>>> Seminars on Observing and Studying Art
Lecture
Symbols are condensed images that may refer to external realities, such as a map, or to mental realities, such as a sphere or other geometric forms. Signs, by contrast, are conventional symbols, such as road signs, letters of the alphabet or numbers.
Signs connect people in communication or express shared concepts, whereas symbols condense, order and organise concepts, ideas, experiences and the reality of the world.
Together with allegories, which are explored in another seminar, these forms are creations of our consciousness through which we can give lasting expression to experiences that are always dynamic and changing. Abstract thought, by bringing experience into a fixed form, allows us to conserve energy and direct it along new paths.
Symbolic language is expressed in art throughout history. We are interested in understanding how symbols represent the movement of psychic and vital energies and how, through the conscious use of symbolism, we can act in the world and bring about meaningful changes in the direction of behaviour.
Seminar
This seminar will help participants understand that symbolism is not separate from the development of individuals and societies. They will learn to understand and use it when designing spatial forms.
Through practical exercises, we will explore how the forms and energies characteristic of these symbols affect us in everyday life. We will also use them for self-knowledge, applying the laws of symbols to our daily situations.
With extensive visual material (photographs, diagrams and drawings), the seminar is intended for people working in the visual arts and anyone interested in the interpretation and application of the psychology of form to visual communication.
Seminar Topics
Who Is It For?
Architects, graphic designers, painters, sculptors, psychologists, anthropologists, art historians, photographers and filmmakers may find answers to many of their intuitions and questions about the deeper language of their professions. Maximum participation: 30 people.
Duration
The seminar comprises 16 hours on Saturday and Sunday, plus a two-hour lecture on Friday evening.
Fee
The fee for each seminar is agreed with interested participants.
Download workshop information sheet (PDF, Italian)
Lecture Preview
The Symbol as an Expression of Vital Energy
How can symbolism be connected with vital energy? Symbols can serve many purposes: in geometry they are used to calculate numerical relationships; in communication they help construct conventional signs; but in art the use of geometric symbols has an essentially psychological meaning.
These psychological meanings are not exclusively mental: they involve people emotionally and through their behaviour in space. The emotional, mental and behavioural values associated with a symbol can also be understood and experienced as a sensation of energy: we may feel energised or drained, or sense that our energy is drawn towards some points rather than others.
For example, entering a sacred building may immediately produce a feeling of attraction towards particular focal points, such as the place where a deity is represented or housed. In a suburban flat within a vast apartment block resembling a beehive, one might instead feel like an ant or worker bee, with one's energy diminished and dispersed.
When we look at an image composed of lines, open or closed forms, and points connected or separated from one another, our eyes follow these paths and our consciousness experiences different sensations in response to their shapes.
Our approach to symbolism teaches us to feel, interpret and use such forms to create compositions capable of encouraging individual and collective growth.