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ERIC Number: EJ798486
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jun
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1476-8062
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Act of Looking: Wolfgang Iser's Literary Theory and Meaning Making in the Visual Arts
Hubard, Olga M.
International Journal of Art & Design Education, v27 n2 p168-180 Jun 2008
In his account about reading novels, Wolfgang Iser argued that the work of art is not the text itself but the experience that emerges as a reader interacts with the text. Yet, he clarified that the aesthetic object is not based only on the subjective input of the reader but also determined by specific signs that a text presents. This article draws from Iser's theories to examine the process through which five teenagers discover meaning in an abstract sculpture by artist Isamu Noguchi. The author shows how the young viewers arrived at a series of readings that were elicited by the qualities of the work and that built upon each other in a sort of snowballing process. The article also illustrates how the sort of meaning that an artwork can yield stretches throughout the whole experience and can therefore not be translated into a discursive statement.
Blackwell Publishing. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8599; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: customerservices@blackwellpublishing.com; Web site: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/jnl_default.asp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A