What is an Image?

Okay, I'm sorry, I looked it up in the dictionary widget on my Mac. But only because I wanted to confirm what I was saying in class! What was so interesting for me was that all the different definitions of "image" have that element of intangibility that I mentioned. For example, the definition I tend to think of first is a mental representation or idea; often I need to have an "image" of something in my head to be able to talk about it. What I love is that way that the mental process is so integral to the definition of image. One of the definitions that I found most interesting describes an optical appearance refracted through a lens. Not only is it light, but it's refracted light. This is also related to the "image" that describes the "images" we see on computer screens. We text each other images, we download images. All arrangements of pixelated light that come together to create intangible things we can "see"! Of course, the real thing we are seeing is light on a computer screen, but because of the way our minds process that light, it becomes a mental representation of that idea.
One definition that I had forgotten about was when we use the word in a sentence like, "He is the image of his father." He certainly does not look exactly like his father, but there is a certain resemblance that our brains pick up on. When we look at him, various elements make him a representation of, or related to, our mental image of his father.

When I think about what this means in terms of visual art, we are always creating images. When we paint a painting of a goat, we are putting paint on a canvas. When we look at the canvas, we literally see paint on a canvas. But because of the way our minds work, we may see the image of a goat emerge from the raw materials.

My other thoughts on the word image is that it's a purely human phenomenon. If a lizard were to look at the same painting, it would just see paint on a canvas. But because of the way our minds work, we can pull the intangible image from the materials.