Implicit “Motion” in Non‐verbal Art: Transmission and Transformation of Affect

Abstract

This paper traces (1) the transformation of the subjective affective expressiveness that accompanies the making of non‐verbal art into (2) the aesthetic forms that embody implicit “motion” (3) that stimulates an immediate disparate affective response on the part of a person sensitive to art or music. Implicit “motion” reflects primary process forms interplaying with the slow discharge of secondary process, thus allowing entry into consciousness. Any cognitive meanings, conscious and unconscious, subsequently attributed to the non‐verbal art are personal, variable and subject to the flow oftime and the spirit of the times. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.