Nothing like hours of unending, difficult work to snap you out of your summer down period.
My latest project was about art, a subject I am admittedly rather uneducated about. I embrace certain forms of art myself (writing mostly, music as well, and film sort of as a hobby) but my knowledge of the visual arts in particular (by which my limited vocabulary is trying to indicate "painting" and "sculpture") is pretty limited. It's just something that I've never really been able to grasp. Occasionally I come across something that really speaks to me, but I can't tell you why. I can relate to the works of art my friends produce more readily, perhaps because I have a relationship with the artist and understand the efforts put into creating it. But if I look at a piece of art hanging in a museum, chances are I won't have much to say.
In a way, it's a lot like a language that I simply don't speak.
My comprehension of art closely parallels my language skills, actually. I know English as a native language - that's like writing for me. I know German fluently as a second language - that's like music. I can understand a bit of French and Dutch - that's like film. I don't understand any Mandarin Chinese at all - there's the visual arts.
The only difference is that I feel like the education factor would not fully apply here. I know that I could learn Chinese if I devoted enough time to it. But for some reason, I don't feel like I could ever foster a true appreciation for certain forms of art. It's just not the way I see the world.
Posted by steve at August 6, 2004 09:45 AM