Discussion Question #1

“The Power to Look” by the Art Institute of Chicago explains the importance of details in artworks that shape our interpretations and how we perceive art.  This video seeks out to answer how the ways we look at a work shape our experiences and interpretations. Many important factors such as the framing of the image or the scale at which it is captured can affect our interpretations. In Gustave Caillebotte’s “Paris Street; Rainy Day”, Scaling is used to precisely depict the difference in social classes during modern reformed France in the 1800s. Similarly, in Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #92′, director camera shots are utilized to allow the viewer to perceive the subject through an angle the artist deliberately chose. By using this technique, Sherman can invoke the feeling of helpless of the subject unto the viewer, though it’s a high angled camera shot. Therefore, the techniques artists use directly shape how we interpret and perceive artwork.