You don’t need to understand art to feel it
People often say: “I don’t really understand art...” As if that disqualifies them from looking. Or feeling. As if they need permission from a curator to be moved by a patch of color. But here’s the thing: Art isn’t something you pass a test for. It’s not a code to crack or a theory to master.
“I am nobody,” said Hans Teeuwen. And that’s exactly enough.
You don’t have to be somebody in the art world to be touched by a piece.
No explanation, no jargon, no background needed.
Just presence. Just attention. Just you.
You don’t have to know what you’re looking at.
In fact, as Lao Tzu said:
“The more you know, the less you understand.”
Real seeing happens before the mind jumps in. Before labels. Before interpretation.
“Interpretation,” wrote Susan Sontag, “is the revenge of the intellect upon art.”
