In the race to create the new and interesting, we tend to get bogged down by the apparent need to wrap our messages under layers in our work. Susan Sontag's paper outlines how art started as an "imitation of reality." Fast forward to modern day, and art has transformed into a means of translating the content into a cryptic foreign language that must be loosely translated by the viewer. Only the artist has the original rosetta stone to decipher it. We as artists, continue to play this game by finding new ways to hide true meaning behind layers and layers of interpretation hoping that the viewer will comprehend the original message or meaning. This can often backfire by creating work that can be interpreted in a myriad of ways that are out of the artist's control. Sontag paper observes that modern art work is less about the sensual perception more about the symbology and representation of abstract concepts. She wishes to return to the period before interpretation became central to art.
I really enjoyed Sontag's paper as it mirrors my own struggle with content and my work being considered too literal. With film and animation being both linear and story driven for the most part, it is hard to create something that is both easy to follow and an enjoyable challenge for the viewer to interpret the content. Much like how pop art and abstract art abstain from interpretation, Sontag states that film is interesting as an art form where cryptic messages are not as ingrained in the medium as the visual language and story are. I am going to try to keep this paper in mind as I develop my own story for my animation for Thesis.
