For more than 100 years, artists have increasingly moved away from portraying physical objects as they would normally be seen in the correct physical context to those that have meaning that is not so overt. They painted their work in various abstract ways. For example, as distilled, non-identifiable or non-concrete. One feature that is common to these types of abstract art is they may be difficult to identify and they exist as physical images that can be interpreted visually.
A piece of art can present a clear pictorial image but through this clarity there can exist a non-pictorial essence that the viewer can see in her mind. Therefore, a picture can be both pictorial and abstract, but also enable you to imagine a further image that you interpret through your mind rather than as a direct link from your eyes. One example given by Virtual Space Theory is the Tower of Babel by Peter Breugel. The piece is pictorial, but the tower virtual.
A virtual event is a situation where there is a meeting or some similar gathering, but either all or none of the participants are present. Communication and interaction is enabled through the use of technology, with applications, such as webcams or slidecasts. One practical example of continuous virtual events is online markets or auction sites. Virtual, therefore, means that the event is not physically real.
Something that is abstract will require some thought. It can be written or presented in a way that does not directly address an issue, but rather circumvents it. In another sense, an abstract of a written work, such as a book, will be an explanation of what is contained, but which doesn’t directly use the same language as the author originally did. Further, it will set out not to use the same style in summarizing the work. Abstract, therefore, means that the work is real and exists, but is somewhat elusive.