Ch 8 Constructing Meaning

Question 1

Abstract shape

Answer 1

A shape that is derived from a visual source, but is so transformed that it bears little visual resemblance to that source

Question 2

Aesthetics

Answer 2

The study of human responses to art and beauty

Question 3

Analogy

Answer 3

A similarity or connection between things that are apparently separate and dissimilar
Wet plaster having a “a consistency of cream”

Question 4

Anesthetic

Answer 4

A chemical or action used to induce insensitivity or unconsciousness

Question 5

Appropriation

Answer 5

A postmodern practice in which one artist reproduces an image created by another and claims it as his or her own

Question 6

Cliché

Answer 6

An overused expression or a preferable visual treatment of an idea

Question 7

Definition

Answer 7

The degree to which a shape is distinguished from both the ground area and from other shapes within the design; the degree of resolution or focus of an entire image
Sharply defined shapes advance while blurred shapes recede

Question 8

High definition

Answer 8

Sharply focused visual information that is easily readable

Question 9

Hybridity

Answer 9

The creation of artworks using disparate media to create a unified conceptual statement

Question 10

Iconography

Answer 10

The study of symbolic visual systems

Question 11

Layering

Answer 11

A postmodern practice in which an accumulation of multiple visual layers is used to create a single artwork

Question 12

Low-definition

Answer 12

Blurred or ambiguous visual information

Can increase the complexity of the design & encourage multiple interpretations

Question 13

Metaphor

Answer 13

A figure of speech in which one thing is directly linked to another, dissimilar thing

Question 14

Metaphorical thinking

Answer 14

The use of metaphors or analogies to create visual or verbal bridges

Question 15

Modernism

Answer 15

A collection of artistic styles, most prominent from around 1860 to 1960, that emphasized the importance of form, introduced new materials and production methods, and sought to express universal truths

Question 16

Nonobjective shapes

Answer 16

Shapes created without reference to specific visual subject matter

Question 17

Postermodernism

Answer 17

A collection of artistic styles that arose in the 1970s as a reaction to modernism
Conceptual emphasis, social commentary, irreverence, & skepticism about universal truths

Question 18

Pure form

Answer 18

A circle, sphere, triangle, cube, or other form created without reference to specific subject matter

Question 19

Recontextualization

Answer 19

A postmodern practice in which the meaning of an image or object is changed by the context in which it’s placed

Question 20

Representational shapes

Answer 20

Shapes derived from specific subject matter and strongly based on visual representation

Question 21

Simile

Answer 21

A figure of speech in which thing is linked to another, dissimilar thing using the words like or as

Question 22

Stereotype

Answer 22

A fixed generalization based on a preconception