Den stygga trädgården
En sinnlig tolkningsansats med utgångspunkt i Helen Chadwicks Cacao och Bad Blooms
The purpose of this essay is to discuss what a sensual interpretation of art is and what it should include. The discussion is based on an attempt to do a sensual interpretation of the Greek-British artist Helen Chadwick?s Cacao and Wreaths to Pleasure. Chadwick was an artist working with well-known materials in new and unexpected ways. An interpretation of her works should include the fact that her art affect us on different levels, both intellectually and sensually. The history of art includes very few examples of interpretations engaging all senses. Therefore this essay is based on literature in adjacent disciplines like aesthetics, inter art studies and synaesthesia. The thesis of The bad garden is that an art experience includes interplay between senses. This interplay which creates additive sensations, a fact that is not taken into consideration in an interpretation based on only vision. The conclusion is that a sensual interpretation should be a merge of traditional disciplines and must be characterised by subjectivity, contextuality, and intersensuality.