Julia Samantha Dela Peña

BSECE 2B
Who decides what art means?
Every art has its different versions of interpretation. When it comes to art interpretation, it
depends on who perceives it. But, who really gets to decide what art means?
There is a quote that reads, "You write my flowers as if I think and see what you think and see... a
nd I don't," in the first few minutes of the video that I have viewed. This statement claims that how a
person perceives an art is contrary to how another person perceive it. Just like in the video, the replica of
the artist’s first grade art work is seen by the two friends far from her intention. The first friend thinks the
red sky is symbol of love and white dots are stars. However, the other one thinks the red sky is a symbol
of war and the white dots are global warming-inducing pollutants. According to the artist, the reason why
the sky is red is because it’s her favorite color and the white dots symbolizes fairies.
W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley contend that the artistic goal is unimportant. They have
stated that as the artist we are studying is no longer alive, they are unable to respond to questions about
their masterpiece and that doing so would only serve to divert our attention from the qualities of the
artwork itself, even in the presence of a great deal of information. Personally, they have a point in their
perspective. They imply that no matter what intention the artist put into his art, the one who sees it will
see it differently after all. On the contrary, Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels declined the
intentional fallacy. For them, the artist’s interpretation is not the only possible interpretation but just one
of the many. In addition, it is just one piece in a larger puzzle, as mentioned in the video. Noel Carroll
took example a person holding a cigarette and asking for a match, and as a response to this, you hand this
person a lighter. It is said in the video that this just shows that the words used in the question are
important but the intention behind the question dictates your understanding and response, which is to light
the cigarette regardless of what medium you use.
For the conclusion, I would say that I tend to lean toward Noel Carroll's point of view.
Additionally, I think that the artist's goal influences how the audience will comprehend and appreciate the
artwork. Since artists use metaphorical elements to make their works more appealing, they have to ensure
that their intention must be interpreted to avoid confusions. I agree that the artist's intentions matter, as
Knapp and Michaels claim.