Abstract

Abstract these days as a fine art related concept has become less and less meaningful. A quick look at one of Instagram’s very popular pages, the “abstract#” which has 14,950,038 posts, gives us an idea what the posters consider, abstract. A review of the many posts leads to the following conclusions: Instagram posters consider almost anything and everything as filling the definition of “abstract”.

Definitions of abstract

– existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence, “abstract concepts such as love or beauty” Google (about 861,000,000 results)

– Relating to or denoting art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, colors, and textures Oxford Dictionaries

– of or relating to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, generalized or geometrical forms, etc., especially with reference to their relationship to one another (often initial capital letter) pertaining to the nonrepresentational art styles of the 20th-century Dictionary

– having the only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content abstract painting Merriam Webster

– nonrepresentational of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature Vocabulary

and last but not least:

– Business dictionary – Statement of what a scholarly or complex written work contains, presented as a summary usually by someone other than the author of the work. An abstract aims to present only the gist of the subject matter stresses brevity and makes no attempt to preserve the flavor or style of the original. See also abridgment, digest, outline, précis, summary, and synopsis. Business Dictionary

– Synonyms: abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective, theoretical, conceptual, notional, intellectual, metaphysical, ideal, philosophical, academic;”abstract concepts”