Art is a conversation. It is an exchange of ideas that begins with the creator. Pen is put to paper, brush to canvas, and camera to eye as the artist explores something. Expressing thoughts, ideas, fears and hopes, and then a creative exchange begins. Once the artist is ready to release the work, they may file it away, never to be seen again, or they may send it out to the world to begin new conversations with new people. One might think interpreting this artistic discussion is difficult, but people do it every day with little thought. How much richer could the conversation be if we paid more attention to this process? If we took a closer look? If we gave it a little more thought. Art critics organize the process into observing, describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating.
OBSERVATION
Observation is a deceivingly simple act, but in an age where people are bombarded with visual information, little time is spent doing so. Endless scrolling means we move on to our next fix in less than a second. Many of the creations we scroll past took a great deal of time to bring to life. Do they not deserve more than a second of our time? What would happen if instead of scrolling, we land on an image and spend some time with it? One minute? One hour? One day? What would we notice? What would we have missed if we only gave it that typical second? The first challenge of analyzing art is spending time with it. We’ve been programmed to get bored if we aren’t rapidly consuming but grab a notebook and stop on an artwork. Jot down what you see, feel and think about the work. Note any questions you might have. Once you have done this, you can begin contributing to the conversation.
DESCRIPTION
Once you have spent time with the work, you can begin describing what you see. The description helps us start the analysis process. Utilizing a guide such as Joshua Field’s An Illustrated Field Guide to the Elements & Principles of Design, you can describe the use of elements like line, colour, and form in addition to principles like balance, rhythm, and movement. Consider what the subject is. Is the work an abstraction or a representation? Are there dominant elements? Does the piece evoke a mood or a reaction? Remember you are only describing what you see. This description provides the cues we need to begin the next stage, analysis.
The image above is a landscape image in black and white of waves rolling in. It appears to be a moody day and is high contrast. There is a sense of turbulent movement due to the frothy white nature of the wave in the foreground which is in sharpest focus and is likely the main subject. In the background, a mass of land rises out of the water but is out of focus. There are many horizontal lines created by varying lights and darks but there are also many curved lines in the foreground wave.
ANALYSIS
During the analysis stage, you examine the artwork structurally. Essentially, you are looking at all the elements that make up the work and deciphering how they impact what is presented. If you did your homework well in the description stage, you will have much to work with in this stage. Exploring the structure of the work entails deciphering how things like the types of lines or colour palettes used contribute to the energy or mood of the artwork. Do the lines create flow? Or do they ramp up the energy of the piece? Does the colour palette inspire sadness? Happiness? Calm? Did the artist use symbols? If so, what do they typically mean? These aspects are the more obvious things you see in an artwork and they are assessed objectively. In the next stage, interpretation, you get to take a more subjective approach.
Balance is achieved in this image by alternating lights and darks which also creates a reptition. The turbulence of the foreground wave is also balanced by the steady and strong landmass in the background. This also creates a sense of movement from calm to energetic and the frozen nature of the waves lends the sense of movement frozen in time. The alternating calm between waves creates a rhythm. The foreground wave takes up nearly half of the image and so is given the most importance in the image and utilizes the Rule of Thirds composition. The choice of high contrast monochrome builds a sense of drama. Earth, in this case the landmass, is symbolically linked to steadiness, foundation, and strength. Water, in this case the ocean waves, is symbolically linked with flow and emotions.
INTERPRETATION
When interpreting an artwork, we approach things more contextually. Consider when the artwork was created. What was the political and cultural landscape like at that time? What things were being invented? What was life like for people? Did the artist have any struggles or challenges they had to face? What types of entertainment were enjoyed? What were the prejudices of the time? How might these things have influenced the artwork? What do you think the artist was trying to express? What in the artwork leads you to that conclusion? During this stage, you explore your thoughts and feelings about the work but remember to support them with evidence from the work.
This photograph was created recently but bears a sense of timelessness. Nothing in the frame speaks to the context of today's political or pop culture climate but the world today focuses a great deal on the preservation of the environment. The artist may have been showcasing the beauty in the turbulence of the wave suggesting that even roughness has value. Possibly even the environmental climate of the day is full of energy. The inclusion of the landmass might suggest that an anchor is necessary when experiencing turbulent times though its importance is often downplayed and underappreciated. If considered from an emotional perspective, this suggests that we all need a rock to support us when feeling strong or wild emotions.
EVALUATION
Evaluation is the final stage of the process. This is where you take all the information you have gathered about the artwork and make some decisions about it. Discuss the criteria you think are critical to successful artwork and determine if the artwork is successful by that standard. Do you like it? Why or why not? Is the work effective? Did the artist succeed in expressing their idea? Balance your thoughts with facts about the artwork. What questions or discussions do you think the artwork raises, if any? Don’t forget to consider what you may have learned about yourself during this analysis. Some of the most valuable lessons are those in which we discover something about ourselves.
From a technical perspective, I believe this image is successful. It has a clear focus, includes many elements and principles of art such as line, texture, rhythm and movement. The image holds your interest. I do like it (though I may be biased since I created it) because it bold and dramatic and carries so much energy. Questions that arise for me are why did this wave capture the artist's attention? Is this about life? Emotions? Politics? In all cases, I believe the artist might believe that turbulence is needed for progress to happen (again, I'm guessing my own mind here but you get the idea). There could have been a choice to push in tighter to the wave or pull back and show the vaster oceanscape, what does this slice suggest? What did I learn about myself? I enjoy turbulence!
If you are an artist, consider what you may take away from this when approaching your next conversation (aka artwork). I challenge you to spend time with a single image this week and go through these steps. This is a simplified summation of the critical analysis process, but I hope it helps you look at art more critically. Often these steps are not quite so distinct but are naturally intertwined.
Happy analyzing!