Art Appreciation for the Guy Who Doesn't

Drat! You got roped into going to this art gallery and you don't know squat about art. What should you look for in art? What should you see? What should you think? You look at the stuff hanging on the walls. Some things you can tell what they're supposed to be, some you haven't a clue. Pretty colors on that one, but sheesh! What are you supposed to look for? Somebody must think they're good or they wouldn't be in here, but a lot of them you wouldn't hang in your doghouse.

How do you tell what's good? How can you appreciate what you don't understand? There's your first mistake. If anybody really Understood Art, they could define it and nobody has yet. The real secret is that art and appreciation of art are purely subjective. Appreciate means to recognize significance and worthiness. Deciding what's good, what's significant and worthy are all in the eye of the beholder, and tastes change. What was considered good and worthy at one time may be dismissed as trash at another. So don't worry too much about the prevailing party line of what's good.

Have you ever come to a door that won't open, no matter how hard you push, until somebody walks up and PULLS it open? That's what asking what you should look for in art amounts to - pushing on a pull door. Art is not something you push your way into. You have to stand still and let it open up to you. Let it show you what it has to say. You will never "get it" by pushing, demanding, attacking, especially with a hostile attitude. You get it by letting it get you.

Hoo boy, you say, here we go, getting all mystical and esoteric. Really? When you try a new dessert, do you worry about what to look for? Do you take out a checklist of flavors and textures to measure it by? No, you take spoonful, look at it, put it in your mouth, and let the dessert do its thing to your senses. You let the flavors, textures, even temperature, come to you. Let's see, it's cold, crisp - chocolate! - sweet, creamy, there's a bit of walnut - no, pecan - is that strawberry or raspberry? You don't actually think all these words, you just take in the sensations. Later you may try to describe those sensations, but first you simply let your senses enjoy them.

So it is with art. Let go of words. Let go of "should" and "supposed to." Shut off everything verbal and open all your senses. Stop, look, listen. Stop talking, stop thinking, stop setting requirements, both on the art and on yourself. Just stand there and look. Look at the surface, look at the shapes, the colors, the textures. Do you see an image? Don't worry if you don't, there may not be one. Listen to your body's responses. Does it make you feel warm or chill you? Does it make you happy to look at it? Or uncomfortable? Does it make you think of your grandmother? How do you imagine it would feel to touch it? But don't, they frown on touching.

Let your eyes wander around the canvas (or whatever) and look at various parts of it. Remember how you mentally wandered around in that mouthful of a new dessert, checking out all the different flavors and textures? Appreciating art is a very similar experience.

Just for fun, try to imagine the artist putting that paint there. Sometimes it looks like he used a trowel...he might have. Sometimes you can see big brush strokes that look so hack and slash, you wonder how the brush survived. Some artists do such delicate work, you can't see any brush strokes at all. In watercolor, you often can see how really wet colors flowed across the paper.

Sorry, don't expect every piece to come out to you. When something leaves you cold, move on. Nobody likes everything. You don't even have to be able to say why it doesn't work for you. Guess what, if you say that, you will sound like you know what you're talking about.