A Connection Between Winterson's Art Objects and Sontag's Against Interpretation

The writings of both Winterson and Sontag both involved interpretation and communication of art, which I found quite interesting. Winterson talked about how art can convey a meaning to a person, and to understand a painting, you must stare at it for a long period of time, and try to notice things in it that aren't usually noticed when the painting is viewed for a short period of time. Sontag however, took a diferent approach to interpretation of art. She talked about how people can search for meaning in a piece of art, when the actual artist did not intend for a meaning in his or her work. Sontag says that people can also gather their own opinions about the meaning of piece of art and then believe that the artist was actually trying to convey this message, when in reality it was only the viewer's opinions. 

Personally, my position on this matter is more in between of these two ideas. I believe that art can convey a message, however, I also believe that people do search for messages in art that simply aren't there. People in any subject matter always have their own opinions about what something means, and are likely to always believe that their opinion is the right opinion.