- This I BelieveAcculturation is defined as the process of a person's encounter with and adaption to a culturally different environment. In a broad sense, you could say that art serves the purpose of acculturation, in that it mediates between the individual and the community at large. All individuals must go through some form of acculturation to become a part of a society, whether that be the society they are born to or one that they adopt. Successful acculturation is the on-going process of integrating the personal with the communal. The goal being the achievement of a balance between the needs of the one and the requirements of the other.
Pattern is the way in which life expresses itself. All visual structures are comprised of patterns and repetition. Minimalism is just simple pattern. Humans need pattern and ornament the way we need language. Everything in physical reality is based on and expressed in pattern. Everything from cell structure to gene expression to thoughts can be diagrammed and made into pattern. We like pattern because we like ourselves.
Symbols are the language of visual art. As compelling as symbols may be, their power comes from what we attribute to them. Ultimately, creation and meaning come from the conscious forming of human relationships. Making art is symbolic of this need. It is about sharing with others our deepest sense of isolation and of finding our inner experience reflected in the world outside and more specifically in others.
Yasmine Rafii
