Cultural Perspective

Culture is a complex concept that encompasses the ways that social life effects and informs our experiences. To quote Stuart Hall:

“Culture, it is not so much a set of things- novels and paintings, or TV programs or comics- as a process, a set of practices. Primarily culture is concerned with the production and exchange of meanings- the ‘giving and taking of meaning’ between members in a society or group… Thus culture depends on its participants interpreting meaning- fully what is around them, and ‘making sense’ of the world, in broadly similar ways (Rose, p2).”

It could be said that growing up in America contributes to an ‘American worldview’. We each may have variations to this, but unless you were raised outside of the United States, you are strongly (consciously or unconsciously) influenced by an American perspective. This is an example of cultural context.

In America it is typical to feel it is inappropriate for someone to dictate what we can read, listen to, look at or think about. This would generally fall under the First Amendment, the freedom of speech and expression aspect of our county, beliefs, and government. In other countries, for example Italy– they may or may not have this as a cultural value.

Representations, in whatever form they take, contribute to ‘made meanings’ of culture, specifically as visual culture. As Gillian Rose points out- these representations, whether they are high art or advertisements, are not transparent windows on the world, rather- they interpret the world (Rose, p2). When we select and take in specific kinds of representations there is an exchange of meaning that goes two ways. We participate in constructing culture by selecting and elevating certain forms of representations, and that specific visual culture we experience has the power to influence our personal view on life.

Historical Perspective

As time passes, scholarship and research occur and many people become aware of a particular artwork, art form, art style, etc. Recognition may increase (and sometimes decreases). Vincent Van Gogh is an example here—totally unappreciated while he was alive, but now he’s recognized worldwide as a notable painter. Other examples might be the negative attitudes towards jazz music or hip-hop in the mid-twentieth century. These currents of recognition often spring from institutions like museums, academic writing and journals, college art classes, and art history as a field of study.

Personal Perspective

Personal perspectives are formed by the layered aspects that form our individual identities. This could be any number of defining aspects such as, gender, class, race, where you were born and raised, education, aspects of family, group affiliations, etc., and the list goes on. These aspects form our unique biographical experiences that constitute our identities and color our personal point of view or the way we interpret our life experiences.

You may find that your personal response to art and artworks will change as you learn more about design, art making, and the history of art in general. Knowledge and/or education about art usually helps us appreciate and understand art.

Sweeping judgments based purely on a personal emotional response can be colored with bias and often come from having little knowledge of a subject or artwork or the larger cultural context. These are habits of thinking that inhibit a critical understanding of things that are new to us like artwork. In general, it’s a good idea to take a generous stance to art forms or artworks we don’t like or don’t understand or just don’t connect to.

Works Cited

Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching Visual Materials. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2012. Print.