chief attributes consist of a prevalent relationship with light,
the capacity to transmute at an infinitesimal level, and to emit power. The rapport with light is essential.
Light, “the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of sight,”2 denotes a visceral reaction, based on
a bodily interpretation of the physical world. Involuntary cohesion with light predisposes us to a vivid
synthesis with art. Vividity is vision amplified to the point of infusion. Light acts as an ambient conduit;
therefore it is a property of motion. Though light is foundational, Vividity is not limited to mechanized light
or painted replicas of the sun. Distinctive colors or arrangements utilize the same components and an
internal light is ensued. As a vivid work transmutes, it casts a visual tether, swells with gusto and engages
in optical trance. The motion state associated with the properties of Vividity is quite unique. Unlike the
familiar artistic principle Movement, which purports a visualized flow throughout a work, confined to its
material’s borders, Vividity operates on a bonus axis of activity. What a vivid work emits is always power,
an ever-charged, expulsive surge of power that soaks the viewer.
Focusing on the most crucial factor, light, two works from the nineteenth century inaugurate this
discussion of Vividity, featuring combustible sources of light. Nocturne in Black and Gold is a piece which
shot out at me the first time I viewed it because of the way the slide projector shoved its livelihood through
those smoldering golden nuggets to make a radical image of pure luster. Eruption of Vesuvius I can only
1 "Vivid." Mirriam-Webster. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vivid>.
2 "Light." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 13 Mar. 2012. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/
light>.
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remember as a hypnotic burst of visual sensation and it still haunts me with the same blurry pleasure. Both
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Nocturne and Eruption represent an outpouring of a bottled up phenomena. Their concentration on light is
majestic and enveloping and preceding the prominent influence of Impressionism, these works enter a
complicated space between representation and emotional account, symbolized by their use of aura and
atmosphere.
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, [page 2] by James Abbot McNeill Whistler is a
shining example of how Vividity materializes in painting. Painted in 1874, the scene of fireworks and
billowing smoke along the Battersea Bridge in London, sits atop a centralized depth represented in black
with a spattering of luminous yellow and orange clusters. There is an immanent action entangled in the
almost unobjective, atmospheric rendering and it breaks a multitude of standard painting practices of the
time. “Whistler manages to paint darkness while retaining the right degree of colour-laden luminosity.
There is a sense of spatial ambiguity set against a structure of line and form. The contradictory qualities of
energy and stillness are combined here,”3 accelerating a tension where Vividity heightens the viewer’s
engagement.
As Impressionism emerges and painting evolves from strictly representational, Whistler
paints under the guise of investigating atmospheric effects as opposed to recording a scene. Nocturne
captures that moment, the fleeting experience of these gleaming specks as they become apparent through
the curious density of smoke.
Nocturne outraged a great many people of Whistler’s time, as it challenged the common practices
of representation and the aptitude associated with depicting a cohesive scene. Particularly irritated with the
work, John Ruskin “dismissed Whistler’s effort as “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face,” as in his
opinion it contained no social value.”4 Almost entirely black with not more than a handful of discernible
elements, Nocturne hardly relays a traditionally skilled painting of rockets. Had the piece lacked its tell-all
title, the work would pass as an abstract work, possibly produced by a cat [baby/monkey/ etc]. Yet the
question of skill is not an indicator as to a work’s venture in Vividity and the confrontation Ruskin
instigated inadvertently demonstrates the potent connection the atmospheric work transmits. Whistler
defended his intent by declaring the works are “artistic arrangements whose worth lay not in any imitative
aspects but in their basis in transcendent ideals of harmony and beauty.” 5
Opposing the heavy darkness of Nocturne, JMW Turner’s painting, Eruption of Vesuvius, 1817
[following page] approaches Vividity with insurmountable brightness. Eruption depicts the explosive
nature of the famous volcano in shades of deep red-orange. Central focus of the unruly, illuminated splurge
of lava seems otherworldly until the boats and small figure in the foreground are revealed by the
reverence’s own reflection. Two dense, dark hazes flank the eruption eliciting a sense of overwhelming
3 Wikipedia contributors. "Nocturne in Black and Gold - The Falling Rocket." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia, 12 Mar 2012. Web. 13 Mar 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_in_Black_and_Gold_–
_The_Falling_Rocket>.
4 Floryan, Meg. "Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket." smarthistory. n. page. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://
smarthistory.khanacademy.org/whistlers-nocturne-in-black-and-gold-the-falling-rocket.html>.
5 See entry 4.
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peril. The upsurge is contained within the painting’s frame, yet the Vividity is corroborated by the striking,
emotive color pallet. Eruption languishes in its connection with light, and the force of the volcano is
redoubled in its powerful emission of Vividity. The color, light and force of the subject matter rebound with
the attributes of Vividity, reverberating energy and increasing depth. Turner opens up light and Vividity to a
realm of divinity, harking on the supplemental sense of experience, or belief. “Turner was striving for
expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena.”6
Appropriately poetic, Turner is rumored to have uttered, "The sun is God"7 before his death.
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Halo Circular, around the head.
Aureole Cloud shaped, around the body.
Mandorla
Almond shaped, around the body.
Vividity has been used in religious iconography to convey divine significance and moments of
transcendence. There are several familiar allusions to divinity though artistic representation, such as
bulging eyes and floating figures, but with the prevalence of illuminated manuscripts, the color gold rose to
be a principal indicator. Gold has long been associated with royalty and wealth, and when teamed with
divinity the color takes on a spiritual magnitude. Decorative borders, drop cap letters and demarcated
segments of illustrated scenes rupture in reverie with the rare adornment. The precious tactility of
illuminated manuscripts provides an intimate experience unlike frescos or mosaics, which utilize scale to
represent religious tales. These codices showed Aureoles, or “the radiance of [a] luminous cloud which, in
paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure,”8 the vivid – gold merges with vivid – lively, to
become vivid – the miraculous. Aureoles, otherwise known as a halos or mandorla [above], intensify
Vividity by alluding to auras and the corporeal world. “The halo represents the light of divine grace
suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body,”9 and the mandorla “is
used to depict sacred moments which transcend time and space, such as the Resurrection, Transfiguration,
and the Dormition of the Theotokos.”10 Halos are not only highlighters of sacred persons but symbols of the
6 "Joseph Mallord William Turner Biography." Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Complete Works. n. page. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.william-turner.org/biography.html>.
7 See entry 6.
8 Wikipedia contributors. "Aureole." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Dec 2011. Web. 13
Mar 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aureola>.
9 See entry 8.
10 See entry 8.
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person’s unique capability to communicate with the heavens. The halos are visual signs of a transcendental
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power. Certain depictions of the Transfiguration of Jesus marry the vivid to the corporeal world as “the
setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the
temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven
and earth”11 . It is only suiting that this perfect location be adorned with the golden trigger, emphasizing that
this point, this moment, is more than just special. It is epic. The gold color vividly engages the viewer as
the halo stands for aural transcendence.
Aura is the mode of energy, which supports the transmutation of Vividity from artwork to viewer.
Identified as an “electro-photonic vibration response of an object to some external excitation,” auras are
considered to “contain information about the object” they surround, insinuating there is a mass to an aural
entity with the capability to communicate. Aural form releases in a radiance, which parallels the expansive
light pattern known as glow.
As the realm of spatial and spiritual fusion becomes a means of absorbing artwork, the power of
optical trance becomes and influential trigger. Bordering with myth and hypnotism, trance is defined as “a
state of ecstasy or mystic absorption so intense as to cause a temporary loss of consciousness at the earthly
level.”12 The most powerful form of Vividity functions through this act of reverberance, where the power of
the visual aura is so strong a trance transpires. Visual driving is a method for inducing trance by visualizing
an image in the mind. The Art of Trance by C. Curtis declares that “images tap into such deep feelings and
satisfying thoughts, they induce pleasant trance without resistance.”13 As a result of visual driving, “the
person will have decreased physiological responses and the brain wave frequencies of the subject will be
altered as a result. It affects the entertain[ment] process of the brain thereby increasing the learning
capability. Visual driving can produce deep relaxation and euphoria [leading to an] increase in the creativity
and problem solving ability of the brain.”
14 Supposing
visual driving is not limited to an imaginary world
and can be experienced in proximity, the intensity then becomes concentrated as reality and presence
deepen the exchange. This intimate optical engagement provides a highway of hyper-connectivity, where
the particles of the viewer start to dissolve and integrate with the particles of a piece of art.
Expanding into the sphere of installation, current artistic exercises in Vividity revel in the chief
attributes. Contemporary artist, Olafur Eliasson’s works incorporate science and experiment to investigate a
realm of sensational apparitions conveying the key concepts of Vividity. Broadening the encounter of
11 Wikipedia contributors. "Transfiguration." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Feb 2011.
Web. 13 Mar 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration>.
12 "Trance." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 13 Mar. 2012. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/
browse/trance>.
13 Curtis, Charlie. "The Art of Trance." Hypnosis.org. (2011): n. page. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://www.hypnosis.org/free-hypnosis/
hypnosis-hypnotherapy-articles/charles-curtis/the-art-of-trance.php>.
14 "How to Induce Trance?." Conversational Hypnosis Critic. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar 2012. <http://conversationalhypnosiscritic.com/
how-to-induce-trance.php>.
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Vividity from a face-to-face exchange to an environmental one, Eliasson challenges optics, perception and
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mutuality. Beauty, 1993 [page 7], is a fabricated rainbow. Made of mist, a spotlight, a hose and a pump, this
piece works so hard to make what nature makes inconsequentially. The room has a visual vignette as
centrally the mist glides down to intermingle with the light causing a wave of indistinct color. Varying
consumptive interpretation is vital to Eliasson as he said in a 2008 interview, “everyone sees a different
rainbow because the rainbow is really made out of the light, the drop of water and the eye. This means there
is not ever a rainbow, which is the same by definition because our eyes are not located in the
same place. But if you think about it, this really goes for everything. This goes for the way you look at the
street…”15
A work of stellar, radial expulsion of hyper-sensitively placed mini-components, Proportioned to
the Groove, 2005 [page 9] explores Vividity in a vast and buoyant manner. I remember trying to get in it.
Then getting reprimanded. But I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, structurally. All parts point to a
distant illuminated mass that is strategically blockaded by light-weight, haphazard bits and bobbles, further
distracting the viewer from getting to the “fuel” or central impulse. Vision travels in zaps around this piece,
desperately attempting to unfurl the sequestered radiation …ZAP… getting caught up in the sneaky
structure you almost hit your head on… ZAP… following an alarming orange string that majestically
elevates a precarious stack of balsa wood…ZAP… a shiny box, a pile of puny shiny boxes with no
imaginable real-life function. Proportioned equates to eye calisthenics. This vivacious installation beams
life, encompasses the volume of the space and is weirdly meticulous yet globular.
Vividity has affected my current body of work insurmountably. Providing the basis for mental
expeditions between material and burrowing into sources and mechanics, the fluctuant nature of the light
seemed to be ungraspable, some kind of devious fairy or sprite, and this unattainable quality sunk deep into
the sedimentary layers of my brain. The disassociating, vision blank-out that happens when you stare into
the sun. An enormous blue neon tooth in the vestibule at the denstist’s office. TV in the dark. Vision
presents, vision gifts; and as my work progressed, it mutated, yet continually deriving effort and substance
from this sharpened perception. Rainbows started presenting themselves to me, [below] peeping up in
15 Olafur Eliasson at MoMA & PS1: Eliasson on "Beauty". 2008. Video. Momavideos, New York. Web. 13 Mar 2012. <http://
www.youtube.com/watch?
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video work they wanted me to know they were there. Somehow, they know I am fully capable of valuing
their presence. Wrangling the transient properties of Vividity into tumultuous spatial examinations in the
studio led to an anthology of clusterfuck experiments in video, liquid, fare, reflection, and trickery.
Continually developing and abridging the knowledge attained to contort perception and material into a
typhoon of complexity, glow, space and response became dominant criteria. Covetously watching the studio
secrete miraculous gold, the divulgent lubricant of the vivid, [below] clarifies how satiating elements of
Vividity act autonomously. Advancing Vividity to challenge space and the wider field of immateriality,
while still holding onto its rich history in transcendental empathy is a future objective. Finding ways to
control the vastness and density of Vividity opens up new concepts and interpretations, enlarging the ways
in which we communicate with art and raising questions regarding the correlation of art making, and its
resulting visual power.
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KACIE LEES, 2012