civilized ku # 545 ~ the devil makes me do it
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 09:11AM 
Work Zone # 2 ~ in the Adirondack PARK - Au Sable Forks, NY • click to embiggenIn a comment on civilized ku # 531, Sven W (no link provided) stated: I like this image ... especially as it's a classic example of a scene most people would simply walk past without a moment's thought. And, many many years ago - possibly a century ago or more - Edgar Degas stated:
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
Quite obviously, the 2 statements are related. What may be less obvious is Degas' use of the word "make" in the phrase "what you make others see". The way I read it, the phrase connotes the idea of compulsion as in "what you compel others see".
IMO, any reasonably competent picture maker can make a pretty picture that is easy on the eyes, the emotions, and the intellect - a picture that most people want to look at without being "made" to do so. Picturing cute kids and pets aside, the best way to get the picture viewing public to look at a picture is to picture an iconic subject, pump up the color and saturation, and voila - few can resist the attraction. It's a fine example of the drawing-bees-to-honey (or, flies-to-shit, depending upon your POV) thing in action.
Now, truth be told, under most circumstances it's probably rather difficult to "make" someone look at a picture that doesn't grab a viewers attention within the first nano-second of making its acquaintance. No flash + no dash = no sale.
IMO, that's fine example of a problem that is one of the bane's of the human condition - few people want to have their expectations challenged. They want to hear - or, in the case of picture viewing, to see - what they want to hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see. They really want to hear/see, over and over and over again, those things that confirm / reinforce what they think they already know. They really like standing in their own personal comfort zone.
However, that doesn't mean that some - primarily those who are curious and open-minded - are seeking to learn / experience new things - things that challenge their expectations and, on occasion, cause them to re-appraise what they think they know. IMO, you can recognize them by their words - those who are not afraid to say, "I didn't know that", or, "I don't know what that means".
Or, in other words, that they realize that it's not just about what they see, it's also about what others make them see.
Reader Comments (1)
I found this observation on the Metropolitan Museum site:
"Degas ... preoccupied with the issue of "realism" in art and literature. When Degas urged his fellow artists to join him in a "realist" endeavor, he was referring to the creation of works grounded in contemporary life and actual experiences. Rather than perpetuate idealized images of mythological figures and historical subjects, he wanted to paint everyday urban scenes."
Wikipedia has a good write-up and more of his paintings.
Apparently Degas did some photography as well. To my eye, some of his compositions have a framing that is more akin to [street]photography than what you see in painting [of that era]. If the cameras of his day were smaller and faster, I'm sure he would have been a good street photographer.