Week 11 Phenomenology

  For this weeks lesson and zoom discussions we read Amelia Jones “Meaning Identity, Embodiment: the uses of Merleau Pontys phenomenology in art history” In Art and Thought 2003. 

Amelia Jones talks about how we interact with art work and how it in turn reacts with us. Art work provokes feelings, and emotions. Perhaps it makes you feel happy or sad or uneasy. It will effect everyone a little bit differently. It can trigger a memory. When a person looks at art, it unlocks a sensation that is mental and physical, creating an overall experience. Light and color can condition a feeling. This reading reminded me of many of the other readings throughout this semester but especially Robert Barthes “Death of the Author”. This is because Barthes expresses his theory that reading is only experienced by the reader, and that every person can take something different away from it. This theory relates to this weeks topic because when an artist creates their work, the artist is usually trying to express something important to them. They create from their own feelings and perception of the world. The artist can help get their message across by using a biography or title the work. However, regardless of the presence of the artist, it is only the viewer and the art work interacting, the viewer will see, feel, and understand something completely unique to themselves and different from any other viewer and the artists original intended meaning. The art works existence is dependent on the viewers viewing it and creating meaning behind it. 

Our identity is tied up in the way that we view art work because of our own individual backgrounds and values. For example, I make and sell jewelry. One type of earring that I make involves using women’s naked abstract body shaped bezels and I pour resin inside of them along with real dried pressed flowers, paper butterflies ect. Some people see them as very sexual, intimate earrings. I have a handful of lgbtq customers that maybe view them as a conflicted body, I have customers that are breast cancer survivors that view them as something that they have fought for or that is bittersweet, I have customers that are pregnant or that have had babies that see it as a womens power to grow a baby inside her with symbolism in the flowers. However when I create them I think of how beautiful the human body is and how much it endures, I want them to make women feel confident and love themselves for their imperfections. I am okay with them making people uncomfortable that only see a women’s body as sexual. This is just one example of how art work can be experienced and interpreted in a million ways by different people. We don’t view art work as a disembodied eyeball, we view it with our bodies, we have physical reactions when we see things, maybe it is lust or disgust or fear or embarrassment. The mind and body work together to experience the world. All of your senses help to provoke thought. We interact with the world using our hands and our eyes, our noses, ears and our mouthes, then our mind consciously takes an understanding away from it. Interactive art work is growing in popularity. Immersive experiences experiment with the ideas of combining art and physical touch, sound, and maybe even smell. This is a great way to promote physical reactions to fine art work, and stimulate feelings by stimulating the senses. 


 



Yves “Leap into the void”



Cite: 

   Jones, Amelia. “Meaning, Identity, Embodiment: The Uses of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology in Art History.” Art and Thought, pp. 72–90., https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470774199.ch4.

Comments

  1. DianaDecember 7, 2022 at 11:14 PM

    I like how you related this reading to Robert Barthes "Death of the Author." It helps to better understand the reading when you include the explanation from a reading that we had already discussed. The only minor change I could find would be the "y" missing for "they" in the sentence, "...the may see, feel, and understand something else completely different from the artists original intended meaning." Also for the citation of the image, the year is missing and the full name. Also I love how you included your own experiences with your craft. Your example with the earrings provides an explanation that is easy to understand and helps relate to the reader. Overall, you did great work! Your explanation was great and there are only minor changes that could be made.

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