# 6053-56 / landscape (roadside springtime) ~ purpose and technique

“The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar," to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object: the object is not important.“ ~ Viktor Shklovsky

Viktor Shkiovsky packs a lot of insight about art in 3 sentences. One could write lengthy essays about many of the insights to be found in those sentences. And, to be honest, I gave thought to doing just that using the pictures in this entry to illustrate / illuminate his insightful ideas. However…

…it occurred to me that using my pictures to expound on his ideas would come perilously close to telling viewers of my pictures how to perceive my perceptions. Don’t wanna do that. So, it’s up to you, the viewer, to perceive away as “difficult and lengthy” as that perception might be.