In each of the examples above, we witness the compelling effect of data transformed from an abstract state to a physical representation on a map, instantly bringing it to life.
Yet despite what seems to be an innate preference for more or less literal representation of the visible world, the abstract idea remains to this day both seductive and perennially relevant.
Pollock's use of disguised and obscured representation, although later difficult to detect, persisted into his abstract masterpieces of the late '40s and early '50s.
Because the best abstract art has the power to cut through the rigid conventions of direct representation and externalize interior essences to show us things not as they look, but as they are.