'Abstraction', Ep1 : Christopher Niemann

I found a series on Netflix looking at abstraction in relation to different art practices. The first episode looking at the work of illustrator Christopher Niemann gave a really interesting insight into how abstraction is used in illustration to aid the communication of ideas. 

KEY QUOTES & IDEAS

“Abstraction for me is this idea of getting rid of everything that is not essential to making a point”

“It’s the restriction with lego, the restriction of very low resolution, it’s almost like a three dimensional pixel drawing”

 An icon of an icon : ‘making the butterfly just a blue square makes absolutely no sense, unless you know the original” 

“For me this style is based on culture, on shared experiences. This is more interesting than coming up with a visionary new way of speaking that people then have to decipher”

His work really links to the semiotic theory (Pierce and Saussure) of signs only being understood through learnt conventions, which gain according to our background, cultural understanding etc. 

‘In the best moments, what happens is that design celebrates the world. When I look at a piece of art that references my fears, my anxieties, my hopes and say there was this one drawing that made realise that I’m alive or that I love other people or that I’m afraid’ - love this quote!