What I got from this chapter:
It's about how we view the world around us.
How we see and how we interpret what we are seeing is different for everyone because each of us brings our own preconceived ideas, notions, assumptions, cultural differences.
Thus, we are never a neutral viewer; and there is no single perspective.
We can never view historic art in the same way due to this and the fact that our ideas now are modernised.
Reproduction devalues art for a few reasons being that you don't get to see the work in the same context as it is supposed to be seen ie. the church is was commissioned for; the aura is lost; its uniqueness is tainted.
In an effort to make the original piece meaningful and powerful again there is a mystique created around the piece. ie. Mona Lisa is so hyped up because it is so reproduced that people think that it important. But people who go to see the original are disappointed because they bring their own idea of how it looks in their head, thanks to the reproduced versions they have seen.
That there is a difference between seeing and looking. To be able to see and hear are natural abilities but to really look at something is an active reciprocal. So to see requires choice, decision making. It's an active thing. To take a photograph is a very concious thing.
A useful breakdown of chapter 1 for those whose brain fails from time to time:-
http://www.designschoolstudent.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment