When we greet people we often say "how are you." The question is seldom taken literally or sounded to any depth. It is a courtesy, a sharing of a general concern; no need to seriously answer the question. It is communication at a different level. Not elegant, perhaps, but meaningful none-the-less. Waving nat people is the same; it doesn't demand that we stop and chat but the general goodwill is expressed.
Sociologist and Psychologists may have a deep understanding of such things and can work factors and ideas within that purview with elegance. That done a view of the general public communication experience can seem superficial and overwhelming.
Most of the mass-broadcast images suggested here are more akin to waving at someone than and 3-hour visit with a friend. No need to stop; just sharing a little thing.Yes, they are extremely limited and seldom elegant but they do express the general heartfelt disposition of humans to make a connection, to give us an existential meaning. And it is that portion of humanity that we, as visual communicators, try to tap into when we create.
In that context our challenge is to survive. Reg has much to say about this that is instructive. In the meantime, what can we do to pronounce our value in some meaningful way besides preaching to the choir? How can our music be hear amidst the cacophony? Or are we a vestige of the power of the visual to communicate. That has been buried under an overwhelming presence and dependance upon the written word for millennia. The power of visual communication has exploded back onto the scene the blathering is on full-force.
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