1. The Universe of Concepts

The word “concept” originates from the Latin word of concipio which means I grasp, I hold together. And this is exactly what is at stake. A concept is a piece of reality, grasped out of the chaos of reality as a foreground pattern and made fit for thinking and acting.

When a cat dozes off on the window sill and a blackbird appears outside, she stiffens. Her mind is at work. The bird stands apart from the background as a cat-relevant category and can be grasped in a dual sense. The cat evidently considers the bird shape to represent the concept of what is meant to be a cat´s toy or food.

This is an instance of basic level concepts, of a sort common to the animal world and the human race.

The ability to grasp relevant aspects of our surroundings, to perceive them as conceptual categories and to use them for practical purposes is a fundamental condition for any species. Eating, drinking, mating, finding shelter from the elements and protection from enemies presuppose conceptual thinking in man and animals.

Brains are devices for conceptualizing, thinking and acting. Thanks to our brains, the higher we can survive and evolve. By conceiving and processing reality, man and animal structure their world, fulfill their needs, get around in the world and relate to our mates.

The brain is a marvelous tool. Yet, in certain respects, it is a primitive construction. It can be deluded. A hound may attack an animated cartoon blackbird on a screen, a mere black spot in the shape of a flickering bird. The brain has limited processing capacity, too. I happened to see a dog hunting two hares. When the two-hare concept split up into two hares running in different directions, the dog had to stop, waiting for the brain to catch up to the new situation.

Once in a while, the concept-mechanism is too primitive for practical behavior. A dog might learn that a cat may turn out to be a pleasant companion, and we may learn that a so-called terrorist is able to show sign of human capacities. It is not easy to put conflicting concepts into a proper order of priority.

Accordingly, the continuous testing of the validity of existing concepts is important for the survival of the species. The game of visual art is one of the methods human beings use to take care of this matter.

During evolution, the human brain structure has improved its capacity to identify concepts and tailor concepts to specific purposes. Humans are able to identify the natural gestalts of deer, birds, roots and berries, water, shelters, allies and enemies, and the fundamental structure of the surroundings, expressed en the concepts of the prepositions of “before”, “behind”, “on”, “below”. We also have the capacity to elaborate and subdivided categories, create new concepts from scratch and extend the range of concepts into new areas by means of metaphors and metonyms.

Some experts hold that the most elevated and sublime findings of the human spirit, including art, philosophy, science and religion arise out of the embodied mind of man, emerging from a brain structure with essential mammalian features. They find support for their views in investigations of language, psychology, and neurology.

Concepts are normally created in order to be perceived and shared by others. They are handy for common acting. Concepts serving communicative purposes also create or enhance bonds between those sharing the concepts. When people share concepts, they normally share purposes, as well. Common concepts are the pillars of group culture and group ideals. One may even claim that common concepts are the basis of morality and ethics.

In the game of visual art, slices of the world are displayed as concepts, ready for identification. We obtain glimpses of the conceptual machinery of our mental activity and are offered examples of what we think and act by. This is a unique experience per se.

When an artist wants to display a concept, he or she has several options.

He may present the objects by themselves, a section of the real world, e.g. a piece of furniture, a copy of a person made of plaster with real clothes or a bunch of bricks. Look at this, this is what I mean! The object itself is metonymic for all instances of the category. Apparently, the method has some drawbacks. Some spectators are inclined to consider the concept as something from real life and to interpret the objects as objects to be used for everyday purposes, and not as elements of art.

Objects as part of a work of art are conceptual actors in the game and may play different roles at the same time. Therefore, the spectator needs to know whether in individual object defines the concept of the object itself, the class of similar objects, refers to an abstract, higher level category which includes objects with similar characteristics, or means something quite different, that is, act in a metaphoric or metonymic role.

As the representation of an object often fulfills the same function as the real object, pictorial representation is another artistic strategy.

The images of deer and buffalos painted on the walls of the Ice age cave are the very first examples of this strategy. They were probably executed in order to strengthen concepts, crucial for the survival of the hunters. The intention of their originators may have been to glorify the concept of hunting as a fundamental condition of life. Some scientists believe that the pictures may have been part of a more comprehensive ritualistic conceptual pattern.

The masters of the Renaissance and their followers used considerable effort to represent persons, objects, buildings, and landscapes in a sort of transparent, visual space, the world considered through an imaginary window. This method has been industrialized and commercialized by means of camera technique and cultivated into perfection by modern 3D computer technology.

A realistic representation, however, is a concept of its own, basically signifying nothing more than perceived reality with the appropriate significance of the real object.

One of the advantages of pictorial representation is that the artist can arrange the objects so that they represent different conceptual patterns with specific significance, a sort of theatrical reality where the extras are placed according to patterns that represent the concepts of the game. This method provides the artist with the potential to merge realistic representation with other objects of supplementary significance, including lines, colors, texture, and proportions.

The third artistic strategy is to create objects from scratch, e.g. different types of lines, hatching, color fields, organic shapes, mathematical shapes, never seen before shapes, sculptural forms of any kind, general objects with no direct reference to existing objects. They may be used as individual concept in non-figurative art. But they are easily merged into representational concepts, e.g. when merging the concept of a soft charcoal with a realistic drawing of a person.

But whether the artist makes use of the first, second or third strategy or contrives new strategies of his own, he always intends to put concepts fit for the human mind at stake in a special game. This is what I call the Game of Visual Art,