Art Appreciation - How good are you?

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pentaprison

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I've been watching Channel 4's "Hidden Talent" series which last night included a tractor factory worker who had a latent talent for "art appreciation". As part of the original assessment they gave him a Meier test which is designed to assess your inate ability to spot "good" composition and tone balance (or at least what they thought was good at the end of the 19th century).

They've put the test on line, so if you want to try it for yourself here's a link.

I found it surprisingly difficult, and the first time I took it I only got half marks - i.e. no better than random :( - on subsequent runs I got 29/30/31 so I've clearly hit my limit although I'm not even sure if it's valid to repeat the test as it is against the clock.

If anyone else here takes the test then I'd be interested to hear the results from a bunch of photographers. Composition is always something I've found difficult and this might explain why!
 
Hmm, 33 out of 44. Interesting, although I have to say that a lot of the structural components were obvious when you have a good idea of what you are looking for. The time restriction placed on viewing each image is important as it encourages a gut response rather than an intellectualised response.
 
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33 out of 44. On four, I ended up out of time because I couldn't spot the difference!

"If you scored over 31, you have a great eye for composition and really well developed observational skills. This might mean that you'd be great at most creative things like art, photography or fashion."
 
I was out of time on one of them but scored 37, perhaps being an artist gives me an advantage. However appreciation of art is very subjective and we all have different tastes, so to a certain extent the scores are meaningless. I think all this does is confirm standard rules about contrast and composition, which again is neither right not wrong, but they probably represent an average of what the man on the Clapham Omnibus prefers.
 
Just completed my first run through, done honestly and as intended. I ran out of time on one image but somehow managed a score of 33.

I'm not sure it shows anything other than the fact that I like images that are designed to be liked, though (or perhaps that I prefer them over images that have been designed to be disliked).
 
28..
 
26 first time as I wasn't really sure what I was doing (and about 3 ran out of time trying to work out what differences there were).

Second time I just picked the ones I preferred on first glance, got 38 then!
 
I got them all 'right'. It's art for heaven's sake.

There's no right or wrong and if everyone liked the same thing we'd all be morons.

Have to say it's a stupid test with pointless results.
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
26 first time as I wasn't really sure what I was doing (and about 3 ran out of time trying to work out what differences there were).

Second time I just picked the ones I preferred on first glance, got 38 then!
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yeh yeh :cool:

30 for me.. then i went onto the lie detector and got 5 out of 6. Or 6 out of 7 if you include Jimmy Lemon :lol:
 
34, had to guess a couple as they looked so similar and were very hard to distinguish.

Just done another, deliberately trying to pick the wrong ones but still scored 10 :shrug:
 
missed a few but got 33
 
23, which might mean the test is poorly designed, but probably reflects my level of artistic appreciation.
 
6

I am so glad that I don't like what everyone else does, or what they think is good. :D
 
34, but did do half of the 'Free Diving' test before realising I was doing the wrong one!
 
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itsdavedotnet said:
Rather sweary but funny Vice magazine article on the subject... http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/im-sick-of-pretending-i-dont-get-art

That said, some art is -phenomenal- to see.
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Do you prefer something more conventional like my sort of work, rather than an A4 statement alongside the painting explaining the anguish the artist went through to create it :D

fairwinddeparture.jpg
 
35, to my surprise. I went very much on gut instinct and did them very quickly apart from three when I was out of time as I struggled to see the difference in my iPod screen (PC in computer hospital at present).
 
missed one and got 34.....clearly not a very good test, as i have the artistic eye of a blind chimpanzee!! lol
 
24 but went through it like a dose of salts. I have no idea which *they* think is more aesthetically pleasing. It might not be the ones I chose.
 
34, missed 2.

Pretty obvious I thought what you were supposed to be seeing, frames filled, leading and complimentary lines, good contrast, subject definition from surroundings. There were only 2 I thought were subjective.
 
I think the "art appreciation" part here is a little off key.
Having an understanding of basic composition and contrast does not in itself translate to appreciation and vice versa. And putting a score on what you notice in how much time is to me, pointless chest expanding.
Some amazing pieces of art totally defy these basic rules and yet are still appreciated massively. Others follow the rules but break from convention in other ways and are frowned upon.
Pointless test.... I scored a 30 lol
 
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