SotA Anthology 2015-16 | Page 38

SotA Anthology 2015-16

© All images Antony Gormley

Intention and interpretation: reflection
As I progressed through the module, I found
myself entangled in circular arguments.
One area of questioning that bedevilled me
concentrated on the function of art. What is
it that qualifies something as a work of art?
And what is it that decides the success of a
work of art? Reflecting on my experience of
Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ clarified
my responses to these issues.
The viewer’s input is vitally important to any
work of art. However, it is the duty of the
artist to present something that can inspire
the necessary reflection. A work of art
encourages the viewer to reflect on it and
use their own experiences, imagination,
and interpretation to extract meaning from
the work. The viewer shares responsibility
with the work of art, and can only extract
meaning from the work proportional to what
they contribute themselves. In ‘The death
of sensuous particulars’, Jay Bernstein
notes “philosophy submits the meaningcomplexes of everyday practices to the
demands of conceptual coherence, while
art submits them to the requirements of twodimensional representation through drawing

and painting. Philosophy and art, then,
are reflective articulations of first-order,
everyday practices of meaning” (Bernstein,
1996, p.7). This passage acknowledges
that, like philosophy, art is a second order
practice, providing reflective articulations
of first order reality. Simply, works of art
derive meanings from the world that are not
immediately apparent. However, a viewer
is necessary to interpret how the meanings
expressed by works of art relate to them.
‘Another Place’ consists of 100 cast-iron
figures dispersed along Crosby Beach,
Merseyside. Each figure is made from a
cast of the artist’s own body and faces the
sea, some rooted almost one kilometre out
into the water. It is important to note that
the work involves not only the sculptures,
but also the landscape in which they are
situated. The beach, the sea, the horizon
and the surrounding industrial buildings
all contribute to the meaning I extracted
from the work. Gormley explains that there
is a juxtaposition being considered by the
figures and oneself in the work, between
‘the residue of trade and warehousing and