rated Art
Three works of art from the Met’s collection, ranked via survey by 30 respondents. A proof-of-concept test of a larger idea in which users rank art on a live website and this data is collected and visualized.
concept
The goal of this project is to survey people about their perspective on what makes good art and visualize the results in a way that both artists and non-artists can understand. One of the inspirations for this project was Tindr. I like the idea of people thinking about, and evaluating, art easily and often - building a large database of reactions.
I asked Nancy Eder, a friend and Met guide, to identify three works of art that she would like to see visualized in this way.
Goals
To establish vocabulary for the evaluation of art that artists and non-artists could understand.
To create a tool that museum staff could use to better understand how the public views their collection.
To facilitate discussion about the evaluation of art between museum visitors, give educators a tool for the discussion of art and design principles.
Next Steps
To create an interactive version of this visualization.
To build an online version of the voting/evaluation tool that uses all of the artwork from the Met’s API.
Evaluation Criteria
The evaluation criteria was a hybrid of A) the language used in classrooms to teach the general principles of art and B) the framework for the evaluation of art in auctions.
The criteria was all defined within the survey to create a baseline for evaluative vocabulary and respondents were asked to rate the art on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the best). Emphasis was placed on the personal nature of the votes.
Final scores were tallied by totaling the numbers of above average votes (4s and 5s) each work of art received.
Narrative: A story. Does this work present a clear account of an event or a series of connected events?
Originality: To what degree does this piece demonstrate independent thought or constructive imagination?
Historical context: How would you evaluate this piece in terms of its historical and cultural significance?
Design elements: How would you rate this piece based on its composition, balance, line, form space, color, shapes and texture? To what degree have these been considered by the artist?
Theme: The theme is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' Is there a critical belief about life that the artist trying to convey?
Overall impression: To what degree does this piece resonate with you personally? Will you remember it? Do you feel a connection?
Sketches
This project began as a color analysis but that idea seemed a little too shallow so I began thinking of other qualities I could measure. Which led me to the idea that the data didn’t need to come from the artwork, rather it could come from the viewer.