, , , When you interpret a piece of art, you created that interpretation—you as the viewer, as distinct from the artist, whose act and intend ended upon the finally step of showing, or offering, the art for possible interpretation—by any viewer—or any listener—whomever might view it, or hear it—anywhere in the world—for as long as the work still exists to be viewed or heard—or for as long as even one interpretation still lasts and is still known by a human—because still new interpretations of art can be made from other interpretations themselves.

Artworks that can be interpreted by those who experience them—be they received by eye or ear or touch, and be they interpreted by the brain (a thought) or the heart (a feeling, an emotion) or both—are like great ancestors at the start of a lineage of dozens or perhaps hundreds or even thousands of successive interpretations—evolving, moving, migrating, expanding, contracting—artworks that can be interpreted by those who experience them are DNA—and the offspring of that DNA can manifest for centuries in almost countless combinations.

And your interpretation is one of them. You created it. And in both the creative sense of the word and in the legal sense of the word, you own your interpretation; it’s your property. Here is what I mean . . .