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On art appreciation: How different personality types behave and interact with art?

curiousel

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Let´s say you are given an invitation for an art gallery, and you are left alone while there.
How do you move in the museum, at what pace,...
How do you look at the paintings, what are you looking at/for? please give detailed description of you interaction with the paintings... What are you thinking about, how much time do you spend appreciating them?

Please don´t go into details about the exhibit and about if you like the artists or not. You are at any important museum that has a comprehensive collection to cater all tastes.

I´m looking for a summary of your behavior in the museum and what you do and what you think?
 

Lady_X

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interesting...i walk around slowly stopping in front of anything i find moving. i get sucked into the emotional space of the subject/s. if it's a person...i'm imagining being that person...or...it's not that really...it's just trying to understand from the inside....what are they thinking...feeling...what just happened...what is their life...their dreams...their pain....and if it's a place. i'm put into the feeling of being there...the mood of it...sometimes it's cold and sad...but beautiful...sometimes it's uplifting and inspirational...like a warm breeze...ha...sometimes...with sculpture..i think of what it's meant to represent....and the person who made it...i may sit in awe at their skill.

is that what you mean?
 

wolfy

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I move around fairly quickly looking for something that catches my attention. I don't spend that much time looking at it, just enough to soak in its impact. Rinse and repeat, then I'd feel like leaving.
 

niffer

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First, I scan the whole area, or each room or section I enter once. Then I walk by each piece slowly, scrutinizing and soaking each one in. I notice the minute details that the artist put in effort to make. I take in the overall atmosphere it creates. I think about what it evokes, memories or feelings or thoughts to do with my own life. I try to think about what the artist must have been thinking creating it, or what their lives were like at that time. I think about what possible reactions others could have seeing this. I am very curious in how others reactions are to the art, and I will pay close attention to how people I'm with respond to if I'm with anyone. I think about how unique it is, if it is, or what makes it special from other art pieces. (btw i really like curiousel and lady x's avatars lol. i found curiousel's branch thing particularly moving.) If I really like it I think about how I want to save the memory, if I can take a picture of it somehow. I want to relish the feeling of standing in front of it and being awed by it. I want to live in the art piece forever.

But overall, it kinda depends on my mood. If I'm feeling depressed, I might be more easily bored and unimpressed by everything. It also depends on how much time I have before I know I have to leave, obviously. I'm not going to move through things like a snail if I only have half an hour to go through a whole building.

edit: Interesting thread btw. I can see that our attitudes in this could apply to other aspects of life.
 

OrangeAppled

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I tend to move around slowly, from piece to piece, starting at one end & moving in order to the next; this ensures I miss nothing. I have a need to see EVERYTHING for some reason.

I stop & look at something longer when it interests me, but everything gets a fair glance. Because I am generally absent-minded, I'm sort of forcing myself to focus in a way I normally don't. I would get easily overwhelmed if I tried to take in a whole room at once. If there are lots of people, in fact, then I do move faster to get away from them.

I generally respond to art viscerally, and the stronger the reaction, the more I will think about it further. I focus on the feeling it gives off, without needing to identify that in words. If it's a person, then I might imagine what they are like. If it's a scene, then I might consider what it's communicating. I translate stuff into image-concepts in my head, not thought analysis.

I also note the aesthetic aspects - the color, shapes, textures, etc.

Sometimes I'll read the plaque info because I might wonder who the artist is or what year it's from. I like a context if I want to compare it to something else & examine the similarities in style or whatever.

Oh yeah, when I was dating an INFJ, he moved really quickly through the rooms & would not look at every piece. He'd go up to one that interested him & vaguely glance at it for a second. It almost gave me anxiety because I hate not investigating something thoroughly, and it seemed unfairly dismissive.

When I dated an ESFP, I'd get neck whiplash. He'd say, "Oh my god, look over there, that's so cool!" every 5 seconds...
 

giegs

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Given the option I would ride my bike through, only stopping to check out the ones that interest me. I examine those ones, possibly for a long time, maybe go back and forth between a couple that strike me as similar, and move on. I'm not sure I'm looking for anything in particular, just having my attention grabbed.
 

Luv Deluxe

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I like this thread.

I feel the need to check out every single piece in every single room, as long as time allows. I would hate the idea that I had left too soon and missed out on something. If there are too many people in any given room, I will spend my time in another until the crowd has thinned out.

While I give each piece a fair once-over, I spend exponentially more time in front of works that viscerally pull at me. I don't necessarily try to think about what the artwork means - I just focus on what it makes me feel, while enjoying the beauty of its structure and form. If there is any discernible symbolism, I take that into account, but what really matters to me is the raw emotion involved.

I admire the technique needed for portraits, landscapes, and still-life paintings, but I have enormously more fun with the abstract stuff. Color, lines, and form combine to say something new and different for everyone who gazes into them. I think about what the piece says to me, and if I really fall in love with it, I'll journal about it or take mental snapshots to use for artistic inspiration later. Sometimes I obsess a little and try to channel what another artwork made me feel into a painting or sketch of my own. I saw this really aggressive, black and white, three-panel abstract expressionist piece in a gallery recently that just about made me drool. :heart:

I also like to think about music or films that would pair well with whatever I'm looking at.

Then I leave, feeling really giddy.
 

Patches

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I regularly go down to the Art Museums in DC to draw/sketch. I don't necessarily stare at the artwork as I am doing it, but I find it to be a really peaceful environment to draw. Most of the galleries have a good bit of seating. I'll find a room that is somewhat quiet (little traffic) but with art that I enjoy, sit down, and spend a couple hours drawing there.

When I'm actually browsing the galleries - it's highly dependent upon the type of art. I have pretty much zero appreciation for abstract art, so if I walk past some Rothko-esque art, I'll glance at it, but move very quickly past those rooms/exhibits. In contrast, most Renaissance exhibits appeal to me, and Ill spend a great deal of time looking at particular paintings that appeal to me. I can sometimes spend long enough in front of a particular painting that I start taking note of the direction of individual brush strokes.

I've spent enough time in the various DC museums, that I don't go to the permanent exhibits much anymore. I've seen them time and time again. Usually there is always a new temporary exhibit, and that is where I will go to sit/sketch... Generally pausing once and awhile to stare at some piece.
 

Orangey

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I find that whether I sketch or not (which, usually, I go to sketch as I find that it increases my appreciation of the art), I usually run around impatiently trying to find the pieces that I feel like looking at, and then I stay at those pieces for longer periods of time. I suppose I don't feel like the "see and take in everything" method works if you really want to appreciate something deeply. It cheapens the experience for me and makes me feel like I'm supposed to be more concerned with an itinerary than the art.
 

Lark

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Let´s say you are given an invitation for an art gallery, and you are left alone while there.
How do you move in the museum, at what pace,...
How do you look at the paintings, what are you looking at/for? please give detailed description of you interaction with the paintings... What are you thinking about, how much time do you spend appreciating them?

Please don´t go into details about the exhibit and about if you like the artists or not. You are at any important museum that has a comprehensive collection to cater all tastes.

I´m looking for a summary of your behavior in the museum and what you do and what you think?

Oh, I'll take my sweet time about it.

I can spend entire days in museams and art galleries. I'll look a pieces, think about them, read any accompanying blurb or attribution. Think about them again and think about how it was produced, how much work or talent was involved, how it relates to what I know about artists and other artists and other styles or kinds of art work. Sometimes I'll see something and think I want to see another piece again because of how the piece I've just seen has made me think about it.

Even if I consider the art rubbish, the concept could be good, although most of the time that's totally besides the point. If something is totally unaesthetically pleasing, it is not thought provoking, it is unmoving and does not appear to require talent or learning in its production then I consider it a failure, no matter what pretty words the artist has to say about it. At best those sorts of artists should have been writers.

The vast majority of contemporary or modern art I personally on think of as glorifying, through contrast, earlier art, it all appears dismal in comparison. I dont think that commissioned or plastic pieces are as aesthetically pleasing as stone or wood carving, although I will say that ice and fruit carvings, though they dont last, are often as good. This could be my personal aesthetic which doesnt like man made or industrial materials by contrast with the natural world.

I really love art and history, the whole purpose of museams where, in their original conceptions, about people seeking their muse or having found it giving it its place. Along with libraries and universities they are achievements for humankind. I love the fact that most of them in the UK are free too and you can give donations at a suggested rate but if you have no money you can still enjoy them.
 

King sns

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I tend to go for stuff that has emotional value. Not huge on art appreciation or talking about it ad-nauseum. But if I want to say- physically go and be in a painting- it's a painting that makes me want to just jump in and explore, then you'll see me lingering on it for a while.
 

AphroditeGoneAwry

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I´m looking for a summary of your behavior in the museum and what you do and what you think?

It's like I'm in church. Almost exactly like that.

A reverance, a peace, a consummate respect for the artists who have created and gone before.
 

curiousel

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Oh, I'll take my sweet time about it.

I can spend entire days in museums and art galleries. I'll look a pieces, think about them, read any accompanying blurb or attribution.

I wonder what types tend to ignore those accompanying blurbs or attributions and what types tend to mostly read them. Do INFP ignore them? Do sensors read them more often?

What are the types that voluntarily visit museums and galleries and what types hardly visit them or not go at all?
I think ISFP, ESFJ, ENTJ, INFP, INFJ and ENTP, ENFP like to go to museums often and will buy tickets themselves.
 

Turtledove

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Hm....well I will take my time to appreciate the art depending on the media. Our museum in my area is small, so I don't get out much or go to it often. When I am looking at a painting or drawing or sculpture, I look at the "story" of what the it is depicting. I then look at the color, the style, the texture, who made it, and I critique it in my mind or with the other person I'm with. We give various opinions. Some modern art is okay, but the idea and coloration has got to spark my interest. I really enjoy nostalgic, emotional pieces, symbolic, funny, or clever pieces.
 

SilkRoad

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I would find out in advance if there is a really major work or some really major works that I want to see - ie. by one of my favourite artists who I've already seen a lot by, and I would seek those out and prioritize them. I would linger around those works, and probably visit other areas of the museum a bit more rapidly. If there is nothing specific that I am really dying to see, I would concentrate more on a general area I'm interested in (ie. Dutch Golden Age painting, or whatever).

In terms of my response: I was fortunate to have parents who really appreciate art and know quite a lot about it. So I've had a chance to build up some knowledge (though I have no visual artistic skills myself.) My response is a definite intellectual/emotional combination. Part of me may be comparing the work to others I've seen by the artist, deciding if it's typical or untypical, how much I like it in comparison to the others, etc. Part of me is just having a sort of wondering emotional reaction. It's hard to put into words sometimes what kind of emotional reaction I'm having, but one way I can tell that it was strong is if I look at the work for a while, go away and look at other areas of the gallery, and then feel drawn to come back and linger by that work again - even feeling reluctant to leave.

I've occasionally been motivated to go away and write a poem or something, but my poems on works of art haven't been all that successful so far, I think...

I love art galleries, particularly if they swing toward the type of art I love. I'm not a great appreciator of modern art, but it helps an awful lot if I go with someone who can tell me a bit more about the meaning and the technique behind the works. I've had that experience with friends, especially artist friends, who are much more knowledgeable in the modern art area. It really opens things up. It also confirms my belief that you can love and appreciate art without knowing a lot about it and certainly without being an artist yourself, but I do believe that if you have some knowledge of the artists, their milieu, their intentions, even the technique (something I have an extremely hard time grasping - in terms of materials and so forth, I have no grasp of that), you will find more to appreciate. I believe this to be true of all forms of art, not just the visual arts - ie. also music, literature, etc. I guess that's why my reaction is always partly emotional and partly intellectual.

I tend to feel peaceful and happy in art galleries. I will have an especially happy time if it's a gallery I've never visited before, but I know there are works in it I'm eager to see, by my favourite artists. Or if it's a gallery I've visited many times but I'm going to spend a few minutes with one of my fav paintings of all time. It's a great feeling. I have a similar feeling when I go to classical music concerts. It's like a hole fills up inside, for a while.
 

curiousel

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First, ...... (btw i really like curiousel and lady x's avatars lol. i found curiousel's branch thing particularly moving.) If I really like it I think about how I want to save the memory, if I can take a picture of it somehow. I want to relish the feeling of standing in front of it and being awed by it. I want to live in the art piece forever.

edit: Interesting thread btw...

thanks!
 

Qlip

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I haven't had the opporunity to go to art museums until recently. I went to see an exhibit at our local art museum with leanings toward modern art last month. There was a collection being shown of sculpture by an artist from Harlem, all very much about the African American experience. I basically would first allow myself feel whatever impact the work exerted to me. Then I would try to understand why. Then I'd take a look and see if I could suss what the artist was intending to say/express. Then I would look at the details. Then I would examine the workmanship and often imagine myself creating the piece, to feel if I could understand the artist more by the effort.

Then after looking at that exhibit, I was very tired, and the other pieces in the museum seemed somehow wrong.
 
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