How To Look At Art

“Doesn’t match my rug.”

So how does one view art? Not just look, but truly see art -how do we maximize our experiencing of art? 

Like many things in life, the secret sauce is getting out of our own way. It's about getting radical. 

Acceptance is radical. Acceptance of what is - as it is - is radical. 

It's about setting aside all of our predetermined likes, dislikes, opinions, and tightly held beliefs we bring to our experiences and instead - accept.  

“Like a broken vacuum cleaner - no attachments.”

In Zen Buddhism, this is known as Beginners Mind or Shoshin. It means to have an attitude of openness, curiosity, and releasing of preconceptions when experiencing something new - regardless of ones level of expertise. For more on Beginners Mind, check out Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.

So how does Beginners Mind apply to the experience of viewing art? 

You probably have a favorite color, maybe a color you dislike - and wouldn't you know it - that damn painting you're looking at has that shade of yellow you detest. Can’t stand it. “Damn you, Van Gogh! Day ruined!” 

A man who knows what he likes… seriously.

Or maybe not. Because if you set that attachment to the assertion that you don't like yellow aside for a moment, there may be something in the work as a whole that you can fall in love with. 

This brings us to salad dressing. Anyone who knows me well knows I hate Ranch Dressing. I detest it. It's a wretched, disgusting, vile substance. Tie me to a chair and threaten to dunk my head in Ranch Dressing. I will give you the nuclear codes and whatever else you want to know. 

But still - I've tried Ranch dressing more than once. (gag!) 

Vile substance!

So setting aside ones' preferences or passionate likes and dislikes doesn't mean you don't get to have them. Just don't let that preference get in the way of what could turn out to be an otherwise perfectly good time. 

When I was researching different ways to approach the viewing of art - the recommended methods by the experts often prescribe an almost purely cerebral approach. 

When encountering a work for the first time, they encourage the viewer to begin immediately dissecting the work - trying to discern the medium used, begin divining the artist's intent, seek hidden meanings and attempt to determine how the artist seeks to lead the viewer's eye. 

I think that is all well and fine. But it's an approach that places the experience of viewing art squarely in the head instead of in the heart where - I believe - it belongs. 

Because in the end, the power in experiencing any work of art is about how it makes us feel. 

Love it? Hate it? Indifferent to it? There's no wrong answer here. But the power to invoke that feeling is a hell of a lot more interesting than our ephemeral and often shifting preferences. 

Once we’ve reached some level of understanding about our emotional response to a work of art then all that other stuff; medium, the artist's message, the meaning, and the artist's mastery can be considered, and our personal preferences can come to the forefront.

Try it. Beginners Mind. (but please; hold the Ranch dressing!)

Till next week...