Image as Holistic Information

Writing and reading are linear processes in which a concept is gradually described by one detail after another detail.  All of the elements of writing are abstract in the sense that we have to interpret what each symbol means.   The placement of the symbols of writing creates a more comprehensive meaning.    For example, symbols in the form of letters are placed in patterns that represent words.  Words, symbols in their own right, are placed in patterns that represent sentences.  Sentences are placed in paragraphs which in turn form pages, etc. 

Our eyes move left to right, left to right, slowly moving down a page in order to first interpret these marks, and then, when we have finished a section (sentence, paragraph, or page), we have to "digest" or assemble these consecutive details into a whole concept. 

Our eyes move rapidly in all directions around an image, guided by what seems to grab our attention.  Even though an image can be abstract and created of symbols, just like writing, we do not have to interpret or assemble anything to understand the whole concept that the image is portraying.  For an image speaks in wholeness, and can convey basic information which does not require previous knowledge of a culture-specific "code".

For example, read the following description and try to gather a picture in your mind of what the words are trying to describe. 

Suspended upright in air, the apple peeling was a spiral.  It started at the stem, where a leaf was still attached.  The apple peel was formed into a spiral by being peeled counter clockwise from the top, down to the bottom of the apple.  There was no apple left intact, only a peeling, balanced, in midair. 

Go here to see the image I was describing in words. 

Do you see how the words likely even left some questions in your mind of exactly what the image was?  Was four sentences enough to describe the image accurately?  The example given above was a fairly simple image.  Images can be very complex, richly detailed in their specific language:  symbolism, design, spatial relationships, color, texture, movement, line, rhythm, shape, and size.  Of course, the more complex an image, the more information it can express.  But this complexity does not make an image more difficult to understand.  This is largely true cross-culturally, as well, for images speak to us in a language that has little to do with time and place.

Images are the primary language of each individual.  We all drew pictures long before we wrote or read words.  Likewise, the human species as a whole used images long before they invented written language.  Images convey information in a language that is universal, holistic, and  instantaneous.    When we learned to write and read, we created a form of communication that is limited by a person's exposure to the culture-specific "code" of writing symbols and systems.  Our primary language, imagery, speaks to people of all ages and cultures, past, present, and future, which can be understood in a whole chunk of information, holistically.   

1997