a.

Before watching the video, my only thought about the meaning of art is more
dependent on the intentions of the artist. It is because I perceive art as a form of
expression, a tool or platform that is used by the artists to convey and express
their thoughts and feelings. Likewise, an art is a masterpiece of an artist who I
think made the entire symbolism and meaning of an art, which made me think
how relevant the artists’ intentions are. Thus, at first, I agree with the statement
of Steven Knapp and Walter Benn Michaels. However, after watching the video I
have realized that a meaning of an art does not only rely on the intentions of the
artists. Viewers can also have their own interpretations of different artworks
since most of these crafts are mostly presented and entertained by them. But it
does not mean that I fully support the “Intentional Fallacy” of W.K. Wimsatt and
Monroe Beardsley, thus I just include their argument to my perception on art.
Therefore, I support the justification of Noel Carroll, a contemporary philosopher
who believes that the intentions of artists and viewers both matter and relevant.
I think that both interpretations are significant to the formation of powerful
meaning of an art and these interpretations serve as variety of meaning that
would explore the greater essence and nature of an art. One example that would
support this is the present argument in Juan Luna’s famous painting, “The
Portrait of a Lady.” This painting has been acquiring various interpretations
where some people think that it was her wife, but some do not. Because of this,
people started to think deeply and somehow connect it to the life of Juan Luna,
which involves the discovery of a history. This proves that an artist interpretation
is very valuable as it might resolve some of the curiosity of the viewers. Thus, it is
important that viewers know the intention of the art same as with artist who
should be aware on the viewers’ interpretations of the art, since this is what art
all about.