LogFAQs > #909040906

s0nicfan posted...

But an experience doesn't get to dictate intent. No matter how s***ty your tree, if you were trying to create a tree, I dont have the right to tell people you created a penis just because I perceive one, especially if you've already stated what the intent was. The issue isn't one of personal perception, but when people declare that their personal perception is truth by projecting it onto others. There are an infinite number of ways to carve up creative works to make any claim you want, which is one of the reasons why we are in this weird position nowadays where everything is offensive if you want it to be.

And no inspiration dictates intent. You have the right to tell people whatever the fuck you want (mostly). If you think my tree looks like a lamp post, you're not wrong. If you're saying "it looks like a lamp post, hence your intent was to make a lamp post", then of course you're wrong. But it's not about figuring out what my intent was. It's about figuring out what you're looking at. If authorial intent rules, then critical analysis is dead. And it obviously isn't, wether you like it or not.

...and this doesn't even take into account scenarios where an artist may be mistaken or insincere, or just doesn't want to say.

Heck, this is why Hemingway is so well regarded, for instance. The Old Man and the Sea is a perfect example of a work that is so different depending on the life experience of the reader.
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Everything has an end, except for the sausage. It has two.