Viewing Art Works

Art works and visual images play an important role in the visual art strand. Viewing a visual image, to be a meaningful experience, should be more than just looking and reacting quickly without much thought. Teachers can enhance the meaning students derive from visual images by guiding them through the viewing experience. The process [ This process was adapted from the following sources: Anderson, 1988; Clark, 1960; Feldman, 1987; and Mahon Jones, 1986.] provided here can be used for viewing any art work, including craft, fine arts, traditional arts, commercial art and the mass media, as long as appropriate questions are asked at each stage.

Viewing is an interaction between the viewer and the art object. Although most art works are constant, the interaction varies with each viewer because of the viewer's own varied perspectives and associations. These include the viewer's unique cultural perspective, associations with elements and images in the work, knowledge of visual art in general, knowledge of the particular artist, etc.

Because interaction is personal and will vary from student to student, an atmosphere of trust and respect must be established. Students should be encouraged to express their personal opinions, knowing that their unique perspective will enhance other students' viewing experiences.

Teachers should keep in mind that different people respond in different ways to the same art work. It is also true that one person can, and in most cases should, respond in more than one way to the same art work. Three ways of responding are:

Responding on an emotional level -- This refers to feelings evoked by an art work.

Responding on an associative level -- This refers to associations one makes with the art work or with images in the work.

Responding on a formal intellectual level -- This refers to responses one has after a formal analysis and interpretation of an art work.

The three types of responses vary and shift in emphasis from viewer to viewer and from art work to art work. For example, one viewer might have an immediate emotional response to a work, while another might have an intellectual response. One art work might demand an immediate emotional response so that most viewers will respond this way initially, while another work might demand that most viewers make immediate associations with images in the work.

Presented below are seven steps a teacher can follow to guide students in viewing art works. Breaking the viewing-responding process into steps is not totally satisfactory. In reality, a viewer jumps back and forth; the steps are not isolated from one another as they appear below. However, the purpose here is to provide the teacher with a guide.

The seven steps presented here are:

Preparation

First Impression

Description

Analysis

Interpretation

Gathering Information

Informed Judgement

Students can work through the process in one large group, in small groups or individually.

Viewing Art Works Summary Sheet

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Viewing Art Works Summary Sheet First Impressions - spontaneous reactions Description - listing exactly what can be seen Analysis - looking at relationships among elements, principles and images, as appropriate Consider the following: the images line colour texture shape form balance rhythm emphasis variety contrast proportion harmony unity Interpretation - personal reflections on the work Consider the following: themes ideas narratives expression associations cultural context imagination issues Background Information - gathering information on the artist and the work Informed Judgement - reflective activity

Discussing Student Work

Students responding to their own and their peers' work is an important part of the creative and evaluative process. Responding can occur during the creative process with the creations presented as works-in-progress, or at the end of the project. Having response to works-in-progress helps students refine their visual art expressions. The following should help teachers encourage discussion and reflection:

• Student portfolios should include reflections on work-in-progress as well as on completed works. These portfolios should contain reflections on the student's own arts expressions and on group projects. Refer to the Evaluation section for more information about portfolios and portfolio conferences. Should a teacher wish to encourage self-evaluation, questions should be provided that will encourage thoughtful responses.
• Care should be taken when using the seven steps in "Viewing Art Works" for discussion of the students' own visual art expressions. Before students display their work, ensure that a trusting atmosphere is established where students are willing to take risks.
• Responding to their peers' works should be a learning and growing experience for students and should not include personal judgement. Students may feel particularly vulnerable when displaying their work. In order to maintain objectivity, all comments should be kept to observations about ideas expressed, images, use of elements and principles, etc. Comments which judge the work should be discouraged. For example, the comment "I like Stacy's composition" would be better said as "I thought the rhythm in Stacy's composition was lively". Before discussion begins, be sure to establish some general rules of conduct, demonstrating some sample student comments.
• Not all steps of the process will be used every time the students are responding to their own or their peers' work. Teachers should include the steps and use the level of questioning to suit the needs and abilities of their students. To begin, the teacher might choose to use the description and analysis steps. As the students become more comfortable, additional steps may be added. Teachers should be especially careful that a trusting atmosphere has been well established before any judgement is allowed, and students should be reminded to stress the positive in each work. Judgement should always focus on whether the work has achieved the student's intended purpose.
• Students will have interpretations and opinions about their own and their peers' work. However, it is important that students base their opinions and interpretations on evidence they see in the work itself. These interpretations and opinions must be assessed on the student's ability to express and justify them, and not on the student's ability to conform to the norm or the opinions of the teacher.

A sample checklist for evaluating students' responses to arts expressions can be found in the Evaluation section of this guide. Teachers may select from the list or add to the possible criteria when assessing students' responses to their own work.

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