Begin with a practice. Follow its materials, its questions and the choices that give a work its voice.
A painting is both an image and an object. Look at its scale, its edges, the way colour sits on the surface. A mark can describe something, cover something or simply insist on being there.
Start close enough to see the material, then move back. Notice what changes between the two views.
A sculpture occupies the same space as its viewer. Weight, balance, texture and the gaps between forms become part of the encounter. Its surroundings can change the way it reads.
Move around it when the setting allows. Compare the silhouette from two different positions.
Every photograph shows something and leaves something outside. Framing, distance, sequence and presentation shape how an image is understood, whether it is a document, a construction or something between.
Ask what sits beyond the frame. Then look for the choices that make this particular image hold your attention.
A material carries traces of how it was made. Weaving, stitching, shaping and assembling can turn familiar techniques into a contemporary language. Process and meaning often develop together.
Look for repetition, interruption and the rhythm of a repeated gesture.
Code, screens, networks and interactive systems can become artistic materials. Some works take the form of an image; others unfold through time, participation or a set of rules.
Look for the relationship between the visible result and the system that produces it.
A performance can be built from an action, a duration or an encounter. The audience, the setting and the moment may be inseparable from the work. A recording offers another, partial way to approach it.
Pay attention to duration and to your own position as a viewer.