Art is among the highest expressions of culture, embodying its ideals and aspirations, challenging its assumptions and beliefs, and creating new possibilities for it to pursue. We study art in order to understand more about the culture that produced it. The art object gives us insight into what the culture values: religious ritual, aesthetic pleasure, or functional utility, for example.

The critical process we use in studying works of art is similar in many ways to the creative process that artists use to make art. Critical thinking involves questioning, exploration, trial and error, revision, and discovery. Consider the following steps to thinking critically about art.

Artists make choices and decisions when making works of art (ex: What color? Paint or drawing?) Identify these choices. Ask yourself why these choices were made. Even though artists often work intuitively, they have the opportunity to revise every part of their work before you see it. What you see in a work of art is intentional.

What is the artwork’s title? What does it tell you about the piece? Is there any written material accompanying the work? Is the work informed by the context in which you encounter it – by other works around it, or, in the case of sculpture, by it’s location? Is there anything you can learn about the artist that is helpful?

By carefully describing the object – both its subject matter and how its subject matter is formally realized – you can discover much about the artist’s intentions. Pay careful attention to how one part of the work relates to the others.

Especially question anything you particularly dislike about a given work of art. Remember, if you have seen the work in a book, gallery, or museum, then someone likes it. Why? Often you will talk yourself into liking it too. Examine the work itself to see if it has any biases or prejudices.

Art objects are supposed to stir up your feelings, but your emotions can sometimes get in the way of clear thinking. Analyze your own emotions. Determine what about the work set them off, and ask yourself if this wasn’t the artist’s very intention.

Art objects are complex by their nature. To think critically about an art object is to look beyond the obvious. Be sure that your reading of a work of art is complete enough to recognize the full range of possible meanings the work might possess. At the same time, take care that your reading of the work does not violate or misrepresent the work.

The critical process is a method of discovery, and it is designed to uncover possibilities, not certain truths. Critical thinking is a process of questioning, and asking good questions is sometimes more important than arriving at the “right” answers. There may be no “right” answers. Critical thinking is really a matter of putting yourself into a questioning frame of mind. You must learn to see and interpret the visual world around you.

When artists think about why they make their work, most think of themselves as practicing one of four fundamental roles – or perhaps a combination of the four. These roles may be conscious or subconscious as artists create their work, but the roles that they assume do impact the overall tone of the art they produce.

Artists may create art to help us see the world in new and innovative ways. Their work may be designed to transform our experience of the world, and to shake us out of our normal acceptance of the way things are.

Artists may create art to make a visual record of the people, places, and events of their time and place. This type of art captures the spirit of the age in which it was made; it is a visual documentary of the way things were at a given time. We can see this practice in art from recent works, as well as from art made many centuries ago.

Artists may make functional objects and structures (buildings) more pleasurable and elevate them or imbue them with meaning. An example of an object that many cultures pay a great deal of attention to is clothing. Clothing has a useable function: to protect us from the elements, but it also has many more purposes, most of which are visually important. It can indicate the wearer’s taste, self- image, and, perhaps above all, social status.

Artists give form to the immaterial – hidden or universal truths, spiritual forces, personal feelings. It is important to remember the cultural context in which these artworks are created, especially if it is not your own.

The act of seeing is not just pointing our eyes at something. Seeing is both a physical and psychological process. Seeing is an inherently creative process. The visual system makes conclusions about the world. Each individual sees things differently, and this mirrors their complex perceptions of the world.

Can you remember how many red stripes are in the artwork? How many white stripes are there? What is the artist’s name? What year was the piece completed? What color is the stripe on top? On bottom? How many horizontal rows of stars are there? How is the time in which this was made affect the way you understand the artwork?

Major themes within art that we will explore through this course: Art, Politics, and Community Art and Spiritual Belief Art and the Passage of Time Art and Beauty Art, Gender, and Identity Art, Science, and the Environment