Peeks and Piques! From Raymond J. Steiner Archives
What You See, is What You Get
By Raymond J. Steiner
ART TIMES Summer 2013 (original publication date)
January 19, 2020 (republish date)
"What You See, is What You Get." A common enough expression, but what does it mean in relation to, say, looking at art? Well, you might argue, it's a simple enough statement — you "get" what you "see" — what's the problem? However, if you focus on the "seeing" part of the proposition, a little thought just might make you wonder what it is that you're "getting". When you and I stand looking at a landscape painting, do we both "get" the same thing? We've all seen the results of two artists side-by-side painting a landscape. Are their final results the same? Do they look the same? Can a painting by Monet be confused with a Pissarro or a Renoir? For example, I might be going gaga over a brunette, while you hardly notice her because of that blonde or redhead over there. So just what is it that you get when you and I are "seeing" the self-same thing? Who's correct in his/her perception? Who can say if anyone is ever getting the right perception of what they are seeing? Truth is, no one can. We may agree on the fact that we are seeing a landscape — but can it ever be the exact, one-to-one perception that both of us are getting? E. H. Gombrich, in his Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, points to the primary problem of putting a final interpretation on just what our conundrum of "what you see is what you get" ultimately "means". As his title suggests, it all hangs on one important word — namely "psychology". Although Gombrich speaks specifically about art, it becomes clear that the same logic applies to everything we look at. Your psyche is not my psyche — thus what we "get" when we "see" depends upon a lifetime of personal growth, on our unique perceptions, which influence — nay, determine beforehand, our individual "gets" — and, understandably, they may be worlds apart. None of us are free of predilections, stereotypes, tastes, etc. These inherent partialities are what define us. You are you and what you are depends on a lifetime of learning, of dealing with your world, of "seeing" things in accordance with the whole of your previous experience of the world. As no two artists, side-by-side or not, do not — cannot — see from the exact same viewpoint, so can they not paint the same landscape. Likewise, no two people (not even twins) have ever viewed the world from this precise place, at this precise time. We are all unique, all sui generis. Again, this immutable, unchangeable, state of affairs, is what makes you "you", and me "me". All of which, in the end, make "what you see is what you get" a pretty tricky statement to pin down and, because I'm not you, no matter how eloquently or glibly you might tell me what you're getting when you're seeing a particular work of art, it may sound just a bit like gibberish to me.
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