10.2 Non-Representational Signs and Meaning-Making

Non-representational art breaks free from depicting real-world objects, focusing on colors, shapes, and textures to express ideas. Artists like Kandinsky and Mondrian pioneered this approach, creating a new visual language that communicates without direct representation.

In this art form, formal elements become the main carriers of meaning. The arrangement of shapes, colors, and lines creates compositions that function as signs, pointing to intended meanings or experiences. Viewers play a crucial role in interpreting these abstract signs.

Non-Representational Art and Signification

Defining Non-Representational Art

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  File:Kazimir Malevich - 'Suprematist Composition- White on White', oil on canvas, 1918, Museum ... View original

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  File:Vassily Kandinsky, 1921 - Segment bleu.jpg - Wikimedia Commons View original

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• Non-representational art does not depict recognizable objects, people, or scenes from the natural world
• Focuses on the formal elements of art such as color, line, shape, and texture as the primary means of expression
• Emerged in the early 20th century with artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich who sought to create a pure, universal language of art

Abstract Signification and Visual Language

• In non-representational art, abstract forms and compositions function as signs that convey meaning without direct representation
• Artists develop their own visual language using the formal elements as building blocks to communicate ideas, emotions, and concepts
• Color can signify various moods or psychological states (red for passion or anger, blue for calmness or melancholy)
• Geometric shapes can symbolize order, stability, or spiritual concepts (circle for unity or infinity, square for structure or materiality)
• Lines and gestures express energy, movement, or states of being (jagged lines for agitation or chaos, flowing curves for harmony or grace)

Formal Elements as Signs in Non-Representational Art

• In the absence of recognizable subject matter, the formal elements themselves become the primary carriers of meaning
• Artists carefully select and arrange these elements to create compositions that function as signs pointing to intended meanings or experiences
• The relationships between forms, the use of repetition, contrast, balance, and scale all contribute to the signification process
• Russian artist Kazimir Malevich's Suprematist paintings (Black Square) use stark geometric forms to signify a sense of the "supremacy of pure feeling" and transcendence beyond the material world

Interpretation and Meaning

The Role of Viewer Interpretation

• Without clear representational content, non-representational art relies heavily on the viewer's interpretation to generate meaning
• Viewers bring their own experiences, associations, and cultural contexts to bear when decoding the signs present in the artwork
• This interpretive process is a key part of the meaning-making dynamic between artist, artwork, and audience
• Different viewers may arrive at varied, even contradictory interpretations based on their individual perspectives

Open-Ended Meaning in Non-Representational Art

• Non-representational art often cultivates a sense of open-endedness or ambiguity in its meaning potential
• Rather than conveying a single, fixed message, these artworks invite multiple readings and interpretations
• This open-endedness allows for a more active, participatory role for the viewer in constructing meaning
• The artwork functions as a catalyst for the viewer's own thoughts, emotions, and imagination rather than a closed statement

Semiotic Ambiguity as a Creative Strategy

• Some artists intentionally employ semiotic ambiguity as a creative strategy to engage the viewer and provoke reflection
• By creating works that resist easy interpretation or closure, they challenge viewers to grapple with the process of meaning-making itself
• This ambiguity can serve to destabilize conventional ways of seeing and encourage new perspectives or insights
• American artist Cy Twombly's gestural paintings (Untitled, 1970) feature cryptic scribbles and marks that hover between writing and drawing, inviting viewers to decipher their own meaning from the enigmatic signs

Abstract Metaphor and Phenomenology

Abstraction as Visual Metaphor

• Non-representational art often employs abstraction as a form of visual metaphor to express complex ideas or experiences
• By creating analogies between abstract forms and real-world phenomena, artists can evoke concepts that are difficult to represent directly
• For example, an abstract painting composed of swirling, interweaving lines could serve as a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things or the complexity of human relationships
• The use of visual metaphor allows non-representational art to engage with themes and ideas beyond the literal or visible

A Phenomenological Approach to Non-Representational Art

• Phenomenology, the philosophical study of human experience and consciousness, offers a useful framework for approaching non-representational art
• This perspective emphasizes the artwork as a catalyst for the viewer's own perceptual and embodied experience rather than a bearer of fixed, external meaning
• By engaging with the sensory and affective qualities of the artwork (color, texture, scale, composition), the viewer undergoes a lived experience that becomes the basis for meaning and understanding
• American artist Mark Rothko's Color Field paintings (No. 61, Rust and Blue) immerse the viewer in expansive fields of pulsating color that evoke deep emotional and spiritual experiences, inviting a phenomenological encounter with the artwork itself