Unit 3: How Art Speaks – Finding Meaning
Art asks us questions and conveys meaning. It expresses ideas, uncovers truths, manifests what is beautiful, and tells stories. In this unit, we begin to explore the meaning behind particular works of art within the context of various styles and cultures. We introduce the conceptual tools professional art critics use to interpret art. During this activity, you will provide your own interpretation of a piece of art. You should return to this activity after you have completed this course and review your response.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify the four levels of meaning in works of art: formal, subject, context, and iconography;
- define the term context and discuss its essential role in finding meaning in art;
- describe the six critical perspectives: structural, deconstructive, formalist, ideological, psychoanalytical, and feminist; and
- explain the meaning of form and content.
3.1: Objective vs. Subjective Meaning
The distinction between subjective and objective information was key to the development of science and the philosophies that emerged during the Enlightenment (1685–1815). René Descartes (1596–1650), the French philosopher, clearly articulated this concept when he famously stated "I think, therefore I am". We realize the objective dimension of the world through our senses and through instruments that measure our environment. For example, using methods such as carbon dating, we can analyze the pigments artists used when they created cave paintings and arrive at objective determinations about when they were produced. We can also agree that certain stylistic features belong to a particular period of time. The subjective dimension is less tangible and rooted in our personal experiences. We not only encounter art as raw sensory data, but we also bring our own biases, expectations, needs, and prior art education when we formulate our judgments.
- Make forum posts: 1
Do you think you will have honed your skills at finding meaning in art by the end of this course? As you think about how to respond, consider what this accomplishment means to you. Can you find meaning in art? What role do you play in your attempt to find meaning? What role does the artist play?
Let's practice finding meaning in art. View and describe Winslow Homer's painting The Fog Warning from 1885. Try to interpret the meaning inherent in the work from the visual and contextual clues you see.
Click on Discussion Topic 4 to post your thoughts. After posting your response, you can leave a reply to the posts of your classmates as well.
- View
Read this section for more on the differences between objective and subjective viewing. Think about how these factors, as well as other aspects that make us individuals, play a role in shaping our personal and social subjective responses to a work of art.
3.2: The Four Levels of Meaning: Formal, Subject, Context, and Iconography
When we see any object, we can immediately understand its form: the physical attributes of size, shape, and mass. With art, this may first appear simple: we can separate out each artistic element and discover how the artist used it in their work. You practiced doing this in the last two units. The importance of this formal level of meaning is that it allows us to look at any artwork from an objective viewpoint. Artists use specific processes to create their artwork to achieve a certain perceptual effect. Most artists are keenly aware of the material properties of the media they work with. They understand the objective qualities and anticipate the subjective responses people will likely experience as they view the work.
- View
Read this text which explores how the formal qualities of an artwork relate to its material qualities and the way we perceive it. These attributes are inseparable from how we experience a work of art. Some artists emphasize their artwork's formal qualities so they become part of the foreground more than the background – we call this type of art formalist due to how it demonstrates concern for the perceptual and material components in art.
We often group art into specific genres, or patterns of subject matter, that are found over time. Many of these genres are present in some cultures, but never present in others. These differences give us yet another lens for finding meaning when we approach these types and patterns of art. - View
We can subdivide what we call content into categories we call subjects. Over time, we say certain artworks show evidence of specific genres (typical subjects of art), such as landscapes, portraiture, or street photography. The popular genres of film are sci-fi, romantic comedy, and mystery. Subjects organize the traditions that express how we create certain artistic pieces and influence our expectations of art.
- View
This text highlights the importance of understanding the context in which art is made. Pay close attention to the context, which is an important theme in this course. The context describes an artwork's interconnections with other pieces of art and other aspects of society.
- View
Read this short article and watch the video, which explores the key dimensions of context as it differs between artists and viewers. How do the contextual factors differ between viewers and artists?
- View
Artists incorporate iconography to convey deeper meanings into their work through simple visualizations. Iconography uses symbolism to generate narrative, which in turn develops a work's meaning. Many artworks use common symbols (iconography), which incorporate meanings that a culture widely shares. These individuals recognize the iconography and can decode the symbols.
As you read this text, think about some iconographies you are familiar with. What unifies the iconographies presented in this reading?
3.3: Critical Perspectives
Art criticism is part of the intellectual tradition in most cultures. Each of these traditions provides key concepts and methods of analysis.
- Structural criticism considers art as a system of elements that are composed together, like a language or set of repeating forms. Artworks are comprised of stable, recurring cultural codes that an art critic decodes.
- Deconstructive criticism focuses on the differences among artworks that prevent them from forming stable structures of meaning.
- Formalist criticism analyses the material and perceptual attributes of art and its associated experiences.
- Ideological criticism seeks out power and social imbalances. For the artist, art is a way to perpetuate worldviews that need to be challenged.
- Feminist criticism focuses on gender inequality and roots out forms of patriarchy that appear in art.
- Psychoanalytic criticism traces the patterns of conflict between consciousness and the unconscious and seeks aspects of personality in the art that are beyond subjective control and which subvert social personas.
- View
This article expands on some of the most important perspectives in art criticism: structural, deconstructive, formalist, ideological, psychoanalytical, and feminist.
Unit 3 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.