Peter Simpson conveyed his final pieces of wisdom about how the average person should view art during this year’s Irving Chair in Journalism Lecture on Nov. 14.
Simpson said the media has failed the average person by not writing about art in plain language.
“You don’t need an expert’s validation to decide for you if a piece of art has an effect on you,” he said. “You just look at it and you know.
“You should also know that your opinion, your reaction to that piece of art is valid and right for you, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it or says about it. More people would know that to be true if the media would cut out the art speak.”
Simpson recently resigned as the arts-editor-at-large for the Ottawa Citizen. His passion for the arts is what drives him to ensure art is being written about in a way the public can understand.
“I’m not talking about dumbing down art,” said Simpson. “What I’m talking about is writing about art in a way that the vast majority of people think about art, and how they experience art.”
Simpson used plenty of visual examples to reinforce his point. He also gave examples of nonsensical art speak he had heard people use to describe their work. He said because of how the arts are typically written about, people feel under-qualified to form opinions if they don’t have any education on the topic.
“It’s a crying shame,” said Simpson. “Every one of you here today has everything you need to engage with a piece of art. You have your own experiences, your own nature, your own emotions. People do care about art, if given the chance.”
Simpson ended his talk by urging people to form their own opinions on the art they consume. People tend not to hesitate over forming opinions on literature or movies, so he said art shouldn’t be any different.
“Never be afraid to make up your own mind about how you feel about any piece of art, regardless of what others, even experts, have to say. Art is both universal and personal, and only you can truly know what any piece of art means to you, and whether it means anything at all.”
