Against Interpretation

Susan Sontag’s article Against Interpretation talks about interpretation of art. She states that interpreting art actually depletes it. Sontag says that by reducing an artwork to its content and then interpreting that, one “tames” the artwork. She also says that interpretation indicates dissatisfaction with the art, and a wish to replace it with something else. I disagree with Susan Sontag. I think a person’s interpretation of an art piece is what makes it art to them. To fully understand a piece of art I think you need to interpret it, and try to figure out the artist’s reason for making a certain piece. I don’t think that trying to understand the art depletes the art. I do agree with one point that she makes. She says that interpretation separates art into categories, such as abstract, decorative, or non-art. I think this is true and maybe sometime an artwork will get categorized into something when it wasn’t the artist’s aim to do that. The viewer may have a different take on the piece than the artist had intended. However, I don’t think we should cease to interpret art. People take different perspectives away from a piece of art and that’s what makes it art to them.

Time To Recover Your Senses - Susan Sontag

The article Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag is an extremely well written essay, which describes what she believes to be the fundamental problem behind the direction of art. Sontag criticizes much of the modern art being produced today, claiming that it lacks sufficient creativity and depth. Sontag quotes Nietzcshe by saying, "There are no facts, only interpretations". She criticizes pop art much the same way, saying that it reflects the polar opposite, the point of the art or "work" is plain and direct that there is no need for deep interpretation. Sontag believes that it is this interpretation that allows us to more deeply analyze and enjoy a piece of art. Sontag says, "Interpretation must itself be evaluated, within historical view of human consciousness. In some cultural contexts, interpretation is a liberating act. It is a means of revising, of transvaluing, of escaping the dead past. In other cultural contexts, it is reactionary, impertinent, cowardly stifling".

I would have to say that Susan Sontag has very strong opinions to argue, but she was surely very well educated and has a certain criteria that she obviously uses to judge art. She would certainly not like a lot of the works that we have seen thus far in our intro to visual arts class, however many of the more complex pieces of art, even movies, music, etc. would allow for her to use this divine sense of "interpretation" she feels that is necessary to define something as real art.

Against Interpretation - William Allan

At first I was very confused about the overall deliverance of Susan Sontag's article "Against Interpretation". I did not know how to bring together the information she was using to get her message across, but after some research and analysis I feel as though I have a better sense of the meaning behind her gathered opinions of interpretation.
In my mind art has always been a matter of interpretation. Whether that artwork was a piece of music, theater, sculpture, or on canvas, the viewers interpretation is the key driver to the artworks resilience. Art has always seemed to be an intellectual expressionistic form of emotion that I could never truly get a grasp of because of the depth and breadth of certain pieces. These pieces would include those by artists such as Dali, Picasso, Beethoven, Hitchcock, and Michelangelo. Such intellectual art exists today as well, however according to Sontag there is a discrepancy, interpretation, between the intellectual world and the artistic world. Personally, I think that there is no difference between the intellectual world and the artistic world. Both worlds can exist within the world of art and they work hand and hand in order to insure the longevity of the life of art as a whole.
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, therefore the interpretation of art should be felt individually from its range of viewers. Even though some one may not have the highest sense of artistic ability, their interpretation of a piece of art is what makes it art to them.