Images of communication

In my as-yet unpublished rant on the possibilities of communication that I somehow passed off as my final report in the underground research council that I am supporting I handed out an as-yet unpublished series of images of communication and the feedback from the group was that they looked like images of communication. These images were much more complicated and esoteric (what?) than the images below, but I thought I would start with the basics and show the several types of images of communication that appear in a google images search of the term, just so we can know what images we are taking for our launching-point. I am not going to offer much critical feedback on these images, suffice it to say that one of the main concerns of my practice as an artist and my commentary on this blog is that we need new visual analogies to come to terms with the functioning of 21st c. information society.

First and most common both online and perhaps in people's mind (more research needed here of course) are images of two people with some kinfd of symbol between them indicating the exchange of information. These have much potential for modification.




The second type of image is very similar to the above, but focuses not on the receiver and transmitter, but on the medium of communication.

The third type focuses on the network shape of communication. Like the second type, human figures do not figure large.




Aspects of the fourth type can be seen in some of the examples above, but it is distinct in that several different nets of communication are shown in Venn-diagram like interaction.



Finally, and this should perhaps be called the zeroth type, there are images of individuals as nodes of communication. As this is the internet, these are often images of women with prominent breasts in various states of undress. But seriously, communication is driven by our relationship to the other, so a focus on the individual within the context of communication is one category of these images. It's just that the representation of the other naturally tends towards the type of images seen below in the unbalanced power relationship and anonymous sexualized image space that is the internet.


As always, click on the images to look close-up. You will be missing out if you don't take a look at the English on that last one. And it is relevant, ladies. It says "Komyunikeeshon." I'm not denyng I'm a freak, but if you think of the weaving of the net and the addiction to filling up as referring to communication in the information age it becomes suspiciously relevant.

I'll try to dig that report out of the muck.