Visual Expressions: Culture Structure and Social Consciousness

Visual expressions with iconographic and stylistic representation reflect upon culture, social structure and a specific type of structure of consciousness. The perpetual representation of icons and styles in visual expressions along with culture and social structure, the three mutually inclusive and exclusive concepts suggest a dialectical relationship between the three. An understanding of the nature of dialectics, their relationship and operation is understandable through systematic analysis and interpretation of visuals as text and method in the given historical time and space context. The underlying assumption being the simultaneity of dialectical mutual influences reinforces reproduction of cultural and structural values resulting in indoctrination of specific structure of social consciousness. The historical and sociological causality of mutual influences reveal definitive role of economic and political structure on the nature and type of visual expressions.

This paper, while examining Indian art as a case study finds it is unique with deep rooted religious contents and values, which is neither accidental nor a representation of people’s true consciousness. The similar is also the case of art elsewhere in the world. The fact, perhaps, remains art and visual forms are consciously and rationally designed as strategy to maintain status-quo to govern and manage all diversities and adversities. The combine of culture, structure and social consciousness have not only kept the Hindu icons, cultural symbols and form of ritual practices alive, the latter in turn has survived Hinduism till date despite the emergence of other religions and religious faiths all through the history. Given the historically dialectical nature of the relationship, objective analysis with appropriate theoretical and methodological tools is a challenging task. It is further compounded, with emerging diverse forms, quality of materials, vast geographic locale of their existence, and lack of archives with consistent historical records.