Author Archives: Yara Gouda

Ways of seeing blog post #2

According to John Berger in his essay “Ways of Seeing” the way that a painting is viewed by some may already be distorted prior to analyzing it because we are not viewing the original piece. Seeing comes before words. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. The information that comes from the silence of a painting is only truly experienced when looking at the original work rather than a reproduction of it. The original work speaks to you in a way that a reproduction is not able to. Berger says this clearly when he states: Original paintings are silent and still in a sense that information never is. Even a reproduction hung on a wall is not comparable in this respect for in the original the silence and stillness permeate the actual material, the paint, in which one follows the traces of the painter’s immediate gestures. An example of a painting that the camera and the possibility of recreating and copying the image made very popular is Van Gogh’s starry night. It is debatably one of the world’s most widely-known painting even though only a select people have been to the museum of New York to see the original. This painting has become so popular that people try to recreate it, add their own touches to it, and even do things like design clothes with the painting on it. In this case, the camera and remediation of the painting, made the painting extremely popular, as well as the original. The original piece because it’s widely known, loses some of that mysteriousness that Berger talked about, but the market value of the painting is so high because it’s very popular.

Ways of seeing Episode 1

Question 1:

  • Berger suggests that what we see ‘depends on habit and convention’ and is not, as we might think, simply natural or objective. He explains that if we look now at a 19th century painting, we see it as it has never been seen before we bring to our viewing of it, our personal life experiences and the context in which it is viewed. Our understanding of what we’re seeing doesn’t always goes with what we’re seeing in front of us. We can attempt to capture what we see, reproducing or recreating it for others so that we can try to understand how to perceive the world. To do so is to create an image. “ An Image is a sight in which has been recreated or reproduced”. In this quote, we seen what John Berger is talking about “ A way of seeing”. It’s a brief copy of how the creator saw the world. Images can preserve things as they once were and preserve how their creator once saw their subject. What really makes images extremely powerful is its value or how much it costs.

Question 2:

  • ‘The invention of the camera changed not only what we see but how we see it. It has even changed how we see the paintings of the past’. Berger explains that an original painting can only be seen in one place at a time, and often, paintings were created for display in a specific building. The camera means that we can now see a painting anywhere, in any size and it can be reproduced for any purpose. When we look at an image on our computer screens, say of a painting, we see it with reference to its new environment: we see it in our room, surrounded by our things, and it is placed in the context of our lives. The original painting, however, still exists and can be viewed in a different context. This context informs our viewing of the painting, just as its new position on our computer screen does. We understand an image or painting presented in a gallery as an original and as worthy of serious attention, simply because it is there. Berger says that such an image ‘is beautiful for that alone’. He says that the beauty of such a painting is dependent upon it being a genuine original. Its value as an original is a ‘substitute for what the painting lost when the camera made it reproducible’. In the context of a gallery, we see the painting as still and silent, which is impossible on a computer screen. Berger says that the ‘stillness and silence’ of a physical painting can be ‘very striking’. The video at this point is muted to try to copy the feeling of stillness and silence of an original painting. I was surprised to become consciously aware of just how much noise is generated by my computer, and how much movement could be seen on my screen in the flickering and tiny movements of light as I watched. To appreciate the stillness, Berger says, one has to view the original since even the turning of pages in a book creates movement.

Question 3:

  • The reproduction of works of art changes their meaning. ‘The camera has multiplied possible meanings and destroyed the unique original meaning’. Berger explains that, with reproduction, meaning can be changed and a painting can be used by anyone to convey many different meanings. Often, reproductions are cropped, edited, or shown out of context allowing them to be mobilized in the service of an argument unrelated to their original meaning.  

How art can help you analyze discussion question

“How art can help you analyze” by Amy E. Herman talks about how doctors, nurses and lawyers could improve their visual activity and communication skills. Studying of art helps investigate what workers want because it aids them to notice the small details they want, which would help a doctor in treating an injury or a police officer in investigating a crime scene. Each time you look at a portrait or an art, your brain tries to work to make a sense of the visual information it’s receiving. When looking at Rene Magritte’s Time Transfixed, we’ll find out a train whose origin and destination are unknown is origining from a fireplace and a smoke from the locomotive appears to flow through the chimney. But where is the fire? Where is this train heading to? Why no train tracks? What happened to the candles? There would be numerous questions but no answers. The more time you spend analyzing a piece of art, the more you are able to stimulate both unconscious and conscious brain functions. Doing so can increase your analytical and problem-solving skills in everyday life. A doctor would be better studying the symptoms of his patients. A police officer has the ability to investigate the crime scene quicker and notice the small details he wants which would make him successful in his job. Workers would be able to solve problems from new and different perspectives as art aid us in investigating and this would be the best skill that anyone can have.

How art Can help you analyze blog post

The three categories of Intellectual Standard that is shown in this video are depth, logic and accuracy. It showed in detail how art can help in everything. It can conjure strong emotions and deep thoughts, or simply dazzle us with its visual brilliance. Everyone’s reaction to art may be different, but its ability to impact us is unquestioned. Depth can mean the distance between the closest and farthest objects in a photo that appears acceptably sharp. What’s more, it can mean depth in thinking. Whenever you look at an art or a portrait you have to spend some time analyzing this piece of art as you are able to stimulate both unconscious and conscious brain functions. We’re able to recognize depth in this video as you look at Rene Magritte’s “Time Transfixed” you find out that there is a train whose origin and destination aren’t recognized which is emerging from the fireplace and the smoke from the locomotive appears to flow up the chimney. Where is the fire? What happened to the candles? Understanding how to look at art lets you make the most out of the experience by keeping your brain active and involved. This can be done by thinking about the piece, what it represents and what it says about the artist. The second thing we can figure out is logic. Each time you look at a piece of art, your brain is working to make sense of the visual information it’s receiving. From highly lifelike portraits to abstract collections of rectangles, looking at art stimulates the brain and puts our innate knack for organizing patterns and making sense of shapes to use. Lastly, accuracy is the last factor we’ll find in this video. It’s accurate that art can affect the human brain. Viewing, analyzing, and creating art stimulates the brain in substantial and long-lasting ways. Each time you look at a piece of art, your brain is working to make sense of the visual information it’s receiving. From highly lifelike portraits to abstract collections of rectangles, looking at art stimulates the brain and puts our innate knack for organizing patterns and making sense of shapes to use. Beyond the brain’s skill at making sense of what we’re seeing, the brain actually goes through changes when we look at a beautiful art piece.