I hope you enjoy this dusted off rewrite of an post from October, 2017.
Most folks think of artworks as entities unto themselves, but let's take a look at the receiving end of visual art. It is our sense perceptions that allow us to
experience the world: to see it, to feel it, to smell it, to hear it, to taste it, and yes, to perceive it. Visual artists communicate directly to the "see it" receptors, but in the seeing, we can stimulate all the others.
Let's test that idea. What do you hear when you see this?
Look at the painting again, slowly.
What do you smell ?
What do you feel?
What do you hear?
CURIOSITY AND POSSIBILITIES
Manet has given us a stimulus. We can choose to see it as a well designed composition, or as a result of exemplary
skills, or (God forbid) as a decorative piece to hang over the living room fireplace. But we have the capacity--the possibility--to experience the piece beyond it's visual value. We need only the curiosity to explore what else the painting can give to us.
Qiang Huang did this one as a demo in plein air. We are certainly drawn to his spontaneous brush strokes and his harmony of
color. But beyond seeing that and more...
Do you smell the environment?
Do you feel the atmosphere?
Do you perceive the life of the people?
We artists don't have to concern ourselves with intentionally creating sounds, feelings, odors, flavors, even perceptions. But when we,
ourselves, experience these while we're creating our work, they can become a stimulus for how the receptive viewer responds, and that can feed a deeper, more meaningful encounter .
Enjoy a fully enlightened weekend!
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