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AN OVERVIEW OF THE ARTS AS A LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION,

EXPRESSION AND EXPERIENCE: A DISCOURSE

Article · February 2020

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 Serbian Research Journal of Education, Humanities and Developmental Studies (SRJEHDS, Vol. 10, No 1, February,
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AN OVERVIEW OF THE ARTS AS A LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION, EXPRESSION AND EXPERIENCE: A

DISCOURSE

By

Peter Uduak, Ph.D.

Department of Fine and Industrial Arts, University Uyo, Nigeria

[email protected]

and

Roseline Williams Akpan, Ph.D.

Department of Fine and Industrial Arts, University of Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

As civilizations evolved from hunter-gathers into settled societies, the arts have been a medium of
communication, expression and experience to the majority of people across the globe. This paper
highlights the significance, and put forward concrete opportunities with proves that the arts can cut
across all borders and boundaries of languages universally with little relation to the associative values of
the words, spoken or written. Definition of key concepts are treated, emphasis are laid on the arts as
language, the arts as a means of communication, the arts as a means of expression and the arts as
experience. The Conclusion is drawn while recommending that the arts should be given its pride of place,
and all the necessary support and encouragement it deserves to thrive for generations to come.

Keywords: The Arts, Language, Communication, Expression, Experience.

Introduction

The arts as a language of expression and communication has always been and will always remain a
fundamental aspect of the human condition and the perpetuation of cultures. The arts as language is
comprised of visual, aural, tactile, kinesthetic that are a part of the everyday communication available to
people within an environment.Makanju (2006)avers that art had been a powerful tool for influence and
medium of communicationright from pre-historic period. With the difficulty faced by people in crossing
“word” language barriers, the arts have the capacity to join people through a common language. The
arts provide freedom of expression for second language learners and in so doing builds bridges among

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people as they work collaboratively. In a given environment where some people speak English, others
French and yet others German, verbal communication could at times become difficult. It is possible that
these people can find a common ground in painting, music, drama, (movement) dance, sculpture,
photography and the likes. In this situation, the arts become a uniting force and a vehicle in providing
common languages and fostering intergroup harmony.

Source: Saussure’s Concept of Sound-images and concepts in Matthew D. Coombes (Coombes, D. M.

2014).

This paper submits that consistent symbolic significance is a sure prove that the arts cut across all
borders and boundaries of language universally with little relation to the associative values of the words
(see illustration above). In most cultures, art has been used to document events, mythology
accompanying, or in the place of spoken or written language. Today, the role of the arts has shifted to
satisfying our instinct of knowledge. The arts expresses and records our knowledge through its signs,
symbols and acts. It is at this juncture that this paper submits that the arts have continued to maintain
its position as a language of communication, expression and experience for humanity as it is the
principal vehicle for revealing the contents and activity of our consciousness. The arts serve as a
language and means of communication of intimate concepts that cannot be faithfully portrayed by
words alone.

Definition of Key Concepts

The Arts

Defining art is a challenging proposition because it can be viewed through so many cultural, theoretical,
philosophical, and even geographical perspectives. This does not mean however that various authors

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have not tried.The arts, also called fine arts, modes of expression that use skill or imagination in the
creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019). According to Julie (2006) in the National Foundation on the Art and
Humanities Act, defined “the arts” as follows:

The term “the arts” includes, but not limited to, music (instrumental and vocal), dance, drama, folk art,
creative writing, architecture and allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft arts,
industrial design, costume and fashion design, motion pictures, televisions, radio, file, video, tape and
sound recording, the arts related to the presentation, performance, execution, and exhibition of such
major art forms, all those traditional art practiced by the diverse peoples of this country (sic) and the
study and application of the arts to human environment.

Researchers contend that the arts are ideally suited to deep and inclusive learning experiences as they
can access a range of intelligences and learning styles (Eisner, 2003, 2005; Gardner, 1993, 2006). The
arts are a plural form: painting, sculpture, music, theatre, literature, etc, considered as a group of
activities done by people with skill and imagination (Webster, 2019). The arts work to write people of
different ages and from various ethnic and social backgrounds in common spaces that promote an
increased understanding and acceptance of different cultures.The arts provide humankind with modes
for reflecting on, expressing, and documenting experiences, as well as providing a body of knowledge
from which to draw upon. Goldberg (2001) affirms that the arts provide a method for expressing
ourselves, while at the same time, they serve as a unique document of culture and history.This paper
views “the arts” as the theory and physical expression of creativity found in human cultures and
societies.

Language

Language is a complex human phenomenon as all attempts to define it has proved inadequate.
Language is one attribute that sets humans apart from all other creatures and binds humans together
across all geographic barriers. Nath (2010) defines language as a purely human and non-instructive
method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of systems of voluntary product
symbols. Language according to Finocchioro (1984) is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbol that permit all
people in a given culture, or other people who have learned the system of the culture, to communicate
or to interact. Language is the vehicle of discretion, means the peculiar mode of transfer, transmit the
intended message to the receiver.Hakim (2019) defines a language as basically a system of conventional,
spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings are used to communicate with each
other.The definitions of language by different scholars are as follows:

Aristotle, in Hakim (2019) defines language this way: Speech is the representation of the experience of
the mind. That is according to Aristotle, language stands for speech that humans produce for exchanging
their experience resulting in ideas and emotions.

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Wardlaugh, in Hakim (2019) posits that a language is a system of arbitrary vocal sounds used for human
communication. This definition mainly insists on arbitrariness, vocal sounds, humans and
communication. Bloch and Trager, in Hakim (2019) views language as a system of arbitrary vocal sounds
by means of social group cooperates. Their definition of language encompasses an arbitrary system,
vocal sounds, human beings, communication, and collectivity. Noam Chomsky, in Hakim (2019) says
language is the inherent capability of the native speakers to understand and form grammatical
sentences. A language is a set of finite or infinite sentences, each finite length and constructed out of a
finite set of elements. The definition of language considers sentences as the basis of a language.
Sentences may be limited in number, and are made up of only limited components. Based on the
definitions of language above, this paper asserts that a language is a means of communication not
devoid of some characteristics of human language which are as follows:Must be a system, must be said
to be arbitrary, socially created, spoken, productive or creative and is complete for its native speakers.

Communication

Hundreds of explicit and implicit definitions of communication have been published in the
communication and related literatures for use by scholars and practitioners trying to describe, predict,
and understand communicative phenomena. These definitions vary around the common language
definitions, with variations depending on individual’s scholarly interests and general scholarly trends.
The following are some of the important definitions of communication:

Communication is the delivery of information from one person to another whereby the interested
meaning is understood (Ulugun, 2017).

Nordquist, 2019) defines communication as the process of sending and receiving messages through
verbal or nonverbal means, including speech, or oral communication; writing and graphical
representations (such as info-graphics, maps, and charts); and sign, signals and behavior. Media critic
and theorist James Carey in Nordquist (2019) defined communication as “a symbolic process whereby
reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed” According to Communications – major
(2019) communications is the use of messages to generate meaning, both within and across a myriad of
cultures, contexts, channels, and media. Newman and Sumer, in Articles Junction (2019) defined
communication as the process of passing information and understanding from one person to another.
Communication as the process by which information is transmitted between individuals or organizations
so that an understanding response results (Little, in Articles Junction, 2019). According to Katz and Kahn,
in Coursettero, (2019) communication is the exchange of information and the transmission of meaning.
It is the very essence of a social system of an organization. Communication is the sum of all the things
one person does; when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It involves a
systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding (Louis, in Course Hero 2019).

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This paper views communication as the exchange of information between individuals or cultures by
means of spoken or written and by means of using a common system of signs and symbols leading to a
higher level of shared understanding and common intention.

Expression

Webster (2019) defines expression as an act, process, or instance of representing in a medium, such as
words, utterance.Lexicon.com (2019) defines expression as the action of making known one’s thoughts
or feelings.Mifflin (2016) views expression as the act of expressing, conveying, or representing in words,
art, music, or movement, a manifestation.In context to this paper, expression is the outer manifestation
of an inner state, and art as an expression of human’s inner life.

Experience

Experience is one of the most-used terms not only in science or education but also in the domain arts,
and it is recognized as being related to learning.Experience, in its fundamental sense, is that which, by
putting us in play ourselves, modifies us profoundly in a way that after having crossed, endured,
traversed it, we will never be the same again: undergo an illness, mourning, joy, loving, travelling,
writing a book, painting are “experiences” in the first philosophical sense, surely simple, but
nevertheless trivial (Romano, 1998).Experience (Perezivanie) in the way Dewey and Vygotsky define the
category refers to be the transactional relation in which the subject and environment mutually
constitute each other.Dewey (1929) defines experience as the means and goal of education.Roth and
Jornet (2014) explained that it is the means, because experience is a traversal, a going through and
exposure to the unknown, and therefore alien. They went further that it is the goal of education,
because any significant experience arises some of the flux of inchoate experiences. A particular instance
of personally encountering or undergoing something (Thesaurus.com, 2019). -Erlich (2003) posits that
“experience’ is a term loaded with signification and meaning. Among these we find “The actual living
through an event…the real life as contrasted with the ideal or imaginary”.Another meaning is the sum
total of the conscious events which compose an individual life”. Yet another is “The ultimate, non-
analyzed data of all happenings that may be apprehended; the summon germs of all knowable reality…
”The date of perception, in contrast with what is supplied by the operations of thought’ (Websters,
1959).

The Arts as Language

The arts are organized expressions of ideas, feelings, and experiences in images, in music, in language, in
gesture and movement. Roinn (1999) affirms that the arts provide for sensory, emotional, intellectual
and creative enrichment and contribute to the child’s holistic development. This paper is set to highlight

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how the arts in their multiple complexities act as languages of expression and communication for people
and cultures throughout the globe. Usually, the arts are often referred to as a language. Art critics cite
its similarities to language as do researchers who investigate children’s drawings. This new perspective is
based on language development, comparing receptive/expressive components, and form, content, and
use. Eubanks (1997) opines that accepting art as a language means that art can be useful in fostering
verbal development. Of course, artists view the visual language as superior. Kepes (1994) describes
visual language as more holistic than spoken language, more efficient as a means of communicating
knowledge than most other means of communication.Bella Lewitzky in Goldberg (2012) a dancer and
philosopher, writes, “Art is a language, a form of communication, a philosophy, a perception of truth,
which is in agreement with Spence (2006) assertion that works of art are artistic statements, stating
truths that cannot be communicated in any other way. This paper is equally in agreement that the arts
are most definitely a language which can provide alternate avenue of learning for this population, and
that they most certainly communicate, drawing its reference from music. For instance, listening to
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture or his Romeo and Juliet, will signal a definite feelings and images.However,
each piece communicates very different images, stories, and feelings. Goldberg (2012) avers that in
listening to Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky one can sense two individuals drawn to each other, longing
for each other. Hart (1991) describes music as a reflection of our dreams, our lives, and it represents
every fibre of our being. He concluded that “it’s an aural soundscape, a language of the deepest
emotions; what we sound like as people”.Hoffmann (1991) argues that music not only communicates,
but is a powerful tool, especially in the hands of performers. Music, is a potent social instrument from
earliest times, operates not merely in imitation of society but also in dynamic interaction with it. It is a
vital way of perceiving and knowing.The arts provide a method for expressing ourselves, while at the
same time, they serve as a unique document of cultures and history. Through creating a work in art, a
person can explore the complexities of an idea or situation more fully than if they were to read about it
or listen to a lecture (Goldberg, 2004). As a tool, the arts enable us to cross boundaries that are usually
closed to us, or to join together in ways that are new. As such, it is not unusual for artists to imagine
new ways of being or to invent ways of seeing something anew. Moreover, one of the more compelling
reasons why the arts, as languages of learning, are fundamental to classroom life is that they give rise to
many voices. They can nuture a sense of belonging, of community; or they can foster a sense of being
apart, of being individual. The arts can equally provide a vehicle for individuals, communities, and
cultures to explore their own world and journey to new ones, thus enriching their understanding of the
varied peoples and cultures that exist on our planet” (Goldberg and Philips, 1992). The arts can reach
across boundaries. In a class where many verbal languages are spoken, the arts can be a uniting
language. Margolis (2014) posits that the doctrine that there are “languages of art”, that works of fine
art are to be construed somehow as utterances in a language, is an attractive doctrine, judging from the
steady inclination of interested theorists to revive it in one way or another. This paper submits
therefore that the arts, as languages and expressions of cultures and peoples throughout the world,
provide many concrete opportunities for communication, expression and experience.

The Arts as a Means of Communication

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In the words of Nahm (1947), we live in a world in which it is increasingly evident that problem of
mutual understanding and intercommunication may not with impurity be relegated to discussion in
academic halls; a world, in fact, in which we must surmount barriers of cultural differences or suffer dire
consequences. This paper sees no compelling reason for not regarding the arts as languages, less
adequate than spoken language for some purposes of communication but more adequate for others.
The arts serve various functions with regards to communication, history and social science. They serve
as voices of a people and images of their lives. Goldberg (2001) posits that as far back as rock art and
cave painting, the arts have provided a venue through which people have documented their experiences
and provided a tremendous source of information for interpretation to later inquire. Beyond
documentation, the arts serve the function of communication, and conveying with ease the information
from one culture to another.If communication is truly the ability to convey or share ideas and feelings
effectively, and the ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently, then,
communication through the components of the arts becomes a potent avenue which can yield
maximum result in many ways that are far beyond words. In the affirmation, Richards in Makanhu
(2006) claims that art is a language, stressing further that two types of languages exist; the symbolic,
which conveys ideas and information; the emotive, which expresses, evokes and excites feelings and
attitude.In confirmation with Makanju (2006), Grey (1964) avers that the art is symbolic expression of
feeling and idea in significant design, whether in language, colours, tones, words, stone, steel or other
materials, singly or in combination, then they are art even though they may be qualitatively less
“significant” Art comes in various forms, shapes, and sizes: from visual arts to performing arts, where
actors are trying to tell a story using the movement of their body to literature and other media such as
interactive art. In consideration to the areas earmark for this papers’ interest include but not limited to
the visual arts (painting), performing arts (music and drama), and poetry.

Painting

A painting is the representation of the imagination and experiences of a painter from the world
around.Painting as a practice is considered the chief of all arts; supported by Sharma (2013) that
painting is considered as one of the most powerful visual art, because firstly, it is by nature a luminous
language and an experience of human beings themselves, and secondly, it appeals to our souls through
our eyes and is capable of communicating those feelings or emotions which words can never
communicate.Cave paintings became the beginning of communication through paintings from time
immemorial, painting particularly has historically demonstrated an amazing capacity to stimulate
dialogue and since communication has been associated with all living beings from the very beginning,
and though born with the capacity to communicate, yet, there certainly are many complex feelings
which cannot be expressed through verbal means. All over the world, people use arts, particularly fine
arts, in order to express their individual experiences and creativity. Painting is seen to be one of these
forms of art. The arts are inherently communicative and actively engage the practitioner in the
processes of creating, expressing, interpreting, and in responding to it. As artists send messages through
their art, viewers look at art and try to decipher the message of the artist. In this process, art, or painting

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to be specific, serves to send messages without saying a word. The communication is made easier
through the use of both the elements and principles of art. The work of the artists is to symbolize the
intended messages and codify them and allow the spectator or viewer to decide and interprets the
hidden messages or meanings, which is in confirmation to Newton (1961) that a work of art does not
exist until it has reached a state in which it can make its impact on the sensory perceptions of others,
people we can call spectators or audience.

What Does Painting Communicate?

Looking at a piece of painting, one begins to ponder on the story it tells us or the message that is hidden
in it, and paying close attention to it, several insights are revealed beginning from the expression of
emotion as a driving force behind every painting, through colour, form, texture or lines. Beginning from
the point of view of storytelling, where a painting tells a story, idea, incident or event of a particular
time in a unique manner to becoming the spokespersons of human thoughts and feelings (Sharma,
2013). Painting can promote specific political viewpoints. Painters or artists have made works of art to
challenge assumptions, to support causes, and to explore deep personal questions. Paintings can
directly communicate the variety of many aspects of human lives, nature and all abstract concepts in the
universe. Painting is a unique force of uniting us with the world of imagination and can reveal the
rhythm that we feel within us. Painting is not only a tool of recording human history, but also a tool to
convey a wide range of the stories, emotions, feelings, inner world symbolically or in a hidden mode
(Sharma, B. P. 2013).

Music

Music is a part of our existence and it appears to be a universal human capacity. All cultures of which we
have knowledge engage in something which, from a western perspective, seems to be music (Blacking,
1995), and allmembers of each culture are expected to be able to engage with music in culturally
appropriate ways (Cross, 2006). Language and music appear to share more significant feelings as
communicative systems than differentiate them. Both language and music are instrumental in achieving
social goals, nevertheless, they both exemplify symbolicbehaviours, most evident in music is the
culturally-enactive dimension. Music proceeded language in the evolution of human communicative
systems as Mithen’s (2005) reliance on Wray’s (1999) theory of holistic protolanguage would comply.
Music is an interactive and participatory medium (Small, 1998) that appears to constitute a
communicative system (Meill et al, 2005), but one that is often understood as communicating only
emotion (Juslin and Slobodo, 2001).The widespread and longstanding view, traceable back to classical
Greek thought, that music is primarily a communicator of emotion has already been elluded to, and is
not unique to western conceptions of music (Basso, 1985). Thinking about music from an evolutionary
perspective, Darwin (1872/1998) was happy to adopt the “remarks” of ‘Mr. Litchfield’ (one of his
correspondents, who had long attended to the subject of music) in suggesting that music mirrors or

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captures the relationship between affective state and sound that are found across a wide range of
species, embodying in the musical signal clues as to the emotional state of its producer.According to
English Magazine (2019) in the early stages of human life, music was probably used more for
communication than for pleasure; drums, horns and bells, even the human voice, pitched to travel many
miles. Music is one of the few ways in which people can connect with others without language. It is one
way in which cultures can not only identify themselves but also communicate with each other and find
common ground.Though ample time and opportunity has not been given to the subtleties of the music
from other cultures, sounds are created and are embodied with meanings, sometimes, that meaning is
quite basic, at other times, the meaning can be very complex and strongly connected to the beliefs and
practices of that culture. For instance, imagine an ice cream van in your neighbourhood which
announces its presence with familiar tune, there is no mistaking a soothing lullaby whatever the
language. Church bells used music as mode of communication to call people to worship, or to celebrate
or convey information about other important events, sometimes, during this event, be they marriages
or deaths, certain music will be played.Music as a language of communication has extended its function
to embrace sporting events. For instance, variety of national anthems is sung at the opening and closing
ceremonies of Olympics and World Cups, each reflecting something about the culture of that country.
Music has become part of the commercial world and great importance is placed on today’s musical stars
who use their music to reflect or attempt to change public opinion and perception on issues in the
society. It can equally be used as a way to express protest. Generally, music fulfills a wide range of
functions in different societies, in entertainment, ritual, healing and in the maintenance of social and
natural order (see, e.g. Feld and Fox, 1994; Titon, 1996; Nettl, 2005).

Drama

Drama as a communication medium can significantly contribute towards performing the various
communication functions through the arts. According to Bhattacharyya (2013) a drama is considered to
be all-inclusive. It embraces all types of topics and represents all kinds of natures, as it is intended for all
classes of people. Thus, it is a mirror of human existence intended to be presented on the stage. In the
Ancient Greek World, drama was the most effective and intimate to be utilized as a mode of
communication, during such an ancient period, there were no other modes of communication like in the
world of today (Bamunusinghe, 2012). Over the ages, all the communication mediums have evolved
themselves to accommodate the various functions of communication and this is true of the theatre as
well.Theatre can generally be effectively used as a medium of education and communication, even
though communication for education has been generally limited to formal communication practices and
has rarely been experimental in nature. This paper presents an opportunity to drama as a potent,
practicable and realizable option as a mode of communication in the arts, as it is capable of providing a
physical semblance to human existence on the stage. It has been noticed that the gift of drama was not
restricted to the western world, but also to the whole world of arts. Drama plays an effective role as a
mode of communication to people from all cultures and its popularity among people and cultures can be
irresistible.Bamunusinghe (2012) writes:

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While the Greek tragedians attempted to touch on the untouched deep human emotions and concepts
with the appropriate use of the subject matters and tragic characters, even the comic writers were
successful enough to convey the bitter truths about humanity and current issues as bitter pills coated
with sugar of laughter, the public who roared with laughter within the theatre, on their way home,
pondered over their own laughter and that was the wonderful space created by the comedians for the
masses to understand the bitter truths which were discussed upon the stage.

This paper views this statement as a cogent justification to the fact that drama is a language and a
perfect mode of communication, expression and experience in the arts that is here with us.If it were not
so, it would not have been established as an accepted mode of art in Greek culture, where the
dramatists were not reluctant to go into philosophical aspects of humanity and world which they
observed around them through their drama compositions with themes cited from Bamunusinghe (2012)
as evolving around human existence, nature of the world, destiny or fate which could not be altered
even by the divine intervention and tragic sense of humanity which prevails within the human soul are
such themes that the Greek dramatists handled. Today, the emphatic role drama portrays in this 21 st
century is immense with regards to certain cultures, social elements, religion and day to day life.
Performance culture or drama is not a new thing amongst us in this generation, but something that is
embedded in our lives and the most ultimate mode which could be utilized as a medium of
communication in the arts, after all, Andal (2004) affirms that the primary function of any form of
media, thus, is to collect, store, process and disseminate information in order to help the receivers
understand and react to their existing environment, these are all the functions that drama can proffer.

Poetry

The noun word “poetry” is a literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity
by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature. Donovan (2018)
posits that poetry is not coded messaging; it is artful communication. Poetry is a form of artistic
communication and poems can use simple, straightforward language to convey clear ideas, or it can use
complex, opaque language to communicate vague, even uncertain concepts. Like music, poetry has a
unique ability to fill a readers mind with images and fill their heart with feelings. Poetry as a
communication tool stretches language, allowing a poet to communicate in a way that other forms of
written communication, such as regular conversation or even stories don’t offer. This brings us to the
question thus:

What does poetry communicate? Poetry is a useful genre of literature which serves many purposes as
and when required.

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Experience: Some poems share experiences. They might elaborate on an experience, passing judgment
on it, placing a value on it, or revealing how the experience affected the narrator. They show or tell of
something that happened, and it could be anything from a baby’s first steps to a grueling fight on a
battlefield.

Description: Descriptive poems paint a picture with word. Other poems paint a picture of a scene,
some cases, there is no action; nothing happens on the poem, it just is. These poems show us
something, like a snapshot from a camera.

Stories: Many classic plays and children’s stories are written in poetic form and a lot of poems tell story.

Ideas: Poems can also share ideas.

Tributes: Tributary poems pay homage to anything from people to nature, communicating that the
object of the tribute is being honoured, valued, and celebrated.

If we throw a cursory glance at poetry we can discover that its capacity to communicate is convincing,
which is in line with Mittal (2016) assertion that poetry is a great motivator when we try to learn it. It is
rich in tradition, culture and language and gives a great opportunity to learn language.

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The Arts as Language of Expression

In the generations of art, it has served and continues to serve as a form of communication and
expression, allowing the artists to tell stories and spark revolutions through their various medium. Art is
an expression made visible by a form (Langer, 2008). The expression contained in the form is an attempt
to translate the unnamed and the unknown. Intrinsic to our existence as humans is our quest to create
meaning, and art allows that process to take place. Making meaning involves understanding our
surroundings and making our experiences. Art, at its root, is an expression and the artist is an expresser,
translating in order to create meaning. The arts is capable of transferring an understanding of meaning
to the viewer who is willing to be active in the exchange (Bailey, 1996). Art expresses and translates, art
acknowledges and reveals, art transfers and intervene. Within the nature of the arts, they operate
without rules. There are no guidelines restricting an artist from expressing his/herself. Different artists
have different ideas to get across through their art.The arts are controversial yet peaceful, simple yet
bold. No matter what form art is manifested, be it through a painting, dance or music, it is up to the
artist to choose how they express themselves, what expressions they will express and which ones to
reserve. Through the complex emotional expression, the arts can shift perceptions and understandings
by challenging thoughts, ideas and experiences as they are held to reflect the inner state of the artist.
The arts, because of the type of communication that comes with it, not only have the capability to
impact viewers, but intervene and educate viewers in different capacity than policy or public service
announcements. Throughout the ages the arts have been used to express happiness, sorrow, love and
many other very real human emotions. Baries (2013) posits that the arts are often asked to express that
which cannot be expressed through words. This leads us to the question thus:

What does art express? Art expresses feelings, beliefs and characteristics; these are what art expresses,
although often they are not easily distilled.According to Anonymous, (2019), our lives as humans are full
of complications and complexities, and our thoughts and experience feelings, beliefs and characteristics
are reflective of these complexities. This assertion opens thewindow to Langer (2008) to maintain that if
art seeks expression, it must also seek communication; a communication that translates the sought
expression. Art, with its nuances of creation and creating metaphor andembedded meaning, can
translate an expression in ways in which word effectively fail. According to Bailey (1996) the arts is the
language of the soul and can enable people to express and appreciate the universality as well as the
particularity of each person’s experience. The arts expresses as a result of the intricacies of life, as a
result of human continually searching for meaning, making meaning out of lived or observed
experiences, and attempting to connect to other humans.The arts as a physical form of human creative
expression in one’s unique innovative usage of resources can shift consciousness and illuminate the
unknown, it can altar understanding and integrate contradictions in reality; utilizing the most guttural
communication attempts, speaking the language of the soul, is able to articulate human nature and give
form and meaning to our feelings.

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The Arts as a Means of Communicating Experience

The evolution of art is the evolution of humanity, therefore since humanity and the arts are cousins, the
arts become the basic tool of communicating the experiences of humanity to our unborn generation.
This points us to the crux of Dewey’s argument that art, if closely tied to people’s everyday lives, as a
form of communication through which people learn about each other’s similarities and differences,
break through some of the barriers to understanding and awareness, and develop some of the
commonalities that define community.Humans communicate in various conscious and subconscious
ways. Spoken or body language can only take us to a certain limit in our effort to truly interconnect with
one another; but there is an understanding that words alone cannot express our full and complete
emotions. That is where art comes in. Whether it is in the form of paintings, statues, music, or dance,
the arts gives us the opportunity to convey what we feel without having to speak in coherent and logical
sentences. The barrier to translate, not just from one language to another, but from feelings and
thoughts to words is broken by the arts. Literature or poetry for instance, presents itself as an
interesting avenue of an art form that combines language with our own creative imagination. Art
records and communicates the human experience because it captures a moment; it communicates
human experience because you can tell stories with the art, in fact, they are capable of evoking a
collective memory. The Romans, the Nazis and the Stalinists were fantastic purveyors of political
propaganda wrapped in pretty pictures. But for every poster of happy camper Brown Shirts, there are
the emotionally stunning Anti War posters of Kathe Kollwitz or the Chilling depictions by Goya of the
Disasters of War or Picasso’s epic Guernica. Art allows for the individual’s voice to be heard above the
commotion of collective hysteria.This paper views the “Guernica” by Picasso as a perfect pointer that
the experience of war is, in fact communicable when treated by the art world. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Jr., a Civil War Veteran and later Supreme Court Justice, pointed out that as a war veteran myself of the
Cold War, Desert Storm, and Global War on Terror, I have found that the human experiences of war that
I lived through were not communicated well from the perspectives of journalists, historians, and political
scientists. This is mostly because people in these mediums tell us what war is, while our art makers
actually show us, free “from the paralyzing obligation to persuade”, as Terry Teachout wrote:

Art creation and representation continues to communicate the human experience of war in ways nothing
else can. I have personally witnessed the intrinsic impacts of live performing arts, particularly
performances about contemporary war and its human effects upon my own well-being and those of my
veteran brothers and sister…..as a result, I stand firmly in my commitment to serve the art world as it
takes actions toward a deeper social understanding of the human experience of contemporary war.

This paper submits here that the efficacy of the arts can serve as the catalyst and as a mode of
communication, expression and experience.

Conclusion

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The arts are languages that communicate; like words, they are a system of symbols that represent ideas,
emotions, feelings and history.The arts have an important role to play in the communication process. As
listening and speaking are basic to oral communication; reading and writing are basic to written
communication; and viewing and visually representing are basic to visual communication, all these are
ways of receiving information. The arts are potent means of complete and unhindered communication
between man and man that can occur in a world full of gulfs and walls that limit community of
experiences. This paper appeals to those who refused to reconcile with the notion that the arts are
modes of communication should be presented with the question put forward by Gray (1964) which
states thus:Specifically, just how bad is it for a painter or a piece of music to tell a story, to be “literary”?
This paper is in agreement with the response given immediately by Gray that if a painter chooses to tell
in paint a story that he might better tell in words, he may be misguided. Yet, his paint may tell certain
parts of the story with an immediacy and simultaneity of effects that would be impossible in words.
Concluding that some human stories are wordless, but not toneless or shapeless. Moreover, the arts
can reach across boundaries. In a class where many verbal languages are spoken, the arts can be a
uniting language. For instance, a person from Germany might not be able to communicate in words with
another person who is from France; he/she can more than adequately communicate through his/her
drawings and dances. The arts today, as a means of communication, expression and experience are used
to capture the complex feelings and happenings of modern life. Certainly, there are considerable
amount of truth, verified by one’s own recognizable impulses to declare the genuineness of the arts in
communicating the message, ideas and emotions of the artist. This paper concludes that the freedom
granted by the arts to the mass audience are obliged to create out of the arts even greater works of art
than what their original creators intended, as this will enhance the supposedly limited communication
of the arts and turn them into comprehensive communication by all people; after all, that will mean, art
of the people, for the people, as well as from the people for ease of communication, and to rule out the
assumption that there is an ultimate incommunicability of ideas, feelings and symbols towards bridging
cultural communication, and language gaps. Moreover, the arts are a form of expression,
communication, imagination, observation, perception, experience, and thought.

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