ART paintings and their interpretation

[zippo]

ive always been angry at art. i cant explain it, but art has always made me angry. art paintings i mean in museums, gallerys, and the such. Maybe the anger comes from my frustration and difficulty to fully understand and/or interpret the pieces.

I can appreciate the types of paintings that are made to be visually beautiful (be they attractive, disgusting,etc)... by way of its colors, its characters,etc...all of these you can see when you look at them, theyre all there in front of you, and you can appreciate them and miss nothing...but then...then they go and complicate things. then, theres the other types of paintings that demand not only visual appreciation but an interpretation and with this a message or idea. since i can remember, ive always had a problem with this.

it deeply angers me how with these pieces, whatever it is ive interpreted myself from the painting, the artist isnt there to assure me his message is getting across correctly, and that im not misinterpreting his work of art, or missing an important part of its message. i feel the couple of minutes im there trying to "hear" what the artist has to "say", will never totally be confirmed to me, and it makes me feel like a tiny bit waste of my time.

it also angers me when people say "the interpretations are endless, its up to you, whatever you understand from it, thats what it is"....this gives the communicative part of the art painting an ephemeral and sort of disturbingly pointless characteristic which makes me reject it. to me, it makes it powerless, unattractive and....once again, it pisses me off that we should be expected to be satisfied with an unclear message. i cant be. i need to know perfectly what the artist is trying to say, theres too much loose cables in between him/her and I.

which is why I think that in paintings where the interpretation is very abstract (or just faintly abstract), the artist should write a brief (or long) text to go with his painting and frustrate me no more.

[TAL]

Back in the day when I used to work in an art gallery I mostly laughed at the paintings. I also checked which painting smelled the worst.

[ms.peachy]

Well, at least it makes you angry. That's better than indifference.

[BionicEye]

Most of the time artists like to leave interpretation up to their audience. Sometimes it's because they don't really know what they're trying to get across and sometimes it's because they enjoy seeing how wrong some interpretations are... jerks! Its sort of like what some music artists used to say about music videos when they started becoming the norm... At first, I remember hearing how lots of them felt the 'explanation' in a music video was limiting people from finding their own meaning through their own imaginations.


But isn't that what museum tours are for? I DON'T like going on them because I like to make my own interpretations of what the artist is trying to do.

[zippo]

Well, at least it makes you angry. That's better than indifference.

yes im a big neanderthal ape jumping around the painting, smelling it, touching it like a scared kitten and jumping back, then grabbing it and banging it on top of my head to see if it does something.

"ME ANGRY OO OO AH AH ANGRY-ME OO AH -ANGRY"

...hehe

[ms.peachy]

yes im a big neanderthal ape jumping around the painting, smelling it, touching it like a scared kitten and jumping back, then grabbing it and banging it on top of my head to see if it does something.

"ME ANGRY OO OO AH AH ANGRY-ME OO AH -ANGRY"

...hehe
Ummm....okay....

Not exactly what I had in mind, but hey....

[zippo]

Most of the time artists like to leave interpretation up to their audience. Sometimes it's because they don't really know what they're trying to get across and sometimes it's because they enjoy seeing how wrong some interpretations are... jerks! Its sort of like what some music artists used to say about music videos when they started becoming the norm... At first, I remember hearing how lots of them felt the 'explanation' in a music video was limiting people from finding their own meaning through their own imaginations.


But isn't that what museum tours are for? I DON'T like going on them because I like to make my own interpretations of what the artist is trying to do.

broken communication frustrates me. ofcourse reading up on the painter, his movement, and an art text book can easily solve this problem for me, which is the whole idea of text being an aid for the abstract again, but I would enjoy the actual artist opening himself up briefly through a piece of paper placed right next to his painting, so we can be led by him at the moment and not at a different one where we would do the afore mentioned reading. and the whole museum/gallery experience means youve gotta investigate before going to make it a full experience then right? that is, to fully get it.

and museum tours? i think the experience would be higher quality if there werent a third person involved for many reasons such as concentration, not walking through in your own time, etc.

[zippo]

Ummm....okay....

Not exactly what I had in mind, but hey....

haha, i know i know

[BionicEye]

broken communication frustrates me. ofcourse reading up on the painter, his movement, and an art text book can easily solve this problem for me, which is the whole idea of text being an aid for the abstract again, but I would enjoy the actual artist opening himself up briefly through a piece of paper placed right next to his painting, so we can be led by him at the moment and not at a different one where we would do the afore mentioned reading. and the whole museum/gallery experience means youve gotta investigate before going to make it a full experience then right? that is, to fully get it.

and museum tours? i think the experience would be higher quality if there werent a third person involved for many reasons such as concentration, not walking through in your own time, etc.


i think i have seen those little signs at museums. tell those museums you went to to stop 'jodeting' as they say and get some signs

[paul jones]

Rolf Harris is the King! (y)

[zippo]

par de pelotudos

[paul jones]

par de pelotudos
http://www.rolfharris.com/

[zippo]

that was for bionic btw, pauly







...par de pelotudos infelices

[paul jones]

that was for bionic btw, pauly







...par de pelotudos infelices


ah right,sorry Bionic man (y)

[BionicEye]

boludos







que cagada

[zippo]

que loco

[Documad]

I love art. I don't understand it, and I'm not creative myself, but I love art like mad. In a room with a few really famous paintings, I'm always drawn to the ones no one is looking at.

I love to watch people at museums. The pretentious guy who's lecturing his younger girlfriend, the snobby woman showing off to her friend, the French people who always have well-mannered children, and the other tourists who take photos of themselves next to masterpieces.

I think it's hilarious how many people approach a painting without looking at the painting, but looking instead at the label. If the label's got a big name artist, they back up to ponder it; if the label's not so good, they breeze on by.

[kezz]

i think theres a massive chasm between the people who make art and the people who view art. i did the hard slog at art school and my sister is a pretty recognised artist in certain circles. but buggered if anyone in my family knows what we're waffling on about half the time.

not to say that the average person is an idiot, rather i think art has been elevated to such a point, and has also been taught in such a way, that to fully appreciate the piece of work you have to know the influneces, context, philosophies, critiques and theory behind the work and the artist.

which i think is absolutely ridiculous. what average art-gallery goer is going to read up on say Roland Barthes or John Berger to interperate art? I had trouble grasping the theories and i studied it for 5 years!

on the other hand, all art has many different levels that it can be interpreted at, and you may interpret it in such a way that even the artist hasnt forseen. which is the point of art. its a very personal experience of expression, that even though you may not have physically put paint to canvas, if you can relate to it, or react to it, it means its doing what its intended.

the fact that you've come online and bothered to write on a message board about your frustration about art is also a valid response to art. if you like something, good for you. if you dont, good for you again. you dont have to understand everything put in front of you. just know what you like and like waht you see!

[zippo]

not to say that the average person is an idiot, rather i think art has been elevated to such a point, and has also been taught in such a way, that to fully appreciate the piece of work you have to know the influneces, context, philosophies, critiques and theory behind the work and the artist.

which i think is absolutely ridiculous. what average art-gallery goer is going to read up on say Roland Barthes or John Berger to interperate art?

I know! i agree, thats what i meant when i mentioned this before. To fully understand them, youve gotta read up each time? come on now. im not promoting lazyness just being realistic. its a type of dedication that cant be expected from your average art consumer for reasons such as time, access, money, etc etc. and its just not the same as a more personal, direct text on the piece written out by the artist. its not the same.



on the other hand, all art has many different levels that it can be interpreted at, and you may interpret it in such a way that even the artist hasnt forseen. which is the point of art. its a very personal experience of expression, that even though you may not have physically put paint to canvas, if you can relate to it, or react to it, it means its doing what its intended.

this made me think, thanks so much kezz. i accept that there is some truth in you paragraph but unfortunately, this still doenst calm my angst to not feel somethings missing in the totality of the act between the painter and observer. maybe because ive got this annoying obsession with communication, and this makes me unavoidedly go past the painting, take it down from where its hanging, and touch around the white wall to see if it leads me to the artist himself. still though, im gonna try to apply your words.

[zippo]

i had this horrible experience during my trip to NY, when i went to the Museum of Modern Art. A sad moment...and its funny because it goes back to the root of the meaning in my life. Ever since i was small, the fact that theres so many people in the world that im gonna die without being able to speak to troubled me, which is the reason why ive studied journalism, which is the way i can semi-fix that problem and speak to thousands at a time. that is the way i see it.
going back to my visit in the museum, there was this one piece, a video piece in a little corner, which had this long ass (i think 6 pages?) text in the entrance to a room with a huge video screen in it. The text went on and on about so many things that seemed random and sensless but that if you stopped thinking about what they mean so hard and loosen up a bit , youd understand them perfectly as i did (you know what i mean? the way most obvious things are right in front of us? you know? that. just that.). the text with the video was so thuoght provoking and i related so much but i looked around and saw all these people, and the white walls and the museum but i didnt see the artists (they were two) and...fuck was i pissed. and sad. ditance, time, money....i hated those things at the moment. i hated the process of meeting someone and i hated social rituals. all things separating me from the artists now and in the near future. i just want/ed to talk to them. who knows, maybe i will.

then i went to lunch.

[abcdefz]

ive always been angry at art. i cant explain it, but art has always made me angry. art paintings i mean in museums, gallerys, and the such. Maybe the anger comes from my frustration and difficulty to fully understand and/or interpret the pieces.

I can appreciate the types of paintings that are made to be visually beautiful (be they attractive, disgusting,etc)... by way of its colors, its characters,etc...all of these you can see when you look at them, theyre all there in front of you, and you can appreciate them and miss nothing...but then...then they go and complicate things. then, theres the other types of paintings that demand not only visual appreciation but an interpretation and with this a message or idea. since i can remember, ive always had a problem with this.

it deeply angers me how with these pieces, whatever it is ive interpreted myself from the painting, the artist isnt there to assure me his message is getting across correctly, and that im not misinterpreting his work of art, or missing an important part of its message. i feel the couple of minutes im there trying to "hear" what the artist has to "say", will never totally be confirmed to me, and it makes me feel like a tiny bit waste of my time.

it also angers me when people say "the interpretations are endless, its up to you, whatever you understand from it, thats what it is"....this gives the communicative part of the art painting an ephemeral and sort of disturbingly pointless characteristic which makes me reject it. to me, it makes it powerless, unattractive and....once again, it pisses me off that we should be expected to be satisfied with an unclear message. i cant be. i need to know perfectly what the artist is trying to say, theres too much loose cables in between him/her and I.

which is why I think that in paintings where the interpretation is very abstract (or just faintly abstract), the artist should write a brief (or long) text to go with his painting and frustrate me no more.





....why can't you just feel confident and secure about your own opinion without relying on the approbation of others (including the artist)?

The fact is: once it leaves the artist's grubby little hands, its implications are public domain. Go and get some.

[zippo]

....why can't you just feel confident and secure about your own opinion without relying on the approbation of others (including the artist)?

The fact is: once it leaves the artist's grubby little hands, its implications are public domain. Go and get some.

its not about confidence and security and much less approbation, its a need of, and especially when a certain piece of work interests me, affirmation. tightening loose cables.

and what do you mean "including the artist"? the artist is the only one ive been referring to throughout this thread.

[abcdefz]

and what do you mean "including the artist"? the artist is the only one ive been referring to throughout this thread.



Point taken.

Personally, I think the author's intent sometimes contradicts the work itself, so I argue more for the audience-of-one's interpretation sometimes over any other. Lots of artists seem to be the worst judges of their own stuff, however important intention actually is.

I'm soooooooo glad there aren't cave dwellers around to say "Whaddya mean, 'people chasing a bull on a hunt?' This is clearly a denouncement of capitalist dancing among swimming otters!"

[zippo]

I'm soooooooo glad there aren't cave dwellers around to say "Whaddya mean, 'people chasing a bull on a hunt?' This is clearly a denouncement of capitalist dancing among swimming otters!"

haha that was funny

[kezz]

this made me think, thanks so much kezz. i accept that there is some truth in you paragraph but unfortunately, this still doenst calm my angst to not feel somethings missing in the totality of the act between the painter and observer. maybe because ive got this annoying obsession with communication, and this makes me unavoidedly go past the painting, take it down from where its hanging, and touch around the white wall to see if it leads me to the artist himself. still though, im gonna try to apply your words.

Thats ok! I have to say, i dont think ive ever written anything that profound in my entire life. usually im cynical or flippant, so im glad my semi-educated reply made you think.

your story about your visit to the museum made me think about the only really full-on response to art ive ever had - which is strange considering ive grown up around it, studied it, and made it, but anyway. i went to london a couple of years ago and happened to wander into this room in the Victoria and Albert museum. It was this absolutely MASSIVE room dedicated to these 6 "cartoons" [not in the comic book sense] by Raphael. these paintings were incredible. they were scenes from the bible and they ,too, were massive. i almost cried, they moved me so much. I knew most of the biblical references that he painted about, but no 100%. even not knowing everything, it still had such an impact, and it wasnt purely because of the size. i still cant put my finger on it.

one of the best exhibitions i have ever seen was the same day. i trooped out to the graduate exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art. gees they were good.

and if you want to speak to the artist, just do it! they love talking about their work! go to openings. not only do you get to meet the artist or at least hear them talk about their work, theres often free booze :D Just be warned: artists can be pretentious gits [as with a lot of people] and many like to use big words [but you said you're a journalist, so i reckon you can handle it!]

But seriously, use your own judgement and life experiences to evaluate what YOU see infront of you

[zippo]

and if you want to speak to the artist, just do it! they love talking about their work! go to openings. not only do you get to meet the artist or at least hear them talk about their work, theres often free booze :D Just be warned: artists can be pretentious gits [as with a lot of people] and many like to use big words [but you said you're a journalist, so i reckon you can handle it!

yea, i would adore to have been able to talk to these dudes, but they live in another continent (im in south america). but, since im not dead yet, i have the rest of my life to find out and meet them (y)

[kezz]

yea, i would adore to have been able to talk to these dudes, but they live in another continent (im in south america). but, since im not dead yet, i have the rest of my life to find out and meet them (y)

who cares if you live in south america? talk to your local artists! get involved in the community! there would have be be a really amazing art community in that part of the world. start local then go global :p

[sheesh]

[QUOTE=zippo]
. i need to know perfectly what the artist is trying to say, theres too much loose cables in between him/her and I.

Are you sure you don't have any loose cables yourself? If you don't like art stop looking at it.

[kezz]

[QUOTE=zippo]
. i need to know perfectly what the artist is trying to say, theres too much loose cables in between him/her and I.

Are you sure you don't have any loose cables yourself? If you don't like art stop looking at it.

its not a matter of not liking art, its about understanding the art and what the artist is trying to say through their art. Zippo feels that to better understand the artist you need to talk to them about it because theres so much interference between what the artist has made and how we see it- meaning outside influences like politics, other artists, personal experiences. im saying you should use all that to interpertate the image as you see it.

zippo doesnt have loose cables, just an enquiring mind :D

[Audio.]

I love art. I don't understand it, and I'm not creative myself, but I love art like mad. In a room with a few really famous paintings, I'm always drawn to the ones no one is looking at.

I love to watch people at museums. The pretentious guy who's lecturing his younger girlfriend, the snobby woman showing off to her friend, the French people who always have well-mannered children, and the other tourists who take photos of themselves next to masterpieces.

I think it's hilarious how many people approach a painting without looking at the painting, but looking instead at the label. If the label's got a big name artist, they back up to ponder it; if the label's not so good, they breeze on by.
and thats where the graffiti kicks in. To stand against bad, give out a message through message, to let the passer-by known my freedom of expression. Lets just keep the graff an underground thing, kay?

[Audio.]

i think theres a massive chasm between the people who make art and the people who view art. i did the hard slog at art school and my sister is a pretty recognised artist in certain circles. but buggered if anyone in my family knows what we're waffling on about half the time.

not to say that the average person is an idiot, rather i think art has been elevated to such a point, and has also been taught in such a way, that to fully appreciate the piece of work you have to know the influneces, context, philosophies, critiques and theory behind the work and the artist.

which i think is absolutely ridiculous. what average art-gallery goer is going to read up on say Roland Barthes or John Berger to interperate art? I had trouble grasping the theories and i studied it for 5 years!

on the other hand, all art has many different levels that it can be interpreted at, and you may interpret it in such a way that even the artist hasnt forseen. which is the point of art. its a very personal experience of expression, that even though you may not have physically put paint to canvas, if you can relate to it, or react to it, it means its doing what its intended.

the fact that you've come online and bothered to write on a message board about your frustration about art is also a valid response to art. if you like something, good for you. if you dont, good for you again. you dont have to understand everything put in front of you. just know what you like and like waht you see!
true that.

[zippo]

talk to your local artists! get involved in the community! there would have be be a really amazing art community in that part of the world. start local then go global :p

well...yea! i do that (y)

theres a lot of exhibitions from college aged artists which tend to be the ones that are most interesting, theres a large young artistic movement down here, but, nothing too spectacular, or maybe i havent found the right ones yet. the older artists generally apply alot of cultural aspects to their art, which tends to bore me, at least in art form.

im more interested in the musical movement in general though, im not an art buff or any shit like that, i just go to shows/exhibitions every once in a while, like alot of people do. still though, the subject of this thread has "bothered" me since years ago.

[zippo]

Are you sure you don't have any loose cables yourself?

If you don't like art stop looking at it.

yes! and now i am going to EAT YOU CAN I EAT YOU

i like art you dimwit. the only one who should stop here, is you, to actually read the thread.