Art is Subjective

What one person likes another very well may hate. Even defining art can be subjective. I’ve noticed that this can cause a problem in the academic world.

Theoretically, a professor can grade a student’s artwork on areas such as if the student met the assignment criteria and on the student’s technical ability. That said, it is really easy to also judge art based on whether one actually likes the piece or not.

In discussions with science majors I’ve admitted that they frequently seem to spend more time studying for their classes than a lot of the students in the arts and humanities spend on their projects, papers, etc. but I also point out that at least once they’ve memorized a formula, learned the names of all the nerves in the lower leg, and can explain the process of mitosis they know they are right. A studio artist very well may take an oil painting that she has poured her heart out into only to have the professor decide that she doesn’t like it an give it a poor grade.

Some of the worst grades I ever received on projects were one I had spent a lot of time on and some of the best grades I’ve received were for projects I rushed through. This wasn’t always true by any stretch of the imagination, but each situation occurred more than once.