See it, Believe it
Ways of Seeing by John Berger, really got me thinking a lot about how we, as spectators of the world, view things. Naturally, I always believed that not everyone sees something the same way. Through out own influences in life, interests and beliefs, among other things, we use those factors to form an opinion or conclude something for ourselves. Berger talks about that fairly early on and as a result, I was immediately intrigued and drawn into the reading.
"The way we see things is affected by what we know and what we believe."
I wish I had taken more trips to museums before I endulged myself into the art department here at San Jose State. I'm curious to know how my classes [more importantly, my art history courses] have influenced me in how I view works of art at museums. When Berger began elaborating on Frans Hals work, I was reminded of what I read in The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan.
"We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves."
"Yet, although every image embodies a way of seeing, our perception or appreciation of an image depends also upon our own way of seeing.
McLuhan speaks at one point, about Cubism. How this is the medium. Not so much the blatant narrative or content of the piece that the viewer can clearly see at first glance, but how the piece was constructed. Though the first thing that just about anyone asks is "what's the piece about." The particular style of the piece is overlooked. The artist and those in similar interest, see the medium and importance in the Cubism styled used. Whereas, others may see the medium and importance in the characters or storyline depicted in the piece. This brings me back to Berger and him saying "our perception or appreciation of an image depends also upon our own way of seeing." Due to our unique backgrounds and experience, we will all perceive and appreciate works of art in a spectrum of different ways.
In my Art198, I was assigned to go SFMOMA this past weekend to observe the Matthew Barney exhibition of his Drawing Restraint Series. I went with my bf simply because I enjoy going to museums with someone else to share the experience with. It's interesting to say that I was thinking about these things that McLuhan and Berger brought up. About how we perceive things and mediums. During my visit, I found myself wondering how my bf was perceiving the pieces. With him not having too much of an artist background, was he viewing the pieces in the same way as I?
I find it quite amusing to come back to school the week after and find out that my readings for the week in this class are related to what I experienced at the museum that day.
posted by Jey at 11:29 AM
2 Comments:
"believe" is a big word to me. I like "way of seeing" because it talks about the relationships between "see" and "be seen", and it brings some fresh ideas to me. As a viewer, when i see a piece of art work, i always switch my role from a simple viewer to a artist and then change back. I mean the way of how the viewer seeing is not stable , but the artwork is a conclution.
And then I think how's if the artwork is an action, like a performance artist's work, or a stage artist's work? I guess the performance is still a conclution, since it has been designed(directed) in that way, but psychologically it's not so simple.
And then I think about a woman's makeup, can wwe say it is an artwork? I think so. but how's if she looks(see) her make up through a mirrow? the relationship between the "see" and "be seen" is more interesting, i guess. is that same as when she sees her self-portrait?
2:09 PM
history is a big influencial factor in the process of seeing and perception. by what we expect to perceive relates to what we sense in our brains. in my psychology classes, it was repeated over and over again that sensation is an action of the brain, not an existence. however, as a follower of hermeneutical thought, i think there are some experiences which deliver context other than the sensory experience.
6:49 PM
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