Look:
Literally, what is in front of you? Just say what you see. OK, it’s a painting. It’s made of paint, splashed on a post. How does it look? Has the paint has been thrown randomly onto the post, not applied carefully with a brush?
Are there dripped lines of light blue paint, red, green, silver? Is there a bare footprint visible on the top right? And are there eight pole-like lines down the post, at different angles to each other.
See:
Usually for this second step I suggest then having a crack at interpreting what is there in front of us, unpacking the symbols we recognise – that is, the “iconography”. But hold on a minute – is this pole completely abstract.
Are there any pole-like shapes? Any footprints? Are there just wild, crazy shapeless splats that don’t represent anything? OK, park this information for a second, and move onto the last step.
Think:
This step is where you, the viewer, have to plug in your brain and do some work. Don’t think of looking at art as like watching the TV. It’s more like doing a crossword puzzle or Sudoku – it is work, but it’s fun.
OK. That’s enough. This isn’t like Blue Poles at all. Just a plain black one.
Where would you find a cache on a plain black pole?