Tuesday, January 29, 2013

MINDLESS WATCHING - or better: WE ARE SPOILED!!!


We are living in a fast society
Every day millions of images, logos and texts come rushing by. Since the entrance of Facebook to the internet, it has been multiplied x1000... or even more.
 
It is a luxury problem and we are spoiled through it.
We set ever higher aims all the time.
Action movies need MORE action and more images than ever before!
Games need to be more explosive, need more action and more images which are sharper than your eyes can digest, etc...
Artists and art lovers check the internet and facebook, and see come by thousands of images every day.
Amongst them BEAUTIFUL pictures, which are sometimes breathtaking and stunning. But the next day, one needs a new shot of even more interesting images again.

Of course, internet is a wonderful phenomena!
 

We can instantly visit every place in the world, see and share all those beautiful things, without travelling for hours, without spending a lot of money, etc...
Looking to small pictures of art on the internet, absolutely can not be compared to experiencing a piece of art in reality.
One can't really immerse in it, and does not feel the immensity, the shivers, the humbleness and other upcoming emotions in the same way.

People don't pay a lot of attention to a beautiful piece of art on the internet.
We digest a picture of a piece of art, within a few seconds, before we get hungry for another one again.
This really is a pity.

The american professor in art education Terry Barrett, composed 3 questions, which help us refelect and discuss a piece of art, which is the main goal of art! (Thank you Bregje van der Laar, who does tours in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam - The Netherlands,
for pointing out).
1. What do I see?
2. What is it about?
3. How do I know?

By asking oneself these questions, and sharing answers with one another, people come to new insights.
The questions lead from (mindless) watching to thinking and give meaning to.

I have noticed that, while looking at e.g. a painting, while asking myself those 3 questions, the painting gets a lot more interesting.
It does not have to become pompous/stilted (not for me anyway, I reject pompous).
I get more attracted, want to dig deeper, know more.
It becomes a matter of the soul.
I even think, I get to understand the creator better.
The painting gets more attractive by looking at it, from different points of view.
The three questions help with that!
Of course, when you ask yourself those 3 questions, facing a piece of art in reality, it works the same. It becomes more attractive.

Stop the mindless watching, and start enjoying!!!!


Want to know more?
Check http://www.terrybarrettosu.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment