Text as Image

 Image as Text

The 1999 seminar will explore the interplay between visual images and words throughout history and the evolutions of those interactions into our modern day world.  Beginning with the argument between Plato and Socrates about why, or why one would not, write things down, we'll look at cultures that have gone from primarily oral communication to video--skipping the writing stage.

We will look at cultures where communications are encoded in metaphors and icons and where fiction and reality mix to arrive at truth.  How do these transitions and permutations alter the communication and the basic logic structure underneath that communication?  How has language affected art and the development of the artist's communication?  How does language function in art? Works that have political and social agenda as well as aesthetic  ones; temporal pieces and conceptual works will be examined.

Artist will share work about issues of race and gender imbedded in language and visual communication.  How does  "writing "about visual art define it, contain it  and what are the role and responsibility of the artist to engage in, or confront critical writing?  Are images communicating in contemporary global culture -- The WEB--in different ways than images have in the past? What role are visual icons playing in this new era of instant global communication?  Has the underlying structure of communication made another fundamental shift?

How has one's search for knowledge and truth been effect by the democratization of information provided by electronic communication and are educational institutions providing the forum for these inquiries?