Response on "Against Interpretation"

Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation article has moved me to a place where I feel that I should not interpret works of art but to use my sensory experience to illustrate how I feel. With that being said, I completely agree with Sontag's argument for interpretation regarding when and where it needs to be used and how far it is taken now a days. Art is a useful tool to many people and is often looked at as therapy. However, when art work is viewed, many people need to interpret it to understand the artists position for creating this piece of artwork. Searching for content throughout a piece of artwork allows the viewer to understand their own feelings or the point of it. Unfortunately, this is the time that we are living in, where interpretation is needed so that people can see that they are not "wasting time." Art that is transparent allows the viewers to see things for what they are. Currently, if one was to view something for what it just is or with radical skepticism, people would not know how to relate to pieces of art or the artist. Since culture plays a big role in how a person interprets or if they interpret at all, I believe that it is this overarching theme of things that allows for people to retrieve perceptions or thoughts on a particular work of art. Sontag's suggestion in that 'the best criticism... is of this sort that dissolves consideration of content into those of form," which illustrates the value of using less words and more doing and feeling to understand and relate to the works of art.

Reading this article really opened up my mind to art and artists. Throughout the article, I found that I did a lot of interpretation. I also found that I wanted to know the point of every work of art that was in front of me. Certain art works that I have found trouble understanding was by artist such as Jackson Pollock, Bruce Newman, and etc. So therefore, by reading this allowed me to become more knowledgeable on what to do when approaching art work, not to interpret to gain understanding but to just use your senses when trying to relate or comprehend.
Jazzie