Understanding and Information in the Work of Visual Artists

Abstract

To better account for information behavior in everyday life, the field must more fully explore information phenomena in the lifeworld, that is, information experience. This article shows that one way to do this is through the concept of understanding. Visual art is identified as an illuminating domain for an initial foray into such research. This article presents findings from a phenomenology-ofpractice study of the information behavior of visual artists. Seven local artists documented their experiences creating self-portraits, and semistructured follow-up interviews were conducted. The findings show how these participants built understanding with information in their work of creating individual self-portraits. These understandings fall into two categories: of the self and of the artistic process. Many forms of information, traditional and novel, contribute to these understandings; examples of the latter include memories, the lived environment, profound experiences, and online browsing. These findings extend the literature on artists' information behavior, connect everyday information behavior to information experience, and illustrate a method for studying understanding empirically in information science. The article closes by discussing the meaning of these findings for the future of information science, suggesting that the kinds of information employed by artists might be recognized and appreciated more widely throughout society.

Making and taking information

“…Instead of trying to define where browsing, searching, or passive seeking starts and ends, they can be all be conceptualized as interlinked facets or modes of information taking. In this sense information taking can also be seen as a part of the broader information experience (Gorichanaz, 2019b) of becoming informed (Tkach, 2017) together with, rather than by, information. Similar to how there are different approaches to making information, information can be obviously taken in multiple different ways.…”

Visual Sequence Algorithm for Moving Object Tracking and Detection in Images

“…If G (x, y) is the gray value of any point in the video sequence, k is an empirical value between 2 and 3. When |g i+1 x, y) − μ i (x, y)| ≥ kσ i (x, y), it is considered as the front scenic spot [10].…”

“…If G ( x , y ) is the gray value of any point in the video sequence, k is an empirical value between 2 and 3. When | g i +1 x , y ) − μ i ( x , y )| ≥ kσ i ( x , y ), it is considered as the front scenic spot [ 10 ]. When | g i +1 x , y ) − μ i ( x , y )| < kσ i ( x , y ), this point is considered as the background point.…”

Still Minding the Gap? Reflecting on Transitions between Concepts of Information in Varied Domains

“…Clearly, such a viewpoint will not lend itself to development of any kind of integrated theory of information, nor will the increasingly prevalent use of information, entropy, and complexity, within literature (see, for example, the reviews by Hayles [44], and by Groes [45], although they are a further reminder of the increasing reach of these ideas). This increasing reach may be seen as an outworking of Luciano Floridi's The Fourth Revolution [46], as the centrality of information, and information technologies in our society is increasingly reflected in art and literature, and explicitly recognised in the work of creative artists; see, for example, the recent study by Gorichanaz [47].…”