Art speak
I know a young man working on a term paper for a class at his Arts focused university. They appear to be trying to get him to use a type of art speak vocabulary and terms foreign to him--to explain his point of view. Somehow in their editing, and his rewriting, I am no longer able to hear his own personal voice as clearly.
When I lead a tour in the gallery, I try to break down the art speak into the vernacular. For example, last spring we had these wonderful large orange and red abstract paintings in the gallery. One evening, one of my teen gallery volunteers was sitting there quietly looking at one of them. When I asked him why he liked that one, he replied, "cause it reminds me of my mother's spaghetti. " He wasn't concerned about the painting's place in art history at that moment...nor if it were a expression of dystopian ideals. He was hungry, and yet he still sat there looking at it after that initial reaction.
I try to encourage patrons to "make connections" to the art they see. It's okay that it reminds you of something else, that perhaps a Jackson Pollock painting reminds you of when your infant child threw their rice cereal against the wall of your kitchen. After all a lot of artists spend a lot of time looking to create spontaneous, uninhibited and sometimes child-like mark making. Later on I might share with you how Jackson Pollock was interested in the process of art, about the colour, about the paint, but you would likely figure that out yourself when you stop and look awhile.
And even if you are thinking..."Is this really art?" that's still good, as you are still making a connection, you are still considering a work of art. And if you find it arresting, repulsive, beautiful, or find your self thinking about it later, that is a emotion connection that has value.
I am constantly amazed by how children and young people I have visit the gallery, can scrutinize art and come up with insights adults miss. It's like we adults forget how to use our imaginations sometimes. I think the wisest artists we have had exhibiting in the gallery, are the ones that simply respond to the "what does it mean?" question, simply by saying..."what do you think it's about?" Cause that's when the connecting begins.
I know a young man working on a term paper for a class at his Arts focused university. They appear to be trying to get him to use a type of art speak vocabulary and terms foreign to him--to explain his point of view. Somehow in their editing, and his rewriting, I am no longer able to hear his own personal voice as clearly.
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| art created by a preschooler |
I try to encourage patrons to "make connections" to the art they see. It's okay that it reminds you of something else, that perhaps a Jackson Pollock painting reminds you of when your infant child threw their rice cereal against the wall of your kitchen. After all a lot of artists spend a lot of time looking to create spontaneous, uninhibited and sometimes child-like mark making. Later on I might share with you how Jackson Pollock was interested in the process of art, about the colour, about the paint, but you would likely figure that out yourself when you stop and look awhile.
And even if you are thinking..."Is this really art?" that's still good, as you are still making a connection, you are still considering a work of art. And if you find it arresting, repulsive, beautiful, or find your self thinking about it later, that is a emotion connection that has value.
I am constantly amazed by how children and young people I have visit the gallery, can scrutinize art and come up with insights adults miss. It's like we adults forget how to use our imaginations sometimes. I think the wisest artists we have had exhibiting in the gallery, are the ones that simply respond to the "what does it mean?" question, simply by saying..."what do you think it's about?" Cause that's when the connecting begins.
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