Going beyond
the first impression…

The interpretation of art and the interpretation of people's motives and behaviours share the same root. Both are based on projecting our own filters: experience, cultural bias, education, the era we grew up in, who taught us what to admire.

What we see as beautiful or ugly, talent or technique, unique or fake, what deserves attention and what gets ignored. The postmodern era has given us, as viewers, full power to interpret the art object the way we want.

I asked a friend what she thought of Helen Frankenthaler's work. She was scrolling through the artist's page. Her first reaction sounded like a verdict.

Same paintings she scrolled past ten minutes ago. Different painting now. The annoyance goes. Something else takes its place.

With people, it's the same. Someone walks into the room. You notice her shoes, and don't like them. Or the calm, clear manner in which a new team member speaks reminds you of your best friend from university. The impression is formed before they have said a word — and then you spend the meeting confirming it.

This is a shallow view of art and of people. We're all guilty as charged.

Gallery Sechs' exhibition Mind is not a Machine inspired us to explore whether a mechanical reading of art or people shapes our interpretation — and how a second look, more clues, or a question gives us a better understanding of the context and the reasons.

We start the evening by giving you clues to see and feel contemporary art, with a guided, tailor-made tour of selected works. You will see how three simple questions shift your perception.

Then we turn the same lens on people. Reading strengths the way we read a painting — through our personal filters first, then from a different perspective.

As a gallery visitor, it's your choice to master reading art through knowledge, learning and experience. As a leader, it's your responsibility to master reading people's motives and go beyond the first impression. What if you could override your embedded “first impression filters” on how you see others?

Staying curious about art you like is easy. Staying curious about art you don't understand and don't like is not. Now imagine working with people whose behaviour you don't like.

What looks like strength to them is weakness in your eyes. But what if the weakness is a hidden strength you're reading wrong? What if your own filters played a trick on you and switched you into autopilot “machine” mode?

Let's go beyond the first impression and find out how differently the same person can be read. The way they want to be read.