The Subjective Frame
Personal Feelings about an Artwork
The subjective frame explores what people think and experience about artworks.
Everyone’s response will be different.
Questions that use the Subjective Frame could be…….
What do you see in the artwork?
What do you feel by looking at the artwork?
What do others think and feel?
What is the artist trying to say?
Through the subjective frame art can be thought to be about……………
Experience
Intuition
Imagination
Expression
Personal responses
The Structural Frame
Visual Communication in Artworks
All artworks are designed to communicate. The structural frame is about how artists
convey their ideas through the use of the art elements and principles, composition,
signs and symbols. It is about constructing a visual language that can be read and
understood.
Questions that use the structural frame include…..
How has the artists used the elements of art?
How has the artist composed the artwork?
What materials has the artist used?
What symbols are used and what do they mean?
Through the Structural Frame art can be thought to be about……..
Communication
Visual Language
Signs and Symbols
Composition
Elements and Principals of Art
Art Materials
The Cultural Frame
Cultural and Social Meanings of Artworks
Artworks are informed by cultural and social trends, politics, understandings,
expectations and beliefs.
Questions that use the cultural frame include…..
How is this artwork typical of the culture from which it comes?
Is this artwork culturally important?
What social attitudes does the artwork convey?
What is the style of the artwork?
Through the cultural frame, art may be thought to be about
Class
Politics
Gender
Religious beliefs
Celebrating events
Cultural ideas
Art styles
Postmodern Frame
Challenging history and ideas
Postmodernism could be said to be the current style of art and popular culture. It is a
reaction to the past, particularly the Modern Art eras of the 1850s to the 1960s which
was (very roughly) about self expression and a journey to abstraction.
Questions that use the postmodern frame include…..
Ask yourself: Have past works been used in a new way (appropriated)?
Is it a new form of art?
What do others say about the ideas, appropriations, art form, meaning?
Through the postmodern frame art may be thought to be about.
Parody
References
Appropriation
Reinterpreting
Mixing different styles together
Challenging expectations
Using popular culture
Using new technology