A Classical Approach To Visual Literacy

1. A Classical Approach To Visual Literacy BY http://isaacsonseries.com/

2. One aspect of visual literacy requires us to recognize the synergy of language and imagery.  Using language to enhance visual perception is a technique steeped in the classic rhetorical principle of ekphrasis.  This methodology employs an image/s to inspire the content of a narrative through the careful examination and application of its shape, color, texture, expression, and symbolic content.  This differs from the classic use of visual aids, which are usually devised to reinforce a pre-existing text.  This construction of storytelling encourages the listener or reader to scan the supportive imagery for its suggested detail.  The result is an evocative, image-rich text that both transports the listener and fosters a key element of visual literacy, often defined as the intellectual methods used to appreciate, understand, create and critically assess visual messages.

3. Acquiring visual literacy has become increasingly essential, given the vast expansion of visual forms of mass communication.  Mary Alice White’s research finds that young people acquire more than half of their knowledge from visually transmitted information. While artists have historically used their work to depict stories, ekphratic tools in the form of deconstructive questions can be used to create stories from compelling still imagery.  The following set of questions can be applied to help reveal the narrative potential of fine art images. Who?  How many people appear in the image?  Who do you imagine they are and why were they chosen? What action?  What can you imagine each character in the image doing or thinking?

4. What mood?  Can you tell what each character is feeling? Where?  Determine where this scene is taking place. When?  When do you think this scene is taking place?  What do you see that makes you come to your conclusions? How can a successive grouping of images guide the progression of the narrative? I applied this ekphratic technique to thirteen images by French Impressionist Edgar Degas to create a children’s story, The Magic Museum, a tale about an aspiring ballerina.  Elements of the paintings, gleaned from asking the above questions, drive the text, encouraging the listener or reader to carefully scan each image for detail essential to the narrative.  This application of the classic method of ekphrasis serves to generate evocative, finely focused language, and to expand the integration of art and storytelling, thereby contributing to the development of a more visually literate listener or reader.

5. The Magic Museum, The Isaacson Series in Youth Literature - An enchanting children's book that tells the story of a 12-year old skateboarder (Jack) and a ballerina (Jacqueline) who whispers to him from an Edgar Degas painting in a fine arts museum. A wonderful way for parents to introduce fine art and engage children (ages 8 to 12 years old) in the art of visual storytelling and imagination. For More Information on The Magic Museum Book, visit - http://www.isaacsonseries.com