Interpretation...is it valid critique?

[rayheinrich]

"A painting is a physical object, it is not art.
Art is the effect the painting has on a person when
they see it. Art is subjective because it is a
product of perception and perception is subjective.

- William Sanders



Which implies that all criticism, valid or not, is based on interpretation.
(And that poetry is the effect of the words, not the words themselves.)