Take a walk through the National Art Gallery and you'll usually find two types of people. First there are the solemn nodders, the ones who stand before a piece of art nodding slowly and solemnly, rejoicing in the depth of meaning embedded in the artist's work. Then there are the head shakers. These are the ones who have quizzical, even pained expressions on their faces, and shake their heads from side to side wondering how on earth our government could waste their precious tax dollars on such abominable garbage.
A few years ago I was in Canberra and a friend took me on a tour of the National Art Gallery. I must confess, I belong halfway between the solemn nodders and the head shakers, but my friend was firmly in the solemn nodders camp. As we wandered around the gallery I found some works that really struck a chord with me, but there were some that I couldn’t figure out. One of these is a painting titled "Black on Black". It’s a large black square painted on canvas. That's it – a big black square, or at least that’s what I thought until my solemn nodder friend explained that if you look closely you can see that the big black square is actually made up of nine smaller squares, each a slightly different shade of black. He explained that the painting is about the use of shade and colour and the subtleties that can be achieved. Well, it seems the subtleties were lost on the stranger who was standing beside us. He was a thorough going head-shaker. When my friend had finished his explanation this stranger turned to us and said "that’s the greatest load of bulls_____ I’ve ever heard" and walked off in disgust.
Application - Point of view, perspective: The stranger and my friend could both look at the same painting and see totally different things. One saw a great work of art and subtlety, the other saw a waste of time and money.
Application - Interpretation, bible, hermeneutics: Interpreting the bible can sometimes be like a walk through the national gallery. Whether we hear what it's great Artist has to say to us depends on the attitude we bring to it and our willingness to be open to the Artist.
Application - Art
Source: Scott Higgins.