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Art

SallySeahorse

Ok, there's a decent chance this one's just me, but I'm curious.

I don't get art. I understand making it as an outlet, and I can appreciate beauty. However when I look at a painting/sculpture etc, I don't 'feel' anything. Either it looks pretty or it doesn't, it's done with skill or it's not. This seems to span all genres/movements.

As this is a sort of perception thing, and to do with connecting emotionally, I wondered whether it may be ASD related. Does anyone else feel the same? Negative responses welcome as this is just a point of interest, I'm not looking for reassurance.

Parents

  • I think this is ASD related in as much as if we are interested in a topic then we tend to be 'really' interested in it but if we're not interested in a topic then we don't really 'get' it. 

    I don't 'get' art per se. I'm not good at art, it has never been my strong point and like you, if I look at a painting I can appreciate whether or not it looks nice but my understanding of it doesn't extend beyond that. However! In the field of arts and crafts I am very good at sewing jewellery. I can do this to a very high level and I understand it, the skills that are used to create it and the level of craftsmanship that has gone into making a given piece. I can appreciate a piece of sewn jewellery or beadwork at a higher level than simply whether it looks nice or not.

    Do you have an area of interest or hobby where you would have greater appreciation of the level of skill that has gone into creating it?

Reply

  • I think this is ASD related in as much as if we are interested in a topic then we tend to be 'really' interested in it but if we're not interested in a topic then we don't really 'get' it. 

    I don't 'get' art per se. I'm not good at art, it has never been my strong point and like you, if I look at a painting I can appreciate whether or not it looks nice but my understanding of it doesn't extend beyond that. However! In the field of arts and crafts I am very good at sewing jewellery. I can do this to a very high level and I understand it, the skills that are used to create it and the level of craftsmanship that has gone into making a given piece. I can appreciate a piece of sewn jewellery or beadwork at a higher level than simply whether it looks nice or not.

    Do you have an area of interest or hobby where you would have greater appreciation of the level of skill that has gone into creating it?

Children
  • in reply to Kitsune

    Well that's an angle I hadn't thought about - and backed up rather well by a lot of the comments on here, people 'getting' specific pieces or artists and not at all invested in anything else.

    Ooh I love crafts, I make jewellery too (among other things) though usually with wire as my sewing skills are so-so (pun intended, sorry :P). Useful/wearable art I have so much time for, I love functional things to be beautiful, I fell in love with a bowl once - the design was asymmetrical but with the same proportion of colour on each side, it felt perfectly balanced... I honestly think though that if it had been a flat piece on the wall, I wouldn't've appreciated it the same!

    I just don't get art that's made for its own sake. It seems purposeless, which is why I think there must be something about it that I'm missing.

    Good design is definiely the thing I most appreciate skill in, that combination of fulfilling a need while being aesthetically pleasing - or amusing, informative, cleverly reflective of its purpose.