[QUOTE=lissener]
There are many different ways to appreciate art, and a lot of great art has many different levels on which to appreciate it. Some art can be appreciated viscerally, first try, first layer; gut appreciation. Some art can be appreciated better intellectually, for want of a better word. Appreciation of this kind of art is generally enhanced with a familiarity of context; i.e., education, again for want of a better word.
Who says that of the different ways to approach and appreciate art, one way is better than another? The snooty pretension that Doors perceives is largely in his imagination: if you feel “left out” from the type of art that benefits from education, that’s pretty much *your *problem. In other words, if you hear people who’ve devoted more energy to an arts-specific education than you have using a vocabulary, for example, that’s unfamiliar to you, they do so in order to communicate specifically and clearly with others who share the same vocabulary, not as part of a conspiracy to make you feel left out. Trust me, it’s not about you.
Make the effort or don’t, but don’t get pissy when the entire “art world”–for want of a better term–refuses to speak down to you because you *insist *that all art hit you on a gut level and bypass your brain. Some people enjoy being intellectually engaged/challenged/whatever by art; some don’t. Why can’t we all just get along?
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Hold on, chief. Of course you are right - whenever folks go deep regarding a specific artform, specific jargon comes into play. In electric guitar circles, when it comes to tone, we guitar-geeks resort to “wine words” as we call them to get to the subtle points we want to make.
But I see where **Airman Doors ** is coming from, too - at some level, art must speak to you clearly and evoke emotion. Sure, a person can benefit from educating themselves about an artform and end up appreciating things that they might not have previously but the power of an immediate response is what really matters.
My point is that sometimes folks allow the reputation of art get in the way of relating to it in an immediate way. An obvious example is Shakespeare: if it is shoved down your throat in high school, just reading that “foreign language” is awkward and painful. But see one of his comedies well acted and all of sudden you realize how funny the writing truly is.
Same with my example - my date was no dummy, but had limited exposure to music. She didn’t know how to allow the music affect her; my silly comment about Bugs just opened a door she could walk through to a place where the music was accessible.
It’s all good - I am just looking for folks’ experiences where some block got removed and they could access art that previously felt inaccessible even though they knew it had a reputation as great art…