Below I’ve included some examples of visual conventions from different times in history, all of which I will try to link to time, place or space in some way.

Cave paintings are one of the oldest forms of visual communication as the pictures often tell some sort of story. They’re simplistic but below you can that some of the drawings convey dancing, hunting and various animals. These drawings are a piece of time that help us to connect with history better and therefore, giving us a better sense of place. By studying art like cave paintings we can get a better idea of what society was like.

Magura Cave Painting, Bulgaria, 6300 BC – 3000 BC – oldest.org

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events that occurred during the Norman Conquest of England, leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It is an embroidered cloth measuring 70 metres long and 50 metres high. The Tapestry is on display in Bayeux, Normandy in France. As the images represent certain events it acts as a visual timeline and therefore the theme of time is shown. Also, we can get a better sense of place in regards to the various locations that were significant during this period because they’re conveyed through the Tapestry.

Baroque paintings like this one from Jan Brueghel the Young are often known for being pieces of narrative art. We don’t need words but a story of some sort is communicated to us visually. A place of violence and conflict is presented here since both humans and animals are fighting. Also, the title itself tells us that it is conveying a story of war and the chaos of the destruction that occurs as a result. A sense of place is created by strong imagery of a burning city and also the use of symbolism (like the skulls, highlighting death) in the foreground. There is also an element of time shown because it deals with the idea of death. Particularly conveying how no living thing can live forever, especially with issues of conflict that have been prominent throughout history. We may not necessarily see scenes like this now but political conflict and turmoil is still very much a problem we have to deal with today.

Comic/cartoon strips and graphic novels are other examples of visual communication. A sequence of images are used to tell a story, often helped with different literary devices. This Spider-Man comic strip uses speech bubbles to help communicate the action better. The illustrations create a sense of place as we can see that the events are occurring in the city due to the high rise buildings. Different perspectives are also used to show Spider-Man being high up and off the ground. Sequential images like this can be linked to time as we know to follow on as the story moves along. This is helped by references to time such as ‘finally’, ‘hours later’ and ‘meanwhile’, that are shown in the piece below.

This image comes from 3″ a detective graphic novel by Marc-Antoine Matthieu. Similarly to the comic strip above, it’s also made up of a sequence of images. He also plays with perspective as it gradually zooms in closer to the figure, until we can actually see what the camera is looking at. This allows us to get a better idea of the place and space whilst still having an element of mystery that’s so important in detective stories. We can tell that action is taking place in a sports game of sort and I expect this may be significant in relation to the rest of the narrative. Again, no text is needed but still he is able to communicate action, place and perspective.

Max Liboiron uses genuine New York souvenirs to highlight the issue of human impact, focusing on plastic found in rivers, seas and oceans. In this globe, the plastic cans from the Hudson River, South Brooklyn and shows a contrast between the aesthetic display of starfish, plant life, rocks and other fish. This may just be a piece of art in which the plastic has been placed intentionally, however it represents the damage that we, as humans are doing to water-based ecosystems. Sadly, the globe is an accurate depiction of New York’s waterfront today and this a global, environmental problem. Although it is a relatively small globe, it represents rivers, seas and oceans so provides a sense of place on a much bigger scale.  To an extent, the theme of time is also portrayed because it highlights the impact humans have had on the environment over time and how the development of materials and technology is not always beneficial.

Sea Globe, Max Liboiron, 2014 – maxliboiron.com

It’s clear that the ability to communicate visually has been important throughout history. It allows people from different backgrounds, cultures and locations to connect with the same things better due to the simplicity and often recognisable symbolism. Visual conventions have definitely evolved and become more complex, you just have to look at cave paintings in comparison to Liboiron’s Sea Globe to see the development. Both time and place have equally been represented through visual history. This might be to document events occurring at specific place and time or to explore the concepts in a different way. However, visual conventions offer a different method for people to put across different messages and encourage a level of deeper thinking.

In regards to my research methods, I like to make notes by hand first based on the content in the course content. When thinking about visual stories I instantly thought of Baroque paintings as a form of narrative art. I also researched different words to describe a story, message or narrative and how these have been used. Whilst looking on Bridgeman Images I came across paintings with ‘allegory’ in the title and came across various work by Jan Brueghel the Young. I then researched them further to find the piece I used above.

I found it quite easy to find different examples by using suggested search terms like cartoons and graphic novels. However, I also thought about place and times as themes which is how I discovered Liboiron’s Sea Globes.