Definitions and Uses of Subjectivity

Subjectivity refers to a person’s own beliefs, feelings, desires and perspectives. Subjectivity is an individual’s own interpretations of experiences consisting of spiritual, intellectual and emotional perceptions and misperceptions. Subjectivity contrasts with objectivity, which entails seeing the universe and all in it exactly for what it is from a view, which is not under the influence of human perceptions, past experiences, human cultural interventions and expectation of the result.

Subjectivity is particularly useful in every day’s life since people base most of their decisions on subjective information with a few exceptions when people make decisions based on objective information. Every day people make decisions that shape their lives in some way. Sometimes, such people seek advice from their friends, families or colleagues, but the ultimate decision depends on what the person thinks. This is a revelation of the importance of subjectivity in people’s daily lives. In addition, it shows the relevance of accurate subjective information since it is possible to change the accuracy levels of people’s subjective feelings and decisions. It is impossible to convert every subjective decision or feelings into objective facts. This means that subjectivity is a large part of everyone’s life.

Subjectivity is also crucial in self-presentation and arguments. Every person has different opinions and views about various aspects of life. To be able to express these opinions, subjectivity comes in handy. It helps people to understand someone’s point of view and the fact that someone is not just agreeing to what other people say. Subjectivity helps in articulating ones ideas in a presentation, a discussion or an argument.

How we Experience Subjectivity in Media Art

The principles of arts design describe the fundamental ideas on what makes a piece of art classy or poor. A definitive list, however, does not exist because art is largely subjective, and what appeals to a particular artist or person may not necessarily appeal to the others. There are some common grounds on the fundamental principles consisting of harmony, balance, unity, emphasis and opposition. These principles assist in developing art that is standard and appealing to the majority of the audience.

The centre of emphasis or interest on a piece of art is what captures the eye of the viewer and keeps the piece of art from becoming monotonous. This centre of interest creates a noticeable visual effect without totally dominating the piece. In creating emphasis, the artist uses different colors and forms, which are different from the ones on the rest of the piece. Mostly, these colors are chosen by the artist and reflect his choice of colors and forms, which are highly subjective. This way, we experience subjectivity in the piece of art.

Sometimes, artists make use of opposition in their artwork instead of making use of visual contrast of some type. This entails making use of opposing colors or making use of both vertical and horizontal elements to oppose each other. The artist can also use light and dark colors in varying degrees to create the contrast. Again, the type of contrast an artist decides to use depends on his or her taste and is, therefore, subjective. The art piece has to be appealing to the artist first before he can release it for view by the audience. An artist takes time to make a piece, and usually, he or she is the first to admire it. In cases where the artists do not like their piece of art, then most artists chose to make modifications or chose not to lose the piece to the audience. Thus, what the audience sees in a piece of art is a reflection of the artists’ subjectivity.