Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, And Responding

In Terry Barrett's book on analyzing art the author begins the first chapter by exploring concepts of interpretation by examining Surrealist paintings and offering an insight into his own interpretation of each artist's work.  Barrett also states "Anyone can engage in meaningful interpretive thought."  His idea of not saying "we see" and rather stating "I see" when interpreting each work is relevant because everyone has their own individual view point of a specific piece of art based on their own life experience and body of knowledge.  The author suggests that viewers or interpreters of art start with the literal aspects of what they see and then move on to find deeper meaning.  Sometimes an individual work of art may leave a viewer puzzled.  Looking at a wider variety of an artists body of work can offer insight into individual works by finding common elements, for example repeating symbols.  In interpreting art the author says one should still acknowledge prior knowledge and research on the topic.  Barrett also suggests that the selection of images we see of an artists body of work affects our understanding of it, and often only a small selection of ones art is shown and discussed.

 Many of Barrett's principles for interpreting art are in a way introduced in the first chapter, but they are focused upon more in detail in chapter eight.  Interpreting art is about making meaning of an art object.
The author provides a list of these principles, most of which I find very straight forward (but for a few I have offered a tad bit more insight into).

• Artworks are always about something
• Subject matter + Medium + Form + Context = Meaning
• To interpret a work of art is to understand it in language
• Feelings are guides to interpretation 
• The critical activities of describing, analyzing, interpreting, judging, and theorizing about works of art are interrelated and interdependent
• Artworks attract multiple interpretations and it is not the goal of interpretation to arrive at single, grand, undefined composite interpretation.
• There is a range of interpretations any artwork will allow
• Meanings of artworks are not limited to what their artists intended them to mean
• Interpretations are not so much right but are more or less reasonable, convincing, informative, and enlightening.
• Interpretations imply a world view 
• Good interpretations tell more about the artwork than they tell about the interpreter
• The objects of interpretation are artworks, not artists
• All art is in part about the world in which it emerged
• All art is in part about other art
• Good interpretations have coherence, correspondence, and inclusiveness
• Interpreting art is an endeavor that is both individual and communal (Interpretations that are individual are influenced by personal meaning.  Communal ones are influenced by a group with shared interests)
• Some interpretations are better than others (the best ones working as a persuasive argument that builds upon fact)
• The admissibility of an interpretation is ultimately determined by a community of interpreters and the community is self-correcting (As time goes on new views develop or are discovered, new light is shed upon a work and evidence for new interpretations arise)
• Good interpretations invite us to see for ourselves and continue on our own 

I really appreciate how the author wrote this book, all his points are articulated well, but without becoming overly verbose, loosing me in confusing and unnecessary language.  The chapters I covered are great for those new to interpreting art, but also for those who need a little refresher.  One of the most important stances that the author takes is that there is no one right interpretation for a particular work. This is really important for beginners to understand and I would make this very clear to students.  Everyone has an individual view of a particular work of art based on our own experience. At several times Barrett mentions the fear of over interpreting art that often holds one back, but the principles he has set up, as well as many of the questions asked of works discussed in chapter one, offer as an excellent guide in deep thoughtful interpretation.

Principles of Possiblity: Considerations for a 21st Century Art & Culture Curriculum

I have always enjoyed articles by Olivia Gude, and tend to agree with many of her ideas and opinions.  I tend to find her articles a good read and so I enjoyed this one.  She couldn't have put it any better than she had in the very beginning by stating "Has any art teacher ever reviewed the national or state standards for art education or the prevailing list of elements and principles of design and then declared, "I feel so motivated to make some art!""  The author then goes on to state that she doesn't feel so and I agree with her.  Gude puts emphasis on the need for big ideas being investigated in art and not just aesthetics.  Postmodern principles cannot stand as the primary aspect of an art curriculum.  In the article creative play is viewed as important but it is noted that experimentation with media on it's own is not enough to create valuable learning experiences.  More investigative content is needed in the curriculum to further engage students.  Projects need to open up a variety of opportunities for students to grow conceptually, and approaches towards projects that narrow exploration and growth need to be avoided.  I absolutely love Gude's example of the teacher who gives an assignment and restricts students to a warm color palette.  In reality this hinders students possibilities for creative learning experiences.  Gude's article puts emphasis on creating projects stemming from asking questions that are important to students.  Upon reflecting on these things students can gain insight into the self.  This is very important to adolescents who are facing a great deal of change in their life.  Projects stemming from issues important to students keeps them more engaged in what they are doing.  Other types of projects Gude finds valuable are those that focus on themes important to the community, as well as multicultural curriculum.  What the author refers to as "attentive learning" or art made through observation and experience of different environments is another approach that can bring up more complex questions for students to ask.  There needs to be a push for investigative learning, not just specific end results if we want to offer students valuable opportunities for diversity.  Gude states in her article that she has created this outline as a guide to aid teachers in creating meaningful curriculum that has the ability to "engage and empower."  I would agree that the issues she has stated are all real and that a different way of art education, like the one proposed here can offer students much more valuable learning experiences than many former generations have had.

A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric To Reality

James Bean's article puts emphasis on reform of the middle school curriculum through the use of compelling themes.  There is also much importance placed on the use of interdisciplinary activities  The author points out the dramatic period of change students go through during early adolescence with new social situations and experimenting with different roles.  Students during this time tend to start thinking more conceptually, questioning values and other important issues.  They ask profound questions about who they are and the people they are becoming.  That is why curriculum with an emphasis on student's personal concerns, as well as larger social concerns are important to integrate into the classroom curriculum.  I agree with the author and his belief that whether the concerns of students are addressed and resolved or not has an impact on the quality of life in the present and in their futures. I also really appreciate and agree with the authors view on teaching a variety of skills and not looking at them as being isolated, rather developing them and using them with important themes that are being focused on.  The emphasis on using themes that grow out of students questions and concerns is important and I feel would prove effective in engaging students in learning.  It is, although, important to put the focus on issues that are widely shared not only amongst adolescents but also the the rest of society.  In choosing these themes students should be actively involved, but such involvement does not make the teachers role in planning curriculum any less important.   Once chosen these themes should be clear using a wide variety of skills and resources.  To be effective teachers must present a wide variety of learning possibilities.

I concluded that many of the different ideas proposed in the article remain relevant today.  It is important that the activities students are given address issues important to them, include the use of a broad spectrum of skills, demand higher level thinking and integrate a wide variety of themes.

Surrealist Games

Of the many Surrealist games that exist I find the Exquisite Corpse to be the most interesting one out there and appropriate for all ages.  It not only is fun but can be a great exercise to use as a beginning of the year ice breaker allowing students to become more comfortable working with one another. The range of imaginative results are never ending and can help show students that we all are capable of being creative.

Although I am not a big fan of Wikipedia because anyone can alter the content I did find a few interesting examples there as well as a simple explanation of how the activity is done.

Below is a video example of how an Exquisite Corpse can be done as well as a television interview with an artist on the topic.