Words & The Paradox of Communication
When discussing the way we communicate there are several structures in use. The verbal system in which we talk and hear uses sound to make that connection. The visual communication structure relies on the eyes to make a connection of ideas. But when you make an attempt to cross these systems by using the spoken word, writing it down with a developed and understood alphabet, there is an immediate dichotomy in the ability for those words to describe that visual communication.1 Contemporary artist in the mid-sixties began to experiment with word and image relationships in a new way. Pushing the boundaries between what the potential meanings of this relationships mean. This use of image and word relationships has shown us the inadequacy that words have in developing an accurate representation of visuals.
Though typography is something that usually comes under consideration when talking about graphic design, there is an undeniable presence of typography in the world of contemporary art. There needs to be an understanding that there is a conceptual choice that goes into selecting a typeface (font). Choosing to perform the type in a more illustrative sense causes there to be visual implications in the means of communication.2 Fine artist need to understand that these choices being made cause the artwork to take on all new meaning because of the inherit visual aesthetic or typography.2
Much like the long history of fine art, the written form of the alphabet has a rich history in the means of communication. The ideals of handwriting have been taken out in most of today’s fonts.3 The forms that have been developed as our alphabet do not necessarily speak to the handwritten form, but these letters are an agreed upon system. The changes in these agreed upon forms dictate an aesthetic as well as a conceptual choice by the type designer that need to be considered when choosing a typeface.
The earliest forms of a typeface come with the invention of the printing press and the popularization of it by Johan Guttenberg’s Bible. With the press, the need to reproduce a single document several times in a quick manner made a need for type that was not hand lettered. These typefaces were hand carved from stone or wood.2 These prints were revolutionary for the time but still sacrificed an innate readability of the black letter type choices. As this evolved the clarity of the type did as well. The implementation of serifs, the small lines or brackets that stick out like feet of the letterforms, were first made by type designer James Goudy. His face Goudy Old Style was considered to be a very successful typeface for it’s time because the serifs allowed the letterforms to become more streamlined and led your eye across the page when reading them.3
As type progressed the argument of showing the writers voice was becoming increasingly shown. Out of these necessities became the idea of universal communication, which was pioneered by Joseph Muller-Brockman. His idea was based around the readability of the type with the sans serif typeface. Also Brockman challenged the idea of how type was to be set, using a very rigid grid, he would use no uppercase letters because there was no need for them. This philosophy was a very modernist approach to typography at this time.2 What Brockman was trying to accomplish was to make typography universally presented. By using the same grid systems and typefaces, the concept of taking all the meaning out of type is challenged by Brockman.4 An issue raised here though is that this still lends itself to a certain aesthetic, and that the qualities of a grotesque style sans serif face still have build in cues leading themselves to ideals within the typography. It becomes very easy to look at a work in this time period and see the modernist influences and cues.
Obviously as we can see in the typography that we experience on a day-to-day basis the idea of universal communication did not last. Brockman’s ideals, though necessary for the time, pigeonhole typography into being much less then it has the potential to be. The postmodern aesthetic, which you could consider to be the current state of typography, seeks to apply much more layered styles of production as well as a push back to the ideals of conceptual thinking. Part of this move towards conceptual meaning behind typeface design and selection comes from the increasing availability of fonts and the implementation of the computer into designs workflow.2 Technology has certainly changed the way the people produce and view typography, lending itself to many new problems still needing to be addressed.
I believe that the conceptual ideas surrounding typography certainly have their place in the world of contemporary art. When choosing to use any type form in your work, the artist needs to be very aware of the contextual meaning behind those choices. Because contemporary art is so based around the ideas of concepts it would be naive to think that when using type these concepts can not be further pushed, adding to the narrative as well as to higher level thinking.
Along with this idea of typeface choice there is a discussion to be raised about the words place in fine art. The use of words in art can be traced back as far as the renaissance periods with the work of Picasso and Braque.5 With the figurative form of letters being implemented there is a notion towards this idea of words working as a narrative within art. This approach was done with most work featuring words up until the twentieth century.
Examples of how the challenge of words and their meaning can be traced back as far as the work of Picasso and the Cubists. In 1912 Picasso began to discover this paradox that the written word had created in terms of representation. The question began to arise, what is more “real,” the image or the word? The Dada and Constructivism movements contrasted the idea of narrative with the juxtaposition of word & image relationships by allowing the verbal parts of the piece heighten the meaning or their work.5
In the 1930’s the Surrealist began working with words inside their work. Artists, Rene Magritte has become very recognizable because of his challenge of systems and boundaries. Magritte challenged accurate representation with his piece “The Wind And The Song” (fig.1) where the words, this is not a pipe sit below the depiction of an illustrated pipe.6 What Rene is doing is establishing an argument where different viewers will have opposing opinions. Also around the same time we produced “The Key of Dreams” (fig. 2) where he grids off images with a word underneath it that does not represent the object depicted. What happens with this process is interesting because you start to question which thing, image or type, is actually in the right location. By doing this Magritte shows that there is a certain inadequacy in the way that words can accurately describe things.5 Philosopher Michel Foucault is quoted as saying this about Magritte’s early word/image paintings, “the impossibility of defining a perspective that would let us say that the pipe is true, false, or contradictory. The paintings are both all of these things and none.” 7
The use of language in American art can be subdivided into a six-category system, words as formal devices, words as signs, words employed as juxtaposition or association, narrative, exploration of language structure and language as direct sociopolitical commentary.5 With the use of words as formal deices you will find a large amount of artists working within the category of Abstract Expressionism. Generalizing, the artist in abstract expressionism developed textures through the layering of paint as well as the gestural moves on the canvas. Usually the letters found within the works of these artists were used in a script style face. Robert Motherwell’s series “Je t’aime” (fig. 3) used a script face for a basis of gestural flourishes. The use of the script face lends itself as a basis to gain an expressive experience with the type. The curvilinear style of the characters will cause the execution of the type to be a little imperfect thus lending itself to a certain ascetic.3 This aesthetic that is being created within the type speaks towards the abstract expressionist mentality because of the flowing execution of ideas as well as rough edged final pieces.
Larry Rivers went for a more realist approach to type in his abstract expressionist work. The type becomes a way for rivers to ground the piece as well as explain the typographic forms as signs. In contrast to Motherwell’s gestural flourish typography, Rivers chooses to work with a stencil face in his piece “Parts of the Face: French Vocabulary Lesson,” (fig .4) the words have a more justifiable place in the artwork. Instead of being a basis for something, the type in Motherwell’s work further explains the piece.8 He is trying to use the word as a basis for explanation. The use of this stencil gives off a visual appearance that is similar to medical illustrations or something in a more academic setting. So the typeface choice is working to add a higher level of conceptualization to the piece then is a less descriptive or universal style sans serif had been chosen.2
Much like the earlier cubist work the pop artist played off of ideas of signifiers and signs that lived in our society. In the 1960’s pop artist used lifted material taken from the environment. The taken material could be repurposed into new elements or reproductions. Artist like Roy Lichtenstein used the materials from advertising as well as cartoons that were then copied in detail, exposing how those items work in society.9
It would be hard to challenge how words would in juxtaposition with image without talking about the work of Jasper Johns. In his pieces, Johns evolves on the work of Duchamp and Magritte. His stance on how typography functions challenged the environment in which it lived. Johns changed these objects into a sort of object like status with similarity to the flags or stripes he painted.10 Within their now objective state, Johns would modify the system in which those words lived. In the piece “False Start” (fig. 5) there is an interesting dichotomy beginning to be discussed when he challenges what is right the word or the visual. If a splotch of red has a word on it saying blue there is an immediate ambiguity beginning to develop. Furthermore Johns starts to flip this system in on itself by further challenging the representation of image with in the work. Giving something a certain illustrative quality showing brush strokes and unflat paint further speaks to the paintings state as a representation.10 You can see an example of this in his work on “The Fools House.”(fig. 6)
The word systems in use with our communications begin to take on a more reductive quality in the work of Bruce Nauman. This much more minimal approach to words kind of flips this idea of type and image by removing the image and juxtaposing the type on itself with the use of a anagram. In his piece “Peace” (fig. 7) Nauman has actively reduced the artwork to just type on a page. But there is still a large amount of information being said here, even though it is just black text on a white page.8 In this juxtaposition that Bruce is striking up the visual aesthetic has to be clear and concise. The typeface is a sans serif face that makes pushes to the idea of universal communication pioneered by Herbert Bayer. Also the type is placed in all caps, the absence of lowercase letterforms causes the reader to slow down and read the understandable words.11 The type in not interacting within the space it lives or with the other typography on the page, which does a nice job of adding another layer of conceptual thinking to his works.
H.C Westerman started the group “The Hairy Who” in 1966. The artist consisted of himself as well as Jim Nutt and Kart Wirsum just to name a few. Westermann worked with this idea of fusion of text and image. The words as well as the title were etched into the actual piece creating a unity between the text and image. Artist Jim Nutt changes this location of text from an inscription of the type in the image to relocating it to the back of the painting, changing the relationship of how the typography and the image work together.5
The normal use of image and text usually illustrates text as narrative. The image and text working together to further explain each other giving equality to the overall image shows a balanced narrative. Duane Michals works with photography in the style of sequential art storytelling. (fig. 8) There is a play on the system of cut lines in the photojournalism world.7
There was an exploration of language structure during the work “One and Three Chairs” (fig. 9) by Joseph Kosuth. By inverting the principles of Magritte’s pipe painting, Kosuth takes a more literal interpretation and actually shows a chair in three ways. The piece features an actual chair, a picture of that chair as well as the definition of the word chair. By doing this Kosuth works with the ideals of representation and identity.7
Pushing that idea even further you can look at the work of Neil Jenny. Jenny plays with juxtaposition between the visual beauty of an image and the inadequacy of the word to define that beauty. (fig. 10) By framing a picture of the visual representation of the word displayed outside the frame you can see how the word struggles to compete as an accurate explanation for the image. It plays off the old adage that, an image is worth a thousand words, but here is only one. I would argue thought that though the word and image relationship may be a tenuous one that does not mean that both of these objects do not have great beauty in them. If you investigate the typography in itself the letterforms can really become quite beautiful.
If Jenny were to display the word, in a very beautifully intricate and historically iconic face such as Goudy or Jensen and then juxtapose that word with an image that does not show atmosphere is such a beautiful space, such as a rainy day, or fog would allow the word to remain beautiful while the visual representation would not be as beautiful.13 Doing this would work against his argument that a word cannot accurately describe the visual image. But I would argue that the word is a constant, and through the use of good typography, the word could actually be more beautiful then the visual in a dull or boring state. Because a word like atmosphere can represent so many different images the typed out word works as a grounding to the image, because then the word becomes a constant in representing so many different images, while the image can only represent just that one specific time and place, then showcasing the inadequacy of the image to encompass the entire meaning of the definition.
By using language as a direct sociopolitical commentary Hans Haacke turns the gallery environment into a voting experience for its viewers of “MOMA Poll.” (fig. 11) By encouraging the viewers of the piece to cast their vote as to whether or not they are going to vote for Governor Rockefeller in the upcoming election.5 By exposing the ballot boxes as clear you get a quick visual of how people are voting, and that may or may not change your vote. In this piece the use of typography is crucial in the message that it gives.
Haacke chooses to work with the typeface Helvetica for this piece. Doing so is almost a necessity for his concept to shine through. A face choice like Helvetica takes his personal voice out of the piece for a much more universal message. Helvetica can be seen in so many different veins because if its widespread use in culture. It has been used in identity and print for everything from American Apparel to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Unites States tax forms are set in Helvetica. This widespread use allows Helvetica to be a universal voice and does not put Haacke’s voice into this piece.11 If a more script style typeface would have been chosen, similar to that of the Abstract Expressionists, Haacke’s choice could of changed how people receive the initial message.13
Challenging of the means of communication through the use of words will never truly be resolved. There will always be an inadequacy in the way that words can never accurately or completely represent the visual mage.1 This is because these are two unrelated systems the visual and the verbal. Typography as the written word makes an attempt to bridge the gap in the two systems. The Dadaists and the Surrealists understood this inadequacy and did their best to exploit it. But through process or creating good typography these concepts can add another layer of concept to their work.5 Whether it’s the gestural flourishes that were built out of the script style faces of the Abstract Expressionists experiments with words, or it’s the clean modern and universal look of Han’s Haacke’s Museum or Modern Art Poll, the typography is going to speak and convey a message. Artists cannot get away from that and need to understand that appropriate typeface usage is key in any form of art.
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Works Cited
Bayer, Herbert. Looking Closer. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Press, 1940.
Bowman, Russell. "Words And Images." Art Journal 45, no. 4 (1985): 335-343
Carpenter, John. "Art Journal." The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns 36 no. 3 (1977): 221-227.
Elkins, James. "Art History and Images That Are Not Art." The Art Bulletin 77 no. 4 (1995): 553-571.
Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D Buchloh. Art Since 1900. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2007.
Freeman, Judi. "Experimental Typography and Modern Art." The Visual Word 54 no. 2 (1995): 100-105.
Meggs, Philip B.. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Morison, Stanley. First Principles of Typography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1936.
Poster, Mark. "Words Without Things: The Mode of Information." Humanities as Social Technology 53 no. 3 (1990): 62-77
Savan, Leslie. This Typeface Is Changing Your Life. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Press, 1976.
Tschichold, Jan. Asymmetric Typography. New York, NY: World Publishing Co., 1935.
Varga, A. Kibedi. "Criteria For Describing Word-Image-Relations." Poetics Today 10 no. 1 (1989): 31-53.
Wardell, Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet: Sixteen Essays on Typography. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1956.
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Notes
1Mark Poster. "Words Without Things: The Mode of Information." Humanities as Social Technology 53 no. 3 (1990): 62-77
2Philip B. Meggs. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
3Stanley Morison. First Principles of Typography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1936.
4Herbert Bayer, Looking Closer (Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Press) 1940.
5Russell Bowman, “Words And Images." Art Journal 45, no. 4 (1985): 335-343
6Judi Freeman. "Experimental Typography and Modern Art." The Visual Word 54 no. 2 (1995): 100-105.
7A. Kibedi Varga,. "Criteria For Describing Word-Image-Relations." Poetics Today 10 no. 1 (1989): 31-53.
8James Elkins,. "Art History and Images That Are Not Art." The Art Bulletin 77 no. 4 (1995): 553-571.
9Jan Tschichold. Asymmetric Typography. New York, NY: World Publishing Co., 1935.
10John Carpenter, "Art Journal." The Infra-Iconography of Jasper Johns 36 no. 3 (1977): 221-227.
11Leslie Savan. This Typeface Is Changing Your Life. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Press, 1976.
12Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet: Sixteen Essays on Typography. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1956.
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