Experience

Experience prioritised over pre-planning. Learn to respond to the experience of creating the work, i.e. the process involved in the making of the work.

The ‘art’ resides in:

(for the artist) the experience of making the work

(for the viewer) the experience of being in/ viewing the work

Artistic Experience: elements

The site of the work of art: where is the work to be viewed? What is unique about the site? Is there going to be a relationship between the work and the site of the work? Outside, inside? Natural, artificial? Emotional response to the site? Architectural response? Response to the level of light? Response to the quality of sound in the space? Response to the objects already in the space? Response to the colours of the space? Response to the floor, height, distance between walls/ objects etc., in the space. The quality of the air. The significance of the site: previous cultural/ social associations. The history of the site.

What is art for? Who is art for? Think about the audience for art. Their social backgrounds. Their economic status. The expectations they bring to the work of art. How? Where they heard about the exhibition/ work of art. How do they feel about the status of the artist? (Do they have romantic notions of artistic ‘genius’?)

Socially, what is the function of art? How do non-art practitioners integrate (if at all) art into their lives?