Art!

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Originally Posted by Inziladun

I think 'nature' calls to all of us in much the same manner, whereas finding beauty and meaning in the works of Man is indeed an individual exercise.

I don't really agree. Although appreciating nature do seem to be more universal than say a Jackson Pollack painting, and might be more 'hardwired' and primal than other aesthetic pleasures, I know people who seemingly care nothing for a rocky coastline or a sunset over an ocean at rest, and you know, who can tell what a dog or a monkey thinks, seeing the same scene as we do. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder is a tired old phrase, but true all the same. It's not out there, its solely in our heads. Our individual perception of beauty is of course strongly influenced by other people's opinions and so on, but it remains a human construct, and does not exist independently of us, as do the sun, the coast or a Jackson Pollack painting.

Originally Posted by Lal

Oh I don't mean that we shouldn't discuss anything, far from it, but that trying to root out a 'purposeful meaning' to it all can detract from appreciating the artistry of it.

Sometimes, in fact most times, it's much more enjoyable to look at a painting or a poem and both enjoy the powerful picture it makes and to look at how the colours and the words fit together in that certain way. Instead of looking at it and trying to figure out what the Artist meant.

But don't you think that pondering questions like "what did he/she mean by this?", "what does this symbolise ?" or "how did he/she do this?" also could heighten your appreciation of a work of art?

I mean, I find that the enjoyment one gets from art, or anything else for that matter (many things could be called art), often to a degree depends on your knowledge and engagement in the subject matter.

Take football fex. If you've hardly ever kicked a ball, don't understand the rules or tactics involved or how difficult it is to hit a good cross, and are unfamiliar with the players and the teams, chances are you're not going to appreciate watching a game, be that the Champions League final.

Same goes with looking at a painting, or reading a book, imo. If you have some idea of the effort and skill it must've taken painting the roof of the Sistine Chapel, recognise the motives and characters, understand the symbolism, also know a bit about Michelangelo himself, his life-situation when he made the masterpiece, how Renaissance Italy was like during his days, and how difficult obtaining and mixing good paint was in those days, you are likely to enjoy looking at the piece much more than if you just walk in as a tabula rasa, don't you think?

Although Tolkien denied any specific allegorical purpose to LotR- and I believe him - it still speaks to us in more ways than telling a good story, and Tolkien certainly had a purpose, or numerous, when he wrote the book. I believe there's plenty of 'meaningful purpose' in any good writers works, and I don't see any harm in speculating just what Tolkien had in mind writing his books; quite the opposite, discussing this with smart people here only adds to my enjoyment them. Of course, a good story isn't a good story if it doesn't speak of the human condition in some general way, and another hallmark of a good book is that it goes beyond the original purpose of the writer, and can support lots of unintended interpretations and ideas too, ideas that I might find odd, but others profound and undeniably true. Those are often fun to discuss too.

Well, once again I've strayed way beyond my original thought and am now confused as to where I started from or what point I was trying to make.

Edit. This is very true though:

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Although I do enjoy analysing, what you're saying here still rings a bell for me. If, say, a painting doesn't make me stare at it wide-eyed and agape for it's sheer beauty (like a beautiful sunset would) beyond all thoughts of analysis, it's probably not worth analysing at all; and if somebody's never had that initial experience with a work of art, chances are their analysis of it will be a futile exercise not worth reading.