What Is an Image?

What is an image? René Magritte changed the rules. “La trahison des images” (“The Treachery of Images”) depicts a pipe. The caption underneath reads, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”). Magritte, one could argue, is merely being semantic: A painting of a pipe is not actually a pipe but an image of a pipe. Or one could see his assertion as a power grab from viewers, whether professional or casual. The object in question is whatever the artist says it is. Or is not.

Before Magritte, images in art were more conventional, conforming to types, whether religious, mythological, royal portraiture and, toward the end of the 19^th century, the quotidian. Cute winks were rare.

Now, some 85 years after Magritte, an artist can take the Surrealist’s assertion for granted and drive it further. She can say, “An image is an image when I say it is an image.”

She can use any means at her disposal to create an image. Painting, photography, sculpture, film, video, installation, sound, performance, text, collage, found objects, the internet – and any combination thereof.

She can say, “This image that I have created is my visual representation of whatever I say it is. Or” – if she believes in the artist-viewer relationship – “whatever you, the viewer, decide that it means to you.”

She can make her image about anything she wants. An idea, a feeling, a gesture. Politics, immigration, war. A formal artistic issue. Whether tangible or ephemeral, the possibilities are endless.

Finally, she can make her image look however she wants it to look. It may be something recognizable to most viewers like a bird or a building or a beach. It may be a mash-up of recognizable parts reconfigured according to the artist's world-view. It may be something formed entirely in her daytime imagination, or in a dream. Figurative or abstract or somewhere in between – all are fair game.

If it seems as if the world of image-making is wide open, I agree. There is more latitude than ever. There are rules too. There must be intent and there must be content. However obscure they may seem. However much spontaneity runs through the work.

Of course the images an artist makes also contribute to her personal image and how she is viewed personally and professionally by those who in stand in judgment of her art – peers, dealers, collectors, curators, the public.

Lastly, in any discussion these days about images and image-making, one must acknowledge the sheer volume of images proliferating from sources other than artists (and art directors). With Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube – not to mention a camera on every mobile phone – everybody has become an image-maker. What are the implications for art and artists? If a dissertation hasn’t yet been written in examination of this question, then maybe I should be the one to do so! Or perhaps this calls for a series of interviews with artists of all ages ….

Rebecca Cascade