ICON - a brief rave

Basis of Artist's Talk, Salmon Gallery, Sydney, Australia 10 September 2005

Let me start by saying that 'Icon' is a word that has lost its meaning or more specifically has developed dual meanings. In fact, I'll come totally clean by saying I have taken a huge liberty in naming my exhibition ICON as has most of the rest of the Western World in its varying use of the term.

So in an attempt to redress this, I plan to give you a brief synopsis of the history and origins of the word before we take a look at my artwork.

The origins are steeped in legend but it is said that the tradition was inspired from the moment Christ's face was imprinted on the cloth offered to him on his ascent to Calvary. According to tradition, Luke the Evangelist painted the image of the Virgin and, also according to tradition, many of the icons painted by him still exist. As an artist, he painted not only the Virgin Mary, but also those of the apostles Peter and Paul and possibly others. Thus the beginnings of icons as objects of worship.

Then an interesting thing occurred which also creates a tenuous link with the nature and use of the term in the 21st century. Christianity was persecuted and, consequently, open creation of icons became a dangerous activity. So the early Christians reverted to symbols.

We are all familiar with the symbols of the Fish, the Lamb - even the Vine in association with early Christianity. Christ was referred to as the 'fisher of men', 'the good shepherd' or as in the line from St John's gospel "I am the true vine …ye are the branches". Apparently, if one writes Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour in Greek (Iesous Christos, Theou Hios, Zoter) and then groups together the first letter of each word, you have something close to the Greek word Icthys or 'fish'. These were symbols of reverence that the early Christians could use without fear of being detected (at least for a while).

Finally Constantine the Great came along and gave freedom to the Christians, installing Christianity as the primary religion (it was politically rather than spiritually motivated), but he wanted everything neat and tidy. He insisted on just four gospels, a mission statement and an organised religion (the original public servant you might say). Iconography was able to flourish incorporating many of the graphic symbols that had developed during the years of persecution. To this day traditional iconography bears the stamp of the Byzantine era.

Nothing much for the next thousand years until the mid 19th century and a renewed interest in antiquity and traditions. The Pre-Raphaelite movement in Britain professed a love of all things …. well, Pre-Raphael. That is to say, the nature of religious art before it became (in their opinion), contaminated with the excesses of the High Renaissance. The Pre-Raphaelites were echoed in other parts of Europe via artists such as the Nazarene movement in Germany.

In the current age there are still monasteries in Europe, Russia and indeed America that continue in the creation of icons for their original purpose using traditional methods, materials and symbolism.

Which brings me to the conundrum - at what point did the word 'Icon' get appropriated by the media and computer science and vary its meaning. Well basically as we all know, language (especially the English language) is fluid. It's easy to make the connection between movie stars, sport stars et al and the term 'Icon'. They are revered identities, hence they are 'Icons'. This rationale, in the nature of our pop culture, can be adapted to any symbol of excellence that might be aspired to. Mel Gibson even went one step further by titling his new movie production company 'Icon', complete with a sharply cropped graphic of an eye taken from a Byzantine style icon (well a fresco actually - icons are traditionally painted on wood). He was assisted in this by another icon, Mr Rupert Murdoch, who for good measure became a Catholic.

But the use of the term in computer science is a little more tenuous. Words like 'logo', 'motif' or 'signum' were already in the graphic design vernacular, used to describe emblems. But nevertheless, there they are - icons on every workplace and home computer. The word 'Icon' has been well and truly appropriated in the 21st century to describe those little symbols that identify everything from Folders to Text to Programs on the modern computer. However, in a glorious twist of fate it is in this symbolism that it actually connects, no matter how tenuously, to those early Christians who needed something simple, quick and discreet to describe their faith. In a slightly less glorious twist of fate the computer has become something of a religion itself - an object that we all pay homage to whether we like it or not.