Analysis of Visual Rhetoric in Living Walls

Living Walls: Connecting Art and Social Change

Living Walls is one of the significant visual arts programs that have gained massive recognition from the public globally over the years. The idea behind many of the Living Walls presentations is to inspire individuals into becoming better individuals in society by addressing public issues through the use of thought-provoking arts. These objectives are made possible by incorporating several artistic skills into the presentation so that they effectively capture the social subjects that the pictures are purposed to pass to the society. Some of the features often used in Living Walls visuals include color, imagery, typography, and lighting. Understanding these elements is thus essential as they play a significant role in analyzing the effectiveness of visual rhetoric in Living Walls in advocating for social change in the contemporary societies.

Living Walls’ Purpose in Art and Target Audience

Living Walls argues that its primary purpose is to promote public art and use it as a channel of communication for addressing social subjects that are of great significance to individuals living in urban spaces (Riley). This vision has thus enabled the Living Walls program to have massive support especially in its operational city, Atlanta as it is inspired to transform the city into an art and cultural center that appreciates the power of art in connecting with people worldwide. The target audience for Living Walls presentation is every individual globally since most of their illustrations are based on social issues that are common in global societies. As much as the program is based in Atlanta, there are Living Walls conferences held annually that create an opportunity for local and international artists to attend and present their projects. For instance, many of the conference projects have featured several artists from South Africa, Moscow, and Rome which shows that indeed this program aims at targeting a global audience.

Rhetoric Devices Applied

Analyzing various Living Walls’ visual projects, several rhetorical devices have been employed to create more emphasis and focus on the issues addressed by the plans. For example, the use of pathos is a significant rhetorical device that has been used in Living Walls’ arts. As mentioned earlier, the program aims at creating awareness on the crucial social issues affecting societies worldwide. Some of the topics include violence, crime, dictatorship, environmental pollution, hunger, selfishness, and greed. Some of the Living Walls’ images thus use pathos in appealing for the existence of love and compassion in the communities to prevent matters like selfishness, dictatorship, violence, greed, and hunger from existing in the society. When people become passionate, king and considerate, sharing is bound to develop hence eliminating challenges such as hunger in the communities is achieved automatically. In addressing hunger, Living Walls’ arts ensure that they use images that will draw people into embracing compassion, love, and kindness. Such a picture will thus have persons looking malnourished with a caption that pleads with the public to treat each other with kindness through sharing basic needs including food to eliminate the hunger crisis. Below is an image that represents one of the Living Walls’ arts with pathos as the crucial rhetorical device used.

Role of Images, Color, Lighting and Typography

Referring to the above art, it can be inferred that images play a significant role in visual presentations. One of the primary functions is to draw attention to a particular matter affecting people in society. When an image is drawn at a specific point, there are high chances that that drawing will capture the attention of the public since human beings are naturally curious and they would like to confirm what is incorporated in the art. Resultantly, the public can get the main point being passed by a specific drawing. Additionally, lighting in visual art is essential since it determines the message that an image will provoke when seen by the public. Lighting adds more life to an image and prevents it from looking bland. For instance, if an artist desires to present an image with emotions, they will use sensitive lighting that will trigger feelings among the audience. Lighting thus differentiates emotions in visual arts.

Colors also contribute significantly in visual arts since their central purpose is to improve the ability of an object to be recognized by the public and even emphasize the meaning and value of a particular architecture (Dennison). For example, in cases where an artist wants to emphasize on a specific message using drawing, they will intensify the presence of bright colors so that the image can capture the attention of the audience effortlessly. Finally, typography further enhances the effectiveness of visual art in conveying social messages since it is a technique that makes written words more attractive, readable and appealing to the public (Abidin and Siti). The purpose of visual arts is to ensure they have attention from the public and thus using every captivating approach in presentation fulfills this goal.

Conclusion

The discussion above has given a detailed visual rhetoric analysis concerning arts and the rhetoric skills often applied. Living Walls’ art is an essential study case when analyzing the elements that contribute to the effectiveness of various visuals in addressing social matters. As seen in the discussion, color, imagery, typography, and lighting are crucial factors in visual arts, and they determine greatly whether a particular art will capture the attention and provoke thoughts of its target audience. The example given above from the Living Walls’ presentations is an excellent reflection on how various messages can be conveyed through visual channels hence its significance in the visual rhetoric analysis is paramount.

Works Cited

Abidin, Hazlin and Maaruf Siti. Envisioning the Future of Online Learning. Springer, 2016, pp. 171-182.

Dennison, Lynda. “The art and science of illuminated manuscripts.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2016, pp. 144-146.

Riley, Benjamin. ”The state of the art of living walls: Lessons learned.” Building and Environment, 2017, pp. 219-232.