sometimes, asking "what do you see?" can elicit some amazingly insightful responses.
here are some examples i've encountered, while teaching at an art gallery.
and just a reminder, the entries are not my personal commentary on the pieces or art collections, just retellings of responses that i've heard.
i received this thank you note from kindergarteners, along with their watercolor painted pictures.
Dear ______,
Thank you for showing us the painting with the squares. Thank you for showing us the waterfall painting. Thank you for showing us the sundown painting. Thank you for showing us the big elevator. Thank you for showing us the painting with the splatter colors. Thank you for showing us around the place. Thank you for showing us the black and blue painting. Thank you for showing us the painting that looked like a person. Thank you for showing us the black, white, and gray painting with all the shapes on it. I liked the painting with the round shapes. Thank you for showing us the orange and black painting. Thank you for showing us the sculpture of the girl sitting down at the table. I saw a painting of a girl standing up, and I liked it. Thank you for showing us the paintings. I liked a painting that had a lot of books in it and a girl was sitting down at a table. Thank you for showing us the flower painting. I really liked it. I saw a sculpture of a girl standing up and I liked it. Thank you for showing us the black sculpture. We had a great time.
Love,
The Kindergarten Class
after Mark Rothko - Untitled
after Wassily Kandinsky - The Waterfall
after Ellsworth Kelly - Charter
after Andy Warhol - Flowers
"tell me a story of what's going on here."
student 1: "the king and queen don't want their son to marry the girl in pink. but the girl doesn't care about marrying the guy in purple."
"what do you see that makes you say that?
student 1: "look at her face! she's not even paying attention."
student 2: "yeah, she doesn't give a hoot."
Edwin Austin Abbey - The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2)
"what do you see?"
student: "it's the tsunami in japan"
Edward Hopper - Rooms by the Sea
"what do you see?"
student: "that dude looks like jake gyllenhaal"
Edwin Austin Abbey - The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2)
"so i want you to write a letter to your parents as if you were standing in this crowd. describe what you see, smell, and hear"
_______
"what do you hear?"
student 1: "rollercoasters"
student 2: "people yelling"
student 3: "justin beiber, on stage, singing his hit songs."
Joseph Stella - Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras
