Content may be considered in terms of: Context, Subject, Experience, Idea, Problem, Focus, Knowledge, Endeavor, Attraction, Situation, Contention, Understanding, Repertoire, Question, Topic, Suggestion, Theme, Issue, Attitude, Mission, Concept, Need, Feeling, Story, Motif, Narration, Reflection, Incident, Solution, etc. Personal, Social, Cultural, Historic, Traditional, Contemporary, Professional orientations, etc.
Developments in understanding may proceed through personal appreciation of the arts and art works on a very general level . . . . or may proceed specific to a discipline [i.e., Oil Painting, Photography, Intaglio, etc.] or disciplines . . . . or may proceed with focus upon categories of visual arts experience [i.e., aims and objectives involved with visual elements and relationships] . . . . or may proceed specific to a Historic, Cultural, Practical, Theoretical, or Topical focus.
C O N S I D E R A T I O N S
Something that is contained
Subjects, Topics, Chapters - of a book
Somthing that is to be expresssed through some means
Attributes or notions of a given conception
Substance or matter of cognition
Holding capacity
Volume
Area
Extent
Size
Amount
Hold
If the physical nature of a work is called "form," then the intangibility of the meaning it suggests is called "content." We have pointed out the artificiality of separating the two terms. Nevertheless, to talk about content is to refer to the spirit of the work of art--its meaning and significance due to the thoughts it carries, the feelings it conveys.
[Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.]
R E F E R E N C E S
4 Content n [ME, fr. L contentus. pp. of continŽre to contain] [15c] 1a: something contained -usu. used in pl. [the jar's __s] [the drawer's __s] b: the topics or matter treated in a written work [table of __s] 2a: Substance, Gist. bb: Meainng, Significance c: the events, physical detail, and information in a work of art -compare Form 10b 3a: the matter dealt with in a field of study b: a part, element, or complex of parts 4: the amount of specified material contained: Proportion
[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Springfield, MA, USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995.]
Content 1. usually, contents, a. something that is contained: the contents of a box. b. the subjects, topics, chapters, etc ., covered in a book or document. 2. something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any of various arts. 3. tributes or notions comprised in a given conception; the substance or matter of cognition. 5. power of containing; holding capacity: the bowl's content is three quarts. 6. volume, area, or extent; size. 7. the amount contained. [< L content(um), n. use of ne ut. of ptp. of continŽre = con-CON- + ten- hold + -tus ptp. suffix] [Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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