Response to "Ways of Seeing"

“Ways of Seeing”

Psychological Aspects

         Ways of Seeing is a short series detailing the various means of interpretation in different images, particularly paintings. In this episode, we discover different techniques used to distort or rearrange the intent or moral of popular works of art. Through inclusion of music and focusing on one certain aspect of the painting as opposed to another, the painting's meaning can be manipulated.

         Prior to mass communications, paintings were regarded as having a single purpose: to impose a certain feeling or story upon the viewer. The narrator states that there was little room for interpretation; every painting held a particular meaning. An example would be The Last Supper by Da Vinci. At full view, you can see that the painting shows Christ dining with his 12 disciples. However, if you cut away from the painting as a whole and focused on one particular subject, say, the first few disciples at the table, you might think that it was a simple dining portrait. When such images became popular and easily transmittable, it became easy to manipulate these aspects of the painting.

         Another means of changing the meaning of a painting comes from the inclusion of music. Adding music can easily change the dreary mood of a painting to one that is calm, cheerful. This technique can also be applied to The Last Supper. By adding a moody violin piece, you may interpret the painting as one of sorrow, Christ's last meal. By adding a happy, bouncing piece, you may interpret the painting as being one as a gathering of friends eating over some friendly banter.