335

TA 11 (3) pp. 335–341 Intellect Limited 2013

Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research Volume 11 Number 3

© 2013 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/tear.11.3.335_1

Keywords

iconoclasmvisual communicationsemiotic codeshyperrealityphotographyphotomontagedigital imageimage credibility

Nagla samirAmerican University in Cairo

iconoclasm: The loss of

iconic image in art and visual

communication

absTracT

Why is the urge to lose the iconic image relevant to reformation and modernism? A question so central in a society built more than ever on visual media dependency. Is that relevant to sceptical questioning of the essence of reality, and if the image is a reflection of reality in the era of new technology of image creating and manipu-lating? As iconoclasts began deliberately destroying images at the alter as a sign of reformation, modern art was no longer bound by truthful representations of iconic reality; from shift in colour as a medium to a scientific light reflection, to pushing colour boundaries in reality, to losing the object for the absolute representation of abstract and supermatist visual, to deliberate losing of intended visual representa-tion to materials, then to the empty frame, and to the empty gallery … on goes the iconoclastic gesture of modern art.

Followed by a transitional shift from iconic representation all the way to reso-nance in visual communications, exploring with the possibilities of different refer-ential functions of signs, and thru to minimalism and replacing visual by verbal referential codes.

This article studies actions and motives of deliberate loss of iconic image, examining the factors associated with the development and process, criss-crossing the boundaries of two image dependant yet very different domains; art and visual communication.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 335 2/14/14 6:04:04 PM

Nagla Samir

336

iNTroducTioN

Modern society is built on visual media dependency. We communicate through a semiotic system of codes; iconic representing realistic impressions of subject, indexical referring to related cues, or symbolic based on conven-tional connotation.

But is seeing necessarily believing?Images, like other representations, ‘are never innocent or neutral reflec-

tions of reality… they represent for us: that is, they offer not a mirror of the world but an interpretation of it’ (Baker 2008).

In his theory of ‘hyperreality’, Jean Baudrillard states that reality itself comes as a result of an endless ‘reduplication of the real’ via media such as photography. He claims that the possibility of infinite identical objects creates a ‘relationship of equivalence, of indifference’ leading to the ‘extinction of the original’ (Berger 2012: 17).

Iconoclasm, a term closely related to reformation as an action of attacking or rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and prac-tices. That was interpreted in the form of deliberate destruction of religious images as heretical.

As iconoclasts began deliberately destroying images at the alter as a sign of reformation, modern art was no longer bound by truthful representations of iconic reality and becoming more adoptive to scientific and technological progress.

Three major discoveries can be described as the fundamental milestones of image production development; those are:

1. Research in light and optical theories2. The utilization of light on film, in photography and motion pictures3. Digitizing visual content through codes.

The controversy lies within the gradual disappearance of iconic image, in rela-tion to and despite of the immense progress in tools of technology for perfect production in both domains of art and visual communication.

loss of icoNic image iN arT

From shift in colour as a medium to a scientific optical light reflection in impressionism, to expressionist pushing colour boundaries in reality, to losing the object for the absolute representation of abstract and supermatist visual, to deliberate losing of intended visual representation to materials in ready-mades, to minimalism, then to the empty frame, and to the empty gallery … on goes the iconoclastic gesture of modern art … and thru to new media arts, iconoclasm turned into an ideology and methodology, an underlying support or foundation for progress of idea and process, parallel to experimentation on context bases and technological production.

Among significant milestones to extreme iconoclastic experimentation; are Yves Klein’s uniformly monochromes painted canvases as early as 1949, collec-tive entitled ‘Proposte Monochrome, Epoca Blu’ (Proposition Monochrome; Blue Epoch).

For his next exhibition ‘La spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état de matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée’ also known as ‘The Void’, at the Iris Clert Gallery, Paris, April 1958, Klein chose to show nothing whatsoever.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 336 2/14/14 6:04:04 PM

Iconoclasm

337

‘My paintings are now invisible and I would like to show them in a clear and positive manner’, he claimed.

The Erased de Kooning Drawing by Robert Rauschenberg’s, 1953, is another clear example for iconoclastic gesture by the artist.

‘Every Icon’ by John F. Simon Jr, 1997, is a digital iconoclastic art project.

Simon reinterprets Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook in Every Icon, a Java applet (a small program that runs in a Web browser) that executes the following algorithm: Given: An icon described by a 32×32 grid. Allowed: Any element of the grid to be colored black or white. Shown: Every icon.

(Tribe and Jana 2006: 86)

Light and optical theories

Historians usually link modern art to the French Impressionism. In the nine-teenth century, advances in science contributed to changing theories about colour and its perception, as physicists and chemists immersed themselves in studying optical reception and the behaviour of the human eye in response to light of differing wavelengths. The impressionists created a parallel reproduc-tion of colour based on complementariness in order to depict illumination.

‘Impressionists’ bright palette was enriched by new technology, for many of the wide range colors they used were new synthetic pigments’ (Galenson 2001: 51). Interestingly they ‘started painting in open air as it became practical with the first commercial appearance of paint in tubes’ (Galenson 2001: 71).

Despite of all the freshly introduced scientific theory and tools, impres-sionists went far from idolizing the iconic nature of the subject to subjective interpretation of it.

Photography

Since its invention, photography has been used as means of recording or capturing reality in iconic representation. Paul Levinson emphasizes the ability of photography to capture or reflect ‘a literal energy configuration from the real world’ through a chemical process (1997: 37).

Levinson suggests that photographs as icons have a powerful effect on individuals, particularly as ‘direct image’ due to the ‘sheer ease and sensual satisfaction’ of viewing them (1997: 48). Tom Gunning also attributes the human fascination with photographs with a sense of the relationship between photography and reality, though he claims that the ‘perceptual richness and nearly infinite detail’ of the image itself is more significant than a knowledge of its indexicality. He cites Andre Bazin’s idea that photography has an irra-tional power to bear away our faith (Andrew and Joubert 2011: 125).

Levinson relates this characteristic of the photograph to its objectivity and reliability, also echoing Bazin’s belief that photography is free from the ‘sin’ of subjectivity (1997: 41).

icoNoclasm aNd The credibiliTy of image

Does photography necessarily depict reality?Photographs are ‘as much an interpretation of the world as paintings and

drawings are’, argues Susan Sontag (2000: 31). Dominique Issermann also describes a photograph as ‘a piece of reality, but the reality of the world is different’ (Baker 2008).

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 337 2/14/14 6:04:04 PM

Nagla Samir

338

Starting by a photographer’s decision to frame a portion excluding the rest of the scene, the iconic nature of representation is tacked. The camera can easily distort reality through the use of a different lens, light effects, filters, exposure … as well as undergoing retouching.

The loss of iconic image is closely related to credibility of representation, depending on sets of referential codes. ‘It appears overall that the ways of coding reality may shift the ideology of credibility. The individual’s position of ideological coherence and common sense interpretations may shift as a result of the changing codes’ (Làzaro 1999: 9).

Digital image

In 1979, French artist and philosopher Herve ‘Fischer proclaimed in a perform-ance in Centre Pompidou that “history of art was dead” … Fischer claimed that the linear concept of historical progression was over and that was the age of meta-art’ (Bentkowska-Kafel et al. 2005: 5).

Due to accessibility to digital editing tools, the use of the new technology has raised questions about the ethics of manipulation and the possible implications for the credibility of images. Digital cameras and applications such as Photoshop have changed the way we create, look at and think about photographs. With the immense progress in technology, came great doubts concerning truth claim and credibility of digital image. Digital tech-nology has the capabilities to produce ‘manipulated’ images that appear realistic and credible. Photoshop, or ‘photoshopping an image’ has turned into an unprecedented verb describing the excessive implementation of the software.

Levinson suggests that the digitization of photography undermines ‘the very reliability of the photograph as mute, unbiased witness of reality’ (1997: 41) due to the fallibility of technological manipulation and the potential for human refinement of production.

But it was by the 1990s that the IT revolution brought about an unprec-edented access to and interpretation of information.

The creation of the Internet provided a new avenue for artists to not only display their work but as a tool to create their work (either open-ended or intentional). It can be seen as the main platform for the production, distribution and exhibition of new art forms today.

(Bentkowska-Kafel 29005: 65)

Mohamed Mahmoud witnessed bloody clashes with police forces that resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of protestors. Exceptional and heartbreak-ing photo journalistic documentation of the events idealized protestors in epic scenes of heroism. The collective by El Masry is an iconoclastic attempt of gestural nature, fit for Egyptian audience sense of humor when confronting authority and facing crisis.

Virtual and augmented realities are excellent examples that challenge and question audience’s beliefs in image, knowing that a whole range of perceived visual data is based on digital coding created by utilizing algorithms in processing given data variables.

Credibility then is dependent on a variety of factors, those include codes of realism and codes of production, which should relatively fit conventional codes of representation and perception.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 338 2/14/14 6:04:04 PM

Iconoclasm

339

Type reads; ‘Breaking news: Cairo, winged species make appearance in Mohamed Mahmoud Street’.

Figure 1: Mohamed El Masry, Digital Photomontage from ‘Breaking News’ collective, 2011.

Type reads; ‘Breaking news: A security cordon around the Ministry of the Interior affairs’.

Figure 2: Mohamed El Masry, Digital Photomontage from ‘Breaking News’ collective, 2011.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 339 2/14/14 6:04:06 PM

Nagla Samir

340

loss of icoNic image iN visual commuNicaTioN

The communicative value of the image has served as a catalyst in mutual encoding and decoding information in visual communication. The very poten-tial possibilities provided through digital technology create problems and challenges regarding the truth claim and credibility, in a domain that is prag-matically dependant on how viewers relate to and interrogate the content.

With the rise of marketing in the consumer age, the exaggeration in visu-ally conveying product characteristics to meet competitive peers, led to loss of credibility of image, that reflected eventually on credibility of message and representational cues, and the credibility of source whether message sender or medium.

With the development of consumer culture, communication messages altered from focus on product to focus on target audience. Resulting in less dependency on iconic image representations of tangible product character-istics to visual referential codes of abstract concepts. Audience are not bound by rational comparison of alternatives. ‘Clutter, creativity, the changing consumer, and the very efficacy of the 30-seconds commercial are four major issues that have separately and jointly made for a complex and challenging communications landscape’ (Dahlen et al. 2010: 447).

The more advanced the audience are, the more sceptical they can get. Images’ credibility in visual communication can be seen as complex code or set of ideas shared by both the producers and consumers of the message.

Image in visual communication has undergone transitional shift from iconic representation, to indexical, to symbolic and thru to resonance, explor-ing with the possibilities of different referential functions of signs. Iconoclasm in visual communication is maximized in resonance connotations, by using powerful cues that induce emotional stimuli as to avoid conflicts concerning visual persuasion.

Resonance became a fundamental communication scheme, as ‘target audience get aroused to raise their awareness and their ability to react to new stimuli. The brain automatically intercepts the arousal as being something important’ (Dahlen et al. 2010: 336).

Over five centuries ago, Leonardo da Vinci said, ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’. In recent years, several companies have adopted a minimalistic approach in their advertising plans. And although it may be argued if mini-malism is the way forward in visual communication, there have been some exceptionally notable attempts towards building iconoclastic communication codes based on creative gesture offering minimal almost nil visual supported by verbal referential cues.

refereNces

Andrew, Dudley and Joubert, Herve (2011), Opening Bazin: Postwar Film Theory and Its Afterlife, New York: Oxford University Press.

Baker, Frank W. (2008), ‘Visual literacy defined and other related quotes’, http://www.frankwbaker.com/vl_defined.htm. Accessed 27 October 2011.

Bentkowska-Kafel, Anna, Cashen, Trish and Gardiner, Hazel (2005), Digital Art History, Bristol: Intellect Ltd.

Berger, Arthur Asa (2012), Media Analysis Techniques, USA: Sage Publications Inc.

Dahlen, Micael, Smith, Terry and Lange, Fredrik (2010), Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 340 2/14/14 6:04:06 PM

Iconoclasm

341

El Masry, Mohamed (2011−2012), ‘“Breaking News” collective, digital photomontage’, Cairo, https://www.facebook.com/MASRY102/media_set?set=a.311067125570257.84428.100000009164407&type=3. Accessed 23 November 2011.

Galenson, David W. (2001), Painting Outside the Lines: Patterns of Creativity in Modern Art, USA: Harvard University Press.

Làzaro, Angelique Maria (1999), ‘An informed community’s perception of the impact of digital technology on the credibility of news photogra-phy’, Masters thesis, Rhodes University, http://eprints.ru.ac.za/2270/1/LAZARO-MA-TR00-77.pdf. Accessed 9 January 2012.

Levinson, Paul (1997), The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution, New York: Routledge.

Steet, Linda (2000), Veils and Daggers: A Century of National Geographic’s Representation of the Arab World, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Tribe, Mark and Jana, Reena (2006), New Media Art, Köln: Taschen.

suggesTed ciTaTioN

Samir, N. (2013), ‘Iconoclasm: The loss of iconic image in art and visual communication’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research 11: 3, pp. 335–341, doi: 10.1386/tear.11.3.335_1

coNTribuTor deTails

Nagla Samir is a contemporary Egyptian media artist, culture operator and scholar based in Cairo. She runs a parallel career as a freelance designer and holds a Ph.D. in Visual Communication and Graphic Design. Her academic affiliations include The Faculty of Applied Arts 6th of October University, The Academy of Art and Design, School of Performance and Visual Arts American University in Cairo, and the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Art German University in Cairo.

Contact: The American University in Cairo, AUC New Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.E-mail: naglasamir@aucegypt.edu

Nagla Samir has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 341 2/14/14 6:04:06 PM

intellect books & journals Performing Arts Visual Arts Film Studies Cultural & Media Studies

Videogames are firmly enmeshed in modern culture.

Acknowledging the increasing cultural impact of this rapidly

changing industry on artistic and creative practices, Videogames

and Art features in-depth essays that offer an unparalleled

overview of the field. Together, the contributions position

videogame art as an interdisciplinary mix of digital technologies

and the traditional art forms. Of particular interest in this volume

are Machinima, game console artwork, politically oriented

videogame art, and the production of digital art. The second

edition features an extended critical introduction from the

editors and updated interviews with the foremost artists in

the field. Rounding out the book is a critique of the commercial

videogame industry comprising essays on the current quality and

originality of videogames.

Andy Clarke is an independent researcher and Internet strategy consultant. Grethe Mitchell is a reader in digital and new media at the University of Lincoln, UK.

To view our catalogue or order

our books and journals visit

www.intellectbooks.com

Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road,

Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG.

Tel: +44 (0) 117 9589910

Fax: +44 (0) 117 9589911

We are here to support your

ideas and get them published.

To send us your new book

or journal proposal, please

download a questionnaire

from www.intellectbooks.com.

publishers of original thinking | www.intellectbooks.com

Videogames and ArtSecond Edition

Edited by Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell

ISBN 978-1-84150-419-3 | 260pp£40.00, $60.00 | 2013Hardback | 230x170mmeBook available

Intellect books

TA 11.3_Samir_335-341.indd 342 2/14/14 6:04:06 PM

Copyright of Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research is the property of IntellectLtd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listservwithout the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print,download, or email articles for individual use.