I think this is a very interesting comment. What does it mean to 'understand' a work of art?
I was at a conference recently where one of the speakers, who writes a lot about music, kept talking about understanding music. In question time I asked her what she meant by 'understanding' in this context. I said I could see how one could talk about understanding a mathematical proof, for example, but what did the word mean in relation to music (and I really meant all art). She first began to answer by saying that one understood if one could recognise shifts in keys etc. But I said I was talking about the average person not someone schooled in the techniques if music. (After all, that clearly can't be the point.) So then she said in a rather flippant way as if to make light of the matter that one understood music if one could recognise its tunes and hum them. I didn't pursue the question further but this obviously can't be right. How does humming tunes equate to understanding? Moreover, there is a lot of music I love medieval and Renaissance liturgical music for example - where I couldn't hum the tunes to save myself. (The same goes for certain forms of non-Western sacred music which often has no recognisable 'tunes'). I came to the conclusion that the person concerned had not really given any serious thought to the problem (leading aesthetician though she was). But it *is* a problem and Monet's comment highlights it nicely. What does 'understanding' a work of art mean? DA ---------------------------------------------- On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 10:15 AM, aesthete aesthete <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > - Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were > necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love. > > Monet > > _________________________________________________________________ > Search that pays you back! Introducing Live Search cashback. > http://search.live.com/cashback/?&pkw=form=MIJAAF/publ=HMTGL/crea=srchpaysyou > back > > -- Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm
