In his book Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein implies that pictures are subservient to language – pictures do not carry any meaning, unless it is conveyed by language/words themselves, whereas words do not require any further explanation to be understood.
So, when someone says bird, we know what it refers to; whereas, when we see a picture of a bird, we only know what its meaning is, because it has previously been referred to as the ‘bird’.
As Wittgenstein states, »How can I know that someone means the picture as a portrait of N? – Well, perhaps because he says so, or writes it underneath.« [1]
Thus, I took my pleasure in on drawing vs language, to develop the grammar of the self. Watch out!
- Jump Up Wittgenstein, Ludwig, Philosophical Grammar, California, University of California Press, 2005, page 102