「抽象」在藝術與設計之再定義

Redefining Abstraction in Visual Art and Design

藝術與設計中的「抽象（abstraction）」一詞，其起源最早可以追溯到遠古人類塗鴉及造物活動開始。一般對於「抽象」的定義是“從多數事物中抽取其共同特徵，綜合而成的概念＂，但在藝術與設計中所謂的抽象則多了其它特殊意涵。此外，隨著現代藝術（art）與設計（design）的分野，藝術與設計中抽象之定義及發展是否有差異？本文從哲學、科學、藝術學、設計學以及心理學等領域，對藝術與設計中的「抽象」再定義。 本文主要以檔案法進行文獻探究並以分析研究法進行因果關係的討論，研究結果可分成三個部分作說明。第一，研究從抽象的定義以及其中所衍生的易混淆術語進行釐清。第二，歸納藝術／設計中各抽象學派的論點並進行比較，結果發現藝術／設計中對於抽象理論的研究途徑主要可以分成「外部視覺模仿」以及「內部心理機制」兩種，前者重點在外部實體的抽象化，後者則是內部抽象的具體化。第三，研究從物體辨識理論（object recognition theory）的角度探究抽象表現與視覺辨識度的關係，並針對抽象在藝術學與設計學中漸漸產生之差異進行分析，發現「辨識性（recognizability）」是造成差異的主要因素。研究結果希望累積藝術與設計中的抽象理論，並可作為未來研究發展之框架基礎。

In art and design, the origin of the term 'abstraction' can be traced as far back as the ancient time when human graffiti and creative activities began. Abstraction is generally defined as a concept that combines similar traits of various things. However, it carries a special meaning in art and design. With the modern delineation of art and design, whether abstraction will mean the same in these two domains remains to be explored. This study attempted to redefine abstraction in art and design from the perspectives of art theory, design theory, psychology, science and philosophy. Through literature review, we first clarified the easily confused technical terms used in the definition of abstraction, and then compared the various abstraction theories in art and design. It was found that there were two main approaches to abstraction theory in modern art/design, namely abstract simplification of external visual stimulation and abstract formation of internal mental mechanism. In addition, we examined the casual relationship between abstraction and visual recognition according to the object recognition theory, and analyzed the different manifestations of abstraction in art and design, which was found to be attributable to 'recognizability'. Not only does this research bring new inputs to the study on the theory of abstraction, it also establishes the basis for future empirical investigations.