Art and "Distance": Context, Symbolism, Interpretation, and Criticism

Buckle up, babies! I've set up a little in-class art museum for us to check out today. :)

We're going to take a few minutes to look/listen to each piece. Jot down any thoughts that come to your mind. Here are some questions that can guide your free-write: How does the piece make you feel? What do you like/dislike about it, and why? What do you think it means?

Before we move on to the next piece, I'd like you to quantify your experience and rank your attitudes/feelings about the piece in the following two Likert items.

How much do you like each piece?
1: Ugh, not at all.
10: I think it's amazing!

Rate your "distance" to/from the piece.
1: Over-distance -- I don't connect with it/ I can't relate to it
10: Under-distance -- I can't remove myself from my impression of it to give an "objective" evaluation/critque

Here's a link to a survey (Round 1 and then, on the next page, Round 2) that I put together.

During "Round 2," I'm going to provide find some information about the artist's alleged intent, possible interpretations of the piece, and historical context/background. Why? This might provide you with added context to evaluate your impressions of each piece. Two questions I'd like you to consider are: (1) how/does this influence your perception of the piece's "goodness" and how/does this information impact the amount of "distance" you have in relation to it?