While reading Ways of Seeing by John Berger and A Short Guide to Writing About Art by Sylva Barnet, many key concepts to consider while viewing art became clear to me. A few in particular that stood out to me were the ideas about perspective, what makes art truly art, and how to write about art. There are various ways which I will apply these thoughts while viewing the Modern Art exhibition at MOMA.
The first concept that really made me stop and think about what I was reading was Berger’s explanation of perspective. Specifically, how one’s perspective alters what they see while viewing art, as well as what they think of it. As someone who is unfamiliar with art, my perspective will obviously be very different from those who have more experience with the arts. However, after reading more about this idea, I decided that I must always keep an open mind when I am looking at new or different types of art, and leave behind any preconceived notions that I may have. I will try my best to do this when viewing the Modern Art exhibition, so as to appreciate what I am seeing and think about its significance. In addition to this, being open minded will allow the art to “explain in a new way the world unknown to [me]” (Berger 17). I believe that one of the keys to viewing art for me will be to try to look at it from multiple perspectives, and not to let my own narrow view impact my experience.
Another concept which became clear to me was the question of what defines art. Barnet wrote in depth about this, and it made me think a lot about the different theories that have been presented. The Institutional Theory of art is that anything that artists or the public say is art, is in fact art. This struck me as a very broad definition, and one thing that I’d like to focus on while viewing art is to determine what makes something art to me. Also, I will think about what made the curator of the museum choose to display it. Is it because of the artist? Is it because the public thinks of it as art? Or does it hold some other historic significance? All of these are questions that I will be sure to keep in mind while visiting MOMA.
Finally, a third important concept that I found while reading was how to write about art. Since The Arts in New York City is a writing intensive course, I felt that this would be pivotal to understand in order to have success in this class. When writing about art, I need to remember to write about everything that I see and feel, not only for others to read, but for myself to understand my own views of art. The more I write and the more successfully I can express what I think about what I see, the better grasp I will have for my own interpretation of art, and the better I will be able to critique and discuss it with others, including my classmates. Barnet also brought to light how important it is to keep your audience in mind while writing about art. This is an idea that I will keep with me throughout all of my life when writing, and one that I will definitely bring with me to MOMA if there is anything I need to write about the exhibition afterwards.
