The Translation of Art

Anything can be looked at as art. The angles of a coffee table. How some orchids on a particular branch bloom. A blank sheet of printer paper. Respectively, we’re looking at the expression of the carpenter, the expression of nature, the expression of whoever it was who decided modern printer paper should be in the dimensions it is. Dear designers who do not think they’re creating art: sorry, but in my eyes, what you do is beautiful!

This is a poster I recently analyzed in a class. The Bauhaus was a German design school that rejected art in favor of minimalist form and more direct clarity. While a student at the Bauhaus may disagree with me, I still see this as art. The composure of beige boxes travelling down, the conveyance of the striking and powerful type, the stark orange space behind the illustrative elements—-I think it’s bold and inspiring, and I get the exact same rush of appreciation as I do for illustration.

And you see this kind of design everywhere, places reminiscent of the Bauhaus’ teachings. For example, all of that modern housing coming up that looks like these muted boxes intersecting each other. I love it. It’s art.

Several years ago, when writing fiction, I came up with a trait for a character: he believed that all art can be translated into another form of art. I realized I believed this myself. You could take an idea, and, either directly or in some bewilderingly abstract way, turn it into a painting, a song, a quilt, martial arts, mathematics, a dance routine—-the possibilities are endless!

An easy example to start with is the process of writing and composing a song with lyrics. As a songwriter myself, I usually start with an instrumental and then come up with words for it, but many other people go vice versa, writing lyrics first. Either way, you are taking one medium and processing it through a different one to create two pieces that both represent the same idea. You wind up with a poem and an instrumental that translate the same idea through two processors.

And there’s another really exciting thing about the translation of an idea into more than one form of art: multimedia composition. I love working with more than one medium. That’s what draws me to graphic design, because it’s not just fine art. You can have fine art, typography, photography, math (look up the Golden Ratio), and more, all on one page, with all elements produced by you. Really, really exciting! In a work of graphic design, every element forms a type of unity with the other elements to promote the client’s message. So, the colors, the fonts, the images—-all of it could be the same exact idea, translated through multiple mediums. Then, just as the spmg artist does with poetry and sounds, the graphic designer has the opportunity to take all of those translations and combine them together into one amazing work. That’s what I want to do, anyway.

What are two very different things you enjoy doing, and how can they be translated into each other? I don’t think there are any wrong answers to that. Be abstract!

Thank you for reading the first substantial blog post I’ve written in my entire life! It is an honor. If you’d like to read about more of my ideas and thoughts, consider subscribing!