Connection: Great Literature to Great Art

The intricate yet confusing pathways of great literature are sometimes difficult to find our way through. There are twists, curves, and plenty of blurred areas to which the reader might be confused. Not everyone sees things the same way; the way we see the lessons shown are always varied from person to person.

Great artwork is similar. We are not always aware, nor do we understand, what is going on. The artist may have one intention, and the gazer might see a totally opposite concept. Art has different meanings. Sometimes we cannot even comprehend what is going on with a piece of work. "What did the author do? How is this art, it looks like garbage!" But, because we do not understand something, does not disallow us from experiencing the artwork.

When I think of the Jackson Pollock paintings, my mind suddenly sees mixed up combinations of brown, green, and grey. Do I understand exactly what is going on in the paintings? No, not really. Do I want to? Yes, I do. But the question is, what does this painting make me feel? What does the artist want me to feel? If I think hard enough, maybe I will find the answers. Was there hatred behind this? Sadness?

I even asked my art teacher what he thought of Pollock. "What is going on with these paintings?" I questioned, looking for an honest answer. He replied, "There is emotion within these paintings. They allude to certain objects, feelings, places even, but the emotion and how they make us feel is the most important thing."

How can we understand literature and art, when there seems to be so many things going on with them? As we learned in our classroom, if you don't read especially careful, you will miss something. A paragraph swiftly skimmed through; a chapter read to get it over with. When looking at art, you have to regard the picture as if it was a book: very carefully. Books are complex. Art is complex. I have learned that the little details are important.

Maybe the main point isn't to be omniscient. Maybe it is flat out awesome that we don't understand everything. Couldn't you say that not understanding something completely bring on a new, individual perspective? The main point is that the little details make up a bigger picture, and the bigger picture makes us feel things. In my opinion, the more we feel, the better the piece of literature or artwork. Are we going to remember the color shirt a character wore and how it symbolized the hatred he felt for someone? Or are we going to remember how we felt when we learned a character died, or we learned an important lesson? How we viewed the scene, how it made us think, is what matters. The more different we think from each other, the further we expand our horizons of perception.

Sure, its nice to read a effortlessly easy book. Or look at a simple, plain painting. But do we learn anything from them? Do they bring on any powerful, exhilerating feelings? We don't need to remember every single minute, diminutive detail to enjoy a piece of work. We just need to experience and learn from what we see.