Government and Community Relations
Speeches and Presentations
To truly understand works of art takes more than a passing glance Julianna Furlong Williams assistant professor Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 09/23/2003 This is in response to the Sept. 5 letter about being “duped “ by Albert Paley’s RIT sculpture “The Sentinel”. First I should state that I am an artist and I teach art. With that, I must say that the writer seems to be accustomed only to art that is more literal, dealing with ideas and imagery which are more familiar to the general public. Most western art which produced before the 20th Century was basically representational, depicting objects, figures or stories which were often easily understood. The best of it was truly exceptional and, without naming the scores of incredible artists whose work most of us are familiar with, the work that went beyond merely “recording” , was work that had a soul. It was infused with the artist’s own passionate, personal vision. On the other hand, fine Arts after that time, the writer’s “so-called Modern Art”, is often less about realism and it demands a broader scope to intelligent viewing. A viewer is looking at the very personal visual expression of a contemporary artist, and with that, there’s a certain element of “work” involved. This is true in any art form When we are very young, we view films, read books, listen to music that is designed to be easily understood by untrained eyes and ears. As we mature, our taste in the complexities of these various art forms should also grow. We study, or learn through experience, to appreciate more sophisticated art, in all forms. So why, then, do so many people believe that art is only “in the eye of the beholder”, that it is “just a matter of taste”? In that case, my job would be totally superfluous. There would be nothing to learn; it would all be just a matter of taste. Believe it or not, there ARE some people who are extremely knowledgeable about art; they are people who have a real interest in learning about what they see -- they study art, the processes, the concepts and sometimes they write about their conclusions. This is often referred to as “art criticism”. There will ALWAYS be an element in our society that believes that artists or critics are “hoodwinking” the unsuspecting masses into thinking that something they don’t understand is actually art! These people seem to feel that because they don’t understand it at first glance, it isn’t art. Seldom, I believe, do people who make these kind of observations think to spend any time learning something about what they are seeing. I venture to guess that the letter writer never even saw the sculpture in person, but made all of her observations based on a grainy reproduction from the newspaper. Modern art takes some time to study, to understand, to appreciate. I tell my students to observe art with an open mind and not to instantly dismiss it, but spend some time with it, explore it , learn about what the artist might have been trying to do. Perhaps then the student could learn , as I did as a student with German Expressionist work, to love it . We should always be pushing our limits and we must try very hard to be open to new, less comfortable, points of view. All artists want to communicate, but fine artists of all kinds, Albert Paley, among them, realize that the viewer will interpret what he/she sees. Hopefully, those viewers will learn something they didn’t already know and then choose to like it or not. |
