The visual elements which make up a painting are bits of information
stored on a flat surface. This storage capacity can be radically
increased through the manipulation of the visual elements in both
surface and subsurface potentials. This essay deals with the means
by which complexity, stored information, and the visual elements
promote change. its major proposition is that stored information
leads to greater complexity and that complexity and change are
proportional: the more complex a structure becomes the more it
is subject to change.
Whether or not we see the visual elements of a painting depends upon our position before it. Large painted areas visible at a distance can not be seen when viewing the surface. The fine details of the surface, in turn, cannot be seen from a distance. All visible information is relevant to the viewer's position before it. What cannot be seen at any one point is stored information. With this in mind, it is possible to create an ever changing work of art based on size, distance, and degrees of visibility in both surface and subsurface regions of the painting.
On the surface of the painting it is possible to increase the storage capacity by breaking up the visual elements into a continuum of parts, ranging in size from the very large to the very small and from the visible to the invisible. In this way we can store imagery in the painting that is either too large, too small, or too low in visibility to be seen by the human eye. But with a change in position such imagery can be seen.
A thin-painted line could have a limited visual range of three
feet, any point beyond this would render the line invisible. At
one point, a series of lines and values could resemble a human
face, but at another becomes a detail for a much larger work.
This was successfully accomplished by Salvidor Dali in 1940 in
his painting, "The Slave Marked With the Disappearing Bust
of Voltaire." In this work one clearly sees two women at
one point, but at another the Bust of Voltaire.
The storage capacity of a painting is determined by the size of
the canvas and the complexity of its visual elements. By working
on a continuum from the large to the small and from the visible
to the invisible, we increase the complexity of the visual elements
and, thus, increase the storage capacity of the painting. We can
store realistic features up close and nonrepresentational features
at a distance or vice versa. This change from realism to nonrepresentational
is due to changes in the viewers position before the painting
and the variable degrees of visibility.
Invisibility as a visual element is zero information, it serves as a starting point. Anything above invisibility can be seen under the right condition. As the degree of visibility increases, so does its visual range One way to work with invisibility is through the reflective potential of a substance, whereby imagery is produced or taken away by means of reflection. Any property that reflects light or inhibits reflection on a shiny surface can produce or influence imagery. The observer's position before the painting plays an important role. Whether or not we can see the reflection, thus the imagery, depends upon our relationship to the incident-tay of light. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. By changing the intensity of two or more light sources, we can control the angle of incidence, and thus influence the visual elements of the painting The automatic variable dimmer designed by Richard Johnston of Wayne State University can do this with a large range of possibilities. At its slowest potential, the change from low to high intensity is invisible to human perception.
Without the automatic variable dimmer each point of reflection
has one other major point of change, that is, any position out
side the angle of incidence. The dimmer increases the potential
for change by rotating the incident ray of light.
We can still increase the storage capacity of the painting, with
unmeasurable potential, by painting in layers of transparency
on a transparent surface. Stored information comes into play as
the number of layers increases in density. This factor inhibits
visual contact with the lower levels of information. What cannot
be seen due to density, buried information can be brought to the
surface through subsurface illumination By changing the light
intensity with Johnston's automatic variable dimmer, we can control
the imagery on the surface of the painting. The rate and degree
to which this change occurs is determined by the light intensity
and the visual elements stored within. At its slowest potential
the change from low to high intensity is invisible to human perception.
As an aside I would like to propose one other possibility in complexity. If we were to store active chemical information in the painting we could set up a condition of slow.. and deliberate change. Every major change due to chemistry could be recorded on film and thus establish descendants from the painting. If the painting is on glass we could utilize the Cliche Verre technique of pushing light through the glass structure onto light sensitive paper. The number of descendants produced in this fashion would be determined by the painting's rate of change.
Complexity and stored information are new words in the language of art, and yet they are found in all works of art. Complexity is the total volume of stored information. This includes the affective, cognitive, and visual elements of the work of art. There is no limit to complexity but the limitations we ourselves impose. In a highly complex work of art there is no wasted information. What cannot be seen at any point in time is stored information for future enjoyment. Let us recognize our human potential to absorb and process vast amounts of information. Give our patrons a new vision of ever-changing stimuli due to higher levels of complexity through stored information.