DISCRETE VISUAL STRUCTURES : Elements of Visual Grammar

Is it possible to reason by means of images? If it is, then with what kind of images can we organize thoughts? How can the rules governing the relations between images be established? Could these relations be as complex and productive as those defined within the grammar of the verbal language? The basic construction of any language, especially a developed one, is a structure of formal rules which regulate the relations between its signs or elements. For verbal language it is a syntax which regulates all relationships between elements of a certain language: alphabet, words and sentences. This work is an attempt to explore and establish a set of formal rules between a large and complex group of standardized visual signs which I call discrete visual structures. A fundamental characteristic of a discrete visual structure is its possibility to be visually represented. The relations between these structures depend primarily on their graphic organization and structural characteristics. Elements of each structure can be presented as finite parts of the plane surface. There are four basic types of discrete visual structures: spatial structure, qualitative structure, state of space and visual process. I have based this presentation of discrete visual structures on two different types of signs: visual and verbal. but the visual presentation of images is the essential subject of this analysis. Verbal signs (written text) are used here as a necessary meta-language in order to communicate the basic ideas on discrete visual structures to the readers. Thesis Supervisor: Muriel Cooper Associate Professor of Visual Studies