Where is the hidden information in artwork and art? A contribution to the theory of the fine arts

It is widely agreed that artworks contain information, which it makes available for interpretation and the attribution of meaning to the work. In which form this information is contained and stored in an artwork, is important to know in order to understand how it will be transmitted to the receiver. In the present communication a theory of information generation in artworks is proposed. The way of finding information makes use of the most general concept of information as provided by the exact sciences. A universal understanding of information is formulated as the amount of internal information of an art object. This internal information content belongs to the object, in the case of art to the artwork as its main individual internal property which distinguishes it from any other object and in particular also from any other artwork. Its definition is given formally through the identification of an "equivalent volume" the artwork possesses and in that the information is stored. The information is obtained as the changes made (by the artist and/or others) on the respective equivalent volume, a process usually performed solely by the artist and subsequently fixed and conserved within the artwork as its (ideally further unchangeable) internal property that is made available. The artwork liberately offers it to its perception by the recipient. The meaning of this information for perception and interpretation is discussed in view of a contribution to the theory of art.

@unpublished{id2102,
  author = {Treumann, R. A.},
  language = {en},
  note = {17 pp plus 1 Figure},
  title = {Where is the hidden information in artwork and art? A contribution to the theory of the fine arts},
  year = {2015},
}

%O Unpublished Work
%A Treumann, R. A.
%G en
%O 17 pp plus 1 Figure
%T Where is the hidden information in artwork and art? A contribution to the theory of the fine arts
%D 2015