The THREE levels.

'Collective Invention' By René Magritte.

Representation:

René Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist artist, and was known for his witty, thought provoking images. His work gives observers different forms to perceptions of reality. I chose this painting because the simple mockery of what a mermaid is suppose to look like. As we see from afar, the waves represent the humanistic ego's deep subconscious, since the 'mermaid' is being coughed up out from the deep, we can notice by the way it's laying on it's side that it's docile, and even though the creature has legs, it doesn't even think to use them, hinting to observer that the half fish, half woman doesn't have a brain. This image also denotes the strangeness and absurdity to most things were are familiar to, which can relate to the three levels of visual design. 

Abstract:

The element to abstraction immediately relates to the three levels as the representation is the deep sea, almost showing the creature how subconscious it is. And since the viewer is believed to think that the creature was washed up unto the beach the waves and surroundings create the structure of the painting.

Symbolic:

The mermaid is a symbol of a glitch in societal expectations because us humans tend to suppress some thoughts that do not follow the standard "norm". We want to believe that mermaids actually do exist, but has there been any proof that a person has seen one? Magritte removed the exact beauty by using the opposites of what a mermaid is supposed to look like.

Meaning 1

Representation: 

Right above us represents a chair. We use it in our everyday lives whether at school, at our jobs, or our leisure time. From the viewers perspective we see the chair denoting relief simply for the fact that we use chairs to relax. You can see the four legs, the simple design of the backrest, and the bright red color used for the chair. 

Abstraction: 

This example is abstraction at it's finest. From top left, the viewer can imagine that it's a huge whale tail, but turning it over actually functions as a chair. Human perception is kinda of thrown off to the eye, but when gazing at it a second time and actually seeing it for what it is, we paint an image in our minds telling us that it is a chair; that we can actually sit on it. From my eye I can imagine that chair is pretty uncomfortable if sitting on it for long periods, because of the design. However it is nothing less but a chair with a whale tail design.

Symbol:

Stripped down to it's basic form we can see from up top that this is a symbol of a chair. This symbol however still retains some of the real qualities of a chair, and what a chair is supposed to look like. The symbol has the basic functions, from the legs, to backrest, to the part where we even sit. This symbolic gesture denotes a place where one can sit; for example if this symbol were to be put up in a library, we can obviously see that it gives us some visual communication that it is a place to sit.