by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: June 24, 2010

The visual arts are the most symbol laden form of expression that humans can do. The artist creates the symbols, even in a work that is so realistic as to be confused with the real thing, or that can seem to be boring.

Sometimes the artist does not realize that a symbol is created and is either pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised to find that some element of the work has come to mean something to viewers that was never known or intended.

The viewer has ways of converting what they see into their own symbolic representations of thoughts, ideas or things. There may not be a lucid or complete explanation as to why or how the symbolic representation was formed, but they are quite real to the viewer. It could be as simple as a certain work of art representing a particularly eventful visit to a city or it could be as complex as a trigger that brings up a past event that left strong feelings that are triggered whenever a certain referential symbol is seen.

The same goes for the artist, who has the most control over the content of the work. A symbol of a traumatic or momentous personal experience can either be deliberately included or can be obviously absent from their works.

The first art of interpreting art is to read the artist's statement, to attend any artist's lectures and, if possible, to talk with the artist. There is a special art to communication with artists that involves a very open mind, the ability to listen very effectively and the ability to consider new or different concepts, beliefs, ideas and understandings of the world and of life.

Artists generally work alone, focusing on the work and not on what they have to say about the work. As a result they may not be very sociable, articulate or willing to speak openly to strangers, so there is an art to making them feel comfortable enough, usually during hectic, crowded and time limited interactions, to speak about their meanings and intentions or to answer questions.

At the same time, there needs to be articulate speech in summarizing what you, the viewer have received from the work. This could give feedback to the artist about the intended, unintended or unanticipated symbolic messages that are in their work.

All of the above involves allowing the artist and the viewer, rather than the curator and art expert, to take the first and most personal roles in deciding what was said by the artist and what was received by the viewer.

This leads to taking in what the arts experts have to say. They will have seen a lot of art and have highly trained minds and eyes. They are  able to identify if there is an influence, school, technique, method or classification for the artwork that puts it in relation to the massive amounts of other artwork that is in the world.

Art gallery owners will have well schooled and experienced business answers as to why they respect the work enough to dedicate valuable space in their gallery. Art valuators will have ideas as to the potential or actual value of the works as investments. Serious art collectors will have ways of deciding whether they will follow or purchase the works of particular artists.

Finally and most important, the average individual may simply enjoy the process of throwing out all formal considerations and trusting themselves to decide whether they subjectively and personally like, hate, love or just have to see a work again and again. This is a personal process that is the most relevant and enjoyable part of art interpretation. 

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