Some artists think that you interfere with the viewers' art experience when you name a painting, or when you explain it to them. I respect their point of view and I do think it is true but not automatically a bad thing. I've chosen to do the opposite and now I am going to explain why.
You only get a veeeeery short time to catch a viewer's interest. When I see people watching my paintings the normal viewer doesn't stay for too long. Not even if it is a very conceptual work which requires a little bit more time to analyze and reflect upon. People tire easily and if you want them to appreciate your art work you might have to give them a little more. When you give a painting a title, the viewer can watch the painting first and make their own interpretation, and then they can look at the title afterwards. The title can be like a little clue to what the artist's original message was about.
My own experience is that when watching art, sometimes I get an "aha"-moment when I see the title or when I read a little about the artist. I don't feel like I've been stolen of my art experience; knowing a little more about the work and the creator adds more dimensions to the art piece in my opinion.
I am going to give you a couple of examples of this:
*Watching a landscape painting, I can appreciate the nature, the brush strokes, the colors etc, but sooner or later I want to know where to find this place! This little piece of information enhances the experience of landscape painting for me.
*Watching a toilet at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm isn't at all as interesting as if you know that it is a replica of an art form by Duchamp called "ready-mades". All of a sudden you might think that the toilet idea was a genius move which helped to push the boundaries of what people considered art (or not) in the beginning of the last century.
With all this being said, I don't want the viewer to feel stupid if their interpretation doesn't correspond to my original idea. It is just lovely if the painting can trigger more than one association and if the viewer can find their own special meaning by looking at it. But for those who want to know more about the story behind it, I want to be able to offer that too!
You only get a veeeeery short time to catch a viewer's interest. When I see people watching my paintings the normal viewer doesn't stay for too long. Not even if it is a very conceptual work which requires a little bit more time to analyze and reflect upon. People tire easily and if you want them to appreciate your art work you might have to give them a little more. When you give a painting a title, the viewer can watch the painting first and make their own interpretation, and then they can look at the title afterwards. The title can be like a little clue to what the artist's original message was about.
My own experience is that when watching art, sometimes I get an "aha"-moment when I see the title or when I read a little about the artist. I don't feel like I've been stolen of my art experience; knowing a little more about the work and the creator adds more dimensions to the art piece in my opinion.
I am going to give you a couple of examples of this:
*Watching a landscape painting, I can appreciate the nature, the brush strokes, the colors etc, but sooner or later I want to know where to find this place! This little piece of information enhances the experience of landscape painting for me.
*Watching a toilet at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm isn't at all as interesting as if you know that it is a replica of an art form by Duchamp called "ready-mades". All of a sudden you might think that the toilet idea was a genius move which helped to push the boundaries of what people considered art (or not) in the beginning of the last century.
With all this being said, I don't want the viewer to feel stupid if their interpretation doesn't correspond to my original idea. It is just lovely if the painting can trigger more than one association and if the viewer can find their own special meaning by looking at it. But for those who want to know more about the story behind it, I want to be able to offer that too!
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