Line: the abstract concept

In our physical universe, there can be no object with without extension in both width and height. So what we call the line is in itself an imaginary concept. But it is integral to how we think, communicate plan and design in almost any visual medium. So what we call the “line” is usually represented by very long, thin rectangles or shapes that from a distance look to have only one axis. The cavemen could be said to be the first abstract artists in part because of their use of line in figurative cave drawings. In fields like architecture the line seems not too far from a simple indicator for outcrops and protrusions in a building’s design, but when drawing things like figures, the line reveals its real abstract identity. Without realizing, we use it every day to filter through the three-dimensional world surrounding it and as a medium to try to reconstruct that world by our understanding. Enough lines can resemble anything pictorially, even the curves and often-continual forms of bodies, either through illusion, expressionistic exaggeration or symbology. The symoblogical power of the line too is an oft-overlooked facet to be celebrated here. We use the line as a sort of visual highway – it catches our eye in a way that we are accustomed not to leave its directional authority until we find an exit. This abstract symbol, the line, is incredibly important in our way of dissecting the world and re-interpreting it through visual media.