Subjective & Objective Perspectives

SUBJECTIVE & OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVES

The first level in approaching art is learning to LOOK at it.  Generally, it is common to look at art in terms of "liking" it FIRST, and "looking" at it later. Starting with a subjective (knowledge residing in the emotions and thoughts of the viewer) opinion such as "liking" is only the first step. If you stop at your subjective opinion, it does not allow you to truly appreciate and understand the artwork. Unfortunately, only looking from this perspective, leaves many viewers confused or worse yet dismissive of the art they are looking at.

In the arts, it’s especially important to begin to develop an informed or objective opinion rather than just an instinctual reaction.  An objective view is one that focuses on the object’s physical characteristics as the main source of information.

Analyzing objectively does not mean that you will remove or invalidate your subjective feelings about a work. Developing your objective observational abilities means that you will learn alternative ways to approach art, ways that allow you to find clues to meaning and to understand how art reflects and affects our lives, how art reflects the cultures within which it was created. In fact you will find that the more informed you become, the more artwork will affect you emotionally and intellectually and connect you to the human beings that created it. 

It’s complex, but the satisfaction of looking at art comes from exploring the work to find meaning, not shying away from it simply because we may not understand it.