Today I visited the Ferens art gallery and I was guided around the gallery by Adele Howitt who for this project will be acting as my client. Adele guided James Field, the second year web students and myself around the gallery, showing us examples of the portraiture collection. It became quite obvious to me early on that Adele seemed to believe we had a great knowledge of portraiture and artistic techniques, history and symbolism, I know specifically in my case that this is not true. I particularly questioned some of the theory she expressed on the tour to see how she reacted to a non classical view of art and I think I got the answers to the questions I was looking for.
In the design world there is a large problem with designers considering themselves as average users of the products they design, often overlooking the fact that their knowledge about what they are designing is often superior to that of those who may be expected to use the product, which often leaves users confused. I believe I have found an artistic equivalent where artists and people who work in galleries may be assuming that people understand parts of the artistic medium, sometimes even at basic levels when in fact some viewers have very little or in some case no knowledge at all. This could be a barrier to people that could stop some peoples enjoyment of art, in some cases it may cause a situation where potential viewers fear viewing art in the worry of feeling inept. I do believe that art needs a dumbed down guide to help and encourage some potential viewers but I do not believe this should be offered in a way that makes people feel stupid so there is a fine line.
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