How We View Art And How We View Film

Feb 19, 2008

Without going into the “what is art” debate, we can discuss how we as the spectator are capable of viewing it. There’s art in a gallery (paintings, sculpture etc.), performance and installation art. There’s public art and earthworks, and there’s guerrilla art (the stuff you see on your commute to work) and cinema. Each of these can, and probably should, be viewed in a different manner in order to appreciate them fully.

Picture yourself in a museum or an art gallery, and if you can’t please go view some art as soon as possible! So, here you are in this gallery looking at a painting on the wall. This painting has really grabbed your attention; you stop to gaze for longer than the average 8 seconds. You step closer to the work and look at the brush strokes and the intensity of the colors. Maybe you try to picture the circumstances in which the painter created the work, in a bright open space with natural light, or maybe a dingy apartment with only one working light and a haze of cigarette smoke. Then, maybe you picture yourself residing in the painting, what would it be like to live inside that little house? At this point, you have completely opened yourself up to this painting and have allowed yourself to experience it in the highest manner. The artist has invited you to enter his or her imaginary world and you have accepted the invitation. But there are still people walking around you, making comments about how much they like this work or that. There’s the security guard eyeballing you, waiting for you to get too close. All of these external circumstances are distracting and make it somewhat difficult to really immerse yourself in the artist's work.

Now imagine stepping into a room, usually at a gallery or museum, where the artist has created all of your surroundings. It is an environment that you have never experienced before, and you are truly at the mercy of the artist and the product of their imagination. It is a full sensory experience and you are not only a spectator, but also a part of the work. Your presence has altered the existence of this piece; it is complete because you have chosen to be a part of it. This is installation art.

Stepping out of the gallery, one can view art out in the open. There are public artworks everywhere. Universities, large corporate buildings, parks and stadiums often have public artworks on their properties. Most of the time these are very large, even big enough to walk through. We usually look over these works because we see them on a daily basis; they become part of our everyday lives. There’s also guerrilla art --". . . any anonymous work (including, but not limited to, graffiti, signage, performance, additions, and decoration) installed, performed, or attached in public spaces, with the distinct purpose of affecting the world in a creative or thought provoking way.”* Guerrilla art is usually viewed in a very brief, passing manner, in a car or out walking around. It sparks a thought that may last just long enough to pull us out of the mundane internal conversation that is going on in our heads at the moment.

And then there’s the movie theater. This experience is similar to the gallery because we have to actively get off our bums and go to the work of art. However, the theater is different form the gallery once you step inside. The extremely dark lighting and loud sounds make viewing a film like nothing else. The movie theater environment allows the spectators to fully immerse themselves in the work of art. That is, of course, if all of the elements come together and there are no crying babies or cell phones ringing to distract you. Not only does the environment allow you to surrender yourself to the story and characters, it has a predetermined time line. If you choose to sit through the whole work, it might take two hours or more. Where as in a gallery or out in the open, it is completely up to the individual as to how long they wish to interact with the work.

Most importantly, no matter what type of art you choose to view and how you choose to view it, the act of participating in creative outlets such as film, going to a gallery or museum, or just paying attention to your surroundings, is crucial to becoming a well balanced and thought provoking individual.

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