What do you guys think of art with more meaning behind it? Do you ever practice this idea of "art with meaning", or do you just do art for the sake of "prettiness"? And how important do you think it is for artists to implement meaning into their works? If you ever go into a gallery and look at something, do you look at it's bare visual qualities, or do you try to read deeper into it?




I personally think conceptual ideas are extremely important. Both in design and art itself. Anyone can easily hash out something technically outstanding, but I feel like it takes another level of thought and skill to be able to make something that gives the viewer a message. I absolutely love it when someone makes something that has so much design and thought and message into it, as compared to something equally pretty, but made just so that people can praise them for "OMG LEETZORZ".

And I swear I wet myself everytime I go into a contemporary art gallery. *__* When I went for my birthday, I think my brains were going to blow out and I went nuts at least 4 times. Although they can be visually uninviting and even morbid at times, I think the thought that artists put into their work and their execution is just amazing. D:

I envy those that can make something visually appealing, yet at the same time be able to convey a deeper meaning hidden in it. Right now with my sigs, I’ve mostly just gone for getting the technical stuff, trying to figure out what works. Most of it lacks any real meaning, but goes more for the “prettiness factor”. I do love more of the noir art though...Dark stuff.

Personally I think implementing meaning behind art is just as important as making it look good. Though like I said with sigs, sometimes it’s hard to do that (especially if you’re like me and are still trying to just make something that looks right), though I suppose it really shouldn’t matter either way. Sometimes art that looks crappy yet has some meaning behind it can still manage to make itself look good. Or maybe that’s just me and leniency.


As for when I look at art trying to find meaning in it...It depends on what it is. Most times sigs on forums just end up being visual things, but I’ve seen some pretty good ones that incorporate meaning into the design, where shapes in the background actually mean something, etc. I dunno. I usually look for meaning in art when I look at it (not referring to forum sigs), but if I can’t find that then I just look and see if it looks alright. I dunno. That’s part of the art, being able to convey something beyond just making it look good. It adds that extra depth.

I dunno. I usually look for something more in art, be it actual art compositions or just forum sigs. It’s part of what makes art art in my eyes...

That kind of stuff... Well, I'm not entirely sure if I would say it's entirely "important" in the long run, especially since there are plenty of reasons and motivations to make something artistic, but it certainly adds more to be appreciated in art. I feel that art with hidden/deeper meanings and such should also be made with the aim of being visually pleasing as well, though that's just my opinion. In the end, it really would be the meaning behind the art that would matter, I suppose, but I just personally am not very fond of art that looks unappealing, despite whatever special significance it may have.

As for myself, I rarely do much of anything "artistic" anyway, but if I ever draw something, it definitely doesn't have any particular meaning behind it. I generally only do referenced stuff (usually just for the sake of reproducing something that I appreciate in some way or other), though on the rare occasion I do something original, I just do it for the sake of drawing, without any particular ideas in mind other than plans for the drawing(s). Same goes for digital stuff, on the occasion I actually take the time to make a special avatar/signature.

It's tough to put symbolism behind sigs sometimes, because there may not always be symbolism in what you're making. I know the only sig I ever really put SYMBOLISM into was my original Memento Mori sig below:



Like for that I actually sat down and drew out what i wanted.

1. The term "Memento Mori" itself is VERY symbolic about the Main Character of P3. That in itself I find very moving, the concept of "remember you're mortal" because it makes you put EVERYTHING into perspective when you realize that Death is always imminent.

2. On the right it's the Main Character and the Shadow behind him is actually Ryoji, the harbringer of death in the game. So like the game has it, the MC's shadow symbolizes death. Death is always with him.

3. Also on the right I kind of intertwind the two of them with the pen tool, you can see there's a kind of coil around them.

4. There's also radiating light coming from the MC. He's an enlightened figure in the game, and his death is actually not sad but meaningful. The light coming from him is a good thing, kind of like when u see Jesus resurected, he's usually engulfed in light, showing he's overcome death. I wanted the same thing for the MC, how he came over "death" by sacrificing himself for something bigger.

5. The image on the left is the MC naked. I just think of a kind of spirital nakedness and being born image there. Not to mention, I'm sure most people recognize that image from the "Armageddon" attack in P3 which is known to just OBLITERATE and kill everything. So the image is meant to be a "born" again symbolis mixed with the in-game stereotype that everything is about to be obliterated by the attack.


But yeah, that's really the only piece that I put THOUGHT into in how I wanted it to look, be setup, designed, and what it was supposed to mean.

I personally don't really care for a "deeper" message and when I see texts such as "these dreams ... " etc, all I think is "meh".

"Memento Mori" for example, given by LW, I simply see as a fancy text in Latin. It wouldn't change my opinion, whether I played the game, or not.

For the people that want to put a meaning in their pieces, it is entirely up to them, but I personally don't really care.

Well. To me. As mentioned in the other topic. I just make something that could further enhance what the stock shows.

Flonne -> Cute
Blythe -> Scary
Gankutsuou -> Oriental

So yeah... it all have direct messages I suppose.

For concepts... I think usually people will not spend time to stare at somebody's signature just to get the right concept out of it, At least not me. Also, the perspective of everyone's work is different so yeah. If someone do really manage to convery a meaning out of a signature really well. I think he or she deserves some compliments.

Well like, not sigs only really. I was also referring it in a broader spectrum too. I mean, I would understand why some people wouldn't bother with a deeper message when it comes to sigs, but I'm thoroughly impressed when someone pulls it off. (Like LW, good job!)

To be honest, when something has conceptual thought to it, I get so impressed. Because, in my opinion, putting thought and a message through representation and design is so much more impressive since it takes intense deep meaning. Especially in photoshop, when applying impressive effects to images is a few clicks and strokes away, having an image with deeper layers than just what the superficial layer will give you gives more detail and story and opinion behind it.

By far my two favourite contemporary artists would be Barbara Kruger and Kiki Smith. *___* they deal so much with feminism, consumerism, and the idea of the body being art. The best part is Barbara Kruger does it with impressive layouting and typography, and Kiki Smith does it via sculptures and life-sized wax figures of HERSELF. I'm in love with those two. D:

AND I KNOW I'M RAMBLING, but omg Yuken Teruya. He is the most amazing asian contemporary artist I know right now. He executes the idea of making the beautiful out of the basic by carefully cutting out the most minute details of a tree from a McDonald's bag and pulling it down. By using this basic bag he created this beautiful lonely landscape and world. T____T

Lawl Rina. Girl, You are always so cute and pin point.

But this is what most people do okay Girl. For example. We see an "art piece" of a theme called "Quit Smoking". We can go all. "Man this piece is hawt, No smoking man, Cool. Look great, you know what I'm saying. Aww yeah, Awesome." But then, when after this. That very idea of "no smoking" just goes *Pish* and *snaps finger* lets go.

Its more of a "I get that this piece tells me to quit smoking. and yeah it looks fabulous but yeah I'm just going to stare at it till something nicer pops up for me to stare at."

So yeah, the meaning behind could be like existing yet non existent. Lawl You know what I'm saying girl?

Yeah yeah, I do! I guess whether or not the message affects the viewer is, ultimately, up to the viewer. Because a lot of the formal contemporary works I know is more like...the artist just putting their opinion out there you know?

I guess the whole mass-brainwashing through art will go to the advertisers.

^^^ I'm looking at Apple products and that iPod silhouette gimmick.

No, I think when you give the piece a meaning, something personal, you ultimately want everyone to look at it the same way, as you gave it that particular meaning.
To me, this is narrowing down the person's own thoughts. A painting shouldn't be limited to the painter, a painting should be different to everyone.
To you, it might mean "A", but to person B it might mean "B".

I feel that everyone should have their own thoughts and give their own meaning to your piece. You might paint a church and your initial thoughts were the funeral of your mother, but to someone else this particular painting could reflect her wedding. In other words, because your message of this church would be grief and whatever, this person cannot feel happiness because that is not the original message in the painting.

If you want your piece to have a meaning, be my guest. However, I will never do such a thing, as (if I were to ever paint) I like to have my audience make their own message.
I mean, van Gogh's Sunflowers sure as hell didn't have a meaning and look at how popular they are.

Actually, Van Gogh's sunflowers series was a way for him to personally show different stages of sunflower's lives, and I think some of them may have been gifts to Gauguin, but I'm not sure since they were really good friends but had a falling apart sometime later on before he died......

also, popularity has no reflection on the quality of the artwork visually. @__@ the popularity of a lot of works are due to the way they shaped the trends of art during the time.

It'd be shameful if I didn't know the history and contexts of these major paintings. /is an art history major lols

Lolz, there is no meaning behind van Gogh's sunflowers. In all my years I did art class, this has been explained every single time. Showing sunflowers in different stages of life is not a meaning, it is a reason. He simply wanted to use the new yellow colours that were created back then and paint sunflowers in different stages of life. No meaning.

I is tired of bantering back and forth with you all the time. @_@ Because we all know clearly that these types of bantering will never get anywhere especially with the especially stubborn. I know what I know and you know what I know and let's leave it at that. D:

I have no idea what you know, all I know is what I know and that includes van Gogh's paintings not having a meaning.
I have seen his most famous sunflowers in real life and nowhere did it say it had any meaning, nor did any of my art teachers.
I don't even know why I am bothering with this, as there is no point really. Think whatever you want, that is what paintings are for. You can fill in your own thoughts about his sunflowers.
You can be a major in art history, but that doesn't mean you know things better than others.

I don't know things better than others, I just ought to know the more famous ones or else I'd be a dummy for spending all that money on those classes. << I mean Van Gogh is something you learn in art history 101. D:

And omg Pes stfu. T____T

I love conceptual pieces. In...well, basically every medium. In art specifically, as Apple stated, in both appearance and in design. A good piece thats somewhat subtle is Opheilia by Millais I think, I just know its a gorgeous work. And the symbolism is insane.

Then some are blatant and in your face like Damien Hirst's "He tried to internalize everything" and "Mother and child divided", great works imo, same can't be said about the rest of his stuff.

Of course I also like work that just looks nice, like Norman Rockwell? Things to remind me about the mundane things that fill all our lives that we'll eventually come to miss.

As far as my own work, I go into things with an idea, a concept, an image I'd like to appear, an emotion I'd like to evoke, and I try to go with that. It makes the creation of a piece MUCH more fun with a concept in mind, and even moreso if you successfully pull it off!

YOUR POST

MADE ME

WET MYSELF. *O*

Ophelia is a gorgeous piece. Millais did a gorgeous job on the colorwork and the moment that he captured it was perfect. The moment when she's about to be plunged into the water, but still alive and afloat. dkjfl;ajdfj the pre-raphaelites were so cool. .__.

And we already discussed this, but I agree on your look at Damien Hirst's works. His ideas and the way he executes it is so clever!! It really impresses me since, given the same idea and prompt as him, probably wouldn't come up with anything nearly as clever or morbid.