Reading Art is about how art acquires meaning through interpretation, or “reading.” On some level everything is about reading. Even random stuff won’t mean much until you get a fix on what it is; you have to “read” it, what it looks, sounds, smells or feels like. You have to put it into context so it makes sense on some level.
Art has its own language, though nobody could recite its alphabet for you. Art’s language isn’t literal, but metaphorical, social and behavioral. Of course there is a kind of language to shapes and colours, in a gestalt sort of way, but I’m trying to get at something else here.
We know what’s what with a particular artwork because of how it relates to larger sets of non-art, non-visual information, like who made it, where we saw it, who bought it and where it finally came to rest. These things don’t determine the ultimate value of a work of art of course, but they are without doubt part of how we come to understand the work, and value it.
This blog is about art, the arts, culture, their economies and things related to that, like organizations, the education system, book publishing and the media. Generally, it’s about a kind of literacy, cultural literacy, with which we are better able to evaluate and make choices about the world we live in.
Author
“Reading Art is written and managed by Robert Labossiere. I have been an artist, arts administrator, researcher and advocate for over 30 years. I’m naturally curious, analytic and inclined to see things in terms of systems and organization. My favorite quote is something Robert Filiou said: “Art is that which makes life more interesting than art.”
Robert Labossiere hails originally from the centre of the North American continent: Winnipeg, Manitoba. He holds a Masters of Fine Art degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School.
