Looking at Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991
Write down a few words giving your first reaction to the piece.
Puzzlement; uncertainty; grasping at meaning
Do you have an emotional response to it?
No, no particular emotional response. It leaves me unmoved.
What do you think it's about?
It's static, frozen artificially in time (won't rot like any natural dead thing would). The shark looks like it's alive and swimming, but it's not. It looks as though it is threatening, but it is not. Is it a caricature of a shark or of life? Is it about the appearance of life in death? The persistence of memory? It's hard to say with any certainty.
What do you think about the title?
The title is ambiguous: the impossibility of whose death -- the thinker's or someone being thought of? Is the title even related to the piece or is it a joke on the viewer?
Looking at Edwaert Collier's Still Life with a Volume of Wither's 'Emblemes,' 1696
Write down a few words giving your first reaction to the piece.
Visually rich; lots to explore; engages the mind
Do you have an emotional response to it?
There is some immediate comfort in the familiarity, but the piece feels old-fashioned and tired.
What do you think it's about?
This was a fairly common type of painting, generally a lesson about the certainty of death and how that knowledge should inspire us to sober reflection and living.
What do you think about the title?
The title is bluntly descriptive of the image, but doesn't allude to any deeper meaning. It does make me wonder what Wither's Emblemes was about, though.
Of the two works, Hirst's definitely makes me work harder. With Collier I'm on more familiar ground and have a frame of reference that helps me to interpret it, even if not completely or perfectly. With Hirst, I'm quite lost without a guide to help me understand.