International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Research ISSN: 2321-3124 Research Article Available at: http://ijmcr.com 1357|Int. J. of Multidisciplinary and Current research, Vol.6 (Nov/Dec 2018) Art: A Source of Visual Communication Farah Khan 1,2* 1 Research Scholar of PhD Fine Arts (Studio Practice) at LCWU 2 Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at the Institute of Visual Arts & Design, LCWU Received 15 Sept 2018, Accepted 20 Nov 2018, Available online 22 Nov 2018, Vol.6 (Nov/Dec 2018 issue) Abstract Art is a fundamental part of human life. The language of art is the most powerful language one can understand beyond the barriers of communication, art provides an open forum for expressiveness. Since pre-historic time it has been observed as a mechanism of communication with each other. It has been analyzed that people throughout history used it for expressing their thoughts, beliefs, philosophies, fears and spiritual connections. Artists from all regions of the world have documented their voice through this medium of expression while focusing on the contemporary issues concerning their own time. In the contemporary age, art is observed as the most powerful tool for voicing the inward experiences of the artist. It is also being utilized for responding back to the society. Artists are free to express what they perceive individually and in what way they want the masses to conceive out of it. They are raising questions and analyzing the political and social scenario in their own visual idiom. In this manner, Pakistani artists are equally participating in raising their voice in visual form to communicate their experiences and challenges they are facing in the contemporary world. They are also providing answers to the prevailing chaos (globally and especially in Pakistan). Keywords: Art, communication, artists, pre-historic time, contemporary age, Pakistan. Introduction Art is meant for communication and it shares an open dialogue with the viewers. It has the most powerful language one can understand beyond any barrier. Art provides an open forum for expressiveness. The language of art can never be calculated in terms of its wave length, it is immensely vast which could be compared with a yawning sea having underlying multi layers of growth, life and existence, that also delivers a story of its own kind. It offers deep horizons beyond the limitations of any blockade. It interprets the soul nature of everything visible or veiled that could be experienced even through transcendentalism. Art is actually an imitation of the inner and the outer world around the creator, it is innate within every human being, and the connection with nature has different means of expressiveness. As Plato said “Art is imitation, and artist is thirdly removed from nature”. 1 Every form of art is actually the interpretation of nature that serves as the foremost root or line of inquiry. As Baba Bulhay Shah proclaims “Ik nuktay which gal mukdi aay”, so the story and its interpretation lies under the basic question of investigation, that contains a complete world of its own *Corresponding author’s ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1034-5374 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14741/ijmcr/v.6.6.11 1 . Shahida Manzoor, interview by Farah Khan, 4 th November, 2015. with immensely wide prospects. 2 It depends on the creator of artwork in which direction he/she wants the viewers to visualize the underlying essence. Reason is always there behind the conception of every art form, and this reason unfolds the hidden narrative account of the actual picture. Since nineteenth century, the influential debate regarding the landscape of art has concerned more with the purposefulness behind the production of art rather than the concept of beautification. 3 “In ancient times, Aristotle proclaims that the ethical function is disclosed by whatever reveals character in art. It is a complete body of language that discloses different characters”. 4 An art work is meant to communicate, it expresses about something directly or indirectly. It focuses on a story and narrates its subject matter in its own way. Our information in addition to the related knowledge of the subject and proclamation with art is mainly dialogical. 5 Talking about art it could not be argued that who is the biggest creator of art? No doubt, God is the chief creator of everything around the globe, whatever he has 2 . Arif Khan, interview by Farah Khan, 24 th February, 2016. 3 . Thomas Buser. Experiencing Art Around Us 2 nd Edition (London: Wards worth Thomson Learning, 2006), 15. 4 . Ibid, 16. 5 . Katy Macleod. Lin Holdridge. Ed. Thinking through Art: Reflections on Art as Research (New York: Routledge, 2006), 22-23.