Towards an active image analysis of visual arts: developing an approach that allows a creative interaction with encoded and non-encoded image elements in images. (R-4629)

In theoretical image analysis, the long-standing approach which tends to read images and "decode" them as text is still dominant. Such analyses of visual arts often fail to take into account the physical, affective dimension that influences cognitive processes and the reception of images. Moreover, this decoding approach offers little insight in the aesthetic process itself. Its contextualizing and descriptive perspective is often too limited to establish useful links between personal artistic practice and other artwork. The primary objective of the proposed theoretical and artistic research is the development of a practical toolkit for a more active image analysis. This new approach to the visual arts has a twofold use: it can function as an addition to the existing methods of analysis and it can also be applied actively to the aesthetic process itself. An active image analysis does not only describe and decode images, it also explores them through active manipulation. By "recreating" an existing image, the intrinsic, non-encoded image elements which define the visual and sensuous quality of images, can yet be analyzed. This process takes into consideration the dynamic functioning of formal elements throughout different versions of the same, concrete image. The main goal of this research project is the development of an analytical model which allows a more creative involvement with art history and which can also be applied by other visual artists and illustrators.

Keywords:Visual Arts

Disciplines:Architectural engineering, Architecture, Building engineering, Interior architecture, Architectural design, Art studies and sciences