CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE THE WORLD
BY SHARONA BADLOE
This is a plea for everyone to stop overthinking the things in front of
them, and to start experiencing not only art, but the whole world as the
visual wonder it really is. For ages now people have been trying to find
the deeper meaning behind the artworks they encounter. Art has the
ability to reflect the moral and political values of our society as well as
represent personal and intimate emotions. And with everything that
is happening in the world right now, it is a beautiful thing that art has
the power to raise both awareness and compassion to situations that
need it. But art is not only a platform for emotional and political issues,
it is also a world full of colors, materials and forms.
Whenever you see a series of beautiful abstract paintings exposed in
an exhibition or an art book, what can you find next to it? Paragraph
after paragraph explaining some kind of emotional, historical or
political standpoint that the author surely must have intended with his
work because of his or her background. And you will go home only
remembering all those stories about the author’s life and his beliefs
or values. When did you even get the chance to stop searching for
information and to really see the striking way in which the colors and
shapes work together? Very often you get so overthrown by all the
additional information that you don’t even notice. There is nothing
wrong with looking for background information about the author and
interpreting the works of art you love, but sometimes this comes at
the expense of the visual appreciation that art can provide. And often,
especially in abstract art, people desperately search for some deeper
meaning while it simply does not exist.