When I began getting involved with art, I came across a lot of people for whom art was “just not their thing”. Many people, even very intelligent ones, find art of most varieties to be utterly perplexing.
It’s like a different language, that only a few people can speak.
Some folks have lives that are hard enough that they are taught that art is a luxury. They can’t afford a nice painting, or a sculpture. That being the case, why would they be interested in art?
Others are taught that art is an exclusive game. Maybe artists are mainly homosexual (which, of course, some are). Or they are all from France. Maybe all artists wear funny hats, or are snooty intellectuals.
Where am I heading with this? When a person looks at a work or art, they may feel that sense that they are reeling through the void. “What does it mean?”, they may ask, “I have no idea.”
That experience is, in fact, important. It gives a person a place to start from. Realizing the mystery of the whole work, they can then start to describe and discuss the details they do perceive.
What color is it? What texture? What is the scale– large or small? We can start with little, seemingly obvious things, and from there we can begin to formulate a notion of what a work is about.
So. . . please don’t be afraid. There’s a lot that can be appreciated about art, for those who are willing to accept that lack of certainty and build from there.
