Photo Credit: Nick Youngson nyphotographic.com

I recalled that graphic art and commercial art or logo design attempts to create a visual representation of an idea or a concept. This is why commercial art or corporate sculptures most often feel as if they don’t have a soul. There is no emotion in the content. There is a movement toward trying to create emotional content within a commercial space, and I would say this is effective up to a point.

That point would be when the consumer makes a purchase. That is the end goal of the art. Everyone watching the video, the most prevalent commercial artform at this time, is watching it because it was created with the resources of a company.

For those who are aware of the game being played, such content becomes anathema. It is seen as a cheap trick in order to manipulate the emotions of the uninitiated with the express goal of increasing the quarterly earnings of the company in question.

Whether or not this is true is beyond my knowledge, but the perception remains. I see your car advertisement which plays on the emotions of family and parenthood. Eff off! Your agenda is showing.

In fairness the companies do not create these videos, but they do approve them.

Should we pivot toward contemporary non-commercial art we see a different picture. We might see less emotional content and more conceptualizing.

Conceptual art works quite well for conceptual people. Conceptual music also works well for conceptual people — once the concept is understood. This understanding of the concept is why contemporary artists and composers spend so much time writing an explanation of their concept.

The artist wants non-conceptual people, which simply means those who haven’t practiced conceptual thought, to “get it”. If the audience doesn’t get it then they are condemned as people who are too dumb to get it. In reality, it is often the artist who doesn’t get it.

The non-get lies in the fact that people rarely respond to concepts emotionally. People respond to stories and the emotions of those stories — commercial art understands this. Creative artists can become obsessed with expressing a concept without questioning whether or not the concept has sufficient emotions attached to it or whether the concept could be translated into a story and then expressed.

Art which is based on emotion is far more popular and has lasting value because every human is emotional whether they want to be or not. Emotions can be held down or suppressed but they will come out. The ability to think conceptually can remain undeveloped for a lifetime and never come out.

When I say “based on emotion” I don’t mean the artist is trying to manipulate the emotions of his audience but that he is basing his expression on his own emotions.

As an aside I will say the commercial value of emotional manipulation goes back quite far. Even an artist such as the opera composer Puccini has been accused of trying to manipulate the audience's emotions in order to sell more copies of his operas such as Madame Butterfly. Currently, Butterfly is in the public domain.

An artist, who successfully creates a visual or musical representation of their true emotions, will live forever. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 is supposed to be about Napoleon. However, we must remember what Napoleon meant to Beethoven. Napoleon was perceived as a liberator who was overthrowing the aristocracy of Europe and creating an opportunity for freedom.

Once Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of Europe, Beethoven ripped up the dedication to Napoleon and instead dedicated the third symphony to “the memory of a great man.”

How Beethoven felt about these events is what fuels his symphony. Beethoven was composing based on the emotions of revolution instead of the concept of revolution.

We do not need to know any information about Napoleon or Beethoven’s politics in order to have our emotions moved by the third symphony.

Can you feel the difference? I don't know. Do you feel it more if you know the back story? Maybe, maybe not. The point isBeethoven's emotional content is true, so we don't need any context.