Misunderstanding art

What do I get on Xmas eve? Flu and negative response to my not-ill-intended caricature postings on Auroville.org.in. So be it!

Flu is alright; I can handle it. Negative response? That too, I can handle. But misunderstandings I can not. Intend something purely for joy in these woe begone times, and the perverse human masses misrepresent you, because they have a right it seems. But it is seldom unanimous condemnation. The confounded response is always mixed, - like it is to any good drama - a bit yes and a bit no. That's where the bug is.

Quite innocently I posted a caricature of a man known to me, who is in charge of paving roads. I have pictured him in his florescent green shirt and beige shorts, standing under a tree with an arrow shaped sign board which reads, "Road to Nowhere". It is supposed to be a mild dig at the controversy these road pavings have caused within the community due to various reasons. That's all there is to it! The said arrow is held in his right hand and it points forward, clearly indicating that the road ahead goes nowhere. So far so good?

But someone - a woman - decides to see my picture through Freudian goggles. Through them you see a simple arrow as Phallus, right? So my poor, harmless arrow undergoes an interpretation. Her comment underscores it; it reads, "...sign board location..."

I see no harm so I reply to it, not seeing what is coming because of it. " B'low the belt", reads my reply, suggesting a bit tongue in cheek, I admit, that her comment was a punch below the belt.

Then there is a row. Most people think that the picture is 'in bad taste'. I fail to understand why the picture is in bad taste when really, it is the comment that is rather lewd. It is the interpretation of a just picture through Freudian goggles which renders it bad. How do I defend myself except by pleading to these people to believe me. That there was no malice originally in the picture. The mess began after someone decided to "interpret"...

This, I think is the fallacy of art criticism today, that a perfectly pleasant landscape is saught to be seen as the artists need for frolloicking in open fields or whatever with a malicious intent.