“Once, Picasso was asked what his paintings meant. He said, “Do you ever know what the birds are singing? You don’t. But you listen to them anyway.” So, sometimes with art, it is important just to look.”
Marina Abramović
This thought is a little challenging for me.
I often want to understand the work. I often get a lot more out of something if I know a bit about the artist's intention; or of their message or their hopes for a piece. I like to know what they were trying to say. That may be because I have a solid left brain thing going on as well as my artistic right brain thing.
I have found with my own work that sometimes the message isn't at all clear until I tell somebody about it. They may find the work attractive or pleasant or beautiful; only to discover as I talk about it that it is actually quite challenging and represents for example the deaths of women killed by partners or former partners. So the telling adds another dimension to it completely.
And then of course, there are times where I just like and enjoy looking. Where I don't need to know what it's about because I simply respond to it; I simply embrace its beauty and sit with it.
Perhaps I can latch onto the "sometimes" in the quote - not all the time do I need to know the story, sometimes, just sometimes, I can just look.
A glass piece by Hannah Gason, seen in Canberra a few years back. I have no idea what it is about, but I just melted inside when I sat and looked at it. It was beautiful.
Marina Abramović
This thought is a little challenging for me.
I often want to understand the work. I often get a lot more out of something if I know a bit about the artist's intention; or of their message or their hopes for a piece. I like to know what they were trying to say. That may be because I have a solid left brain thing going on as well as my artistic right brain thing.
I have found with my own work that sometimes the message isn't at all clear until I tell somebody about it. They may find the work attractive or pleasant or beautiful; only to discover as I talk about it that it is actually quite challenging and represents for example the deaths of women killed by partners or former partners. So the telling adds another dimension to it completely.
And then of course, there are times where I just like and enjoy looking. Where I don't need to know what it's about because I simply respond to it; I simply embrace its beauty and sit with it.
Perhaps I can latch onto the "sometimes" in the quote - not all the time do I need to know the story, sometimes, just sometimes, I can just look.
A glass piece by Hannah Gason, seen in Canberra a few years back. I have no idea what it is about, but I just melted inside when I sat and looked at it. It was beautiful.
Hi Fiona...I totally understand your point of view on this and I struggle with these issues as well. I am in love with language and know that words can be powerful, informative and take us to new levels of understanding. They can also be almost magical for me....evoking ideas and emotions that are somehow, otherwise, unsayable. And yet....sometimes, the power of art is enough on its own to reach us in places beyond language. I want to do some more research (more delving into language!) on this, but something about visual expression is such an ancient need for our species, I think we communicate with it in a way that bypasses language. We experience things with our senses and sometimes we just get them....like your experience with the Hannah Gason piece! Thanks for this post. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI think you have captured the essence of the conundrum for me here Patti - and I feel like it is less of a conundrum now than when I began; I am accepting the 'sometimes' approach - when it feels right to read it is right; when it feels right to just respond, it is. Go well.
DeleteI would add music to this interesting thought thread ... as I am hearing impaired, I usually don't "get" lyrics even though I may very much enjoy the melody and/or harmonies. However, if I hear a musician explain the backstory of a song, the lyrics become more accessible and the music more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting Liz. I am not musically inclined but I have found classical musical explanations have helped me appreciate it more. Wonderful that they help you build on what you can hear/understand for a fuller experience. Go well.
DeleteThat "sometimes" is key for me as well. I like to experience art first with no backstory, and then, if there is one available, maybe check it out if I feel instinctively that the work wants me to know more. There are times when the response is complete without explanation, like falling in love with someone you know nothing about. Then there are times a whole new world of meaning is revealed with a little extra inquiry and you get to form a whole new relationship with the work, like an acquaintance you always thought was cool and suspected had a few stories to tell, and then you have one long conversation that makes them a friend for life. So many ways of approaching it, and so wonderful when the connection is made!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful G! I think the sometimes is key and on reflection have realised I always like to respond first, and then investigate if needed. I rarely if ever read before responding; and don't always read if I'm not responding. It's a complicated work indeed!
Deletethe art that cuts straight through to the deepest parts of my heart psyche and soul has no words
ReplyDeleteSometimes it just doesn't need them Mo...go well.
DeleteA quote that I will certainly keep and pass on. Makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteIt is a goodie Jo!
Deletefiona, i have a hard time with all the interpretive stuff (i would have had a HARD time in a MFA program). i really prefer knowing nothing and just being there. is that laziness? perhaps. but after the looking THEN comes the eager wanting to understand. but only after. just like drawing. i'd rather draw and then understand. draw to understand.
ReplyDeleteLike you V I am not good with the long-winded fancy pants type explanations - they just annoy me. I do however do just as you do - simply be with the art, then get excited to explore and understand further...go well
DeleteMy pet peeve in exhibitions is the info about a piece of work, not when its brief and concise, but the ones which are a whole page of close type! To me the art should speak for itself... I'm not going to buy it, hang it up with this dissertation beside it. Sometimes these very lengthy explanations turn me off the piece, ie now I can see the minute detail of the intent, its influenced they way I saw it. So give me a couple of sentences, and allow me and the art to interact. Like the glass piece above, you don't need to know what its about.... only that you enjoy looking at it.
ReplyDeleteOh Beverley I hear you! If you can't give an interesting and helpful overview, please don't waste my time with loads of meaningless words! In the end it is only helpful if the words enhance your viewing and help you get closer to the work - if they distance you from it,
Deletethen it they are pointless I think... go well.
I have thought about this a lot too, and like so many things, my preference depends on my state of mind and how I respond to the piece itself. Ultimately, especially if I like a work, I want to know how the artist got there - and, more importantly, why. I love knowing the why's...what motivates/inspires us to make the commitment to create something tangible. Before anything, though, it is good to simply look, and to feel what I feel because of what I see and not what I am told to see. As you pointed out, the visually "beautiful" can mask a less-than-pleasant backstory, but I find the experience of being able to respond firstly without explanations is still worthwhile (though there can almost be a guilty kind of shock to finding out the horrors that lie behind something that appears "beautiful" - but maybe that's valuable too?).
ReplyDeleteAh Lisa - your thinking adds much to the layers of this post - thank you. I do like to respond and then dig deeper if I love a piece and because I love stories and process am always happy to read more about it - it often personalises the work for me and brings me closer to it. I am sometimes disappointed tho when the words distance me from it and I get annoyed when I really like something but I don't connect with the background much. Sometimes the shock factor allows me to look again and experience it differently, so together it tends to work for me most times. I am keen to explore that subversive beauty notion - it is ever so intriguing. Go well.
Deletecoming back to this thread to read the comments which are always interesting, the opposite happened for me viewing the Grayson Perry's "My Pretty Little Art Career" retrospective st the MCA here in Sydney. I went along expecting to be underwhelmed and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work & then spent about 6 hours watching lots of interviews on youtube, am still not a fan of his drawing style but he is a meticulous craftsman, speaks with great style about the role of the artist in the 21st C, pushes the boundaries of social & cultural taboos and is very funny in the process!
ReplyDeleteDon't you love how we each experience things differently, and then differently again? Sounds like a great, holistic and integrated experience of his art and then a greater understanding. Unexpected!
DeleteI am late to the party here Fiona but it's been intriguing to read other people's responses ( long and well consdered, all of them) to the quote. I think I err on the 'no need to know side'. Knowing too much can hinder my reaction so I want to look at something and let my feelings make the judgement. If you turn it another way it makes me ask if we should know too much before we create something too. Often I make what I like and it doesn't really mean anything as such. Definitely something to ponder more on!
ReplyDeleteI do love how we sometimes have great and thoughtful chats here in the comments boxes Lesley, and this has been a fabulous one. All the conversations have helped me examine my own approach and response more deeply, and to realise I need to know less than I thought I did. But I'm still OK with enjoying the deeper understanding some work offers me when I read or research...so fascinating! I often start from making with meaning, or having something to say or express, so perhaps that also reflects my interest in knowing? All very interesting, and as you say worth pondering on some more!
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