Uneasiness in the Museum: the Affective Subjectivity and Openness of Art Interpretation
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2023
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Haverford College. Department of Philosophy
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Thesis
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
This thesis is a part of my journey of coming to terms with the realization that we are not static beings and thus, neither our creations nor our interpretational processes can ever remain final. As my foundation, I use Jacques Derrida’s understanding of the supplement, Sara Ahmed’s theory on the power of emotion, and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s understanding of artistic hermeneutics interconnected with the general theme of uneasiness. By using the experience of viewing, interpreting, and internalizing art specifically in the space of the museum as my medium, I problematize three interconnected supposed dichotomies: art and natural language, the humanities and sciences, and emotion and rationality. I use the three theories to begin the process of understanding that the meaning of art is never fixed, neither in a specific context nor to a specific person. I argue that the process of interpretation is not, and can never be, completely satisfied or complete. Art is meaningful because it changes us and it encourages us to do the work to remember that we can be changed. While this understanding may initially generate uneasiness, the conversations we have with each other can alleviate this feeling through the realization that we are not alone in our experiences.