Monday 2 November 2009

INTERPRETATION






This drawing follows on from the earlier drawing dealing with rural art addressing a different audience to urban art. After conducting informal chats with gallery curators in Belfast and then interviewing artists and curators in isolated Leitrim, the nature of the audience proved poignant. The art gallery in rural areas such as Portadown attracts a type of cult following, whereby the attendees at exhibition openings are usually familiar faces, a collective of art enthusiasts on a monthly mailing list. These ‘art voyeurs’ also travel long distances to attend these rural galleries. It would seem the vernacular society is disinterested and the ‘keen voyeur’ is necessary to fill the exhibition openings. I feel alot of this has to do with the perceived art ‘audience’ being upper class and highly educated. “What would I be going into those galleries for? I’m not sure if I would be welcome in there” to quote a local farmer in Belleek, Co. Fermanagh. “These galleries are for the people and we try to engage with the local community as much as possible. We advertise locally, we visit schools to create awareness, and we strongly encourage local participation” Megan – Gallery Manager of Portadown’s Millennium Court Gallery. Obviously there is a stigma attached to art in rural communities sometimes, not always but it exists. Public Interpretation of art pieces/cultural production/literature etc is paramount in understanding the nature of art and creating dialogue and discussion, which is necessary if the art has set out to achieve something. And it is this imposition of art (mainly from top-down Governmental agencies, administered through funding) that almost demands public interpretation. Sadly if the public are not attending these publicly funded projects then there is a quandary. Art is fundamentally about interpretation and ‘the eye-of-the-beholder’ type philosophy is key, but if the public are not involved then little output is achieved. This drawing attempts to address the outcome or discourse that evolves if art is funnelled through an ‘interpretative device’. The intention of the artist or agency may differ greatly from the viewers interpretation but that is fine and provokes discussion. In this example I used PS2’s project/publication and put it through an interpretative device, symbolising the viewer/reader. The end analysis is whatever the viewer takes away from this ‘digestion’.


-Pól

No comments:

Post a Comment