Understanding Art: A Multifaceted Approach
Personal Perspective
My Reactions:
- What are my first reactions to the work?
- Why does it make me think or feel this way?
- Who am I? How might gender, race, age, and class determine what I see?
- How do my responses reveal my attitudes, values, and beliefs?
- How do my opinions change over time and through discussions with others?
My World:
- What does the work remind me of? Why?
- How does my country or region of origin, family, home, and background affect my reactions?
- How are my responses similar to or different from those around me?
My Experience:
We all bring different experiences and interests to looking at art. For example, the things we have seen on TV or at the cinema, places we have visited, and things that have happened to us will mean that we each react in a different way.
Objective Analysis
Formal Elements:
- Color/Shape/Marks/Surface: Why has the artist chosen certain colors or marks? Describe lines and textures to understand the ‘vocabulary’ of the artwork. For contemporary works (sound or spatial manipulation), describe qualities like volume, smell, or spatial awareness.
- Materials: What materials are used? Are they traditional or ‘found’ materials? Is the material presence important? How would your response change with different materials? What associations do the materials carry?
- Process: How was the work made? Was it made by the artist or fabricated? What skills were involved? What changes might have occurred during creation? How visible is the process? If it’s an installation, how was it assembled? If it’s video, how was it filmed and projected?
- Scale: How big is the work? Why this size? Would its meaning change if it were bigger or smaller?
- Space/Position/Environment: Is there an illusion of space? How are we positioned as viewers? How does the work relate to the surrounding space? Where does the artwork begin and end?
- Time: Is the work time-based? What kind of time does the artist employ (real or fictional)? Does the work demand a certain amount of time, or does it change over time?
- Do the materials and properties have particular associations for you?
- How might your experience of making things change your understanding?
- How do you relate to the artwork physically? Does it make you feel large or small? Are you drawn close or pushed away? Does it make you aware of your body?
Subjective Interpretation
Content:
- What is the work about? What is happening?
Message:
- What question is the work asking? Is it asking for a particular response? Is it a story, a command, a challenge?
- What might the work stand for? Are there recognizable symbols?
Title:
- What does the artist call it? Does this change how we see the work?
Theme:
- Does it have a broader theme linking it to other works?
Genre:
- How does the work relate to traditional genres (history painting, nude, landscape, still-life)?
- How does the work engage you? What kind of ‘conversation’ do you have with it?
- Does it question your assumptions about art or the world?
Contextual Understanding
When/Where:
- When and where was the work made? Can we connect the work to its place and period?
Who:
- Who made it, and for whom? How did the artist imagine their role?
Histories:
- Can you relate it to social and political histories? Does it work within mainstream history or speak from the margins? Whose history does it represent?
The Present:
- How do people view the work today? How is this different from its original reception? How has opinion changed, and why?
Other Areas of Creativity/Expanded Fields of Knowledge:
- How does the work relate to other art and visual culture (music, theater, science, philosophy, geography, mathematics, ecology)?
The Hang/Interpretation:
- How much space surrounds the work? How does it relate to nearby works? Consider room size, lighting, and wall color. How might these create meaning? How would the work look in a different place? What information is provided (wall texts, leaflets, audio guides)?
The Institutional Context:
- The gallery is a context itself (history, reputation, ‘brand’). How does this influence your view?
- Overlay/Personal Context: What were your expectations before visiting? How do these influence your responses?
- The displays are curated. Do you sense a particular personality or thinking? What changes would you make as a curator?
Approaching Creativity
Misconceptions About Creativity:
Creativity is surrounded by myths and misconceptions that influence how we think about it.
Importance of Creativity in Society and Education:
- Creativity is a tool for change.
- Research (Bamford, 2004) shows that creativity can:
- Enhance academic performance, especially in literacy and language learning.
- Improve student, parental, and community perceptions of school.
- Increase cognitive development and improve the health and well-being of young people.
- Improve students’ attitudes toward school.
How Can We Define Creativity and How Creative Thinking Works?:
There are different ways to define creativity.
Art and Creativity in Schools. How to Foster Creativity in Teaching:
Creativity means connecting things with other things.
The importance of individual innate talent is smaller than we thought.
Other Important Factors:
- Motivation (intrinsic)
- Specific Knowledge Base and Area-Specific Skills
- Focusing and task commitment (hard work)
- Self-confidence
- Tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity
- Acceptance of risk
What are the Bases for a Creative Education?:
- A pedagogy of listening
- Respect for children’s ideas
- Child-focused processes
- The environment as a third teacher