Gathering together a running conversation following a FB post yesterday…..

taking a paragraph out of the article……

” “In the art world, the question, ‘What is art for?’ makes people uncomfortable,” explains de Botton, who has since been invited to re-caption works of art in three museums around the world: the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. (His new displays will open simultaneously next April.) “The art establishment downplays emotional or psychological readings of pictures – even though these are the principal ways in which people actually engage with art. But I think that you have to start with the emotional bond between the viewer and the object. If you say that a painting is important because it was owned by so-and-so, or because it shows that fascism is bad, or whatever – these are not reasons to love a painting.” alain de botton

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131129-how-art-can-make-us-happier

i posted this not because i agree with everything the man says, but rather on top of all thinking with respect to any piece of art, there needs be some feeling involved which derives from, and encourages personal growth / self awareness, working at understanding the immediate relationship between oneself and any art one is contemplating. I am so f’n tired of the world of artspeak as if that was the only meaningful level that any work of art can be understood.

Surprisingly, i received a stream of responses to the post; starting with….

Elly Wright Glad I stumbled across this Michael Micheal Zarowsky

Martin Field Assuming one doesn’t enjoy thinking….don’t think too hard about the answer just in case!

Marjolyn Van Der Hart Ah yes the problem of thinking too much when looking at Art- thank you Micheal Zarowsky for posting this.

Micheal Zarowsky I was not looking for engagement; perhaps i had not thought it thru far enough before posting it, as i merely wanted to direct anyone interested to the article so they could take what they wanted from it.

Micheal Zarowsky in writing….”Ah yes the problem of thinking too much when looking at Art- thank you Methinks you missed the point – it was not about thinking too much – there is no problem with thinking a lot / too much /

Marjolyn Van Der Hart

I know it was just a little sarcastic remark. I have always been accused of making Art that gets too caught up in thinking and not feeling. It’s my own ghost.

• Heather Sisman Muffler head! I will confess I didn’t read the article, just the snippet you posted – but I got from it that it’s about how art makes you FEEL, not who painted it or how much it cost or where it came from.

11 hours ago via mobile • Like

Patricia Adams Spivey

Patricia wrote: “I read the article, and my interpretation was as Heather stated. The author pointed out that museums typically describe the provenance of a painting only. How often has one heard a docent say, “This painting creates in me a feeling of despair or of joy”? Instead, we are told who painted it, who acquired it and for how much, who loaned it to the museum and when. If I could buy Guernica, I would buy it because it makes me feel deeply and personally the anguish, the despair, the horror of war; however, a collector might buy it because it is a Picasso.”

11 hours ago • Like

Theresa Loomis  I think no one can or should tell you how to feel about a particular piece. That’s completely personal. So the only thing a docent has left to tell you is details about where it came from.

7 hours ago • Like

Lyn Bane  This made me laugh…and brought to mind..Another one bites the dust!

5 hours ago via mobile • Like • 2

Andrea Thompson    In my opinion, the fundamental problem is (most) people don’t actually engage with art. (Most) people don’t or won’t take time to engage because they can’t FEEL an emotional bond because they have never taken the time to explore art and (most) peoples relationship with art is superficial at best. (Most) people feel intimidated by art and the discussion of same.Ever watch a person purchasing a painting? That tells you a lot about what they see, feel and how involved they wish to become. The very reasons you state a painting shouldn’t be “loved” is why they are. I’m sure you’ve heard more than once, well, you either like it or hate it, or; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There’s the end of a conversation! (Most) people purchasing art want it to match their furniture, fill a space, impress their friends, perhaps somewhat pretentious, yet they may truly like a work. They can’t tell you why,,,but they do. I think artists have the most unappreciated, misunderstood and under valued profession one could choose.

6 hours ago • Like

Micheal Zarowsky    reason i don’t work from photos is because of the distance; drawings create a level of emotional involvement that i could never get from photos; however i paint, in the sense of think through my ideas first in my head before i ever pick up a brush and that is after working out a sketch. so for me it is a blend of thinking and feeling, sometimes more of one than the other, other times different combinations of each. and the best part for me, although you won’t get me to admit it in public, is the coming to the idea, working it through to the point of it being ready to paint; at that point i wish i had warhols factory and could just let them know how i wanted it painted; however i don’t, so i end up painting it – and – most of the time once i lose myself in it – lose my edges so to speak – where nothing else in the world matters at that point, i do enjoy the physical act of painting. even after having done some 10,000 paintings, i come to it fresh / anew each day as if i had just begun. so i was not encouraging non thinking – there is far to much of it anyways – but at the same time i am oh soooo f’n tired of only art speak being posited as the only thing that matters.

Heather Sisman   That’s because most people are SHALLOW. I’d much rather hear the story of how you walked the streets of Paris and bought a chambray shirt from a blind 100 year old lady for a few cents than listen to you brag about your new Gucci shirt that was a thousand dollars.

Micheal Zarowsky   actually she was not in the streets but in the miles of underground walkways that you have to go thru to get to the Metro; alas she had sold her chambray shirt before we got there and only had little tiny eiffel trinklets scattered about her on the floor right next to the guys selling marilyn monroe posters; gucci makes 1,000 dollar shirts? Wow

Micheal Zarowsky  The fundamental way of thinking i was raised is that it is the individuals’ responsibility to educate him/herself / what they choose to educate themselves about is personal of course; to work towards. having / holding as large a world consciousness for me is a large part of what being alive is all about

On a more cheeky level; also like the statement ‘i am into abstract art’ as if? what? It frees theme of ever having to look at anything not abstract?