So is seeing more like interpretation? When we see we don't notice how seeing is a form of interpreting, or de-coding, until of course there is a level of difficulty or strangeness. This difficulty can be intriguing, involving. In painting, so called abstraction is COOL, whereas a photo is HOT.
See McLuhan's most widely known work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), is a pioneering study in media theory.