Analysis Of Against Interpretation By Susan Sontag

In today’s society, we are constantly being bombarded with visual art forms. Whether they be classical paintings from the Renaissance, a towering and modern skyscraper, or even a cheesy 90’s R&B music video, they all have one thing in common. According to Carolyn Dean’s definition, these would all fall under the category of “art by intention.” In her essay “The Trouble with (The Term) Art” she advocates a distinction between art by intention and what she deems “art by appropriation.” The difference is that one work was created with the intention of being consumed for visual pleasure, while the other was not. However having been educated in the Western school of thought, many art historians cannot help but project their rigid definition of art onto civilizations that may have

Nobody can really know what the artist’s intentions were except the artist. Therefore, there is no one “correct” way to interpret art. Art speaks different ideas to different people, and that is what makes it so diverse and wonderful. The fact that the meaning isn’t spelled out in bold black letters is what makes you want to come back to it, because each time you take another context out of it. It also is what makes us strive for art as an expressive medium when we have emotions that are too complicated to express in words, or if there is confusion in our thoughts.

Since the beginning of time, artists have labored extensively to find innovative ways to convey sentiment, passion, and feeling. Telling stories and trying to unlock the minds of people through different avenues of artistic labors. Art touches and affects people in unique ways; it can have special or unusual meaning on the person depending on how one views it. Artists’ rendering of their art is interpreted in numerous ways by others who view it unless it is explained by the artist on its meaning giving a clear example of what they are portraying. Two people looking at the same painting, sculpture, portrait, or photo may come to different views on the arts meaning even though they are looking

The idea of art being a unique interpretation of what an artist’s feels towards a particular thing has always been a given when talking about art. However, where is the line drawn on what art truly is and what it means to its audience? To do this, the idea of what art means must be applied to the idea of what art is. In Dorothy Allison’s This is Our World, the author touches on points of what art is and what it means to its viewers. These points and supporting stories point to the idea that art is subjective, personal, and provocative. This allows Allison to draw her conclusion that arts purpose is to depict the deeper meaning into situations and incidents that occur in our world. In Dorothy Allison’s journal, one can see how the author effectively conveys the ideas of art being personal and subjective, but fails at detailing how art can be subjective.

Maggie Saldivar starts off with a description of her own experience with defining Art. She recounts the beginning of her class when the teacher declares that everyone should assemble their own definition

The beauty of any work of Art is the hidden meaning in it, or to be more accurate the concept or the thought which is the driving force, the main inspiration for the artist. It is this thought that becomes the back bone of the work of Art, let it be anything from a Painting, Sculpture, Music, Food and Literature. And since Literature provides us in some manner the concept or the details of the main subject within its text form, therefore the interpretation and the recognition of the main theme becomes fairly obvious.

Understanding art is often thought of as being an unreachable goal, but art should not be considered arbitrary because it influences the cultures and societies around us. The purpose of this paper is to define and also establish my opinions on Pensacola Christian College’s (PCC) definition of art, the bibliosophy of art, and Dr. Francis Schaeffer’s criteria for art. These topics are useful for artists as well as anyone else critiquing art, and can also serve as guidelines and standards for an artist when they create art.

Since the beginning of time, artists have labored extensively to find innovative ways to convey sentiment, passion, and feeling. Telling stories and trying to unlock the minds of people through different avenues of artistic labors. Art touches and affects people in unique ways; it can have special or unusual meaning on the person depending on how one views it. Artists’ rendering of their art is interpreted in numerous ways by others who view it unless it is explained by the artist on its meaning giving a clear example of what they are portraying. Two people looking at the same painting, sculpture, portrait, or photo may come to different views on the arts meaning even though they are looking at the

Interpretation involves discovering how the artist is influenced by the world around him or her.

When you go to an art show do you understand the symbolic interpretation of the pieces? Don’t feel bad, most people don’t. What’s so upsetting about that is that you really miss out on the experience. When I think about interpretation of art I think of Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol’s use of iconography changed not only the art world but the people who came into contact with his art. Once you understand his life and art, you will understand his art as a symbolic representation.

Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).

The most important trait in defining art is its beauty. As complex as the term “art” can be, the term “beauty” is nearly just as complicated. In order to understand art more clearly it is important to understand beauty. “We label an object beautiful because it promotes an internal harmony or ‘free play’ of our mental faculties; we call something ‘beautiful’ when it elicits this pleasure.” (Freeland 8). As defined above, beauty is not a direct message. It is something that subconsciously allows man to feel good and pleasurable. There is “an internal harmony” when we observe something beautiful that allows us to take away a deeper understanding of a work of art regardless of it being “nice looking” or “ugly”.

A work of art can capture a moment in a person’s life. When observing art it’s almost like a snapshot of a brief point in time. The artist tries to create this specific point, and within this creates a story or meaning. The art has something to say and the artist wants you to react or take something away from this experience. The reaction is the function of the specific work of art. Whether it’s a favorable or awful reaction, the viewer still walks away changed.

As onlookers peer into the artworks in front of them, there is no question as to whether or not they considered what the artwork means, where it came from and what the artist was interested in who created it. The

“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.