Representation, Symbol, Abstraction

This image of houses is an image of an abstraction of the idea of a house. The houses in the image are all distilled, meaning they are the "boiled down" version of what a house normally looks like. The conventional structure of a house is portrayed in the image which helps the viewer identify that they are houses even though it may not look like reality. The additions of windows and doors help the viewer identify that they are houses as well. The fence and the yards are also additions to the image that assist the viewer in making the assertion that they are houses being shown. The artist took the basics of a house and portrayed that in this painting. 

Above is a symbol of a cupcake. The artist took the simplest forms of a cupcake and chose those shapes to signify a cupcake. The image is so simple, yet gets across the idea that it is a symbol for a cupcake because of the shape and size. Even though the colors may not symbolize an actual cupcake, the viewer can still understand the basic image for a cupcake and make the connection between the two. The association made with the top of cupcakes usually being a bit larger than the bottom, and the resemblance of "frosting" on the top, makes this symbol recognizable to a wide audience. 

Above is a picture I took of two different coffee mugs. They are realistic representations of coffee. Because the photo was not altered in the sense that would effect the representation of the two coffee mugs, this image shows a simple representation. Nothing was done to the image to express any alterations but it is functional in the sense that it displays coffee in one of it's simplest ways. It was one of my direct experiences with drinking coffee, which is exactly what the image exhibits.