Abstract Inclusion

Abstraction, as an art movement, represents the largest modernisation of visual arts since the Renaissance, reconfiguring how we perceive information on a global scale (Frankel 2012). In shedding representational form and meaning, abstraction presents an evocative sensuality that transcends language and culture. This sensuality provides a strong foothold in commercial visual communications, which has persisted over time. While modern perceptions of the genre demarcate between ‘artistic’ and ‘commercial’ forms of abstraction, the formative period of the genre saw little distinction between art and consumer cultures. Artists such as Len Lye articulate the commercial versatility of abstract animation. Works such as Colour Flight (1956) and Rainbow Dance (1936) exist simultaneously as advertising and art. Fast-forwarding to our modern media experience, abstract animation has faded from the public eye. It has become both an obscure art form and a commercial cipher. Is it possible to bring this vital art form into a more prominent position? In order to address this question, this paper adopts Inclusive Design as a paradigm in order to develop a case for the modern presentation and creation of abstract animation. It considers the disappearance of abstraction as a design problem – which implies that a solution may be considered.