Who decides what art means? Part 2

Who decides what art means?Part 2

I Lead in. Look at the images below. Which of the images shows a work of art? How can you know it the work of art? Click on the link to check your predictions: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5.

II Pronunciation focus. Look at the phonetic symbols [t],  [ʃ]. How do you pronounce them? Put the words in the list in the correct column based on the way you pronounce the underlined letters. Listen or watch and check.

 problematic; literary; interpretation; intentional; advocate; intention; motivations; definitive; conversation; function

[t]	[ʃ]
art	mention

III Watch the video above and choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

If you find this problematic/problem/problematically, you might be more in line with Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels, two literary theorists who rejected/rejects/rejected the Intentional Fallacy. They argued that an artist's intended means/meaning/meant was not just one possible interpretation, but the only possible interpretation. For example, suppose you're walking along a beach/reach/teach and come across a series of marks in the sand that spell out a verse of poet/poetically/poetry. Knapp and Michaels believed the poem would lose all meaning if you discovered these marks were not the work of a man/human/humanity being, but an odd coincidence produced by the waver/weave/waves. They believed an intentional creator is what makes the poem subject to understanding at all. Other thinkers advocate for a middle ground, suggesting that intention is just one piece in a larger puzzled/puzzle/puddle. Contemporary philosopher Noel Carroll took this stance, arguing that an artist's intentions are relevant to their audience/additive/audition the same way a speaker's intentions are relevant to the person they’re engaging in conversion/converter/conversation. To understand how intentions function in conversation, Carroll said to imagine someone holding a cigarette and asking for a match. You respond by handing them a lighter, gathering that their motive/motivation/motivated is to light their cigarette. The words they used to ask the question are important, but the intentions behind the question dictate your undersand/understanding/understood and ultimately, your response. So which end of this spectrum do you lean towards?

Do you, like Wimsatt and Beardsley, believe that when it comes to heart/art/part, the proof should be in the pudding? Or do you think that an artist's planner/planned/plans and motivations for their work affect its meaning? Artistic interpretation is a complex web that will probably never offer a definitive answer/answered/swear.

IV Match the words to their definitions. Use two words in your sentences.

proof; lean towards; be in line with; middle ground; ultimately; reject; stance; definitive

1.    be similar to, conform to

2.    refuse to believe in something

3.    a position between two opposite opinions

4.    way of thinking about something

5.    finally

6.    be interested in something

7.    information that shows that something is true

8.    giving final solution

V Match the words from two columns to make collocations and word combinations used in the text. Use four collocations in your sentences.

1.	be more in	a)	of poetry
2.	literary	b)	theorists
3.	spell	c)	in conversation
4.	a verse	d)	ground
5.	human	e)	coincidence
6.	an odd	f)	this stance
7.	intentional	g)	out
8.	middle	h)	creator
9.	take	i)	answer
10.	engage	j)	line with
11.	definitive	k)	being

VI  Watch the video and answer the questions.

1      According to Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels can phenomena of nature be called art? Why or why not?

2      What example do literary theorists give to prove their point of view?

3      How does Noel Carroll understand the connection between artist’s intentions and the audience? (Loo at the examples - images 4 and 5 from Task 1: Lead-in)

4      What example does Noel Carroll give to prove his point of view?

VII  OVER TO YOU.

A)  Find the examples of works of art that were misinterpreted or understood incorrectly by the audience? What was the artist’s idea?

B)   Think about the question you heard at the end of the video: Do you believe that in art only viewers decide what the work of art means? Or do you think that an artist's plans and motivations for their work influence its meaning? Get ready to give a talk (3- minutes) proving your point o view.