I don’t really feel like I have an intrinsic “taste in art,” so today while at SFMOMA I tried to pay close attention to the art my system 1 liked.
Things I learned:
- I like things where art is all around you. I saw a Sol LeWitt wall drawing in isolation and was like “eh.” Then I walked into a room where all the walls were Sol LeWitt drawings and I was delighted.
- I like things that involve weird visual distortions. There was one thing involving strobe lights that made something look like molten metal. Also a poem written on a canvas with weird lines, which made it it physically hard to read the poem (my eyes started hurting) and made the poem look like it was shimmering before your eyes.
- I like gold leaf. I already knew that I like medieval paintings with gold leaf, and 19th century paintings that have gold leaf because they’re playing off medieval painting styles. Then today
- System 1: “look! I like that painting!”
- System 2: “huh, I wonder why. it seems like typical abstract art, some primary colors, some shapes …”
- “… it’s the gold leaf, isn’t it.”
- System 2: “… yeah.”