Meaning in Context: "Guernica"

How is meaning dependent on both context of production and context of reception? Watch Simon Schama's fascinating BBC episode on Picasso's famous "Guernica" to understand the shaping power of context.

“The power of the greatest art is the power to shake us into revelation and rip us from our default mode of seeing. After an encounter with that force, we don’t look at a face, a colour, a sky, a body, in quite the same way again. We get fitted with new sight: in-sight. Visions of beauty or a rush of intense pleasure are part of that process, but so too may be shock, pain, desire, pity, even revulsion. That kind of art seems to have rewired our senses. We apprehend the world differently.” – BBC Presentator, Simon Schama

Simon Schama gives us a mesmerizing account of the different meanings taken on by Pablo Picasso’s painting through history, up to the Gulf War, as the contexts in which it is seen change. His masterly and inspiring commentary is a wonderful lesson in art-image analysis — all very relevant to IB students !