Expression of ideas through mudrās.

Abstract

The conception of an idea and expression through a visual output is the heart of any form of visual communication. Even before the development of speech, one of the earliest manners of communication used by the humans was through the use of the hand. Hands are universal in all human beings; before life’s experiences are expressed through materials, humans did so with their bodies as they are the fundamental and intrinsic aspect of our human condition (Wosien, 1992). As the human race evolved, the hands and their movement developed in tandem with other modes of communication. Today, the use of hands in communication has become intrinsically connected that many of us are oblivious of their implicit power in the expression of ideas. The premise of this project exploration is to research and understand the codified language and symbolism found in an established set of gestures prevalent in Asian visual culture, known as mudrās. Though it served as a franca-lingua in the past, human’s progressive estranged relationship with his natural environment and life, the understanding and knowledge of mudrās, has through the passage of time, been blurred or misunderstood. In addition, the project seeks to investigate the key ideas that pervade this vocabulary of gestures in the expression of ideas, such as narratives, spiritual symbolism, abstract spiritual philosophies and concepts. With this knowledge, the project, in an attempt to re-establish the link between humanity and the natural world, will then explore ways in which these relationships and symbolism could be re-expressed and made visceral.