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Many people new to the enjoyment of art feel challenged by
abstract art and express a dislike for it claiming they "don't understand
it". They are used to realistic and figurative art, art that has a
narrative quality, art that has an illustrative quality, art that tells them
directly and without any guessing what its subject matter is.
 Abstract
art, on the other hand, is not so straight forward, and it doesn't care to
be. Abstract art is "representational" rather than "illustrative".
Abstract art is a reflection of the spiritual realities
behind what we experience in the world; the abstract artist's purpose is to
elicit some kind of emotional response from the viewer by the harmonious
(and sometimes, not so harmonious) arrangement of color and shape.
Abstract art is Plato's "forms" brought to the here and
now, but rather than shadows of reality being reflected on a cave wall, it
is a shadow of reality reflected on a canvas.
 You
could think of realistic art as being to art what the song is to the world
of music. The song has words and a familiar form of verse, chorus, and
coda. You know what it's about and what to expect, much like a
realistic landscape, or portrait, or figurative artwork. Abstract art
on the other hand is to art what the symphony is to the world of music.
The symphony has no words, but rather gathers its force and power from it
harmonious bringing together of sounds from a multitude of instruments.
It's form and course are much less predictable. If you let yourself
listen to the music of the
symphony with your imagination rather than just your ears, you find that the
music conjures up all kinds of images in your mind's eye. Just as we
need to learn to sit back and let the music of the symphony wash over us and
evoke in us an emotional response, so too with abstract art. You don't
need to understand or interpret it; you need to learn to let it work its
magic on you and your imagination, to let its arrangement of color and form
wash over you, to feel it.
We have to learn how to respond to abstract art with our
emotions, and we get the most from it when we learn to "let go" and let the
power of its color and shape move us.
(c) John Corney 2005 |
