![[Image: 5 public artworks in Taipei City were selected from the Public Art in Taiwan Annual compiled by the Council of Cultural Affairs]](/database/images/display/sb4b8c24e3717cc.jpg)
5 public artworks in Taipei City were selected from the Public Art in Taiwan Annual compiled by the Council of Cultural Affairs
Effect of Design Concept Explanation on Understanding of the Image of Public Artworks
In Taiwan's current art and design education programs, students are zealous about creation and design and often overlook the importance of expressing the concept of content of their works via written explanations. As a matter of fact, image construction and interpretation in creative design are equally important. How to help viewers decipher the work and echo the emotions of the designer is of utmost significance because it is in their responses that the designer receives the greatest feedbacks.
Appreciation of an artwork is a visual experience. Viewers of different cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines and life experiences will have different interpretations of the same work. Design concept explanation in this sense may make up for the gaps in background and experience mentioned above and help open viewers' eyes to the deep meaning of the work.
This study assumes that concept explanation is effective in helping the designer communicate the content of the work and in helping the work touch the hearts of viewers so they will like and identify with the work. This study proposes to delve into the issue through experiment and interview methods. The purpose is to verify the validity of its hypothesis. Five public artworks are chosen as the test samples. Test subjects are divided into the experiment group and the control group. Each group contains 22 test subjects. In the process of artwork appreciation, "concept explanation texts" are given to experiment group test subjects, and "no concept explanation texts" are given to control group test subjects. During the experiment, questionnaire surveys are also conducted. The questionnaire employs a 7-degree scale to perform a semantic differential image cognition survey. Finally this study uses quantification software SPSS to conduct ANOVA. The results are analysed in association with interview data. Effect of written concept explanation and relating factors on design image cognition are then identified. It is the author's hope that findings of this study can serve as reference for art designers and educators.
In Taiwan's art education courses of today, we can observe that students are accustomed to thinking in images as a basis for artistic creation and design, but lack thoughts on the literary concept of artworks, and show insufficient confidence when describing their art creations. Students have neglected its importance.
Artistic creation involves experiences accumulated via all of the senses, and is the outcome of human beings' spiritual and mental activity. Concepts for artistic creation and design are fermented by perceptive stimulations from people, matters and objects of everyday life, or they are inspired by image descriptions during conversations with others, and then further constructed into design concepts. Literary description of concepts helps the artist convey perceptions and images, so that artworks may be related to by viewers and leave a deep impression. Therefore, literary thinking of concepts is a process of artistic creation, and is also a communication process and mean for viewers to understand artworks. In other words, artistic rendering and appreciation is the construction and interpretation of thoughts and images, including literary description of concepts, explaining perceptions via images, and even the intuitive realisation originating from different life experiences that can't be described verbally.
This purpose of this study is to:
Yung-Chin Tsao
Associate Prof., The Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University
e:
Shang-Feng Yang
Graduate Student, The Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University
Appreciation of an artwork is a visual experience. Viewers of different cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines and life experiences will have different interpretations of the same work. Design concept explanation in this sense may make up for the gaps in background and experience mentioned above and help open viewers' eyes to the deep meaning of the work.
This study assumes that concept explanation is effective in helping the designer communicate the content of the work and in helping the work touch the hearts of viewers so they will like and identify with the work. This study proposes to delve into the issue through experiment and interview methods. The purpose is to verify the validity of its hypothesis. Five public artworks are chosen as the test samples. Test subjects are divided into the experiment group and the control group. Each group contains 22 test subjects. In the process of artwork appreciation, "concept explanation texts" are given to experiment group test subjects, and "no concept explanation texts" are given to control group test subjects. During the experiment, questionnaire surveys are also conducted. The questionnaire employs a 7-degree scale to perform a semantic differential image cognition survey. Finally this study uses quantification software SPSS to conduct ANOVA. The results are analysed in association with interview data. Effect of written concept explanation and relating factors on design image cognition are then identified. It is the author's hope that findings of this study can serve as reference for art designers and educators.
In Taiwan's art education courses of today, we can observe that students are accustomed to thinking in images as a basis for artistic creation and design, but lack thoughts on the literary concept of artworks, and show insufficient confidence when describing their art creations. Students have neglected its importance.
Artistic creation involves experiences accumulated via all of the senses, and is the outcome of human beings' spiritual and mental activity. Concepts for artistic creation and design are fermented by perceptive stimulations from people, matters and objects of everyday life, or they are inspired by image descriptions during conversations with others, and then further constructed into design concepts. Literary description of concepts helps the artist convey perceptions and images, so that artworks may be related to by viewers and leave a deep impression. Therefore, literary thinking of concepts is a process of artistic creation, and is also a communication process and mean for viewers to understand artworks. In other words, artistic rendering and appreciation is the construction and interpretation of thoughts and images, including literary description of concepts, explaining perceptions via images, and even the intuitive realisation originating from different life experiences that can't be described verbally.
This purpose of this study is to:
- Differences in viewers' perception of an artwork's image when "concepts are described" and when "concepts aren't described".
- Differences of 5 public artworks in 10 image attributes in the experiment on concept descriptions.
*This paper has been provided for educational purposes may not be republished without permission from the author.
About the authors
Yung-Chin TsaoAssociate Prof., The Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University
e:
Shang-Feng Yang
Graduate Student, The Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University
Find out more about the outcomes of the City Move Icsid Interdesign 2009 in Gällivare, Sweden