by Bob Nag
Has visual communication in today's high technology and fast-paced lifestyle created a "close ended" message center? The commercialism in Art and in Media...does lure you to think and act in a certain way.... eliminate individual responses... and does it encourage us to act as a group?

To question this topic is to recognize ways to find and experience creative visual stimulation from which we can make personal gains rather than succumb to the cynicism of the interpretations of life through art. We receive a bewildering torrent of violence from television, movies, newspapers and magazines. It does nothing to help us define our lives or our world, but merely reflects society's current negative thoughts and ambitions. Most importantly, it does not leave room for personal interpretations, the freedom which we desire and have suffered for throughout our history.

So, if we can't ease the unwanted flow of negative images that invade us, and we can't moderate the amount of violence and its graphic and sometimes gratuitous depiction in our public media, what can we do to relieve this visual onslaught? We need to find alternative visual images. We need to find a balance that provides us with some therapy for our eyes. I think we can find that in the world of Art.

Art presents us with a world of images that are totally unlike the "close ended" images of the public media. While public images can deny our individual responses, the images of art encourages it. Art cries out for personal interpretations. With art we can accept or reject... rejoice or lament... withdraw into ourselves, or pursue... even feel outrage and anger, and all these are acceptable personal responses. When reacting to art there are no rules, no right or wrong answers. We can express our own perceptions and feelings and through them we can come to learn about ourselves. The whole process is personally expansive and very fulfilling. Think of that wonderful painting of the Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile that has as many different interpretations as it has viewers. Or of the many possible interpretations of the flying cows in a Maro Chagall painting, What do you see in the heavy texture of Van Gogh's work or the attitude of the dancers in a Degas painting? I can ask an endless number of questions about art and get an endless number of different answers. And that is exactly why art is important.

Art is the visual record of every culture that has lived on this planet. Every civilization has felt the need to record their place in the world and when words alone were not enough or even not available to them, they turned to art. The scope of art is enormous: from the simple cave paintings of benighted primitive people to the monumental work of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel and beyond. Art is there for us to experience in our own personal way and to enjoy with our own personal taste. It is a magnificent gift. It is our legacy and our record and it continues to grow today.

Besides, this is the balance we need to complete our visual experience because this is a visual experience we participate in called life. This is therapy for our eyes.

Bob Nag
Masters in Communications & Film Studies from University of N. Texas.
Producer, writer, director in Hollywood for various commercials and feature films.
Produced "Pirate of Cannibal Isle" a children's feature movie.