Shared Language and the Artist's Intentions

In the chapter titled "Constructing Meaning", in Mary Stewart's textbook titled Launching the Imagination, she provides an example of the importance of shared language (158). This is important in the process of gathering knowledge about art that depicts different languages, however, I don't believe that knowing the language on the canvas is always pertinent when it comes to understanding/appreciating the art. In the book, the example used to demonstrate this language issue is Figure 8.1 titled, "Haui-su, Detail of Autobiography, Tang Dynasty, 7th-10th centuries" (Stewart 158). There are brushstrokes on paper that create Chinese characters that "communicate specific ideas " (Stewart 158). The viewer may understand the specific message that the artist wished to convey. If the artist was aware that part of their audience would not be able to read the Chinese characters, then the onlooker would actually be absorbing the artist's intentional message. Stewart does touch on this by stating, "For those of us who know no Chinese, the calligraphy is visually enticing but conveys no specific message" (159). So, maybe the artist intended their viewers to draw their own conclusions about the work even if they wouldn't know the message. In fact, maybe the true messages in some of these language-oriented works of art, are strictly derived from the art's aesthetic rather than the language displayed by the art.