Does context change the way your interpret an image? A piece of art?
Does knowing whether or not the artist is a man or woman affect the way you read the image? Is it important to know how the artist self-identifies? Does it matter if she was an alcoholic? If he was a bastard? If they are schizophrenic? Poor? Rich? Respected? Neglected? Educated? Outsider?
How do you interpret the image above? For me there is such duality:
Frida Kahlo caught in a moment of laughter with a friend [Chavela Vargas?]. So rare to see such a non-posed photograph of Frida. Caught in a candid moment but she she covers her mouth due to her shyness about her bad teeth. A contrast to her friend who laughs so openly, without embarrassment.
Frida is relaxed and happy, but if we know her story, we know her anguish and physical pain. So much wrapped in her mystery. Frida is so distinct and so grounded in her identity as an artist and Mexican. Her friend appears as a woman of her time. The photo is beautiful as an image unto itself. But even more beautiful to me as I see my heroine [whose imagery inspires my art significantly] in this moment of honesty.
A most interesting test re: context occurred during an art event in March 2011. I exhibited a painting of a middle aged farmer climbing over a fence with the hint of pigs in the foreground. I did not title the piece on purpose. I received positive feedback. It looks so Scandinavian. So peaceful and rustic. I divulged after awhile that the piece was indeed a portrait of Robert “Willy” Pickton, a pig farmer and serial killer. The horror was evident in the viewer. And it opened interesting dialogue.
In 2003, I experimented with a class of Grade 7’s regarding context and interpretation. I gave my friend/the Grade 7 teacher, Michele Lavery, the following image taken by a friend of mine:

On purpose, I asked her not to explain who my friend was. The following questions were given to the students:
Title
Describe
Why do you think the photographer took the picture?
What feelings does the picture bring up for you?
Who do you think the photographer might be?
Why might they may have taken that picture?
HERE ARE SOME OF THE RESPONSES:
Title
The Window
Broken Pain
Baseball
Shattered Window
Clouds
Chipped Shattered
Glistening of the Sun
Broken Dreams
Broken Glass
Modern Art Shattered
Broken View
Broken Sunshine
Bandits
The most popular title: Broken Window
Describe
Window panes with bullet holes in them
It’s a picture looking outside to the sky
A window that’s broken
No colour, hard to understand
Broken stained glass where sun comes in
Seems old-fashioned, kind of ugly, sort of abstract, looks like someone was shot
A window, every pain [sic] is broken/shattered
Dark, eery
Sunny, someone looking through a window
It shows the cruelty of the world in a broken window
Someone looking out of a window at a town. It’s very dark
Plain
Dreary, sad, you’re concealed
Why do you think the photographer took the picture?
It’s pretty outside
Maybe to reflect his/her feelings
Maybe because his/her heart was broken
It symbolizes something
It’s original and interesting
Something happened in his life
Not like any other picture
It’s different and sad
He or she likes the look of broken windows
He was depressed
Symbolism
What feelings does the picture bring up for you?
Grief, sadness
Cold, darkness
Sad, miserable
Like the world has no colour
A broken soul or heart (the heart is the window of the soul)
Sad, lonely, depressed
Nothing really
Like there is something missing
A boring old day
Holy
The cruelty of the world
Broken dreams
Not much, I don’t think it’s so great
Poverty. Repair needed. Maybe the house is on fire.
Who do you think the photographer might be?
Younger, female
Old, sad, lonely
Young person
Sad
Old person
Middle aged person who is sad. He lost someone
Middle aged person
Old lonely man
Some old guy
Older person who knows about art
The photographer is maybe a smart middle-aged man
An older person who seems more wiser
Young, sad, lonely
Young woman
Why might they have taken that picture?
A broken heart, something missing in his life
He was tired of life, the darkness
He wanted to show his feelings
Sadness, alone
May have had a loss of some kind that made him want to commit suicide
His life was broken, not worth living anymore
That he was going to kill himself
Might have brought up feelings
As I watch my life break
Feels like he has no privacy
His life was in ruins
Life isn’t worth anything and so it’s wrecked and my heart is broken
He feels shattered, afraid, useless
Needs to release emotion
He smashed the window because he was mad
He had a boring life and he might have felt left out
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It fascinates me to read the responses. My friend, an extraordinary soul and talented artist, took his life at age 23 in 1988.
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ARTICLE:
Context May Diminish Art Appreciation
Surprising new research suggests non-experts’ receptiveness to modern artworks may be lessened when contextual information is presented…