I just realized all The Art Assignment videos I've watched snuck into my brain, after watching this video. Story Time: I took my 14 year-old niece to our local Fine Arts Center this summer, on one of their free admission days. I'd always wanted to check it out, and it was a "I'm soooo bored" summer thing for my niece to do. :) I was always intimidated of art museums. And it was exactly this kinda stuff - feeling like I needed to have a degree in Art History to "understand" what I was looking at. But, my niece doesn't have all that. She said "Ooo, it's like Ocean's 8 in here!", lol. And I was at least chill enough to look around at the lights and cameras and sensors and say "OMG, you're right!". Part of that chill was her natural effervescent personality and way of looking at things, and part of it was not feeling like I needed an Art Appreciation Card to be admitted. Only I didn't realize that it was these videos that gave me that feeling, until today. :) We had So. Much. FUN. There was a sculpture on the wall, and we started telling each other what we saw in all the various shapes. We ended up constructing a whole story about the boat and the person and the animals and the etc that we saw. We turned our heads this way and that, trying to find things to add to our story. It's one of the best memories I have with her. I will never forget that sculpture. You all snuck in there, with the "Art is what you experience, not what you think the artist is telling you to experience" thing. Like, it wasn't only ok to talk about what we saw and experienced - it's the whole point. And because I wasn't worried anymore about "seeing it right", I didn't start pressuring her to "see it right". We just got to enjoy, or not enjoy, or laugh, or shrug our shoulders with "Meh" and move on. Thank you so much Sarah, and the whole team! You gave us a wonderful experience. I now think everyone should take the kids in their life to art museums and galleries, so they can teach you how to experience them. And watch all The Art Assignment videos so you can have the chill to experience them like they do.
@@theartassignment You're welcome, and thanks for pinning it! You all are doing wonderful work here, and I can't thank you enough for what you've been teaching all of us.
This! I am the kid in (almost) this story. My parents always brought me to museums. Some were boring, some were fun but I didn't have a choice since they just wanted to go so we (me and my sister) were also going. As a kid I especially found modern art enjoyable since you could guess and imagine what it could be, we would do this a lot just like you described. My dad would often explain stuff but not in a boring way, just when I was curious. The rest of the time I just spend wandering around and seeing weird faces in abstract paintings. Great memories.
Your story made me easier to understand the arts than any article I have read before. "I was always intimidated of art museums" is me until now. Like it.
"They won't think you understand [thing] because they'll be too busy disliking you" is so spot on. You have to assume the other person doesn't already know what you're going off about and nobody appreciates that presumption, regardless if it's true.
You're right, but it's just so ___ difficult and tedious to bring people "up to speed" on content that's readily available to them elsewhere (like this video on UA-cam), particularly if they've been pursuing dopamine, adrenaline, or oxytocin without much effort to understand their own behaviors, motivations, and contexts. It's work to inspire and educate, can be seriously demoralizing to do for not-a-living-wage or free, and utterly confounding when your "students" are substantially higher up on most socio-economic scales. Do forgive the impatience of a single mom.
One time I took a photo of *my own work* hanging in a gallery at an opening, and it wasn’t until I looked at the photograph that I realised I’d made a blatantly obvious technical “mistake” in the image. I’d spent weeks making that etching plate, printed it about 50 times while editioning and hadn’t picked up on the error. Now I photograph everything I make as soon as I’ve made it and never underestimate the power of looking at something through the filter of a screen.
An artist I recently interviewed recently shared that photographing her work and studying the photos is an integral part of her practice. You're in good company :).
That's a fascinating point. It's the same when you're a writer - you never see all your mistakes until you've printed your manuscript out - or when you eventually encounter your own flawed words in a printed book. That's when your conception becomes "real"!
It's likely the same principle as flipping the canvas in digital art. Being able to see a piece through a different lens (in this case, literally) can help spot mistakes you've gone attention-blind to.
I've never actually commented on a UA-cam video before, and probably won't again, but you just deserve to know how great this video is. It's a genius concept and perfectly executed. Required viewing for any aspiring human. Thanks for doing what you're doing, and doing it so well!
This video made me realise some things about myself and perhaps the nature of the thing that's called 'privilege'. I know very very little about art, but I enjoy visiting galleries. It never occurred to me to feel any anxiety about it, and I think that's partly because I've been going to galleries and museums since I was a kid, and partly because I've spent my whole life as a person who society as a whole values/respects/is 'set up for'. Like, of course I belong in this art gallery, why wouldn't I? Maybe I get something out of a piece, maybe I don't, and if I don't that doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. Maybe it's not good art, but more likely it's just saying something I'm not ready to hear right now, or I'm not the target audience, or I just don't know the context that I'd need, and that's all ok. I can have thoughts about the art, and those thoughts are worth something, at least to me. I wish everyone could feel that kind of confidence and comfort in a gallery. I feel like a big part of what this video is saying, without saying it in these terms, is something like "If you want to experience some art, you are the right kind of person to be experiencing art. If you value art, then you are one of the people that art is made for. If you enjoy art, then you deserve to have that enjoyment. If you feel like walking into an art gallery, then you belong in that gallery. You belong in the gallery, and don't let anyone make you feel like you don't"
Robert Miles I couldn’t have phrased that better! I also just realised I had this kind of privilege you were describing... I hope art (particularly in institutional spaces) will become more accessible to other people in the near future!
This. Everything about this. I just wrote a whole story comment below, about the anxiety I have had about art museums and galleries. It was very much that "Something must be wrong with me if I don't understand this". Art speak feels like a foreign language, and galleries felt like walking into a new country without a passport. But Sarah's videos have helped break down the walls of that anxiety, and as a result, I got to have a wonderful experience with my niece at our local art museum. I hope you don't mind, but I've copied and pasted your comment from "If you want to experience some art..." to print out for myself. It's the whole kit-and-kaboodle.
Thank you, Robert Miles. I live in a rural area and do not have the opportunity to visit art galleries and museums as much as I would like; so my horizon is perhaps a bit limited. And to what you said I would like to add that- if you are in an art gallery with people who go all snooty and oh-so-superior on you because this is not your cup of tea or maybe this is new to you or... well, those are not the kind of people one wants to be with anyway. I have fond memories of a gentleman who explained a few things to me at a musical event when I was in my early twenties and just went to that concert for "naive enjoyment", one might say. 😊
One teacher gave me once the best advise in my life for visiting an art gallery, obvious as it may sound: just enter the space, look for what attracts you, what takes your attention, and leave the rest behind. There is an insistency on people to try to look at each and every piece with equal attention, like you must learn, understand, memorise and be moved by each one of them, but that's a total lie, specially on large exhibitions. Art must first be about connection, enter the space, look for what arouses you, what moves your curiosity, what attracts your attention right away, and follow that path. For this teacher it was more valuable to leave an art exhibition with two or three pieces stuck in your mind, which truly moved you in a meaningful way, than leaving the exhibition exhausted and trying to remember everything you saw.
*"maybe even look at it through a camera if your internet-addled brain can't handle such sustained attention"* the level of passive aggressiveness is what I strive in life tbh
@@seandouglass9824 - i wonder if instead of thinking of this comment as a dis, instead, wonder if the web has, in fact, changed our very DNA as this tech has undoubtedly changed our brains and there is some fallout. I don't blame the coal miner for getting blk lung. I don't blame a generation for their prolonged exposure to the web or car exhaust...etc... but it has changed us and not all for the better. Just a thought as i type on the web -- lol
I was a little disinclined to click on the video because of the title, because "sounding like you" understand art is so unessential to understanding it, and it's honestly pretty classist to think you need a certain vocabulary or composure or something as prerequisite to understanding art. So at 12:21 it was good to hear so blatantly that this video was about feeling more confident and equipping you with tools you have to actually understand and experience art instead. I should never have doubted you, Art Assignment haha.
Me entering Gallery "I'm still processing." Strolling through said gallery- "I'm still processing." Leaving the gallery- "I'm still processing." At restaurant looking at menu- "I'm still processing." Waking up at 3 am with existential fear and dread "I'm still processing." Thanks Sarah! My new life narrative condensed into 3 words! ( Karen from H.R. .....so do you understand what I'm saying in regards to blah blah blah.... Me : "I'm still processing.")
"I'm still processing" either simply sounds like a slow computer given a comparatively big computational task, or it sounds like not voicing an opinion being a more palatable response than an actual opinion. Perhaps I am still just processing, but at this point, I am happy to call it my opinion. If however art is not suppose to carry a specific meaning, and the viewer should decide the meaning but rather not voice it's interpretation, why even bother to go to a gallery or view art at all, unless of course going there and viewing it is an egocentric activity. If twe were to rank all the opinions about and meanngf of / carried by an artwork, should the opinion, intent of the artist and instilled meaning by the artist not trump the viewers? Without intended meaning, we don't have much, if anything at all.
This video is clickbait. It claims that it teaches you how to pretend to understand art, but it actually teaches you how to understand art. What a disappointment... Jk, amazing video as always! :)
The best art assignment I've ever watched. It talks about the common problem modern people (especially who study art for too long and had already feeling numd) have while it comes to art. It helps me to open my senses again. Brilliant.
"does a kind of anxiety wash over you?" me at all times tbh lol I love this video and I also love to wander around on my own, even if I'm at museums with other people, which is one of my favorite ways to hang out with friends. Thanks for the tips and for making me smarter (and like, actually smarter, not just sounding smart) as usual.
I'm a big fan of the no snap judgments rule. It applies to anything in life. The more information gathered or time spent thinking before drawing conclusions, the better they'll be. They say that in job interviews the interviewers decide whether they like you in the first 10 seconds. That's not a lesson for you to look great in the first 10 seconds. It's a lesson for them not to waste their time by basically ignoring the entire conversation.
My favourite activity is to chose 1 art work in each room I visit to look at, it helps when I have not much time for the visit or for the bigger museums. Also in bigger museums it is tricky when they put all the masters in one room, or you enter a room with all the best art works by one of your favourites. It is also very fun when you realise you actually have a taste or a type. It's not a competition, just a fun game. Sometimes I'll go for the smaller painting or the one in the middle of the room. Every visit can vary depending on what you chose to observe.
I went to the met, a lady came in looked at a painting said : that people are really ugly and left Don't do that 🤦🏾♀️ It was a simple portrait of a group of really normal looking people
Your end comment about "did I just..." was surprising and helpful. I like art, but am one of those following this channel who would say I'm almost art illiterate. Thanks for boosting me up.
"just enjoy having thoughts and keeping them to yourself" is my favourite activity since I joined social media. There are to many voices out there, why should I scream into the void of the internet too. Loved the video!
when approaching a work of art (notably paintings and sculptures) and like to keep two concepts in mind: intention and meaning. i believe that every piece is created from an intention of the artist (and if there is no apparent intention, that’s also an intention), whatever it might be, and from pondering that intention, you grasp the meaning of the piece. the nice thing about art is that, being a matter of sensibility and subjectivity, its possibilities are endless, so there always will be many different interpretations for a single piece. these are just a few of my thoughts on the subject, since i’m a philosophy major and i’ve been researching aesthetics this year, i have numerous considerations :)
As a person who has been working in the art world for years, this video makes my life easier in SO MANY ways. Instead of spending two hours explaining abstract expressionism and Duchamp to people who are only interested in proving art is a scam, I can maybe just send them this link and maybe even finish my meals in peace. THANKS FOR BETTERING MY LIFE! Love you Art Assignment!
Don't undersell yourself Sarah. This is an excellent lesson on how to be an intellectually engaged and socially aware person. What a great episode! This video should be taught in the first year of highschool.
When I get asked "what does it mean" about my sculptures, I think, "If i wanted to have a meaning that could be expressed in words I would have been a writer"
You know, I have always had that question. Clearly sculptures and paintings do not contain meaning that can be described in words. So, Are you trying to transmit something? Why do you sculpt? Are we supposed to create the message? If the sculpture gives me no meaning, Is it okay to say that it is empty? I would sincerely thank you if you could answer. I have never understood how am I supposed to approach paintings or sculptures because I don't get any message or symbolism intrinsec to the art (I mean, if a booklet tells the meaning or describes it, for me that meaning is not in the sculpture but in the text)
One of the best gallery experiences I ever had was on a two week art history field trip to Paris in my third year as an art history major from Sydney, Australia. I was standing in front of a painting in the Pompidou Centre when one of my fellow students pulled up beside me, paused and said really loudly, “huh... interesting... it’s nice... but I don’t really get it.” I’m still convinced that it’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen someone do in a gallery space 😂 sometimes you don’t understand it and that’s okay!
I enjoy saying things like “this really sucks” or “what a joke” or my favorite, “I could buy some thing just as good at Walmart” just loud enough to be heard by someone, and then watch or listen for reactions. It’s kind of my own “performance art” and very liberating.
One of my most memorable experiences in an art gallery was a haunting painting of a small boat sitting on a shore with a lighthouse in the distance. I went there many times to look at the piece & eventually purchased it. After years of staring at the piece wondering why it haunted me so, I finally realized that the small boat was a life boat. Moreover, although the scene was at night, no light was emitted from the lighthouse. The final touch was a dark red streak on the boat with several similar streaks on the ground leading away from the boat. I saw the story that the painting told. (At least to me.)
Former art student here fucking ROLLING this is amazing bless you. Perhaps it's projection, but I sense from you that at some point you may have experienced that cynical existential disappointment with the way art is approached by and engaged with that I experienced... That comes from the glorification of no context takes, ahistorical approaches, isolationist cutthroat thinking... I love how your channel interconnects the information you have now and the experience of a modern viewer to the history that roots that experience. I've learned more about artists and works from this channel than I did in class with folks more concerned about... Well... Salesmanship than exploration.. Idk. Whatever it is about your channel that is doing it, it makes me love and feel excited about art in a way that going to school for it not only didn't, but actively squished in my heart...not gone... Just askew and bruised and leaking bitter juice.
No anxiety here... I absolutely love looking at other people’s art. We all stand on shoulder’s of giants, inspiration, for me, is a given! With the whole COVID thing I miss museums even more 😥
I've been lucky to go to art museums my whole life (thanks parents!) and am trying to deepen my understanding of art as an adult (productive procrastination?). I found the list of questions to ask yourself/others about an artwork SO helpful! I am very guilty of not taking time to slowly look at art, instead making snap judgements. Your list of questions made me realize I often even ignore the title of the work! So thank you for encouraging deep looking, inquiry, and being playful when thinking about art.
This video is scolding in the right way. How to enjoy something with a lot of social/cultural weight in a way that is socially acceptable and will keep, not lose friends.
Many moons ago, when I was a student, a small group of us would meet in one of the major London art galleries and talk nonsense about the pictures and the artists, we generally got a small crowd following us, they often thanked us for our tours! We most commonly did this in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We weren't even art students, we were studying geography, science and modern languages.
I liked this but then it got a bit " do's and dont's or you're a horrible person" for me. If you're with your friends you should be able to express yourself as you feel and want to them. It's a journey in itself if you react harshly out loud with your friend and go on the rabbit hole of understanding together. the way you described your "gallery partner" comes across you're with someone you dont know at all or like very much and are just anxiously bobbing next to while looking at art trying to sound mindful when you really are just a ball of uncomfortable. I've had anxiety in an art gallery for not really knowing how to look at a painting or piece but some of these rules gave me MORE anxiety than ever before. There are good points here and ways to appreciate art many folks dont look at and I learned some new stuff myself but jeez after a bit I just felt finger wagged at to anyone who expresses raw feelings to their FRIEND at an ART gallery. In a hilarious attempt at shaming people into being more "likeable" you come off as unlikable and snobby lol
The intimidating part about going into a gallery is usually the stuffy person behind the desk, or worse standing there looking at you like you are going to take the painting and run. They will ask you if you need help and make feel like you do not belong in there. This especially true if you are young and not dressed up. Say that you are enjoying looking at the art, or that something caught your eye in the window, or something banal like that. The person will either warm up to you, or leave you alone.
I enjoy taking photographs in galleries. A common annoyance is that works are often placed right up against a wall, making it impossible to photograph the work while composing an interesting background.
I truly wish that every interest and hobby had a video, aimed at its adherents, on how to not be an asshole. Especially audiophilia, international politics, baseball, and indie rock.
Love the tips for understanding pieces of art a bit better. I think it is a bit humbling to just look at something made from human intent without expectations, I never have the same experience while doing so (even when returning to pieces I know I already love) but that is worth it to me.
I went with my girlfriend to a museum recently and it was a really beautiful experience. The reason being, I know my girlfriend knows I'm smart and doesn't judge my quirkier turns of phrase. I could walk up to something and just say "I like this one. I like the colors," without any pressure to refine my experience of the art into fancier terms. I was allowed to keep my experiences in the jumble of sensory experiences they came in rather than mentally stepping back to pick it apart immediately.
I go to museums all the time because I love art and I love history. I've taken art history and its taught me quite a lot. At the end of the day though I really don't give a flying F what others think of my opinion or if I understand what I'm looking at. If I see a Carravaggio, Vermeer, Sargent, Zubaran or Titian etc that I love, that's what I'm going to say. I'm not trying to impress anyone.
This has been one fo the most useful and fun videos I've watched about art. Basically a 101 but carefully said and explained. This is amazing. Thank you!
There are two types of art; paintings from artists like Matisse, PIcasso, and Van Gogh, (just to name a few) often exemplify a strong sense of aesthetic and the abstract qualities art. Because of this, looking at their work does not require the viewer to project any outside knowledge or ideas onto the image. Other artworks (often called conceptual) fail to communicate in the purely visual language which fine art is, therefore requiring the viewer to project external information onto the work before any understanding can be reached. If I can make a suggestion; do not cram your head with the many confusing ideas which gallerists, critics, and so-called artists may suggest about art, but instead, spend time looking, and trust yourself to do so. This is the tradition which reaches back tens of thousands of years and allows one to connect with humanity in its entirety.
I personally never understood people dismissing art, or feeling uncomfortable viewing it. Unless it’s audience participation in performing arts, it’s quite safe and doesn’t demand anything of you. It’s fine not to know things, and if you want to know, you probably have all the world’s information in the palm of your hand. Just be present in the moment. It’s fine to be a passive audience member, be quiet, simply view. It’s really not that intimidating.
10:22 Reminds me of an Art History class I took in college, where I had a classmate who used a sign language interpreter. The professor always used an absurd amount of ten-dollar words, beyond even the relevant "chiaroscuro"-type jargon. Nobody appeared to be having trouble, but it made me wonder how much more difficult it is to both understand and sign "lugubrious" instead of, like, "very sad."
Thank you so much Sarah. I love all you've taught me in The Art Assignment. This was excellent. I hope you don't run out of ideas for these posts. Please keep em coming 👍♥️🙂 Sarah. This was great
I really wish I would have found this video before visiting the Louvre museum...I may have gotten more out of the experience, all i remember was feeling overwhelmed by all the art
I have enjoyed art museums before (used to go more as a kid) but I don't know much about Art Appreciation. But at a local art museum I went to like a year ago, there was this one landscape that was... like, wow. It was a slow day so I got a lot of time to spend on my own, and that was when I was getting really into art (as in drawing and digital art, not art museum art). I spent so long standing there and staring at it, trying to figure out how I would make the landscape if I had to copy it from scratch--I mean literally 30min to an hour of doing nothing but looking at a painting. I don't know who it was by or anything important about it, but I can still trace some of the lines of the fallen log and the overall composition in my head. A very interesting but very odd experience that I've never had before or since.
altho "maybe even look at it through a camera if your internet-addled brain can't handle such sustained attention" me , adult recently diagnosed w adhd: that's rly cringe dude... yikes.. not a cute look, pbs
This was really helpful! In general, I feel like I have pretty good understanding of art (seeing as I'm an artist who has taken many art classes and absolutely LOVES literature, mythology, and history from anywhere on the planet), but I do have some biases that this video helped me confront. Specifically, I tend to be drawn to older, more aesthetically "Beautiful" art, and get kinda freaked out by more minimalist, abstract, and modern art ( I think part of it is that it often sits deeep in the uncanny or depressing valleys to me, and also isn't very aesthetically appealing to me. Like, Picasso's "The Weeping Woman" hardcore freaks me out, but if that image had been painted in more of, say, an impressionist style, I'd probably eat it right up). Next time I go to an art gallery, I'll make sure to engage more with the stuff I don't like so much. Also, I'm really excited to go to the Portland Art Museum this year, because they often have had really cool Asian art selections in the past years I've been there that I didn't fully understand. I've been diving a bit deeper into East Asian and South Asian literature lately, and a lot of the stuff I've seen in the past is making more sense than it did when I only knew the history. Speaking of which, last year I saw an AMAZING statue of a Japanese god (I think it was Bishamonten, but I can't remember, unfortunately) standing on two demons and holding a spear. The statue was just a couple inches shorter than me (I'd estimate about 4'9" tall). The way that statue looked was amazing; it was so perfect, I could have sword that was a living being in front of me (and it even looked like it moved). It's amazing how simply existing by and studying a piece can make you connect so much more with it!
Man whenever I try and share my thoughts about art with my gallery companion I just get weird stares from other people. I mean I know my companion is my sketchbook and it obviously can't talk back but still, like c'mon folks, staring is rude.
0:58 quick translation, 'cause this one... " A fanciful artist -Here, see how I understand the apotheosis of a martyr... -but I only see your character's two feet. -The head is already in heaven... that's what proves he is a saint!..."
I tend to go to exhibits by myself. Occasionally I will go with friends or family or bump in someone. I usually don't say much about the work unless I am directly ask. When I was younger, I use to talk more then I grew out of it. Being am artist and once years ago a gallery monitor, I have heard many conversations. One time this older women was looking at my Art and lean over to my ex-girlfriend's 7 year old daughter and asked if she did it because she felt that it looked like a child did it. My ex-girlfriend's daughter looked over at me uncomfortably and told her that I painted it. The woman looked embarrassed. I sold the painting since then. People never know who will over hear their critique of an art piece.
I just realized all The Art Assignment videos I've watched snuck into my brain, after watching this video. Story Time:
I took my 14 year-old niece to our local Fine Arts Center this summer, on one of their free admission days. I'd always wanted to check it out, and it was a "I'm soooo bored" summer thing for my niece to do. :)
I was always intimidated of art museums. And it was exactly this kinda stuff - feeling like I needed to have a degree in Art History to "understand" what I was looking at.
But, my niece doesn't have all that. She said "Ooo, it's like Ocean's 8 in here!", lol. And I was at least chill enough to look around at the lights and cameras and sensors and say "OMG, you're right!". Part of that chill was her natural effervescent personality and way of looking at things, and part of it was not feeling like I needed an Art Appreciation Card to be admitted. Only I didn't realize that it was these videos that gave me that feeling, until today. :)
We had So. Much. FUN.
There was a sculpture on the wall, and we started telling each other what we saw in all the various shapes. We ended up constructing a whole story about the boat and the person and the animals and the etc that we saw. We turned our heads this way and that, trying to find things to add to our story.
It's one of the best memories I have with her. I will never forget that sculpture.
You all snuck in there, with the "Art is what you experience, not what you think the artist is telling you to experience" thing. Like, it wasn't only ok to talk about what we saw and experienced - it's the whole point. And because I wasn't worried anymore about "seeing it right", I didn't start pressuring her to "see it right".
We just got to enjoy, or not enjoy, or laugh, or shrug our shoulders with "Meh" and move on.
Thank you so much Sarah, and the whole team! You gave us a wonderful experience. I now think everyone should take the kids in their life to art museums and galleries, so they can teach you how to experience them. And watch all The Art Assignment videos so you can have the chill to experience them like they do.
I love this story. Thanks so much for sharing it with us all here.
@@theartassignment You're welcome, and thanks for pinning it!
You all are doing wonderful work here, and I can't thank you enough for what you've been teaching all of us.
This person gets art. Thanks for sharing this story.
This! I am the kid in (almost) this story. My parents always brought me to museums. Some were boring, some were fun but I didn't have a choice since they just wanted to go so we (me and my sister) were also going. As a kid I especially found modern art enjoyable since you could guess and imagine what it could be, we would do this a lot just like you described. My dad would often explain stuff but not in a boring way, just when I was curious. The rest of the time I just spend wandering around and seeing weird faces in abstract paintings. Great memories.
Your story made me easier to understand the arts than any article I have read before. "I was always intimidated of art museums" is me until now. Like it.
“Sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to look at a painting.” Ad Reinhardt.
Thanks. Love it, will be using it.
I definitely resemble this remark.
Barnett Newman.
@@vonelle I thought it was Frank Stella, but now I'm beginning to suspect nobody has ever said this.
@@liamcawley6570: from Barnett Newman: Selected Writings and Interviews, ed. John P. O'Neill, University of California Press, 1992
Guys they’re tricking us into actually appreciating it
Edward Backman this is just Art Appreciation 101 but really passive-aggressive
"They won't think you understand [thing] because they'll be too busy disliking you" is so spot on. You have to assume the other person doesn't already know what you're going off about and nobody appreciates that presumption, regardless if it's true.
You're right, but it's just so ___ difficult and tedious to bring people "up to speed" on content that's readily available to them elsewhere (like this video on UA-cam), particularly if they've been pursuing dopamine, adrenaline, or oxytocin without much effort to understand their own behaviors, motivations, and contexts. It's work to inspire and educate, can be seriously demoralizing to do for not-a-living-wage or free, and utterly confounding when your "students" are substantially higher up on most socio-economic scales.
Do forgive the impatience of a single mom.
"just enjoy having thoughts and keeping them to yourself" 😂I love your humour it cracks me up every time.
This video is living proof that we can learn from art two most important things: tolerance and empathy.
Thank you!
One time I took a photo of *my own work* hanging in a gallery at an opening, and it wasn’t until I looked at the photograph that I realised I’d made a blatantly obvious technical “mistake” in the image. I’d spent weeks making that etching plate, printed it about 50 times while editioning and hadn’t picked up on the error. Now I photograph everything I make as soon as I’ve made it and never underestimate the power of looking at something through the filter of a screen.
An artist I recently interviewed recently shared that photographing her work and studying the photos is an integral part of her practice. You're in good company :).
That's a fascinating point. It's the same when you're a writer - you never see all your mistakes until you've printed your manuscript out - or when you eventually encounter your own flawed words in a printed book. That's when your conception becomes "real"!
It's likely the same principle as flipping the canvas in digital art. Being able to see a piece through a different lens (in this case, literally) can help spot mistakes you've gone attention-blind to.
I've never actually commented on a UA-cam video before, and probably won't again, but you just deserve to know how great this video is. It's a genius concept and perfectly executed. Required viewing for any aspiring human.
Thanks for doing what you're doing, and doing it so well!
We very much appreciate your emerging for a moment to share these thoughts!
You should write more often, is amazing, period.
This video made me realise some things about myself and perhaps the nature of the thing that's called 'privilege'.
I know very very little about art, but I enjoy visiting galleries. It never occurred to me to feel any anxiety about it, and I think that's partly because I've been going to galleries and museums since I was a kid, and partly because I've spent my whole life as a person who society as a whole values/respects/is 'set up for'. Like, of course I belong in this art gallery, why wouldn't I? Maybe I get something out of a piece, maybe I don't, and if I don't that doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. Maybe it's not good art, but more likely it's just saying something I'm not ready to hear right now, or I'm not the target audience, or I just don't know the context that I'd need, and that's all ok. I can have thoughts about the art, and those thoughts are worth something, at least to me. I wish everyone could feel that kind of confidence and comfort in a gallery.
I feel like a big part of what this video is saying, without saying it in these terms, is something like "If you want to experience some art, you are the right kind of person to be experiencing art. If you value art, then you are one of the people that art is made for. If you enjoy art, then you deserve to have that enjoyment. If you feel like walking into an art gallery, then you belong in that gallery. You belong in the gallery, and don't let anyone make you feel like you don't"
Robert Miles I couldn’t have phrased that better! I also just realised I had this kind of privilege you were describing... I hope art (particularly in institutional spaces) will become more accessible to other people in the near future!
This. Everything about this.
I just wrote a whole story comment below, about the anxiety I have had about art museums and galleries. It was very much that "Something must be wrong with me if I don't understand this". Art speak feels like a foreign language, and galleries felt like walking into a new country without a passport.
But Sarah's videos have helped break down the walls of that anxiety, and as a result, I got to have a wonderful experience with my niece at our local art museum.
I hope you don't mind, but I've copied and pasted your comment from "If you want to experience some art..." to print out for myself. It's the whole kit-and-kaboodle.
Thank you, Robert Miles. I live in a rural area and do not have the opportunity to visit art galleries and museums as much as I would like; so my horizon is perhaps a bit limited. And to what you said I would like to add that- if you are in an art gallery with people who go all snooty and oh-so-superior on you because this is not your cup of tea or maybe this is new to you or... well, those are not the kind of people one wants to be with anyway. I have fond memories of a gentleman who explained a few things to me at a musical event when I was in my early twenties and just went to that concert for "naive enjoyment", one might say. 😊
a lot of the usual crowd comes for the free booze, so if are really interested you already belong there XD
+5 points for using a key buzzword these days.
One teacher gave me once the best advise in my life for visiting an art gallery, obvious as it may sound: just enter the space, look for what attracts you, what takes your attention, and leave the rest behind. There is an insistency on people to try to look at each and every piece with equal attention, like you must learn, understand, memorise and be moved by each one of them, but that's a total lie, specially on large exhibitions. Art must first be about connection, enter the space, look for what arouses you, what moves your curiosity, what attracts your attention right away, and follow that path. For this teacher it was more valuable to leave an art exhibition with two or three pieces stuck in your mind, which truly moved you in a meaningful way, than leaving the exhibition exhausted and trying to remember everything you saw.
Superb advice.
*"maybe even look at it through a camera if your internet-addled brain can't handle such sustained attention"*
the level of passive aggressiveness is what I strive in life tbh
I'm not sure the subtle message is getting across.... Keep on keeping on!
We stan a shady, yet savage Queen 😏
Ok boomer
@@seandouglass9824 - i wonder if instead of thinking of this comment as a dis, instead, wonder if the web has, in fact, changed our very DNA as this tech has undoubtedly changed our brains and there is some fallout. I don't blame the coal miner for getting blk lung. I don't blame a generation for their prolonged exposure to the web or car exhaust...etc... but it has changed us and not all for the better. Just a thought as i type on the web -- lol
@@roughlyEnforcing one you could have kept for your self. jk jk, interesting point my dude.
I was a little disinclined to click on the video because of the title, because "sounding like you" understand art is so unessential to understanding it, and it's honestly pretty classist to think you need a certain vocabulary or composure or something as prerequisite to understanding art. So at 12:21 it was good to hear so blatantly that this video was about feeling more confident and equipping you with tools you have to actually understand and experience art instead. I should never have doubted you, Art Assignment haha.
In my opinion, a title like 'how to feel confident going to an art exhibition' would do this video more justice.
Came to the comments section to express this exact sentiment 🙌
@@jits8767 Much less likely to get noticed though. All hail the mighty and fickle algorythm.
Well..duh
Me entering Gallery
"I'm still processing."
Strolling through said gallery-
"I'm still processing."
Leaving the gallery-
"I'm still processing."
At restaurant looking at menu-
"I'm still processing."
Waking up at 3 am with existential fear and dread
"I'm still processing."
Thanks Sarah! My new life narrative condensed into 3 words!
( Karen from H.R.
.....so do you understand what I'm saying in regards to blah blah blah....
Me : "I'm still processing.")
seems like you'd benefit from changing your process or upgrading your processor
I say, “I’m still processing” a lot IRL
"I'm still processing" either simply sounds like a slow computer given a comparatively big computational task, or it sounds like not voicing an opinion being a more palatable response than an actual opinion.
Perhaps I am still just processing, but at this point, I am happy to call it my opinion.
If however art is not suppose to carry a specific meaning, and the viewer should decide the meaning but rather not voice it's interpretation, why even bother to go to a gallery or view art at all, unless of course going there and viewing it is an egocentric activity.
If twe were to rank all the opinions about and meanngf of / carried by an artwork, should the opinion, intent of the artist and instilled meaning by the artist not trump the viewers?
Without intended meaning, we don't have much, if anything at all.
"How to be a better human"
Thanks for the guide.
This video is clickbait. It claims that it teaches you how to pretend to understand art, but it actually teaches you how to understand art. What a disappointment...
Jk, amazing video as always! :)
“Even if you are the worlds authority on Chinese video art” I may not know how to talk about art, but I do know what subtweeting sounds like.
could you explain? i haven't read about this!
Amature at Everything haha we ALL know who hahaha
"The single most underrated activity of 2019" 😂😂😂😂
It continues to be in 2020 as well
Every time I visit this channel, it feels like taking a tour in a gallery with the most witty and light-hearted companion. Love it!!
The best art assignment I've ever watched. It talks about the common problem modern people (especially who study art for too long and had already feeling numd) have while it comes to art. It helps me to open my senses again. Brilliant.
"the meaning doesn't live inside the work" WOW !!!!! so good so good so good
"does a kind of anxiety wash over you?" me at all times tbh lol
I love this video and I also love to wander around on my own, even if I'm at museums with other people, which is one of my favorite ways to hang out with friends. Thanks for the tips and for making me smarter (and like, actually smarter, not just sounding smart) as usual.
No one should ever feel uncomfortable in an art gallery! What a painting that would make, conveying that very thing happening.
I'm a big fan of the no snap judgments rule. It applies to anything in life. The more information gathered or time spent thinking before drawing conclusions, the better they'll be. They say that in job interviews the interviewers decide whether they like you in the first 10 seconds. That's not a lesson for you to look great in the first 10 seconds. It's a lesson for them not to waste their time by basically ignoring the entire conversation.
My favourite activity is to chose 1 art work in each room I visit to look at, it helps when I have not much time for the visit or for the bigger museums. Also in bigger museums it is tricky when they put all the masters in one room, or you enter a room with all the best art works by one of your favourites. It is also very fun when you realise you actually have a taste or a type.
It's not a competition, just a fun game. Sometimes I'll go for the smaller painting or the one in the middle of the room. Every visit can vary depending on what you chose to observe.
Ooh I like this. Taught me a few important things about etiquette even as someone who does feel comfy in art spaces.
"The artist does not own the meaning" Wow! That was amazing!
ANOTHER VIDEO I DID NOT THINK TWICE ABOUT BEFORE CLICKING
I clicked on it incidentally with a blank screen while my UA-cam app was still loading up on my phone
Santi Martos then you will.
I went to the met, a lady came in looked at a painting said : that people are really ugly and left
Don't do that 🤦🏾♀️
It was a simple portrait of a group of really normal looking people
That’s not even rude to the art, that’s just rude in general.
Legal rude
Your end comment about "did I just..." was surprising and helpful. I like art, but am one of those following this channel who would say I'm almost art illiterate. Thanks for boosting me up.
Honestly a lot of the stuff about how to talk to others about art in this video is just good general life advice.
"just enjoy having thoughts and keeping them to yourself" is my favourite activity since I joined social media. There are to many voices out there, why should I scream into the void of the internet too. Loved the video!
Fred Flintstone "I don't know what the artist got for painting that but he shoulda got life". Sorry. Great Video. Love your Channel.
lmao..wish I had said that.
No need to apologize. Use of pithy, funny quotes is welcome :)
That was the best clickbait ever. 10/10
What do you mean
when approaching a work of art (notably paintings and sculptures) and like to keep two concepts in mind: intention and meaning. i believe that every piece is created from an intention of the artist (and if there is no apparent intention, that’s also an intention), whatever it might be, and from pondering that intention, you grasp the meaning of the piece. the nice thing about art is that, being a matter of sensibility and subjectivity, its possibilities are endless, so there always will be many different interpretations for a single piece. these are just a few of my thoughts on the subject, since i’m a philosophy major and i’ve been researching aesthetics this year, i have numerous considerations :)
i like how this video overall is sharing how to communicate with people and art is part of us that we all can actually understand
As a person who has been working in the art world for years, this video makes my life easier in SO MANY ways. Instead of spending two hours explaining abstract expressionism and Duchamp to people who are only interested in proving art is a scam, I can maybe just send them this link and maybe even finish my meals in peace. THANKS FOR BETTERING MY LIFE! Love you Art Assignment!
Don't undersell yourself Sarah. This is an excellent lesson on how to be an intellectually engaged and socially aware person. What a great episode! This video should be taught in the first year of highschool.
having thoughts and keeping it to yourself, the most underrated activity also in 2020
When I get asked "what does it mean" about my sculptures, I think, "If i wanted to have a meaning that could be expressed in words I would have been a writer"
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I think I understand my own relationship visual art a little better because of this.
You know, I have always had that question.
Clearly sculptures and paintings do not contain meaning that can be described in words.
So, Are you trying to transmit something?
Why do you sculpt?
Are we supposed to create the message?
If the sculpture gives me no meaning, Is it okay to say that it is empty?
I would sincerely thank you if you could answer. I have never understood how am I supposed to approach paintings or sculptures because I don't get any message or symbolism intrinsec to the art (I mean, if a booklet tells the meaning or describes it, for me that meaning is not in the sculpture but in the text)
One of the best gallery experiences I ever had was on a two week art history field trip to Paris in my third year as an art history major from Sydney, Australia. I was standing in front of a painting in the Pompidou Centre when one of my fellow students pulled up beside me, paused and said really loudly, “huh... interesting... it’s nice... but I don’t really get it.”
I’m still convinced that it’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen someone do in a gallery space 😂 sometimes you don’t understand it and that’s okay!
Ok but I have been obsessing over that shirt this whole video
I enjoy saying things like “this really sucks” or “what a joke” or my favorite, “I could buy some thing just as good at Walmart” just loud enough to be heard by someone, and then watch or listen for reactions. It’s kind of my own “performance art” and very liberating.
One of my most memorable experiences in an art gallery was a haunting painting of a small boat sitting on a shore with a lighthouse in the distance. I went there many times to look at the piece & eventually purchased it.
After years of staring at the piece wondering why it haunted me so, I finally realized that the small boat was a life boat. Moreover, although the scene was at night, no light was emitted from the lighthouse. The final touch was a dark red streak on the boat with several similar streaks on the ground leading away from the boat.
I saw the story that the painting told. (At least to me.)
Former art student here fucking ROLLING this is amazing bless you. Perhaps it's projection, but I sense from you that at some point you may have experienced that cynical existential disappointment with the way art is approached by and engaged with that I experienced... That comes from the glorification of no context takes, ahistorical approaches, isolationist cutthroat thinking... I love how your channel interconnects the information you have now and the experience of a modern viewer to the history that roots that experience. I've learned more about artists and works from this channel than I did in class with folks more concerned about... Well... Salesmanship than exploration..
Idk. Whatever it is about your channel that is doing it, it makes me love and feel excited about art in a way that going to school for it not only didn't, but actively squished in my heart...not gone... Just askew and bruised and leaking bitter juice.
No anxiety here... I absolutely love looking at other people’s art. We all stand on shoulder’s of giants, inspiration, for me, is a given! With the whole COVID thing I miss museums even more 😥
Listened to this while wandering through a local art gallery! This was great!
I went to the MOMA recently, and thanks to this video, I noticed that most of the paintings had no Makeup.
I love this series! The presenter is clear and to the point 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thank you! I love her voice, cadence, and instruction. Great video. Wished I’d discovered this sooner.
I've been lucky to go to art museums my whole life (thanks parents!) and am trying to deepen my understanding of art as an adult (productive procrastination?). I found the list of questions to ask yourself/others about an artwork SO helpful! I am very guilty of not taking time to slowly look at art, instead making snap judgements. Your list of questions made me realize I often even ignore the title of the work! So thank you for encouraging deep looking, inquiry, and being playful when thinking about art.
I appreciate this, and your delivery and humor are art in itself.
This video is scolding in the right way. How to enjoy something with a lot of social/cultural weight in a way that is socially acceptable and will keep, not lose friends.
She's not just an art critic she is a psychologist also, keep up the good work.
Many moons ago, when I was a student, a small group of us would meet in one of the major London art galleries and talk nonsense about the pictures and the artists, we generally got a small crowd following us, they often thanked us for our tours! We most commonly did this in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We weren't even art students, we were studying geography, science and modern languages.
I liked this but then it got a bit " do's and dont's or you're a horrible person" for me. If you're with your friends you should be able to express yourself as you feel and want to them. It's a journey in itself if you react harshly out loud with your friend and go on the rabbit hole of understanding together. the way you described your "gallery partner" comes across you're with someone you dont know at all or like very much and are just anxiously bobbing next to while looking at art trying to sound mindful when you really are just a ball of uncomfortable. I've had anxiety in an art gallery for not really knowing how to look at a painting or piece but some of these rules gave me MORE anxiety than ever before. There are good points here and ways to appreciate art many folks dont look at and I learned some new stuff myself but jeez after a bit I just felt finger wagged at to anyone who expresses raw feelings to their FRIEND at an ART gallery. In a hilarious attempt at shaming people into being more "likeable" you come off as unlikable and snobby lol
The intimidating part about going into a gallery is usually the stuffy person behind the desk, or worse standing there looking at you like you are going to take the painting and run. They will ask you if you need help and make feel like you do not belong in there. This especially true if you are young and not dressed up. Say that you are enjoying looking at the art, or that something caught your eye in the window, or something banal like that. The person will either warm up to you, or leave you alone.
this! all of this! think y'all should listen this every couple of months from now on.... do it!
The Price Is Right set is the best thing in this video.
I enjoy taking photographs in galleries. A common annoyance is that works are often placed right up against a wall, making it impossible to photograph the work while composing an interesting background.
I truly wish that every interest and hobby had a video, aimed at its adherents, on how to not be an asshole. Especially audiophilia, international politics, baseball, and indie rock.
Love the tips for understanding pieces of art a bit better.
I think it is a bit humbling to just look at something made from human intent without expectations, I never have the same experience while doing so (even when returning to pieces I know I already love) but that is worth it to me.
I am so excited to go to a museum and do all of this
This was so good! Thanks ♥ I will be taking my class of sixth graders to an art museum and will give them some of these tips beforehand, thanks lots!
The bit about making the meaning for yourself separate from the artist reminded me of a recent-ish episode of Dear Hank and John. Happy coincidence.
Love the way you broke this whole process down!
I went with my girlfriend to a museum recently and it was a really beautiful experience. The reason being, I know my girlfriend knows I'm smart and doesn't judge my quirkier turns of phrase. I could walk up to something and just say "I like this one. I like the colors," without any pressure to refine my experience of the art into fancier terms. I was allowed to keep my experiences in the jumble of sensory experiences they came in rather than mentally stepping back to pick it apart immediately.
I go to museums all the time because I love art and I love history. I've taken art history and its taught me quite a lot. At the end of the day though I really don't give a flying F what others think of my opinion or if I understand what I'm looking at. If I see a Carravaggio, Vermeer, Sargent, Zubaran or Titian etc that I love, that's what I'm going to say. I'm not trying to impress anyone.
"I'm processing" is a great all-purpose response to anything.
I feel so much better with myself after watching this videos :) Great job
You have a beautiful mind. Thanks for sharing
So good. I'm writing a video now about the joy of discussing art... And I'm on my way to the Venice Biennale for the first time this weekend.
Thank you for spending time to help us understand the subjective.I find it empowering. 👍🏾
Just when I'm about to visit Paris and all the museums there! Thanks a lot!
This has been one fo the most useful and fun videos I've watched about art. Basically a 101 but carefully said and explained. This is amazing. Thank you!
There are two types of art; paintings from artists like Matisse, PIcasso, and Van Gogh, (just to name a few) often exemplify a strong sense of aesthetic and the abstract qualities art. Because of this, looking at their work does not require the viewer to project any outside knowledge or ideas onto the image. Other artworks (often called conceptual) fail to communicate in the purely visual language which fine art is, therefore requiring the viewer to project external information onto the work before any understanding can be reached. If I can make a suggestion; do not cram your head with the many confusing ideas which gallerists, critics, and so-called artists may suggest about art, but instead, spend time looking, and trust yourself to do so. This is the tradition which reaches back tens of thousands of years and allows one to connect with humanity in its entirety.
Love the Cocina del Conflicto frame.
I personally never understood people dismissing art, or feeling uncomfortable viewing it. Unless it’s audience participation in performing arts, it’s quite safe and doesn’t demand anything of you. It’s fine not to know things, and if you want to know, you probably have all the world’s information in the palm of your hand. Just be present in the moment. It’s fine to be a passive audience member, be quiet, simply view. It’s really not that intimidating.
Anxiety. It can ruin every single little interaction you have with everybody/thing. I had a panic attack at a museum.
Excellent video. Unexpected but helpful advice. Thank you. I feel better ( had this 'I'm an ignorant about arts'' feeling).
I am that head peeping out from behind the desk and I still get intimidated when I walk into a gallery haha
I liked the pace of the video and, in the end of the video, I felt a certain elegance in your voice. It was pleasant.
10:22 Reminds me of an Art History class I took in college, where I had a classmate who used a sign language interpreter. The professor always used an absurd amount of ten-dollar words, beyond even the relevant "chiaroscuro"-type jargon. Nobody appeared to be having trouble, but it made me wonder how much more difficult it is to both understand and sign "lugubrious" instead of, like, "very sad."
This is simply amazing. Thank you for putting it together this way
Thank you so much Sarah. I love all you've taught me in The Art Assignment. This was excellent. I hope you don't run out of ideas for these posts. Please keep em coming 👍♥️🙂 Sarah. This was great
I love this channel. Can’t wait for museums to open back up.
I really wish I would have found this video before visiting the Louvre museum...I may have gotten more out of the experience, all i remember was feeling overwhelmed by all the art
this may be my favorite art assignment video so far!
"You don't want to spoil someone else's experience by dismissing the art right away." Quite right: save that for the journey home.
I have enjoyed art museums before (used to go more as a kid) but I don't know much about Art Appreciation. But at a local art museum I went to like a year ago, there was this one landscape that was... like, wow. It was a slow day so I got a lot of time to spend on my own, and that was when I was getting really into art (as in drawing and digital art, not art museum art). I spent so long standing there and staring at it, trying to figure out how I would make the landscape if I had to copy it from scratch--I mean literally 30min to an hour of doing nothing but looking at a painting. I don't know who it was by or anything important about it, but I can still trace some of the lines of the fallen log and the overall composition in my head. A very interesting but very odd experience that I've never had before or since.
altho "maybe even look at it through a camera if your internet-addled brain can't handle such sustained attention"
me , adult recently diagnosed w adhd: that's rly cringe dude... yikes.. not a cute look, pbs
This was really helpful! In general, I feel like I have pretty good understanding of art (seeing as I'm an artist who has taken many art classes and absolutely LOVES literature, mythology, and history from anywhere on the planet), but I do have some biases that this video helped me confront. Specifically, I tend to be drawn to older, more aesthetically "Beautiful" art, and get kinda freaked out by more minimalist, abstract, and modern art ( I think part of it is that it often sits deeep in the uncanny or depressing valleys to me, and also isn't very aesthetically appealing to me. Like, Picasso's "The Weeping Woman" hardcore freaks me out, but if that image had been painted in more of, say, an impressionist style, I'd probably eat it right up). Next time I go to an art gallery, I'll make sure to engage more with the stuff I don't like so much. Also, I'm really excited to go to the Portland Art Museum this year, because they often have had really cool Asian art selections in the past years I've been there that I didn't fully understand. I've been diving a bit deeper into East Asian and South Asian literature lately, and a lot of the stuff I've seen in the past is making more sense than it did when I only knew the history. Speaking of which, last year I saw an AMAZING statue of a Japanese god (I think it was Bishamonten, but I can't remember, unfortunately) standing on two demons and holding a spear. The statue was just a couple inches shorter than me (I'd estimate about 4'9" tall). The way that statue looked was amazing; it was so perfect, I could have sword that was a living being in front of me (and it even looked like it moved). It's amazing how simply existing by and studying a piece can make you connect so much more with it!
This channel is pure gold ♥️
Good video. I think this will help many people approach art with an open mind, and see it as more fun rather than a challenge.
Man whenever I try and share my thoughts about art with my gallery companion I just get weird stares from other people. I mean I know my companion is my sketchbook and it obviously can't talk back but still, like c'mon folks, staring is rude.
MyArtJourney your profile picture is so cute
@@blondaibonsai Thanks :3
0:58 quick translation, 'cause this one...
" A fanciful artist
-Here, see how I understand the apotheosis of a martyr...
-but I only see your character's two feet.
-The head is already in heaven... that's what proves he is a saint!..."
This video is everything! I am cracking up! Excellent work.
"... the single most underrated activity of 2019" was straight up shade, and I am here for it
This video was great and totally applicable to music, too
Bless you this is so amazing, thank you
Excellent video. It makes me want to visit an art gallery over the weekend. Thanks very much for making and posting it!
Great video. My most hated question I get at my art shows is.. “How long does it take?” I just say 50 years..
I tend to go to exhibits by myself. Occasionally I will go with friends or family or bump in someone. I usually don't say much about the work unless I am directly ask. When I was younger, I use to talk more then I grew out of it. Being am artist and once years ago a gallery monitor, I have heard many conversations. One time this older women was looking at my Art and lean over to my ex-girlfriend's 7 year old daughter and asked if she did it because she felt that it looked like a child did it. My ex-girlfriend's daughter looked over at me uncomfortably and told her that I painted it. The woman looked embarrassed. I sold the painting since then. People never know who will over hear their critique of an art piece.