Put away the gallery guides – art is best when shrouded in mystery

A new app, Smartify, allows you to point your phone at artworks and instantly know everything about them. But while facts can enrich enjoyment, it is the shock of the unknown that really makes art resonate

Looking at art should be like walking in the countryside. You may not know exactly where you are, or what bird is making that peculiar sound, or what the hill ahead of you is called, but that's part of the fun of it. You don't need to know those things to feel the poetry of nature. Being slightly lost and adrift in a landscape can only deepen its power.

Of course, if you do know your birds, trees and local history, a walk might be still more entrancing. Yet such knowledge comes gradually. It is picked up through experience. A true knowledge of nature cannot just be got through an app on your phone - and if it could, it would mock sensitivity with shallow instant factoids. Imagine pointing your phone at the hill on the horizon and getting a load of info on screen. Would that enrich your dreamy walk or ruin it?