How to Have More Fun at the Museum

by Renick Bell, Sept. 11, 2022

(written for my young students in Taiwan)

Art can be super fun, if you know some tricks about how to think about art. Many people feel the art museum is a place where it's hard to have fun. It can feel so distant from the things that we care about. Sometimes there are things in the museum that seem weird, either because we don't know what they are or because they are from a different time. There are staff sitting around who are guarding the art. Everyone is quiet, and some people there seem so serious. The idea that the art is in the museum, a place which they are feel they don't like, also makes a lot of people feel that they don't like art itself. I think we can find the fun in the museum and the fun in art by thinking about it differently. Let's see what one philosopher said about art and how we can use his advice to have more fun.

John Dewey (1934), an American philosopher and teacher, said that things like comic books, pop music, and even the work of a mechanic can be art. Caring about the feelings that people have when they experience these things is enough to make them artworks. Dewey said that art is an experience. Artworks help us to have particular experiences. When we notice the special feelings in an experience or the details of our feelings in an experience, we are having an art experience. Those feelings could be beauty, nostalgia, excitement, or anything else.

When you see an artwork, try not to think first about whether you like it or not. Think about what feelings it gives you. Think about why it gives you those feelings. Think about what feelings the artist might want us to feel. Think about the feelings the artist might have had while making the artwork. Try to understand the story in the art or behind the art. Notice what the artist has done to give us this particular experience. Think about how other people might feel about this artwork. Do they feel differently from you? Why or why not? Think about what different view of the world this artwork might give you. Especially notice how your feelings change from when you first encounter the work, then while you look at the work more, and how you feel when you leave the artwork.

If we focus on these kinds of questions, like exploring our feelings and noticing the connection between the details of the artwork and the feelings of others, we can get much more enjoyment from artworks and the museum. Even if we decide in the end that we don't like a particular piece of art, we can enjoy discovering something about feelings and experience. We might even discover something about ourselves.

I think Dewey's advice to think about art as an experience and an artwork as a tool for having such an experience is good advice. The art museum can be fun place to explore art and feelings. Of course, there are people protecting the art to make sure that as many people as possible can enjoy it. People in the museum try to be quiet so that they don't disturb other people while they experience their feelings. When you also think seriously about these things, you can find some interesting puzzles. Considering those puzzles can be a rewarding experience, too. I think if you quietly wander in the the museum and remember John Dewey's advice, you will have a lot more fun in the museum, even if you find weird things there or don't even particularly like the pieces that you find. Just think about the experience and your feelings. If you do so, I think you will have fun with art!

References

Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. Minton, Balch.

  • art-experience-students.txt
  • Last modified: 19 months ago
  • by renick