Art History - How do you understand abstract art?

How do you understand abstract art?

Can someone explain how to "understand" abstract art? I really don't get it. It is a bunch of shapes. For example, Black Square by Kazimir Malevich is literally a black square. How can some art followers look at it and say things like, "It symbolizes man's struggle to find food in the wilderness." Maybe I'm just dumb, but I don't see it.

Public Comments

Just look at it and see what comes to you.
all u need too know is thats its just like regular art but u looking at it a different way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
you're not supposed to think about it that much. it's abstract -meaning it's just shapes and stuff and you get from it what you get from it. look it up on wikipedia
It's your call as to what you see. There will probably be a bunch of BS as to what it means, but I bet the artist has never been asked what it meant to him/her. If you like the piece.... great. If not... move on. There's more art out there for your tastes!
i saw a movie once where a character said, " i don''t know art, but i know what i like" that's abstract art, what you like.
Their answers are no more correct than yours. Abstract art is supposed to invoke thought. My advice would be to give the piece at least two minutes of your time. Really look at the artwork. If a painting, look at the brush strokes. Just remember, what you see is what it is. If you only see a black square, then a black square it is!
Just an indication to look at the world carefully till a real pattern emerges. It is waste of resources to 'actually' keep looking or painting it.
It is a matter of personal perception and preference. Who says it is art to begin with? The same with literature-who decides what is great and what is not?
I think that people who draw conclusions about something like this are just saying what they feel about the piece, or someone else put the idea in their head. For an entire group of people to say that a plain black box means the same thing to everyone in that group is a bunch of B.S. I feel that you perceive it to be however you want to, they're your eyes and your brain so what ever it means to you is what it is. If some artist wants it to mean something in particular, than they should give the piece a title that has something to do with the topic. I went to art school and believe me I had major problems with these art students who thought they were above and beyond because they could find deep meaning in a line of red paint on on a piece of canvas. I respect abstract art and think it is very cool, but I also think that art is what you make it out to be, but don't feel stupid, just feel confident in your own opinion.
I feel that understanding abstract art is very similar to understanding representational artwork. Instead of people, animals, trees, etc you have shapes, marks (paint strokes, pencil marks, etc) and those relationships are the "objects, figures" in the painting. I think in abstract art there is more emphasis on how an image is made and using those marks, shapes to get toward the metaphors that way, instead of simply spelling it out with representational images. I think people like Malevich, Mondrian, or even Pollock you have to understand the political, social, artistic world that they lived in at the time. Art is always a reaction to the world that we live in, and for someone to say "it symbolizes man's struggle..." is fine, but to really understand it you have to do some research. In no way am I saying it's not fine or wrong to give your opinion on what something is, but sometimes to understand artwork outside of our time, you have to read up on it. The only reason you dont have to really research older artwork (especially religious painting) is because it was made for a largely illiterate peasentry that needed straightforward narrative painting to get an idea of god accross. Ever since the advent of the camera, that type of historical painting isnt necessary and artists have becomed concerned with how painting functions and not solely how straightforward you can be.
I think. You need to watch many things, in order to educate your eyes. I know it sound weird, but think of it as musicians listen music and know that chords and scales to use, it´s not magic they have a educated ear. Samething happens with chefs, they know how to mix ingredients, because the have educated their mouth. This takes time, but theres no other way. When Picasso was question about the cubism he use to said that art is a different language, that he didnt speak english and that doesnt mean english didnt exist. Art exist. The problem is that not everybody know how to speak it. There are easy languages and others more complicated, as there are easymovements to see and others not as easy...so keep in mind that you are discovering one new thing, get deep in to art, try books, webpages and see as many as you can. Hope this helps you...
In the earlier stages of art, artists tried to express the things they saw around them and generally art tended to be realistic or figurative. Later, artists tried to convey abstract ideas through art, thoughts going on in their mind, dreams, and what was called 'stream of consciousness': the content was emotional, charged with personal symbolism and metaphor. So abstract art conveys different feelings to different viewers, just allow your imagination to guide you. If i put a black dot in a field of white, it could be explained as a top view of a hat, a constricted space trying to occupy space around it, a view of a worm hole in the universe, a black hole symbolic of utter annihilation, a close view of an eye and so on. Cubist artists broke from the figurative style because they felt that just painting the front view or side view of anything did not convey the true reality so they tried to show all dimensions of the object superimposed on one plane. The surrealists painted dreams, hallucinations and abstract ideas, the impressionists tried to convey scientific principles of light, pop artists treated everyday objects as art... everyone trying for different views or representations of reality. try looking at a chair from underneath or a person a few kilometers away (just a dot isn't he?). Some times, some art followers also bull shit because they know no better....
Many abstract artists make art about "art". Sometimes they want you to focus more on the processes than any actual meaning. Art critics are trained to analyze, that is why they can find a meaning in everything. I think that it is more important for you to enjoy art than to struggle to figure out its meaning (and end up feeling dumb because you can't).
I make abstract paintings from time to time and thoroughly enjoy the freedom of using paint, forms and lines to create reflections of my feelings and thoughts. Abstract art leaves itself totally open to individual interpretation. You can check out some of my abstract and figure paintings on my website and let me know what you think! www.catherinerogersjonsson.com
Abstract is interesting and legible...if you want to comb over a chronology of a particular artists' work. The abstracted "language" that artists like Malevich form develops over their career. Many artists did not start out as abstract painters, they slowly developed their own forms of abstraction. It is also easier to understand in context of what was being painted at the time of Malevich. Painting and its methods were being revolutionized and experimented with during the time he painted. I think "Black Square" is meant to show that painting has come so far and one cannot make it any simpler or take it any further.