Communication theory by Whitney Davis

Basic concerns:
Certainly all art objects, like all other sorts of object, transmit information of many kinds to a perceiver able to pick it up, either innately or through learning. Nevertheless, art can be made in the absence of well-defined codes of communication or of any actual or possible audience for it, in such situations it can still possess a distinctive style or be expressive, figurative, decorative etc.

Communication is based on transmissions of information, but the information-bearing and communicative dimensions of art are not the same thing. Whereas bearing information is a universal 'property' of art objects, communication is a function of only some objects in some contexts. Unfortunately, historical and critical analysis has often confused or elided these dimensions.

Because situations of communication are extremely various, they require a close investigation of the psychological states, social relations and environmental context of all parties involved. Although works of art are broadly stable physical objects, communication is an act, situation or event in which the work temporarily inheres.

Jakobson's analysis:
According to Jakobson, meaning does not reside solely within a sentence or picture. Instead, it is a function of the interaction between six factors making up any completed act, situation or event communication.

Addresser produces the message and is the force responsible for attempting to deliver it. Addresser could be for example a poet, painter or designer. Moreover, the addresser might not be the 'author' of the message itself, it could have been composed long ago or, as is sometimes argued in contemporary cultural studies, it may have been forge in the impersonal or unselfconscious crucibles of social ideology or unconscious fantasy.

For many observers, although Jakobson's analysis forms a useful description, the actual explanation of communication lies in the addressee's apparent ability to understand the addresser's attitude, motivation, intentions or 'meaning' sufficiently well for the latter to be satisfied.


.... often disruptive and dangerous problems of communication between parties who do not share status, beliefs or desires ................. .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OtVkRmiPgw

Assignment 2