Reid Morton

English 101

Mr. Weinstein

19 September 2007

Art: Interpretation Meets Expression

The definition of what art is a question that has a wide scope of answers. The reason for this ambiguous answer lies in how it is expressed. Since art can be portrayed in so many different ways such as painting or sculpture, and some even extend to types of literature or performance as art forms. A definition that best describes this though is one by Amy Lowell, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet. The definition being; art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. To conclude from this, art is a combination of expression and interpretation. The role of an artist is to use principles, techniques, and his or her personal creativity to convey something. An artist’s purpose is to express a personal interpretation or to catalyze a viewer’s interpretation. Looking at the exhibit from the student gallery I noticed two pieces that use both of these concepts to convey a meaning by the artist.

The first piece that I noticed was of a cowboy and he appeared to be in a rodeo. The horse was painted in mostly neutral set in a sandy brown background. The horse was in the middle of bucking the man off his saddle. The cowboy had a baby blue denim shirt on and this cool blue color set on a neutral background created a contrast, a technique that is used by many artists. The reason behind this contrast is to create an emphasis, an emphasis on the man that is on the horse. The viewer’s eye is directly pulled to that man and the reasoning behind that mainly is not because he is riding the horse successfully; but is because he seems to be falling. A person viewing this can interpret this in various ways one being that a person faces a trial and does not succeed. Another, a less pessimistic one, is the portrayal of the outcome of a successful ride. The man does not seem to be scared, the facial expressions he has are ones of a person that is expecting the fall.

This interpretation and line of reasoning is exactly what the artist was trying to reach for when he created the piece. He displayed an interesting setting and highlighted a part of it, the actual falling of a horse rider falling off his horse. The viewer then can conclude what they may from it and that is exactly what the artist wanted. The artist used contrast in order to emphasize an action, something that is not prevalent in the next piece I chose.

The second piece I chose did not have quite a clear meaning or theme as the cowboy piece did. The piece was made up of three different pictures that were composed of four separate sections. The picture in the middle had a black horse seemingly staring straight out of the picture, with faint crows flying in the background. The one on the right was less recognizable, but seemed to be of a window set on a faintly stained red barn. The one on the left, the picture that attracts the eye the most, is of a woman in a bright red dress holding a jar. After the artist came to class, she unveiled her very unique technique that was featured in the piece. All three of these seem to be photographs that have been altered with a process of tampering with the negatives. On top of these altered photographs was a hint of a textured substance layered on the canvas, later revealed as wax.

Unlike the other piece all of these techniques were used not to convey a theme, but rather a mood. The horse was all black with a neutral background and in this background black crows were flying behind the horse’s head. The woman in the red dress was standing in front of a decrepit stone building and the most peculiar thing was the face of her seemed to be blurred. Now I am personally creeped out by faceless women and eerie horses that keep company with hovering crows, and that is exactly what I believe the artist’s intentions were in this piece. The use of colors that are the opposite of bright and colorful and figures that have a strange aura instantly strike a sense of disturbance, and this concept contrasts the first piece.

In the first piece the artist uses a common principle to create an emphasis on a certain aspect of a snapshot of an event. The use of contrast to emphasize the rider as he falls is used to convey a meaning. The viewer would ask themselves why the artist chose the action of a falling man. From the questions the artist intended the viewer to make the interpretation would vary and would differ with different types of people, but the thing that is constant is the fact that that concept, that conclusion is being created. That is what the artist was intending, the action of the viewer drawing a conclusion. The second piece’s intention was not that; she wanted to convey something different. The use of haunting figures and dark colors were not intended to create an extending interpretation, but to make the viewer feel disturbed. Also unique techniques such as painting with wax and alterations of negatives were used to further this feeling of gloominess If a picture of a bright sun with a happy face painted across it was displayed the feeling would be immensely different. These two examples are just two of the ways that art is used but one thing is consistent, artists are masters of expression and interpretation.