Understanding Abstract Art - Getting the Idea...

Jackson Pollock inspired piece.

Among all styles of art, it could be argued that none is as divisive and ridiculed as the Abstract.

Often, when touring a museum or gallery, it is among these artists' work that we are most likely to hear scoffs and derision. For the layman viewing some of the exhorbidant prices the best work of this category can bring, the very idea of paying for the work at all can seem a mystery.

"My Toddler could do a better job than that!"

For those who strive to work in this difficult field, such statements are a curious dichotomy.

On the one hand, the person making the statement may have No Idea what differentiates the work on the wall from the seemingly random splatter and scribble they imagine as commonplace, but their children may however understand the idea... And the struggle.

Pablo Picasso Famously said:
"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

The difference between that which has value and that which is disposable lies in the artist's ability to SAY SOMETHING with their work.

A classic by Piet Mondrian.

All art attempts to convey an idea, a thought, a feeling, an emotion... And Most of them are reasonably easily understood.

Indeed, many types of artistic work can be blatantly obvious with its messaging and emotional content. Religious iconography for example:

...makes it abundantly clear what sort of message is being presented.

The images we create of conquerors and emperors:

Napoleon

...are full of symbolism and messaging.

Even the ubiquitous Landscape:

Bob Ross

...is full of peacefulness, harmony, love of the earth, the purity of the natural world... And, yes, happy trees.

What then do we make of the truly abstract?

Vasily Kandinsky

I think, perhaps, the disgust we experience upon viewing such work (and I Love This One!) lies not in the complete Absence of any rhyme or reason, but upon the unavoidable suspicion that the work Does in fact Mean Something. That the artist Did in fact have their reasons, and that we simply do not understand them.

This confusion can be upsetting. The already present sense of ignorance most layman experience when confronted with what they are told is "exceedingly Fine art" is only made blatantly obvious and insultingly unavoidable when viewing the work of abstract artists.

I think it is this confusion and insecurity most that engenders the dislike most people experience when confronted with the truly abstract work.

So, in an effort to rectify this, let me proceed.

Abstract art, as I have said, is an attempt to Convey a meaning just as every other form of art. Funnily enough, a failure to understand that meaning is seen as just as painful for the Artist as it can be for a viewer.

Imagine spending hours and hours of your life crafting a work in an attempt to evoke a meaning only to have your attempts judged completely inadequate. They too fear their work has no meaning. They too are haunted by the idea that their work falls short of that of a child's afternoon at play. They seek to Speak through their work - and know full well they may fail utterly.

To work in pure abstraction is, in a worrying way, to choose to work in a form which you Deliberately Have NO Understanding beyond the instinctual.

And instinct is what it is all about.

Mankind has a need to find meaning in their surroundings. Humans have a desire to seek sense in their patterns, and our understanding can begin without any pre-established groundwork.

Take this image for example:

It may be safe to say that this script is completely foreign and indecipherable to you, yet on some Instincutal level, you can Recognise it as Having MEANING.

This on the other hand:

While Logistically similar, simply does not carry the same Instinctive Connotation.

In the same way, I feel, the viewer can See the Attempt at Meaning in truly great abstract art. The artist seeking to write stories in languages neither they, nor their viewers understand.

In this way also, Children understand the true meaning of the abstract.

When the child puts color on the page, they may do so without a pre-established language of symbolism and codes, but they may yet seek to Convey a Message through their work - the shapes of their own Unique perception.

In this way also, the artist struggles to abandon the tired tropes of their society and speak in pure meaning that goes beyond the ideas and shapes of others.

Look at this work from ancient times from San Juan Del Oro, Bolivia:

A powerful work. To see it is to be filled with wonder. Who were the people who made it? What were they thinking? What did the shapes mean to them? Because, we can surely see the Desire to Embue a meaning.

Such is the human condition.

We seek to find order and meaning behind our world.